Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

It rained all day on and off. I'm not complaining. Warmer with rain would be nice; still not complaining.
I went with a three hour slot but they were not the slightest bit interested in going out on to the allotments. Carbon and Fret rushed out for a few minutes to grab some grass shoots which are wet and tender, then got on the extension roost bar having eaten supper and treats.
I sat on the roost bar with them for half an hour and it was obvious that the rain wasn't going to let up before dusk so I put Henry on the coop ramp and he happily went to roost, Fret and Carbon following. I went round to my eldest for tea and a chat and headed off home by train damp and steaming.
My new rucksack had it's first wet test and it did what it is supposed to do and stayed dry inside.


That reminds me @Perris, would you be kind enough to give me the contact details for your supplier of whole grains and especially the peas. You're not that far from me so if they don't deliver I should be able to arrange to collect.
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The contact details are here
https://swansea-enterprise-park.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/the-pet-superstore-14004595.html
I see they've just opened a new store in Llanelli, so maybe you could persuade them to come east instead of further west next time they're thinking about a new store

 

[ManueB]

I did get him this morning. Live chipmunk as bait.

Just watched this early morning outside with the phone, not thinking, sound on : it created a panic among my chickens especially the chicks.
That's another specie we are lucky not to have here.

Could it have been the fireworks impacting their behaviour? I had to go down and sit with my chickens, because the neighbor (up the road) was putting on quite the display. My dogs weren't bothered but my cockerels were on full alert and they were all expressing their displeasure at the lights and the noise disturbing their slumber. Hope he is ok and they all make it up tomorrow.

@GregnLety Just in case check that he doesn't have a disease or parasite or anything that could mean he suddenly became a threat to that flock ?

 

[BDutch]

thank you! for pushing me to write it and enter it, especially

Congrats
You did a great job writing this article!

 

[BDutch]

Well, the little chicks are cute and all, but it's a real daytime drama here with the adults lately -- not to mention an interesting batch of chicken behaviors to note. Here's what's been going on with this motley crew of un-cuddly pirates in the jungle...

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Dusty. After stubbornly sitting for longer than two weeks on nothing, I finally snapped her out of brooding by putting her on a cool piece of tile mounted on a table under a large basket during the day and putting her on a roost in the coop at night. She's fine now -- eating, drinking and bustling about, glad to be with her friends. Dusty is the most cheerful and laid back of the bunch. She has some feather breakage on the elbows of her wings from Lucio mating with her. Hopefully, she will go broody again after she lays her next clutch and I'll let her sit and hatch some babies before the rainy season hits. That would give her a nice long break from Lucio's "affections" and let her feathers grow back in.

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Rusty. "You won't stick me with a bunch of squawking brats!"
Just as Dusty was snapping out of her broodiness, Rusty decided to give it a half-hearted try. She sat for a full day on her egg, stabbing at me with her beak if I came too close, so I sighed, took the eggs, marked it with an "R" and gave it back to her. A few hours later, I saw her walking around looking pissed off. I checked her nest and found the egg I had so tenderly marked missing except for some shell fragments, egg yolk smooshed into the ground, and poop everywhere. So much for that.

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Enter Tina, the homewrecker.
Then, after eating her egg and shitting on her nest, Rusty decided to go back and sit in the same spot (after I cleaned it). I said, oh hell no, and put her in an open wire enclosure in the sun with the clan around her to keep her on her toes. It looks like Lucio has come back to her side (they've been inseperable for months), but actually he's eyeing Tina (front) who's come back into lay as is VERY willing to mate with Lucio.

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The love triangle.
So now poor Rusty is really stressed out. She's still sort of broody in her mind even though she's with the clan. She's off lay and refusing Lucio's attempts at mating, but anxious about all the time he's spending with Tina. And now that Tina realizes she's the lead hen, she's not exactly exercising her power with benevolence. It looks like Rusty might even be moulting a bit, so I'm giving her some extra care and protein treats while she sulks after her man.

