Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ManueB]

well, yes and no. I went on holiday 2nd week of May, and the person looking after the chooks reported that Polka had sat in the corner flower pot the whole time. There was just the one egg that she'd laid after we left and before the broody hormones turned off the laying, and given she'd already done 9 days by the time we got back, I let her continue. Conditions were far from ideal - the pot has no protection from predators, for example, and is dry as a bone (it hasn't rained here for 22 days and counting), but I'm glad for her sake it wasn't all for nothing. I'll need to move them tonight to one of the coops.

A flower child !

I have a question for you @Perris and those of you who let your chickens range. Léa's 10 days old chicks are out and about. We've been having very unusual weather for our mediterranean region : rain at best but often thunderstorms and hail every afternoon. Three days ago the chicks and broody found themselves under crazy thunder and hail, and I had to bring them back in a box to shelter.

Léa obviously think it's more important that they and she should be out foraging, than keeping them dry.

How do you handle this ? I'm not sure what's reasonable. Should I let Léa the broody completely manage it and only bring them back in when it's really "dangerous", or should I consider that at ten days they are too tiny to get wet ? And if so, at what age can they handle getting wet without risking hypothermia?

 

[Perris]

A flower child !

I have a question for you @Perris and those of you who let your chickens range. Léa's 10 days old chicks are out and about. We've been having very unusual weather for our mediterranean region : rain at best but often thunderstorms and hail every afternoon. Three days ago the chicks and broody found themselves under crazy thunder and hail, and I had to bring them back in a box to shelter.

Léa obviously think it's more important that they and she should be out foraging, than keeping them dry.

How do you handle this ? I'm not sure what's reasonable. Should I let Léa the broody completely manage it and only bring them back in when it's really "dangerous", or should I consider that at ten days they are too tiny to get wet ? And if so, at what age can they handle getting wet without risking hypothermia?
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I let my broodies get on with it - though we haven't been challenged with hail and thunder as you currently are. Typically the chicks pile under her multiple times a day, whenever they need somewhere warm and dry, and she herself has chosen somewhere with cover and is not sitting out in the rain. They never shelter in a coop - they do go under it very occasionally though. But broodies rule here; I trust their instincts more than my own when it comes to raising chicks.

 

[ManueB]

I let my broodies get on with it - though we haven't been challenged with hail and thunder as you currently are. Typically the chicks pile under her multiple times a day, whenever they need somewhere warm and dry, and she herself has chosen somewhere with cover and is not sitting out in the rain. They never shelter in a coop - they do go under it very occasionally though. But broodies rule here; I trust their instincts more than my own when it comes to raising chicks.

To be fair I think she was caught by surprise with the hail. We normally only have some three or four times a year, and since she had been brooding and staying in the brooder the month before, she probably didn't realize what was coming.

But still, she lets them wander about in light rain and doesn't really put them under cover unless it begins raining really hard .

 

[TropicalChickies]

A flower child !

I have a question for you @Perris and those of you who let your chickens range. Léa's 10 days old chicks are out and about. We've been having very unusual weather for our mediterranean region : rain at best but often thunderstorms and hail every afternoon. Three days ago the chicks and broody found themselves under crazy thunder and hail, and I had to bring them back in a box to shelter.

Léa obviously think it's more important that they and she should be out foraging, than keeping them dry.

How do you handle this ? I'm not sure what's reasonable. Should I let Léa the broody completely manage it and only bring them back in when it's really "dangerous", or should I consider that at ten days they are too tiny to get wet ? And if so, at what age can they handle getting wet without risking hypothermia?
View attachment 3523942
View attachment 3523943

I'm in the rainforest and our rains are absolutely torrential. The drops are so big and heavy and pounding it actually hurts (a big human like me) to stand out in it. Muddy rivulets form and we have several fast moving drainage trenches to move the water past our structures so we don't get flooded.

So -- even though I firmly believe in the broody/chick dynamic and free ranging, I understand your dilemma. I don't subject them to the hardships presented here for the first 2 weeks of the chicks lives. Storms come up so quickly and we have so much space, they can easily get caught out without shelter. I make temporary screened in enclosures (with mesh small enough that the chicks can't squeeze out) for them until they are big enough to jump over the trenches and navigate the jungle terrain. The enclosure is very roomy, at least 6 sqm and I set it on high ground, but it sits on dirt and grass. I throw them uprooted plant clumps several times a day to "forage." The broody can go right from her nest into the enclosure area and back.

At two weeks old, the broody is starting to get antsy to get out. I let them out for half the day, about six hours for a week. At three weeks, they are on their own, free range for life. Also, when I see the hen out there covering the chicks in the rain, I'll entice them to a more sheltered area by tossing a little boiled rice or feed.

When they look like this, I transition them from the enclosure to free ranging. Btw, both of these "fellas" have red crests now, so looks like I have two more roosters...!

 

[Shadrach]

Monday 29th.
Warm amd sunny. The chickens are making use of the shade box. It's not finished but the idea seems hopefull.
Split day again. Two hours in the afternoon and supper and put in the coop later that evening.

Lima was already fast asleep on the extension roost bar when I went to put them to bed.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Temperature is in the 70s.

The chicks are so cute.

Have a great day!

 

[Shadrach]

Tuesday 30th.
Mostly sunny but in the evening it tried to rain a bit and this morning it looked like some rain fell overnight. The plots need a lot. Hand watering just ins't the same.
Fret came out on to the allotment when I got her off her eggs today. She was off her nest for a good half hour. Maybe she is growing confidence in being able to keep her eggs.
I didn't do much. Mostly felt like closing my eyes and having a nap in the sunshine with the chickens gathered around my feet.

 

[Shadrach]

Would one/some of you look at this article and let me know if all the pictures are showing for you please. BDutch writes that the pictures aren't there for them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flat-pack-coop-takedown-and-appraisal.78406/

 

[sourland]

Would one/some of you look at this article and let me know if all the pictures are showing for you please. BDutch writes that the pictures aren't there for them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flat-pack-coop-takedown-and-appraisal.78406/

Shad, pictures are showing for me. Once again - well done.

 

[RoyalChick]

Would one/some of you look at this article and let me know if all the pictures are showing for you please. BDutch writes that the pictures aren't there for them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flat-pack-coop-takedown-and-appraisal.78406/

On my phone some are showing and some not. I will check in my computer when I next go indoors.