Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

It's very nice of you to suggest that (and Shad to endorse it) but I think chipping in on feed-related threads has more impact. Few articles get found or read.

Both then (?)
One way to throw a bit of weight at the issue is to link the article should you write it on this thread and any other threads you post on. Same applies to thread comments.
I think a lot of people are interested in the topic. DobieLover didn't mess about and went for home made feed very early on.

 

[ManueB]

I add more straw when they bloom. The first stuff breaks down and I get the green.
I have purple skin huckleberry that doesn't get green.

Thank you for the tip, I will try it. The hay and mulch here doesn't break down but maybe it becomes less protective from the sun.

That is something like what has happened at the allotments. No dig is fine for a few raised beds but even those turn to dust eventually. You can reduce the dryness by using cardboard.
Better is to look at the complete cycle. Dig to loosen the soil. Weed and compost what you weed. Put the chickens on the land out of growing season. Put the weeds you dug up back into the soil as compost.
Yup it's a lot of work but life is.

I am still convinced that turning the soil upside down completely disturbs all it's life and structure. I would have gone on to moving it as little as possible if we had normal rain. Our last "normal" season was winter 2020 - we've been lacking water for almost three years now. Just last week we dug 70 cm/27 inches holes to put a cloth drying rack in, and underneath was still dry dust. I hope the next "trends" in organic AG will help us deal with lack of water as so many places have to deal with it. Right now we're downsizing by almost half our garden to reduce water consumption.

I think the folks at the allotments probably did something wrong, like leaving the beds bare for several months after the last crop, or not adding enough organic matter.

Sunny all afternoon. For a while I forgot where I was. The chickens dug along side me. Henry can really shift some dirt when he gets going. I stopped, they stopped. Henry didn't scratch my hand once despite being a couple of millimeters away at times. Carbon spent more time on the spade than she did on the ground. She would wait while I dug the spade in and as soon as the ground started to lift she would be on the top of the mound going through the soil before it was fully out of the ground. Carbon and I have come a long way in just a couple of weeks. Fret still frets, particulalry when I throw the weeds in the barrow. None of the others worry about the flying weeds and earth clods anymore.
I got four hours there today. I bet they'll sleep soundly tonight. They didn't even bother with the extension roost bar and went straight off to roost although Carbon and Fret did come back out for a couple of minutes.
Lima is not herself. Usually her crop is bulging at roost time. Tonight while far from empty it wasn't the usual size and when I got there there was hardly anything in it.
The long range crystal ball weather gazers reckon we're in for another seriously hot spell in the summer. I'm going to have to get cracking on some serious shade. Under the coop stays cool, but I plan on a further cool spot in the run.

I seem to have attracted some visitors recently. One middle aged women who comes out for an early evening walk, one Quaker who says I have a calm and kindly manner who comes to chat about life and two teenage girls from one of the houses that back onto the allotments who come to talk about politics and travel.

The Quaker has volunteered to at least feed the chickens and change their water should I want a couple of days off which is very handy because I have a visit to my elder sisters next month.

The ground is now dry enough for the hens and they bathed today while Henry kept watch.
View attachment 3475202
Second dig on my plot before I plant stuff.

View attachment 3475200
View attachment 3475201View attachment 3475200


A bit of mixed corn as a treat.View attachment 3475198
And so to bed.
View attachment 3475197

What a wonderful day .
Unfortunately it sounds likely Lima laid the lash egg, if her behaviour is off.
It's too bad you can't see how they lay. There's much to be seen about reproductive problems at that moment.

Both then (?)
One way to throw a bit of weight at the issue is to link the article should you write it on this thread and any other threads you post on. Same applies to thread comments.
I think a lot of people are interested in the topic. DobieLover didn't mess about and went for home made feed very early on.

I think articles may not have instant visibility as we discussed recently, but in the long run, they become more visible than old threads, especially if they get a lot of reviews. They act as a reference point.
I would also find it useful, @Perris, and you could also refer to it every time you answer someone on these questions.
If your article is of the same quality of the blind bird one, you could enter it in the contest and win to gain it more visibility .
I am in the process of switching partially to home made also, or rather, for part of my flock. It hasn't been so simple to find supplies, though it's also not simple to get layer feed that suit my criterias (no GMO, mostly grown in France, preferably organic).

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I'm a big fan of the langshans. I'd love to see some flock pictures when you get around to it.

For sure, and I owe tax anyway.

Your collages are very cool, and it's neat to see all these multi-generational flocks. That's a goal for the future, but for now, since I still haven't convinced a hen to go broody, our birds don't have a cool family tree. The 3-year-olds came from a hatchery via our farmers co-op and were raised in a brooder. The 2-year-olds are from a breeder, raised in a brooder.

Here's Pinkie, Eula, and Bebe striking a Charlie's Angels pose. The Langshans get along with everyone.

Head hen Donna saying, "Wait, are these eggs labeled? Okay, I'll hog the favorite nesting box for 48 hours, then bail." That's as broody as it gets around here.

Breakfast rituals: the Langshans will always make sure friends have a clean beak.

Merle Hagbird foraging with Merle's Girls. I do think the hen to his left is his half sibling, as this is the group from a breeder. I also think the hen to his right is the full sister of our rooster Andre (who coops on his own after he and Merle fell out since the hens chose Merle).

