Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I know there are feral groups of chickens in the UK.
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/202...ers-reach-unsustainable-level-in-norfolk-town

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/happy-ending-feral-chickens-living-8148921

My old friend in Hertfordshire has found a small group not far from his home, wher he keeps free range chicken. A young rooster/cockerel has been around courting my friends hens much to the incumbant rooster irritation.
Once the auto door on the allotment chickens is sorted I hope to get up to Hertfordshire to get alook at these chickens before some idiot at the local town hall declares them a pest.

 

[Perris]

I know there are feral groups of chickens in the UK.
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/202...ers-reach-unsustainable-level-in-norfolk-town

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/happy-ending-feral-chickens-living-8148921

My old friend in Hertfordshire has found a small group not far from his home, wher he keeps free range chicken. A young rooster/cockerel has been around courting my friends hens much to the incumbant rooster irritation.
Once the auto door on the allotment chickens is sorted I hope to get up to Hertfordshire to get alook at these chickens before some idiot at the local town hall declares them a pest.

Some backyard keepers preferred to set their birds free than see them slaughtered under current rules to try to stamp out AI. Since Norfolk has been one of the worst hit areas in the UK for AI, I'm not surprised that's the location of such a large feral flock.

I am also delighted to see that, despite living in a heavily AI infected area, these chickens have managed to thrive not only without the so-called protection required by AI rules, but also without all the things one is told are essential for chicken health and wellbeing and that need to be purchased in a shop

Edited to add: I just looked it up, and that jnc of the M6 near Stoke on Trent also borders one of the most densely chicken-farm populated parts of the country too. Those places have gone into repeated AI lockdowns, with all captive birds within 3 miles of an outbreak (at a poultry farm, almost invariably) slaughtered 'as a precaution'.

 

[Perris]

belated happy birthday Shad

 

[ManueB]

The marker doesn’t come off even when wet. It was a very large blue egg, and none of the eggs I collected the last few days are even close to that size & color. I’m really glad the 3 legbar cross eggs are still in there…and one other smaller blue eggs…it’s just the weirdest thing! I checked again this morning, and nothing.

Some time ago I had a strange egg disappearance. I used to leave two eggs in nests in a barn where my chickens lay, and both disappeared overnight. It couldn't have been the chickens, or a snake at this time of year. I asked on By bob's thread and the only eventually possiblity was a rat, though we don't see any around here.

Possibly a snake ate it but they rarely stop at one egg. I caught one once that had eaten four eggs. I opened him up and saved 2 eggs. 1 of those 2 hatched out my favorite mama hen Poofy jr.

What a birth story . But really I think you should have given her a more dignified name- I mean, hatching from an egg that survived being swallowed by a snake sounds like a legend or roman mythology, not like a "Poofy Jr" !

Just plain horrid but bearable because it was above 10 C. They got a few minutes out but mostly stayed under the coop extension. My boots have started to leak.Cleaned out and fed and kept company on the roost bar as the rain tipped down. Seriously unimpressed with the weather.
View attachment 3450711View attachment 3450712View attachment 3450710View attachment 3450709

It was my birthday at the begining of the month and my eldest andher husband bought a couple of tickets to a whiskey tasting evening. me and my eldest's husband went. I'm about a third of a bottle of scotch under the weather. My eldest husband is layed out in the back of the car last time I saw him. We had a good night. He's a lovely chap. Along with the whiskey was a blues band. The event was on one of the many barges now turned into venues at the Bristol docks. I took a few picture but I was too drunk to tell what they came out like.
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Great idea from your daughter! I hope you both made if safe home and are not feeling as hangover as the photos make it seem. And happy birthday retrospectively,
Cocorico!

 

[BDutch]

Yesterday morning when I went into the coop I noticed a folded up wire dog crate bumping up against the wall. I thought for sure I had a rat, so I grabbed a digging fork, pulled the crate away and found Cheryl with a hidden stash of eggs!View attachment 3450172

What did you do with Cheryl and her stash?

No snakes around me except tiny garden snakes, and my coop is elevated and there’s snow on the ground. I am guessing it somehow got pushed out & buried in the shavings, and I’ll find it sometime much later. So very odd, though!

This is what happens with my pingpong bals and other fake eggs quite often.

belated happy birthday Shad

Likewise! Belated congrats Shad!

Just plain horrid but bearable because it was above 10 C. They got a few minutes out but mostly stayed under the coop extension. My boots have started to leak.Cleaned out and fed and kept company on the roost bar as the rain tipped down. Seriously unimpressed with the weather.
View attachment 3450711View attachment 3450712View attachment 3450710View attachment 3450709

It was my birthday at the begining of the month and my eldest andher husband bought a couple of tickets to a whiskey tasting evening. me and my eldest's husband went. I'm about a third of a bottle of scotch under the weather. My eldest husband is layed out in the back of the car last time I saw him. We had a good night. He's a lovely chap. Along with the whiskey was a blues band. The event was on one of the many barges now turned into venues at the Bristol docks. I took a few picture but I was too drunk to tell what they came out like.
View attachment 3450713View attachment 3450714View attachment 3450719

The weather at the other side of the canal has been dreadfully too with a few hours of warmth and sunshine in between.

When I came home from the mill, with 10 kg of laying pellets in the bikes pannier, I got both wet and cold. They have a new supplier for chicken feed which is cheaper and tastier than the organic feed in the nearby 'farmers / gardeners / pet store'. The chicken feed is a strange thing in the mill. They only sell the regular 3 types of organic + chick feed in spring. No other animal feed at all.

