Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[LTAY1946]

Tsk tsk. Whasamatterwivya taxmen don't care what the weather is like.

Yes but the waterproof camera was sold... Sure miss it. I do have a planned shot that I want to make as I turn some out of the coop of a morning as soon as I can. Maybe in the morning. I like to do birds in flight...

 

[TropicalChickies]

frizzles are awesome!

Frizzle selfie! Dusty is a cuddler. Even when broody. Whenever I take her away from her "nest" so she can eat and dust bathe, she puts her beak right up to my nose and goes "Caw!" like a crow. Then she nuzzles her head right under my chin and goes "Coo!" like a pigeon. I think she got a little of Cleo's spirit when Cleo left us for the Big Chicken Jungle...

 

[Shadrach]

Isn't that about the least natural thing for a bird to be, especially in your rainy climate?


Wait .... she wouldn't compromise on the move to NJ to be closer to her parents to at least get a house with enough yard for a couple of chickens but she will move out of the country entirely???


Or something like ACT fluoride rinse which you don't swallow at all.


And like all other priority lists, when a task finally nears the top something comes along and becomes #1. I understand well!


Which solved the problem for THEM Their problem was they had a rooster they didn't get on with. No rooster, no problem

Some tax, picture from 2 years ago

View attachment 3544362

How one could not get on with a rooster is completely beyond my comprehension. Wives and husbands, sure, I can understand that. Relatives! got some; detest most of them. Kids, orrible little critters. Strange how killing off the aformentioned isn't seen as problem solving.

 

[Shadrach]

yes. Brown dry organic material on the bottom (wood, cardboard, etc,) > compost > regular dirt >then good top soil. We feed composting material down the tube /keyhole, all the time, it interacts with the regular dirt, original compost layer and the decaying brown material so that the nutrients in the soil are constantly replenished. We are really enjoying a great yield and the chicken manure has really upped our game.

Hollowed out bamboo pushed deep into the ground down which one pours water does apparently work to encourage the plant to develop deep roots which gives them resilience in times of drought

 

[no fly zone]

View attachment 3544611

Frizzle selfie! Dusty is a cuddler. Even when broody. Whenever I take her away from her "nest" so she can eat and dust bathe, she puts her beak right up to my nose and goes "Caw!" like a crow. Then she nuzzles her head right under my chin and goes "Coo!" like a pigeon. I think she got a little of Cleo's spirit when Cleo left us for the Big Chicken Jungle...

 

[MaryJanet]

Hollowed out bamboo pushed deep into the ground down which one pours water does apparently work to encourage the plant to develop deep roots which gives them resilience in times of drought

This technique is very common in Australia. Even the council gardeners do it when they're planting new street trees, but they use quite wide plastic pipes and the water is added to the pipes from a truck mounted with a tank of water that pauses by the tree and tips water down a spout which is mounted to a lever operated by the driver. It keeps plants healthier in the heat while saving water. The larger the tree, the more pipes are needed to encourage wide and deep root growth.

Edit: taxes

 

[Ribh]

This technique is very common in Australia. Even the council gardeners do it when they're planting new street trees, but they use quite wide plastic pipes and the water is added to the pipes from a truck mounted with a tank of water that pauses by the tree and tips water down a spout which is mounted to a lever operated by the driver. It keeps plants healthier in the heat while saving water. The larger the tree, the more pipes are needed to encourage wide and deep root growth.

Regular gardeners do this too by recycling plastic bottles. Cut the bottom off & bury the bottle beside what is planted. Water is poured down the tube. Useful during water restrictions as no water is wasted & all of it goes where most needed. By the time the plastic disintegrates the plant is well established.

 

[Shadrach]

Warm and sticky again this afternoon. By evening the temperature had dropped to around 20C which is fine for me but it still felt like a storm would make things just right. We need the rain anyway. It may rain tonight.
I haven't until now written much about the chickens on the allotment chat group I set up. My policy has been to let everyone settle in and show their strengths. One person has mapped the plots properly. It's never been done before. Another person set about rebuilding the two greenhouses that a few years of storms with high winds had turned to derelict frames. Another is trying to establish a way of keeping financial records. A lot of these people are newish members and they don't know a lot about the history of the place, or more to the point for me, the importance I attach to keeping chickens there. There are not many places left in urban areas where one can still keep roosters and in my opinion this should be protected. In all this the subject of who does in fact own the chickens came up. It has come as a bit of a shock to some to find out that they have a share in them and they don't belong to Bucket Boy. The upshot of all this is someone who lives a short walk away has offered to learn what needs doing and act as a stnd in should I fall sick or dead, or worse. Watch this space as they say.
We all got out. I'm a little concerend with Fret who while mostly okay isn't eating enough and is less active than she should be. She's going on a course of Rooster Booster although I think if anything she is lacking iron in her diet. Here she is resting.

Everyone had a go at the fruit bushes. They are really there for them this year at least. Henry has to junp and grab a branch now to impress the hens. I don't think he'll be flying off anywhere. He only gets a few inches off the ground.

Given it was cooler than of late I ushered them off to roost a bit early and caught the 21.51 train home.

 

[BDutch]

And that is married life.

Dreaming of moving to New Zealand once in a while. It’s such a beautiful and unspoiled country compared to where I live. My husband dreams with me.

 

[Shadrach]

@BDutch
Better to comment on the link on this thread I think.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/byc-café.948525/post-22071698