Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

87 here, I am soooo over summer. I am glad that we got the fans for the coop and run, and added all the deep shade. Our chickens seem pretty comfortable, no heavy panting and they all look well hydrated. I went down and sat with the for a few hours during the hottest part of the day and it was pretty comfortable in the shade with the fan circulating the air.

I reluctantly agree with you. It's the dry rather than the temperature that seems to be the problem for all. The chicken aren't used to it and while I was used to it when living in Catalonia I wasn't sad to leave it and a couple of years on, I wonder how I coped with it at all.
We had a very small amount of rain which while pleasant, wasn't what's needed.

 

[Molpet]

Poultry were saying there was something they didn't like along the west field fence. I seen the fence and weeds wiggling. There was a mink trying to pull what was left of a 9 wk pullet through. It ran as soon as it seen me.
I put the carcass in a plastic grocery bag, I carry for such things, and put it in a box trap near where it was. I had a hen missing at lock up in the closest coop. Guess I know what happened to her.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Are you thinking to keep all 3 cockerels ? Would you be getting more hens, in this case ?

5 out of Léa's 6 chicks had wattles at three weeks and a few days. I was sure we had 5/6 cockerels.
However they are now six weeks and I'm really not so sure for three of them. Their wattles haven't grown, they don't have attitudes like the two that were definitely early cockerels, and there is no difference in feathering yet.
My partner who's an optimist says we have four pullets, I think at best we have two .
We will not be keeping any of the males.

About dogs and chickens : I heard an rather unpleasant story yesterday. I wrote elsewhere about one of my neighbor's dog, a collie, who was over last week at my place with her, and chased broody hen Merle to eat the old and unfertile egg she was sitting on. The neighbour said although their dogs eat eggs, they never touch the chickens.
She had been giving me some hope on my roosters situation, because she also has two, and they had finally decided to coexist peacefully after two years of constant fighting. Yesterday I asked news of her roosters. She was very upset and said another of her dog, a small mutt poodle / terrier, had just killed and eaten the dominant smaller rooster while she was away . According to her, there had been no problem for almost three years between her dogs and her chickens. I'm not a dog person so not sure if it's possible that a dog would just suddenly decide to eat a chicken out of the blue...but hers dogs are definitely not coming over at my place anymore.

I consider that Léa's chicks free range because they are still small enough to cross all of our fences. However I think they actually range on approximately 2.5 acres (which is more than our smaller adult chickens who can also free range) and they spend most of their time in three or four places.

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Regarding the cockerels, I'm going to.... Wait and see what they really are first. I'm absolutely horrendous at guessing. Wrong every time. Then I'll take it one day at a time and see how the dynamics play out. Im getting a second coop and another satellite roosting area ready. There's also a family of gringos (people from the US) who are now permanently renting our guesthouse (a good distance outside this groups ranging area) and they want chickens, so I could potentially relocate some and still get to take care of them.

I started making plans in my head -- who to move where.and why. Then I had an epiphany: they'll figure it out. The most I can do is provide the space and adequate living quarters to do so if anyone gets driven out or needs a "safe house". There's so many shifting dynamics right now, I just decided to stand back, watch, and learn.

The kindergarten cockerels aren't half the drama that the grown up chickens are having right now. Who's broody, who's not, who's stealing who's man, ay dios mio. I'll post a full update with Tax tomorrow.

Han or Hen Solo? At 7 weeks -- no wattles, tiny comb, no saddle -- yet. But kicking butt and taking no hostages. Either a cockerel or one bad ass bruiser of a pullet. Looking at those legs though, I'd bet cockerel. But I'm always wrong, so ...meh. Que será, que será.

 

[MROO]

Thank you! I've also done the thing where I poured out a jar of beetles in front of the chickens, only to watch them instantly take flight and return to the fruit trees

Ya gotta shake 'em up good, first ... ummm ... the bugs, not the birdies ...

 

[MrsNorthie]

I reluctantly agree with you. It's the dry rather than the temperature that seems to be the problem for all. The chicken aren't used to it and while I was used to it when living in Catalonia I wasn't sad to leave it and a couple of years on, I wonder how I coped with it at all.
We had a very small amount of rain which while pleasant, wasn't what's needed.

I can't stand the heat, not a fan of long hours of sunshine (I lived in Arizona for a number of years..) My husband, the born Englishman, wants a refund on his trip to America ticket every time it rains. When it rains here (South Carolina), during the summer, it just makes it humid and worse the next day, but for the time that it is raining, it is nice.

I went down to sit with the chickens to make sure that they had enough shade and air flow to be safe.

 

[Perris]

I started making plans in my head -- who to move where.and why. Then I had an epiphany: they'll figure it out. The most I can do is provide the space and adequate living quarters to do so if anyone gets driven out or needs a "safe house". There's so many shifting dynamics right now, I just decided to stand back, watch, and learn.

Play referee, rather than judge and jury, that's my motto.

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today, mainly because they went to roost early. It's been windy with 35mph gusts and a marked drop in temperature.
Dog sitting is done so it's a night in my own bed, which incidentally I can hear calling me as I type this.
Carbon is having some difficulties, or at least discomfort. laying her next egg. This may be normal for her, I haven't noticed before because when she was laying before this recent break, there were other issues taking my attention and she has in the past layed in the mornings.

I did a full coop strip out this afternoon and found 4 live mites and 7 eggs. All dead now. I can see this rolling on for a while and regular strip out checks being the norm. The drop in temperature will slow the mites down but the people I've spoken to who also keep chickens are having similar problems. A decent rainfall would help.

Getting a new keyboard and glasses over the nest few days. Perhaps I'll be posting with fewer errors next week.

Finally, the courgette plants have flowers coming. I'm not going to take any chances and I'll paintbrush pollinate them when the flowers open. There are some males on another plot.

 

[BDutch]

I can't stand the heat, not a fan of long hours of sunshine (I lived in Arizona for a number of years..) My husband, the born Englishman, wants a refund on his trip to America ticket every time it rains. When it rains here (South Carolina), during the summer, it just makes it humid and worse the next day, but for the time that it is raining, it is nice.

I went down to sit with the chickens to make sure that they had enough shade and air flow to be safe.

Here it’s not warm at all for July. We had 20 C max today.
Now its midnight and we have rain and 14C. Nice to have a week with rain for the garden and the soil in the run.

 

[Nomadicus]

Every time I see Henry I'm all the more anxious to get my start of Light Sussex. He just looks so royal and needs a throne to roost on.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Here it’s not warm at all for July. We had 20 C max today.
Now its midnight and we have rain and 14C. Nice to have a week with rain for the garden and the soil in the run.
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That sounds perfect! My happy temperature is 21 or below. We have about 4/5 months before it will start getting that low. It will start getting tolerable in September/October -ish.