I love this mill. It’s really a wonderful National trust. It has all kind of supplies for home bakeries and makes different types of meal for local bakers who make organic bread.

I suppose you had a great evening Shadrach, even if you don’t remember all of it. The picture is there for proof. .

Strange that so many English people drink so much that they don’t even remember parts of it the next day.
In Europe the English are ‘famous’ for that. Especially in some Holliday places/resorts and of course in Amsterdam. It’s a thing many people in Amsterdam don’t like with so many bachelors parties being held there. The city started a campaign to keep away these groups who come to Amsterdam to get drunk, stoned, hyper or like to experience other mind ****ing trips.

Personally I don't understand why so many partying adults get so very drunk. Because getting completely drunk is really bad for your brain cells . In the Netherlands you mostly see this phenomena with people coming of age/until their early/mid twenties. And way less in public after the government banned using alcohol for all people under 18, about 10 years ago. People now realize more than before that alcohol is something you can enjoy, but you shouldn't take it to extremes for your own good.

Tax for not talking mainly about chickens. Janice was missing. Probably laying an egg.

 

[BDutch]

Some backyard keepers preferred to set their birds free than see them slaughtered under current rules to try to stamp out AI. Since Norfolk has been one of the worst hit areas in the UK for AI, I'm not surprised that's the location of such a large feral flock.

I am also delighted to see that, despite living in a heavily AI infected area, these chickens have managed to thrive not only without the so-called protection required by AI rules, but also without all the things one is told are essential for chicken health and wellbeing and that need to be purchased in a shop

Edited to add: I just looked it up, and that jnc of the M6 near Stoke on Trent also borders one of the most densely chicken-farm populated parts of the country too. Those places have gone into repeated AI lockdowns, with all captive birds within 3 miles of an outbreak (at a poultry farm, almost invariably) slaughtered 'as a precaution'.

Do people / governments in England still believe the HpAI will disappear in summer?
In the Netherlands everyone knows it doesn’t. It has been spread all over and affected all kind of birds. Migratory birds and birds that stay.
Translated from our governmental health care institute: https://www.rivm.nl/aviare-influenza :
In any case susceptible are gallinaceous (chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peacocks) and waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans). Waders, beach birds, ratites (ostriches, rhea, emus), birds of prey, corvids and starlings are also known to be susceptible to bird flu.

But certainly good to read that wild birds and free range poultry seem to overcome the disease if they don’t live in a dense community.

 

[GregnLety]

Some time ago I had a strange egg disappearance. I used to leave two eggs in nests in a barn where my chickens lay, and both disappeared overnight. It couldn't have been the chickens, or a snake at this time of year. I asked on By bob's thread and the only eventually possiblity was a rat, though we don't see any around here.

What a birth story . But really I think you should have given her a more dignified name- I mean, hatching from an egg that survived being swallowed by a snake sounds like a legend or roman mythology, not like a "Poofy Jr" !

Great idea from your daughter! I hope you both made if safe home and are not feeling as hangover as the photos make it seem. And happy birthday retrospectively,
Cocorico!
View attachment 3451184

I named her after her mom Poofy because she looked so much like her mom. Demon Mom might have been a better name because she's ferocious in protecting her chicks.

 

[GregnLety]

Cholo, our Lavender orpington rooster and Red our EE rooster had another go yesterday. Luckily I was nearby and broke up the scrap. Lety had left the drop down window in Red's coop open so when Cholo went walking by the fight was on. These two really hate each other. In a recent scrap Cholo bloodied our Cochin rooster Stupid but apparently stopped short of killing him. He would kill Red given the opportunity. He almost succeeded last summer. Apparently Cholo hasn't forgotten that Red nearly killed him when he was a young Cockrell.

 

[Sequel]

What did you do with Cheryl and her stash?

This is what happens with my pingpong bals and other fake eggs quite often.


Likewise! Belated congrats Shad!


The weather at the other side of the canal has been dreadfully too with a few hours of warmth and sunshine in between.

When I came home from the mill, with 10 kg of laying pellets in the bikes pannier, I got both wet and cold. They have a new supplier for chicken feed which is cheaper and tastier than the organic feed in the nearby 'farmers / gardeners / pet store'. The chicken feed is a strange thing in the mill. They only sell the regular 3 types of organic + chick feed in spring. No other animal feed at all.

I love this mill. It’s really a wonderful National trust. It has all kind of supplies for home bakeries and makes different types of meal for local bakers who make organic bread.

I suppose you had a great evening Shadrach, even if you don’t remember all of it. The picture is there for proof. .

Strange that so many English people drink so much that they don’t even remember parts of it the next day.
In Europe the English are ‘famous’ for that. Especially in some Holliday places/resorts and of course in Amsterdam. It’s a thing many people in Amsterdam don’t like with so many bachelors parties being held there. The city started a campaign to keep away these groups who come to Amsterdam to get drunk, stoned, hyper or like to experience other mind ****ing trips.

Personally I don't understand why so many partying adults get so very drunk. Because getting completely drunk is really bad for your brain cells . In the Netherlands you mostly see this phenomena with people coming of age/until their early/mid twenties. And way less in public after the government banned using alcohol for all people under 18, about 10 years ago. People now realize more than before that alcohol is something you can enjoy, but you shouldn't take it to extremes for your own good.
View attachment 3451211
Tax for not talking mainly about chickens. Janice was missing. Probably laying an egg.

Cheryl isn’t really broody, she was just being a miss smarty pants! The eggs were cold so I put them in the fridge in a separate carton. I will scramble those for chicken treats.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning to the X Batts. We have the rain back, First good rain of the year.
I still want to say I am staying in, baking a cake.