Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

Fermenting commercial feed doesn't do a lot, but ferementing whole grains is apparently a different matter.
I'm searching for a supply of mixed whole grains now.

I filled the jar with whole grains and seeds (organic mixed grains from the mill) and some raw left overs, cut to small pieces: organic potatoes peels, carrot pieces, broccoli, and a slice of 2 day old bread. Added water and s little yoghurt. Put it on a warm spot.
Only wondered if it matters if the jar is in a room with lots of daylight or is it better to keep it in a dark closet. @Perris ?

 

[BDutch]

This charming lad is Spud. He is 3rd on the rooster pecking ladder, but he is definitely the biggest mamma's boy. He always sits on the roost next to me and loves to have his picture taken. Spud patrols the perimeter always on guard duty or advanced lookout, While Blue and Goldie look after the girls.

Do you like to roost with the chickens.

Btw: Great intro and pictures.

 

[Perris]

I filled the jar with whole grains and seeds (organic mixed grains from the mill) and some raw left overs, cut to small pieces: organic potatoes peels, carrot pieces, broccoli, and a slice of 2 day old bread. Added water and s little yoghurt. Put it on a warm spot.
Only wondered if it matters if the jar is in a room with lots of daylight or is it better to keep it in a dark closet. @Perris ?

I don't add any veg and bread until I serve (though fermented veg is popular the world over), so please let me know how that goes! (Personally I don't add raw potato, and think I wouldn't unless I planned on doing a full 3-4 day ferment rather than a light 1-2 day one.) My boiler is in a cupboard with an open top (for boiler ventilation) so pretty dark. I haven't tried it in the light. And remember not to tighten the lid - the gases need to escape! A kilner jar can stand the pressure but it's easier just to rest it rather than fix it closed.

 

[BDutch]

I don't add any veg and bread until I serve (though fermented veg is popular the world over), so please let me know how that goes! (Personally I don't add raw potato, and think I wouldn't unless I planned on doing a full 3-4 day ferment rather than a light 1-2 day one.) My boiler is in a cupboard with an open top (for boiler ventilation) so pretty dark. I haven't tried it in the light. And remember not to tighten the lid - the gases need to escape! A kilner jar can stand the pressure but it's easier just to rest it rather than fix it closed.

Thanks Perris, I will leave the jar in the dark for 3 days. I laid the lid on top, didn’t close it.

The neigbours parents always give raw potato peels to their chickens. They eat it well. Mine only eat a little of it wenn its cut into very small pieces. And I only give organic peels.

I’d love to buy a machine to cut things like carrots and all kind of veggies/ peels into tiny pieces. Has anyone a tip/good idea to buy one? I used the chopper from this set once. But I’m afraid the motor is to weak to survive if I use it for this purpose more often.

 

[BDutch]

Taxes.

Opening the run a bit.
After 1 minute

After 3 minutes

After 5 minutes

After 20 minutes and two chick break outs , they started to return by themselves. Janice got angry to me again saving her chicks.

 

[ManueB]

we have a new dom: Killay rules the roost now, and they managed the succession without drawing blood or inflicting any real damage as far as I can see.
Hopefully Chirk will slip into his senior sub role as easily as did his dad before him.
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Could you expand a bit on what it means in your setting when one roo takes over dominance? Does that mean the senior who gave up on dominance can't pick which hen he mates, or which coop he will roost in ? Does he stay with the junior roosters, or outside the flock, or still with everyone?

Dry and sunny after a dull and cloudy start to the day. Quiet at the allotments. Four hours today.
Lima had her best day for a while today. It wasn't quite so warm at about 19C with a lovely cool breeze. She spent 15 minutes or so under my chair when they first got out on to the allotments and then went off foraging with Henry keeping a close eye on her.
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Fret was off her nest when I opened them up and went straight out for a bit of fruit picking and bug hunting. She seems a lot more confident about what she is doing regarding the sitting and spent half an hour out today.
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They are using the shade box. It's almost finished. If it works should it get hot then I'll build something better looking and a bit stronger.
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Just needed to put Henry on the coop ramp this evening and the hens made their own way in after; tired of being bundled onto the ramp I guess.
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Glad to know Lima had a good day and that the shade box seems to be doing the job. Did you try lying down under it. or measuring the temperature?

It just dawned on me to ask : does your current arrangements mean C. has nothing to do with the chickens anymore or do they still feed them some mornings ?

I have a few experimental mature CXR birds that dust bathe every chance they get. They are just over 7 months old instead of 7 weeks. 8 hens laid 7 eggs today. They free range and eat green. One even wanders off and tries to hide her eggs. If she goes broody she will get fake eggs and then some live chicks. She would break real eggs with all of her weight. They are the most lovable of all my hens.

It's not the first time I've seen this mentioned. But I wonder how long these chickens can live ? Did yours have a different diet from the start than the ones that get processed, or did you decide lately to keep them alive ? I know very little about them but I kind of had the idea that some of the CX weren't even able to walk when they reached the seven weeks.

Thanks Perris, I will leave the jar in the dark for 3 days. I laid the lid on top, didn’t close it.

