Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

Pinecone is still trying to regrow feathers.

 

[Perris]

Question: Is the fermentation aerobic or anaerobic? Do your jars have those fancy one way valve tops that let fermenting gasses out but not air in? Or do you just "burp" your jars?

aerobic. The kilner jar lids are just resting on top (so slightly ajar, given the design) which lets the local microbes float in and the gases out.

Dry goods shops for humans in Ecuador are well stocked with all kinds of pulses, seeds, and grains.

Dry goods in 500g or 1kg in supermarkets were how I did most of my experimenting with peas and beans and suchlike. They're a handy quantity for such purpose, and are food grade, so if the chickens don't like them, we can eat them I discovered pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan, not true peas of the sativa family, but very tasty and nutritious nevertheless), black beans (ditto) and cow peas that way, so our family eats better now too .

I also plan to monitor their health closely, record observations, and write a "tropical chicken feed" version of your article after I feel enough time has passed that these observations are worth something (at least a year).

Hooray! I look forward to it.

how many chickens you have and their ages?

Currently 20, from 2 weeks old to 6 and all ages in between: 15 hens/ pullets, 4 roos/ cockerels and 1 chick. That's about the carrying capacity for forage and coop space here. Every year I lose one or more, and every year we have some chicks, and it balances more or less.

 

[Molpet]

Good grief, how do I report this? I mean the rainforest not the online shopping behemoth.

It's auto linked because they are a sponsor like TSC
You can put spaces or periods a.m.a.z.o.n

 

[TropicalChickies]

It's auto linked because they are a sponsor like TSC
You can put spaces or periods a.m.a.z.o.n

Ah, ok. Well I guess someone has to sponsor all this chit chat

 

[BDutch]

It's been simmering in the background for some time. If you go for clickbait headlines they'l read "eat meat and fish and live longer." I can see this causing a bit of a dilemma for the go vegan movement.
More to the point, what implications might this have for commercial chicken feed? Is commercial feed in fact reducing the chickens lifespan given they are by nature omniverous creatures?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65810138

A reaction before reading comments in this thread.
People nowadays believe what they want yo believe. Scientific proof is bent more often as it used to, with our connection to every group of people we like to agree on. Influencers and telegram groups have taken over the (slightly more) thrust worthy news channels in developed countries with freedom of speech.

Imo. The article is no more than another wrinkle in the water as we say in NL.

More opinion: Eating eggs probably gives enough sulfur boosts. Only if you skip all animal product in your diet, you / chickens need some supplements. The mills/feed factories, simply put al necessary supplements in the chick and laying feed.

And we or our chickens certainly don’t need meat from abused and poisoned animals coming from factory farming. Neither from fish in basins that are poured over with anti biotics.

For me there is no dilemma: stop eating products from large scale factory farming if possible. Because its not only unhealthy, you also have a part in animal abuse and the increase of the worlds greenhouse gasses. If you eat balanced vegetarian, or a small piece of the good meat 2 or 3 times a week you really don’t need any supplements to stay healthy. In general people eat too little vegetables and too much meat.

I have another not nice to now news : restaurants in NL often sell beefsteak from Brazil nowadays. Its free from regulations (tearing down even more rainforests) and way cheaper than the Dutch beef in the supermarkets.

 

[TropicalChickies]

A reaction before reading comments in this thread.
People nowadays believe what they want yo believe. Scientific proof is bent more often as it used to, with our connection to every group of people we like to agree on. Influencers and telegram groups have taken over the (slightly more) thrust worthy news channels in developed countries with freedom of speech.

Imo. The article is no more than another wrinkle in the water as we say in NL.

More opinion: Eating eggs probably gives enough sulfur boosts. Only if you skip all animal product in your diet, you / chickens need some supplements. The mills/feed factories, simply put al necessary supplements in the chick and laying feed.

And we or our chickens certainly don’t need meat from abused and poisoned animals coming from factory farming. Neither from fish in basins that are poured over with anti biotics.

For me there is no dilemma: stop eating products from large scale factory farming if possible. Because its not only unhealthy, you also have a part in animal abuse and the increase of the worlds greenhouse gasses. If you eat balanced vegetarian, or a small piece of the good meat 2 or 3 times a week you really don’t need any supplements to stay healthy. In general people eat too little vegetables and too much meat.

