Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Molpet]

What is the purpose of a legal semi automatic? Kill raccoons?

Few guns are single shot, lever action or pump. The only one I have is my most powerful and longer range... According to my dad,It's similar to the gun he used as a sniper in WWII ... I used it for target practice in the 80s.
My 2 shotguns, 22 rifle, and both pistols are semi automatic. They are used for hunting or dispatching predators in traps.

 

[no fly zone]

What about number of lives saved by self defense and arming themselves? What about crimes that has been prevented from knowing others may have been armed? These are statistics hard to get and media certainly don't like to talk about it.

They also like to include suicides and accidental shootings to fudge the numbers when pushing authoritarianism under the guise of "common sense" gun laws.

 

[saysfaa]

So, now I'm thinking about how to set up .... something. Probably, I will do a run..

One of the reasons I started reading this thread, is hoping for information to help the hens transition to a wider world.

I don't handle them except when absolutely necessary so I'm not confident about getting them back into the coop after they are out. I would rather not let them out a bit before dusk because that is when there is the most traffic on the road. I still don't want to lose them to zoning issues.

I didn't think letting them out would ever happen, so the coop isn't set up well to attach a run to it.

How do y'all put them back?

Coco likes the idea of outside, too.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Few guns are single shot, lever action or pump. The only one I have is my most powerful and longer range... According to my dad,It's similar to the gun he used as a sniper in WWII ... I used it for target practice in the 80s.
My 2 shotguns, 22 rifle, and both pistols are semi automatic. They are used for hunting or dispatching predators in traps.

Honestly, I don't live in a high predator area. My neighbors hunting dogs have gotten out and threaten my chooks through the fence and I thought about shooting them. I'm pretty confident a well placed pellet in the butt would send them the message i need them to get but so did going out and yelling at them. if it ever got that bad I guess I could electrify my fence.
Not against guns. Own a few for hunting myself. Just dont think they are a solution to problems unless you are hungry... or under attack from Ninjas
With that said. I think this gun discussion should move to PM if it needs to continue. Keep me out of it. I have said my peace. Thanks for everyones patience.

 

[RoyalChick]

One of the reasons I started reading this thread, is hoping for information to help the hens transition to a wider world.

I don't handle them except when absolutely necessary so I'm not confident about getting them back into the coop after they are out. I would rather not let them out a bit before dusk because that is when there is the most traffic on the road. I still don't want to lose them to zoning issues.

I didn't think letting them out would ever happen, so the coop isn't set up well to attach a run to it.

How do y'all put them back?

Coco likes the idea of outside, too.

Mine see their coop and attached run as home, so they always go back to roost and if they are scared (eg hawk nearby) they first dive for cover but then they make their way back home.
Sometimes I need to get them back in earlier than they are ready and it is always easy. I have a tin cup with seeds and some of their feed pellets and when I shake it they know something yummy is available so they run home.

 

[ManueB]

One of the reasons I started reading this thread, is hoping for information to help the hens transition to a wider world.

I don't handle them except when absolutely necessary so I'm not confident about getting them back into the coop after they are out. I would rather not let them out a bit before dusk because that is when there is the most traffic on the road. I still don't want to lose them to zoning issues.

I didn't think letting them out would ever happen, so the coop isn't set up well to attach a run to it.

How do y'all put them back?

Coco likes the idea of outside, too.

Are you thinking of leaving them outside on their own, or supervising them ?

Mine see their coop and attached run as home, so they always go back to roost and if they are scared (eg hawk nearby) they first dive for cover but then they make their way back home.
Sometimes I need to get them back in earlier than they are ready and it is always easy. I have a tin cup with seeds and some of their feed pellets and when I shake it they know something yummy is available so they run home.

Ditto to this. If they are not already used to a noise or a container that means treats, start by this. A few times is enough for them to understand things related to food.

Chickens are creatures of habits so if you can get them out and back in always at the same hour, it will help a lot. The first time they will probably be very shy and not go too far so you shouldn't have trouble getting them back in. Attract them with the treats but only give them the real thing once they're back in the coop .
Once they get over their caution they could scatter all around quite quickly, especially if you don't have a rooster.
When I took my hens out of their usual yard and into the vegetable garden last year, I sometimes had trouble getting them back in, even with the treats because they were too excited. I found out a very long stick can be quite helpful to herd chickens from behind .

 

[Shadrach]

Out of curiosity, what types of predators can be found in the Netherlands? Here in the US, living in certain areas we are up against coyotes, wolves, bobcats, black bears, alligators, and a slew of other animals that could cause harm with no protection.

This^
Really can't make a comparison to rural USA and most of Europe on this issue.
Spain is awash with both legal and illegal guns but they don't have much in the way of gun crime.
Almost impossible to do anything about, but the carrying of firearms in suburban and city spaces may contribute to the problem as does education and peer pressure. The peer pressure stuff isn't just something concerning gangs; it's just as prevelant in rural communities.

 

[Shadrach]

I think it's a very divisive debate in the US... but in Europe it's not. I would venture that for the majority of europeans it's even difficult to understand how there could actually be a debate. We associate democracy with the ban of legal weapons, except in the case of hunting. I think the historical premises to approach those questions are different. It's the same with death penalty. I will say it's one of the reasons I'm glad to live in Europe even though many things bother me regarding politics and society in my country. We have other strong divisive questions here too !
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I would bet that most of the farms around you have guns on the property.

 

[ManueB]

I would bet that most of the farms around you have guns on the property.

Indeed but they have hunting license.
There is no such thing as an illegal shot here. We all hear shots and know who shoots and what.

 

[Shadrach]

Going back to chickens, I have a question. I have a late molter in my flock. She began about three weeks ago and now she is fully molting. I also had an early molt from a hen that started in August and finished at the beginning of October. They are the same age and both ex-batts, so I'm a bit puzzled.

Last year they mostly did not molt during autumn and winter.Is it usual that there should be such a difference between individual hens that are undergoing the same conditions ? My hen Blanche, who is molting now, suffered from a hawk attack at Christmas and I'm wondering if her molt is stress induced.

Yet one more thing we should know and understand about chickens but don't.
From chick to fully feathered pullets there are either 3 or 4 moults depending on who one consults.
Most chickens undergo a moult of some sort after the summer. Some chickens moult at other times of the year.
Some hens (first full moult usually) have a hard time of it and look dreadful. From what I've seen, as the hen matures the moults become less sever.
Rooster moulting, again from what I've seen can go on throughtout the year and there is no drastic loss of feathers at any point.

The above is a generalization and that's about as good as it gets when it comes to the complexities of how biology functions. We may find that a particular combination of circumstances will trigger a moult but until we know exactly how it all works we won't be able to predict a moult.

I'm not suggesting you have forgotton but chickens are not machines which for some ridululously small percentage error, will do the same thing until it breaks.
In other words, they are predictable. Most creatures behaviour is not easily predicted.

An interesting view from one of my Catalan keepiing friends on why battery hens have such major loss of feathers isn't so much that they get pecked out, more the hen is constantly stressed and undergoes stress moulting. Of course, any feathers that drop out get eaten by the other chickens so even if one wanted to properly investigate this it would be incredibly difficult.