The neigbours parents always give raw potato peels to their chickens. They eat it well. Mine only eat a little of it wenn its cut into very small pieces. And I only give organic peels.

I’d love to buy a machine to cut things like carrots and all kind of veggies/ peels into tiny pieces. Has anyone a tip/good idea to buy one? I used the chopper from this set once. But I’m afraid the motor is to weak to survive if I use it for this purpose more often.
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I have a cheap electric grater / cutter, I think it's my only electric kitchen appliances with the hand blender. I can't recommend it though precisely for the reason you mention.
Great shot at getting those chicks outside . I know what you mean about Janice thinking she knows best ! I've been trying hard to think of it from Léa the broody's view point. That human thinks she knows better about raising my kids than I do ? She's not even able to tell that there won't be a storm in the next hour !

 

[Nomadicus]

It's not the first time I've seen this mentioned. But I wonder how long these chickens can live ? Did yours have a different diet from the start than the ones that get processed, or did you decide lately to keep them alive ? I know very little about them but I kind of had the idea that some of the CX weren't even able to walk when they reached the seven week

I had to carefully control the feed when they were very young. I have grown roosters that can actually run. I did learn that you must not let roosters run with the hens. They will actually hurt the hens trying to breed. Here's a short video of the result of breeding Bresse roosters to Cornish Rock Cross hens. This is what I am working on too. The goal is to produce a healthier meat type bird that has big breasts, grow fast, and can breed naturally.

 

[Perris]

Could you expand a bit on what it means in your setting when one roo takes over dominance? Does that mean the senior who gave up on dominance can't pick which hen he mates, or which coop he will roost in ? Does he stay with the junior roosters, or outside the flock, or still with everyone?

it's only happened once before, in 2020, and the conditions were very different: Sven, the then-dom, was badly wounded by a fox, so Chirk, barely 1 yr old, just had to take over the role, and when he recovered, Sven just accepted his new role as sub as Chirk wasn't prepared to give it up again.

In terms of how dominance is established and maintained here, up till now it's boiled down to the subs running away from the dom as and when the dom can be bothered to chase them (which is very infrequently, especially as the sub birds don't challenge the dom). He does it now and then just to remind everyone who's boss I think. There's no fences so no potential traps and they all know a myriad routes through the undergrowth.

There's no possessiveness over any of the hens - the hens decide who they want to mate with, usually (the odd head grab does occur) - and last year's clutch proved Venka was mating with both Chirk and Phoenix - but sometimes one or another roo will interrupt another's mating attempts. In almost all cases the worst case scenario is a chase until they're exhausted. Killay has been testing Chirk for months, provoking him and then running just far and just fast enough to avoid being caught, almost skipping aside, reminding me of football players dodging each other's attempted tackles. Yesterday he stopped running, and they were both head down and flared hackles on and off for a while. Chirk was jumping and lunging with feet first, but Killay was dodging and Chirk usually landed on his back. It didn't take long before he was worn out (he is 4), and then it was Killay chasing Chirk, and it was all over bar the shouting.

At roost time Chirk tried to sneak into one of the medium coops, but Killay saw it of course, and when Killay approached the ramp, it was obvious from Chirk's voice and the shavings being expelled that he wouldn't be kicked out without a fight; Killay just walked away.

I shut the coop door to avoid any further high emotion until Killay had gone to roost, then reopened it, and a couple of the hens that were not enthusiastic about roosting (posted photo of them on high bar last night) chose to roost with Chirk (they could have gone to another coop).

This morning he didn't come out for breakfast till everyone else had moved on, and I guess he'll be spending the days on his own or with the other older members (both Maria and Venka sought him out yesterday afternoon) till the dust settles. And then we'll have to wait and see. Sven remained with the flock for 3 of his 4 years as sub. Amadeo and Fforest are with the flock, no issues, and as long as they don't challenge Killay, I expect it to remain that way for them. Phoenix sired quite a few of the current flock; being sub just means they don't get first dibs at food time and need to move on if the dom comes along, it doesn't mean they live unfulfilled lives.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

I have this problem with my neighbor mowing my grass. I keep telling him to stay on his side but he has to mow 20 ft or more. He's 12 yrs or so older than me but still working..... I have gone ballistic on him and he'll remember for a couple years. Just talked with him a month ago. I compromised that mowing around the trees on the property line was ok....of course 2 wks later he mowed up against the poultry netting and another 20ft farther in a section I was leaving for pasture rotation.
I'm grateful he didn't hit the e net. He has mowed up a couple hundred ft of water hose, he mows about an inch scalping the dirt....he also backed into a solar light I had in a flower bed on the opposite side of the sidewalk... he's also chipped the sidewalk where it joints the driveway.....oh I could rant for pages about mowing issues.lol
The good thing about him is he doesn't complain about my birds, doesn't have kids, doesn't have parties.
So outside of the mowing stuff he's a great neighbor

My neighbors son mowed their grass and mowed into my yard.

Had ask him to only mow his grass, but he didn't do that.

I finally had to put a fence around the backyard.

I understand how you feel.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Poor Mr. Bumble apparently had a heart attack and died today.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Have you moved north yet?