I have another not nice to now news : restaurants in NL often sell beefsteak from Brazil nowadays. Its free from regulations (tearing down even more rainforests) and way cheaper than the Dutch beef in the supermarkets.

The deforestation in Brazil is about a lot more than trees and animals. The indigenous people who live in the threatened rainforests are some of the best environmental stewards on the planet. Even the FAO and mainstream media is catching on. But they are murdered wholesale for standing "in the way of development." Most deaths go un investigated an unsolved. There's an outright war on these people and buying Brazilian beef funds it.

 

[BDutch]

Also of great interest to me is the Nestera Recycled Plastic Coop competition. It's had some interesting responses. Is this the begining of the end for the look what hubby built for me oversized impracticle coops that BYC have put a lot of effort into promoting?

A very smart move by Nestera in my opinion to sponser and hold such a competition here and expand into the USA, a move I will be supportive of.
There's a chance here for those of us who have already gone over to the dark side and have portable recycled plastic coops (yes I know the portable bit with my coop is a bit of an exaggeration ) to promote the idea and with that, the benefits of multi coop chicken keeping.
Yep I know there will be a lot of despondent American men who will now have to find other ways to demonstrate their marital worth and spend more time indoors with the missus.

Most of all though, will we see an outbreak of how I modified my plastic coop articles such as I am about to present.

Perhaps the next air quality disaster will be from people burning their wooden coops.

I think these small coops are only okay for broodies in spring in many parts of the US. Hot summers, and very cold winters with long periods with snow.

A small coop without the possibility to go out during the day is not something you want for your chickens.
These coops are designed for the UK.

 

[TropicalChickies]

aerobic. The kilner jar lids are just resting on top (so slightly ajar, given the design) which lets the local microbes float in and the gases out.

Dry goods in 500g or 1kg in supermarkets were how I did most of my experimenting with peas and beans and suchlike. They're a handy quantity for such purpose, and are food grade, so if the chickens don't like them, we can eat them I discovered pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan, not true peas of the sativa family, but very tasty and nutritious nevertheless), black beans (ditto) and cow peas that way, so our family eats better now too .

Hooray! I look forward to it.

Currently 20, from 2 weeks old to 6 and all ages in between: 15 hens/ pullets, 4 roos/ cockerels and 1 chick. That's about the carrying capacity for forage and coop space here. Every year I lose one or more, and every year we have some chicks, and it balances more or less.

Great, thanks for the response!

 

[no fly zone]

The deforestation in Brazil is about a lot more than trees and animals. The indigenous people who live in the threatened rainforests are some of the best environmental stewards on the planet. Even the FAO and mainstream media is catching on. But they are murdered wholesale for standing "in the way of development." Most deaths go un investigated an unsolved. There's an outright war on these people and buying Brazilian beef funds it.

I remember reading about the president of brazil outright saying they had to go.

 

[BDutch]

I agree it is a good move on their part and I hope people who buy over-priced flimsy wood pre-fab coops will now buy recycled plastic coops.
Personally however, I like my oversized and not at all impractical coop because I can walk around in it. I often sit in there and read a book - it is sort of a second home for me.
You can buy dimensional lumber made from the same sort of recycled plastic Nestera are using. It is not cheap, and it is much heavier than real wood building lumber, but it is good stuff and will certainly outlive me.
I think we can call my coop a hybrid of wood and recycled plastic.

Don't overestimate the lifespan of plastic. I have seen too many broken and dumped outdoor plastic to believe in its quality. The first generation plastic window frames is often so cracked and unrepairable that people need to renew them completely. Where a wooden window frame often can be repaired with just one piece of wood at the bottom.

That the factory dares to give such a long warranty has to do with people not being able to proof anything after 5 years. And certainly not anymore after 25 years.

Example: My son had a rucksack with 25 years or lifetime warranty and had it repaired after 4 years. The people in the shop were flabbergasted I still had the receipt. They wouldn’t repair without a receipt.

I do expect that these recycled coops are way better quality as the flimsy prefabs, build with thin and cheap wood, and often have a paper roof. The recycled plastic coops probably last longer as most people keep chickens in a small coop.