Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[TheFatBlueCat]

Thanks for that very useful information! So our disappointing temps are not ideal but OK

Thanks for that very useful tip! I will try it and report back

It's discussed in some of the old poultry handbooks, e.g.
"All eggs selected for hatching should be of the fair ordinary size usually laid by the hen or pullet, rejecting not only the small ones, but also the very large. They should also be firm and smooth in the shell; a very rough shell showing something wrong with the hen, and usually causing ill-success. Eggs unusually long, or, in fact, differing much in any way from the usual character of those laid by that particular bird, should also be rejected. That eggs be only saved from the best stock, even if the fowls are but common barn-door birds, is of course taken for granted" Lewis Wright's Illustrated book of poultry
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn4kga&seq=61&q1

While searching for this I was reminded of another passage from the same book, published in 1873, which contradicts a US pamphlet from 1900 or thereabouts, often cited by 3KillersBs as evidence that chickens of today are very different from those of pre-industrial-agriculture days, claiming something like 100 eggs a year was good for laying breeds at the time:
"Hens of the better laying breeds, properly managed, should lay about 150 eggs per annum. Individuals will do much more than this, and have been known to exceed even 300; but some will hardly come up to it, and we speak of what can be done with a whole stock, if properly chosen and looked after"
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn4kga&seq=56&q1

That was better than many modern hens manage.

Very interesting, I generally use this advice by way of common sense when I choose eggs. The Barred rocks, and indeed my 1 leghorn and my 1 orpington too, lay eggs that have a different outer shell texture from my mixed breeds and auracanas. I think of my auracanas as being like bantams but standard size, in terms of their broodiness and general hilarious behaviour. They and my mixed breeds lay eggs with shells that are very smooth, bordering on 'shiney'. These eggs taste better, crack better, cook better, and hatch better!

I think 150 eggs per year is an excellent number. I'm sure individuals did exceed 300 but I doubt that was many. Not like the production hens these days. I'd say that here in NZ we don't have the 'hatchery' situation where heritage breeds have been bred for extreme laying. Most purebreeds here are bred for the love of them by small breeders, so most are not particularly impressive layers. I select for good layers but good to me is consistent and over 100 per year.

 

[BDutch]

Things get crowed here with 9 , 12 weeks old chicks. So far there is no real interest in taking over a cockerel for zero money.

The chicks aren’t welcome in the coop anymore. The hens expel the chicks from the small coop with covered run and the extension (everything behind the auto pop door) in the evening. They do this every evening around roosting time. Only if the are almost asleep, they let the chicks in to roost in the coop department too.

Some chicks sleep in the run now under a party tent cover for shelter. I think its makes them feel safer and is nice against the rain we have too much here these days.
View attachment 3596845
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They are free ranging more often now to keep the stress level lower.
View attachment 3596847
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The party tent cover is temporary because it won’t hold with heavy winds. Latest plan is to buy a flat pack to make another coop in the run, big enough for 6 bantam chickens.

 

[MaryJanet]

Things get crowed here with 9 , 12 weeks old chicks. So far there is no real interest in taking over a cockerel for zero money.

The chicks aren’t welcome in the coop anymore. The hens expel the chickes from the small coop with covered run and the extension (everything behind the auto pop door) in the evening. They do this every evening around roosting time. Only if the are almost asleep, they let the chicks in to roost in the coop department too.

Some chicks sleep in the run now under a party tent cover for shelter. I think its makes them feel safer and is nice against the rain we have too much here these days.
View attachment 3596845
View attachment 3596854
They are free ranging more often now to keep the stress level lower.
View attachment 3596847
View attachment 3596853
The party tent cover is temporary because it won’t hold with heavy winds. Latest plan is to buy a flat pack to make a another coop in the run, big enough for 6 bantam chickens.

You have such a luscious garden for them range in!

 

[fluffycrow]

Very interesting, I generally use this advice by way of common sense when I choose eggs. The Barred rocks, and indeed my 1 leghorn and my 1 orpington too, lay eggs that have a different outer shell texture from my mixed breeds and auracanas. I think of my auracanas as being like bantams but standard size, in terms of their broodiness and general hilarious behaviour. They and my mixed breeds lay eggs with shells that are very smooth, bordering on 'shiney'. These eggs taste better, crack better, cook better, and hatch better!

I think 150 eggs per year is an excellent number. I'm sure individuals did exceed 300 but I doubt that was many. Not like the production hens these days. I'd say that here in NZ we don't have the 'hatchery' situation where heritage breeds have been bred for extreme laying. Most purebreeds here are bred for the love of them by small breeders, so most are not particularly impressive layers. I select for good layers but good to me is consistent and over 100 per year.