We also have 3-week-olds in the brooder, the first birds we've brought home in some time. They're the fastest feathering, best adjusted chicks we've had, whether that's me knowing more what I'm doing, or more likely just a Speckled Sussex thing. Here's hoping they're ladies and that at least one of them is the broody type. If they like Andre, they'll live with him when they're big enough. They're already bossy enough to keep him in line.

I'd way rather the hens do the raising around here, but only Donna and Easter Egger Ashley show interest, which lasts for a max of 2 days.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

@Shadrach I took this video of the egg call with your theory about calling the rooster in mind.

Often in our bigger group, there's a hen who seems possessed by the holy spirit of egg calling and calls for 20 minutes at time. It's most often one of the Brahmas (tip-top of the pecking order), but if they don't step up, a lower-ranked bird might.

A rooster might call back or come by, but often the announcer has no intention of laying at that time, so she's not calling him for a personal escort, nor is she loudly complaining that someone's in her nesting box (that's a different sound).

In fact, this usually happens when several hens are sitting at the same time in the big coop, and I've begun to think the sound is meant to be intimidating or to establish territory. Maybe a, "There are big, loud dinosaurs in here. Don't come in here!" Like the announcer is some kind of security guard.

Not sure how completely this theory tracks, but it's been percolating in my head for a while, so I thought I'd share it here.

 

[Perris]

@Shadrach I took this video of the egg call with your theory about calling the rooster in mind.

Often in our bigger group, there's a hen who seems possessed by the holy spirit of egg calling and calls for 20 minutes at time. It's most often one of the Brahmas (tip-top of the pecking order), but if they don't step up, a lower-ranked bird might.

A rooster might call back or come by, but often the announcer has no intention of laying at that time, so she's not calling him for a personal escort, nor is she loudly complaining that someone's in her nesting box (that's a different sound).

In fact, this usually happens when several hens are sitting at the same time in the big coop, and I've begun to think the sound is meant to be intimidating or to establish territory. Maybe a, "There are big, loud dinosaurs in here. Don't come in here!" Like the announcer is some kind of security guard.

Not sure how completely this theory tracks, but it's been percolating in my head for a while, so I thought I'd share it here.

I've wondered about this sort of thing too. I currently put it down to false pretences, a sort of female version of some roos' false pretences over non-existent tasty tid-bits, and they get ignored because they've got themselves a reputation... I look forward to Shad's clarification

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach I took this video of the egg call with your theory about calling the rooster in mind.

Often in our bigger group, there's a hen who seems possessed by the holy spirit of egg calling and calls for 20 minutes at time. It's most often one of the Brahmas (tip-top of the pecking order), but if they don't step up, a lower-ranked bird might.

A rooster might call back or come by, but often the announcer has no intention of laying at that time, so she's not calling him for a personal escort, nor is she loudly complaining that someone's in her nesting box (that's a different sound).

In fact, this usually happens when several hens are sitting at the same time in the big coop, and I've begun to think the sound is meant to be intimidating or to establish territory. Maybe a, "There are big, loud dinosaurs in here. Don't come in here!" Like the announcer is some kind of security guard.

Not sure how completely this theory tracks, but it's been percolating in my head for a while, so I thought I'd share it here.

Show me your chicken keeping arrangements, include the run, the total area of the land they have access to, the number of roosters you have and the number of nest sites.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Temperature is in the 70s.

Have a great day!

 

[janiedoe]

For sure, and I owe tax anyway.

Your collages are very cool, and it's neat to see all these multi-generational flocks. That's a goal for the future, but for now, since I still haven't convinced a hen to go broody, our birds don't have a cool family tree. The 3-year-olds came from a hatchery via our farmers co-op and were raised in a brooder. The 2-year-olds are from a breeder, raised in a brooder.

Here's Pinkie, Eula, and Bebe striking a Charlie's Angels pose. The Langshans get along with everyone.
View attachment 3475704

Head hen Donna saying, "Wait, are these eggs labeled? Okay, I'll hog the favorite nesting box for 48 hours, then bail." That's as broody as it gets around here.
View attachment 3475703

Breakfast rituals: the Langshans will always make sure friends have a clean beak.

Merle Hagbird foraging with Merle's Girls. I do think the hen to his left is his half sibling, as this is the group from a breeder. I also think the hen to his right is the full sister of our rooster Andre (who coops on his own after he and Merle fell out since the hens chose Merle).
View attachment 3475702

We also have 3-week-olds in the brooder, the first birds we've brought home in some time. They're the fastest feathering, best adjusted chicks we've had, whether that's me knowing more what I'm doing, or more likely just a Speckled Sussex thing. Here's hoping they're ladies and that at least one of them is the broody type. If they like Andre, they'll live with him when they're big enough. They're already bossy enough to keep him in line.

I'd way rather the hens do the raising around here, but only Donna and Easter Egger Ashley show interest, which lasts for a max of 2 days.

The first picture looks like it could have been taken here. I have a buff brahma that hangs with two of my black langshans.
You have have gorgeous birds!

 

[Molpet]

Last year I helped a single friend plant her potatoes and she uses a different tool, a hoe with a very long handle meant for earthing up (not sure what it's called, tool on the right below), to simply draw a line, then put the potatoes in, and cover them by hand. It's much, much less tiring for the back.

I like that tool. I haven't seen one like that.

 

[Molpet]

Thank you for explaining, I didn't see it this way at all. You seem to have given much thought to the ethical aspect ! I suppose when you do your own dispatching you can't escape it.

One of the reasons I got chickens because I didn't like how they were raised.
I was getting at the farmers market but I wanted chickens to live like chickens and CX don't.