Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[MrsNorthie]

I too have a paper weekly planner and prefer to write notes on paper, with a pencil not a pen. It definitely help my recall but I certainly couldn't claim near perfect recall! Short term and working memory are NOT my strong suits.

LOL mine is getting worse..When I went back to college in my late 30's, I never studied, just did my assignments and took notes, and managed a 4.0, despite also working and raising 2 boys, I could not do that now.

 

[Shadrach]

11am to 8pm. Dropped in to my eldest for a quick cup of tea around 3pm.
Lovely day. Warm at 20C and dry all day.
Fret is spending more time out on the allotments with the chicks. Under my chair is now officially a safe space and that is where she takes the chicks for a nap.

The allotment run is for morning foraging. There is a small lime green catapillar that I've not noticed before that is quite plentifull at the moment. These warrant lots of I've founf food clucks and the chicks grab one and run off with it to tackle it in peace. Most days there are small wood lice to be found under the bags of grit by the fence. I move the bags daily now so the chicks can get at them. So many very small bugs in the rotting vegitation that have become accessable now I've weeded the area. I have no idea what they are. Henry sits where you see him in this picture and watches.

On my plot. I've started to dig up the potatoes.

Going to roost went a lot better this evening. I just had to guide the chicks to the ramp and they started to climb, albeit a bit unsteadily. Fret jumped up ahead and the chicks made the climb and into the coop without further encouragement.

 

[Molpet]

Thank you. Forgive me, but I admit my eyebrow goes up whenever I read, "my husband did the deed", "my husband euthanized ..."
Apparently in my situation, I'm the husband. My dear tender-skinned partner has even made pets of the tilapia in our fishpond.

Putting her poor suffering body down like that isn't something I take lightly. I'm not proud of it. But when I felt those big fibrous masses and all the fluid accumulating in her whole body, she and I both knew a slow and painful death was inevitable. My neighbor who guided me was kind and gentle. His wife and child gathered cuttings of pretty plants to mark her grave. I gave her the best life and treatment I could, and I think her death was dignified.

I sorry for your loss

I'm also fairly certain that a "broiler" chick would not weigh 10lbs at 12 weeks if not given the broiler-feed regimen.

I kept a broiler pullet back for breeding. They were always fed regular chick feed. 20 minutes 2x a day they she wanted and free ranged. They were always hungry, but healthier. I swore I was starving them. Her sisters I harvested about 10 or 12 weeks and they dressed over 8 lbs.
She gained weight in the snowy winter and died about a year old.

Under my chair is now officially a safe space and that is where she takes the chicks for a nap.

Most of my chicks that sat on mom's back were cockerels

 

[Shadrach]

Most of my chicks that sat on mom's back were cockerels

My feeling is at the moment is one male and one female.
I have enough capacity for ten medium weight birds, eight would be better.
Should they grow to Henry's size then I'll have problems, but with Fret's genes they may be smaller.
I've got a few months to make plans, which they will doubtless do their damndest to turn to nothing.
There is a slim chance Carbon may go broody this year.
I will probably have to import a couple of Light Sussex pullets from my friend at some point.
I'm prepared to buy another coop if necessary and even build another run; again if necessary.
Frankly, I'm not really in control which is what I'm used to. If one lets hens sit and hatch, which is important to me and them, then one gets what one gets and learns how to like it.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Perhaps Carbon will oblige now she's seen Fret succeed!
Broody season here has begun. Edith (or she might be Josephine, I can only tell them apart when they're next to each other) has taken the sit. I moved her this morning, kind of hoping she wouldn't be committed. But she's sat tight on the new nest offered. Let's hope nobody else goes down with the urge for the next 2 weeks so I have a broody hen pen available again (Ginger Bonnet should hatch in just under 2 weeks).

 

[Sequel]

11am to 8pm. Dropped in to my eldest for a quick cup of tea around 3pm.
Lovely day. Warm at 20C and dry all day.
Fret is spending more time out on the allotments with the chicks. Under my chair is now officially a safe space and that is where she takes the chicks for a nap.
View attachment 3616850
View attachment 3616851View attachment 3616852View attachment 3616853View attachment 3616854View attachment 3616856

The allotment run is for morning foraging. There is a small lime green catapillar that I've not noticed before that is quite plentifull at the moment. These warrant lots of I've founf food clucks and the chicks grab one and run off with it to tackle it in peace. Most days there are small wood lice to be found under the bags of grit by the fence. I move the bags daily now so the chicks can get at them. So many very small bugs in the rotting vegitation that have become accessable now I've weeded the area. I have no idea what they are. Henry sits where you see him in this picture and watches.
View attachment 3616855

On my plot. I've started to dig up the potatoes.
View attachment 3616857View attachment 3616858View attachment 3616859

Going to roost went a lot better this evening. I just had to guide the chicks to the ramp and they started to climb, albeit a bit unsteadily. Fret jumped up ahead and the chicks made the climb and into the coop without further encouragement.View attachment 3616849

 

[tranquiliti]

How do you not cry when you see this?

View attachment 3616850
View attachment 3616851View attachment 3616854

 

[Perris]

So many very small bugs in the rotting vegitation that have become accessable now I've weeded the area. I have no idea what they are.

I started trying to identify the fauna visible in the soil-litter interface layer here, and gave up when I discovered how little is known of this complex world of tiny organisms. Good overview for the beginner on wikipedia as usual: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biology

and this is pretty good for IDing the larger species here in their adult form
https://www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates

I even managed a photo of what I think is a swollen-thighed beetle, the female of which lacks the characteristic swollen thighs, or maybe it's something else entirely!

 

[BDutch]

I have enough capacity for ten medium weight birds, eight would be better.

Yes. The coop is large enough. But the extension (run) is rather small if you aren’t around to let the chickens free range.

I've got a few months to make plans, which they will doubtless do their damndest to turn to nothing.

I honestly guess 5 chickens is the max with the build you have now. Therefore turn to nothing isn’t a bad thing.
.
But if you want more hens I would start with a larger and safe run. Or double what you have know, so you can have 2 roosters. If you want your future flock to be a happy bunch and know how many chickens (roosters and hens) you want in the future you definitely can start planning. Keeping chickens in captivity doesn’t allow too much chicken math.

Perhaps Carbon will oblige now she's seen Fret succeed!

I can agree to this statement seeing my Katrientje (a breed known for not getting broody) being the most determined broody I ever had. This happened right after the chicks no longer occupied the nestboxes.

(Ginger Bonnet should hatch in just under 2 weeks).

I started trying to identify the fauna

I tried this with tiny things in the tiny coop where the 2 pullets sleep. These things were looking like mites, and crawled in a mite control roll, but not one of them were red when I squashed them. The pullets don’t seemed to be bothered by it.
I didn’t like it and cleaned the coop thoroughly. Finding a couple of small spiders looking like the emoji and a few small spiders nest in an edge on the bottom of the coop.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

I started trying to identify the fauna visible in the soil-litter interface layer here, and gave up when I discovered how little is known of this complex world of tiny organisms. Good overview for the beginner on wikipedia as usual: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biology

and this is pretty good for IDing the larger species here in their adult form
https://www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates

I even managed a photo of what I think is a swollen-thighed beetle, the female of which lacks the characteristic swollen thighs, or maybe it's something else entirely!
View attachment 3617099

Quite right: the males have marvellously large thighs - would make for fab sprint cyclists if they rode bikes!

https://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs/bug-directory/thick-legged-flower-beetle/