Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I think that's wonderful. I do hope at least one is fertile, for the sake of all the flock as well as her, whose instincts are attuned to natural family groups, not baby (broilers) or single sex young female (layers) camps, which is what so many are limited to today.

Does the small coop need much work?

Not really no. It needs a new roof, which I have the wood for but just haven't got around to fitting and a new run.

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach, please share you’re plans for the small coop/extra space?

I don't really do plans. I tend to grab a few tools and some materials, make something, and then wish I had made a plan.
I'll post some pictures as I progress.

 

[Nomadicus]

This has always been a problem with most breeds in the USA and Australia. Importing new stock is expensive and complicated. One can only breed so many generations down before new blood is needed. Then there is the circumstances they are kept in. Should one have gone for a free range for example and it was hatched in an incubator and kept in a broody coop and then run, all that learned behaviour that in better keeping circumstances would have been presereved gets lost.

I am fortunate in being able to free range most days. Some days then do stay in an oversized house not a simple coop due to violent weather or when we must be out of town for such as major medical events which are few. I planted clover last fall in the grass that they roam. As for the cost that we has the consumer pays for new blood it is high. Right now from a most reputable breeder Light Sussex are $29 for a day old chick. One infrastructure permits I plan on starting with 12.

 

[RoyalChick]

Save some artemesia for your beans

I know - Babs is now eating them at a good clip so I best get a move on!
Maybe I will do beans with Artemisia later this week - any special tips or just cook 'em all together?
I also make a bean salad which I eat cold - I usually chop some parsley into it, maybe I will try the Artemisia instead.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes, I’m curious how Lima will be doing too. Hopefully hatching a few chicks and not just one. Because it’s nice to have siblings.
@Shadrach, please share you’re plans for the small coop/extra space?

Ini mini had her birthday last week She is 9 now.View attachment 3515615

Congratulations Ini mini - that is a good age, you deserve some treats!

 

[GregnLety]

I know - Babs is now eating them at a good clip so I best get a move on!
Maybe I will do beans with Artemisia later this week - any special tips or just cook 'em all together?
I also make a bean salad which I eat cold - I usually chop some parsley into it, maybe I will try the Artemisia instead.

Lety gathers the artemesia a few days prior to cooking the beans and lets it dry on the counter. Then adds the dried leaves and stems to the beans before cooking. Not sure why she adds the stems.

 

[RoyalChick]

Lety gathers the artemesia a few days prior to cooking the beans and lets it dry on the counter. Then adds the dried leaves and stems to the beans before cooking. Not sure why she adds the stems.

Good to know. If Babs will allow me I will harvest a bunch today for use later in the week.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good afternoon one and all!

Temperature is in the 70s.

The comments were great reading.

Have a great day!

 

[Shadrach]

Five hours today. A couple of people came by to water their plots; otherwise we had the place to ourselves. Warm and dry but not a lot of sunshine. It looks like Lima managed to expell another lash egg of sorts. I cut it open, it wasn't poop but it wasn't like the other lash eggs. I'm hoping that as long as she can get the lash eggs out she'll have a more gradual decline than if they got stuck.
The deposit.

Lima bathing. Always a good sign.

Relaxing in the breeze. It's hot in the run. The bare ground gets warmer than a patch of sheltered soil. The only deep shade at the moment is under the coop.

Fret is still broody. One donation from Ella which I removed. She's eating and drinking when I get her off the nest but not much and she wants a decent dust bath but won't go far enough from the coop to find a good patch.

The structure on the right is going to be a shade box. That's the small coop in front.

 

[Perris]

you'll have a proper little hamlet of chicken-buildings there soon