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Patucha managed to produce this wrecking ball of a chick who at seven weeks is nearly as big as she is. Patucha has also been claimed by Lucio now, but he seems much more interested in hanging out with Tina. Which sort of puts a dent in the "chickens choose chickens who look like them" theory because of all the motley mutts here, Patucha looks a lot more like Lucio than Tina...
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Lucio. At least my handsome fella here has become quite manageable when I treat him for fleas. Every 2-3 days, I see them start to accumulate on him, but now I don't even have to wait until full dark to go to the coop and take them off. He puts up a bit of fake fuss (in front of his ladies) but once I have him securely tucked in my arm, he thoroughly enjoys the preening, slowly stretching his head from side to give me better access to his comb and undersides of his wattles.

However, my partner Juan told me casually that Lucio ran up behind him the other day and flew at his legs. Not exactly surprising -- I'm the one who feeds him and tends to his fleas, so Lucio sees me as caretaker. All Juan does is chase Lucio off when he tries to mate with Butchie, who isn't completely mobile and sometimes has trouble getting up after Lucio mounts her. So to Lucio, Juan is a competition.

Anyway, we take stuff like that in stride. There's too much to really worry about around here than an eight pound bird. Juan told me he gave Lucio a good swipe when he flew at him and that seems to have made an impression. Yesterday, Juan gave Lucio some treats and they patched it up, man to rooster.

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Thank goodness for Dusty. She can't be bothered by any of this and is training to win a gold medal in figure skating.

Have a great day, everyone!

Complicated, hope things turn out right.

I don’t know if Shad or anyone else reacted. But do you know that hens take a while to lay again after a broody period? And in general, roos are not interested in hens that don’t lay?

I have trouble with braking my broody Katrientje too. Never had such persistent Dutch bantams. Katrientje is a bantam Rhode Island Red (RIR).

 

[Perris]

ManueB's post about video-ing the chickens in their environments reminded me that somewhere in a drawer I had a Flip. I found it; it still works (though the date setting assumed it'd be dead and gone by end of 2020 ) and I managed to get Maria's visit to the invalid (who's now standing after a fashion, and crowing about it too) this morning. When I've worked out if it will play on anything other than my computer, I'll post it

 

[Perris]

1st attempt for 15-year old (2008) video tech that's been in a drawer for about a decade...

 

[ManueB]

1st attempt for 15-year old (2008) video tech that's been in a drawer for about a decade...

Although that is not exactly what I thought of as chicken's environment I'm glad to see he's making some progress. Maria doesn't seem so interested however .
The 2008 device seems to work fine !

 

[Little Tala Bug]

At 13, Spoko has earned the right to be a bit grumpy. He certainly is a beautiful doggo. I have an "Old Man" at my house, too. Indy was a stray. When he "found" us, two vets put him at 3-5 years. Another said 5-7. That was FIFTEEN years ago! He's nearly deaf, can only see light/dark/deep shadows and has the world's smallest bladder .. but he's the sweetest little dog ever and doesn't owe us a thing. As long as he's not suffering, he has a home and my support. That doesn't seem to be an issue at the moment. After treating for his chronic ear infections (There's GOT to be cocker spaniel in there, somewhere!) he' back to climbing stairs and stealing the cats' food and hidey-boxes!
Puppy Tax:
View attachment 3563748I love my sweet old man!

From above he is the spitting image of my little rescue boy who is also the sweetest dog I've ever met. I can only hope he lives to such a grand age

 

[Perris]

Maria doesn't seem so interested however .

that's my impression too; but he's pleased to see her anyway

 

[Shadrach]

Are Speckled or Coronation Sussex readily available as well? I love my Speckled Sussex, perfect blend of nosy and adventurous but not agressive.

I've seen Speckled Sussex hens for sale here. The straight Light Sussex seem to be the more common variety.