My brahma probably lay the smallest eggs on the property in relation to their size. The Tsouloufati lay nice eggs. The ISA brown often has problems with the quality of her egg shells, and she also lays the biggest eggs. The bantams lay almost shiny eggs, very smooth and strong-shelled, so far. From the rather small sample of birds I have, I will definitely agree with yall that the more "industrialised" the chicken, the worse the egg

 

[fluffycrow]

My brahma probably lay the smallest eggs on the property in relation to their size. The Tsouloufati lay nice eggs. The ISA brown often has problems with the quality of her egg shells, and she also lays the biggest eggs. The bantams lay almost shiny eggs, very smooth and strong-shelled, so far. From the rather small sample of birds I have, I will definitely agree with yall that the more "industrialised" the chicken, the worse the egg

Actually just yesterday, I was taking the Tsouloufati eggs up to the house and I had them in a small plastic bag. Kolovos came up to me and was super interested in the eggs. I got a phone call so I let my guard down, and he pecked the eggs HARD. Cracking noises were heard. To my surprise, no eggs were broken. Absolutely none. Meanwhile if I touch an ISA brown egg the wrong way it breaks. And because I'm probably super behind on tax payments, here are some Tsouloufati hens

 

[Shadrach]

The political climate has changed a lot since I've been here. When I arrived in 2015, the country was very stable and on an economic upswing under then President Rafael Correa. But he had already served ten years and couldn't run again. The two administrations after that have been utterly abysmal and driven the country to the state it's in now. But the thing is -- in Latin America -- politics is much more participatory and changeable. When people stage protests and uprisings, it really means something and changes things. Very different from the stagnant two party system in the US, the rule by corporations Dems and the rule by military spending Republicans.

I could go on about this, but it's super off topic. I wrote an article that many people appreciated about the protests in 2022 and the political history of the last few decades here in Ecuador, especially the influence of the powerful Indigenous Confederation CONAIE. Here is the link if you or your husband would like to read it.

https://www.sdvforest.com/sustainab...-want-a-revolution-this-is-what-it-looks-like

Subscribed.
I've got a lot to say about such issues as one might imagine from what I have to say about chickens and politics in general but this isn't the platform for it.
I'm still trying to get to see the film, The Big Lie about Jeremy Corbyn.

 

[Shadrach]

Once you get to the meat it might be lean... under all the fat! I've not eaten kunekune in a few years and I'm not all that fond of pork in the first place. They make good sausages, and bacon. The meat has a stronger flavor, and much darker colour, almost like wild pork. Although I guess that depends on how they have been raised. How they are generally processed here is by skinning, and then removing the fat for lard, then you have the meat. They're not really a scalding pig, and you're not likely to get crackling. Unless you they're on a diet before processing day!

They are the only breed of pigs that don't make me nervous. Of all the livestock I've kept (pretty much everything), pigs are the only animals I'm never at ease with. I think it's because they are so big, and so intelligent, and don't respond to herding cues like horses, cattle, goats and sheep do. Kunekunes are not like that at all. They're just lovely.

The breedong sows on my Uncle's farm were the most dangerous creature there. Made the free range roosters look downright friendly by comparison.
This is related to one of the things I have found extremely difficult to fully understand about the attitude of mainly American poultry keepers expecting roosters and many other farm animals it seems to be safe.
When and where I was brought up all the creatures on the farm were considered dangerous and part of the skill in farming was not to get killed or injured by the creatures that were kept.
I often wonder if my luck/ability/whatever in dealing with roosters is I start with a completely different view of the creature to many I read about here.

 

[Shadrach]

Very nice; but who are those chickens?

I can't remember their names.

 

[Perris]

I can't remember their names.

OK, so whose are those chickens? They're not also at the allotments surely?

 

[Shadrach]

OK, so whose are those chickens? They're not also at the allotments surely?

I don't know. Some communist regime I believe. They seem like jolly decent chaps to me.
They have been at the allotments discussing the merits of an autocratice state system of government with what few chickens are left thanks to the profit driven capitalist system currently in place some fools call democracy.

Sorry, couldn't help myself

They belong to my future plot partner, Mrs I know more about growing food than all you middle class wannabe city reluctnics because we had to grow food in order to survive.

Ooops, still at it. Sorry.

The current seminar is apparently on excessive human egg consumption by the wastefull western fat and greedy mob.

It's no good. I'll have to sign off for a bit and go and read a some media propoganda to correctly realign my political views. Be back after reading the news.