Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

I enjoyed the article but balked at where she said how expressionless (she thinks) chickens are. They absolutely are not. But perhaps one has to live with them through many different experiences to see the more subtle reflections of mood in their faces, especially when one enters into a more caregiving relationship with a chicken who has been sick or injured. With Butchie, when I would clean her messy butt, she would look very annoyed, but when I cleaned and applied cortisone cream to her flaky skin, I could see annoyance change to relief and gratitude.

Cleo was remarkably expressive and inordinately intelligent. Her absolute favorite thing was to "get a ride" -- for me to carry her -- over to the coop during a rainstorm under an umbrella. The first time I did this, she darted her head side to side as though trying to dodge the big raindrops. When she realized we were out in a full downpour and she wasn't getting wet, she just radiated an expression of amazed delight.

Then, any time it would rain close to roost time, she would come to the kitchen gate and wait for me. If I let her in, she walked right over to the umbrella and started chattering and pointing at it (this also shows some pretty high level association). As soon as I would tuck her under my arm and open the umbrella, she would get that expression: not as amazed as the first time, but of a pure and unmistakable delight.

I think they get more expressive -- in ways that a perceptive human can see and relate to -- the longer they live and the more time they spend in human company. They are probably in part mirroring and emulating our own expressions in their own way.

I've shared this picture before, but I took this one of Cleo when she came over to the kitchen gate and saw a few chickens inside. How can you not see the jealous wrath in that little face?
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My wife has often talked about how Skeksis would have this look of pride when I was holding her.

 

[MrsNorthie]

I've shared this picture before, but I took this one of Cleo when she came over to the kitchen gate and saw a few chickens inside. How can you not see the jealous wrath in that little face?

Jealous or judgmental? lol They all have individual personalities and their eyes and head tilts say more, clearly and concisely than words could ever do.

 

[kcan2]

We measure for example their ability to count because some of us can do that.

Some, but not all.

The problem of flight, even at chicken competance level requires a vast amount of calculation which we, humans, cannot manage and cant even get the best computer fight navigation systems to manage to

Besides cherishing my ability to count (and sometimes spell), I have before considered manmade technological advancements relative to some of nature's fine little boasts:
Helicopters to dragonflies
Fighter jets to hummingbirds
Submarines to whales
In allowing the experts to be the experts, perhaps the wisest practice is to remain teachable! My rooster teaches me about specialized intelligence pretty often, how it is his and not mine

 

[lightm]

I think you just have to wait till she moults and then grows a new set.

@TropicalChickies I completely agree with this. We have a hen that lost feather due to over mating. Nothing we tried worked. She finally grew them all back with molt this July.

 

[TropicalChickies]

@TropicalChickies I completely agree with this. We have a hen that lost feather due to over mating. Nothing we tried worked. She finally grew them all back with molt this July.

I did try putting a saddle on her before she went broody and hatched her chicks. She was agreeable enough about letting me put it on her. But every morning I would find it on the floor of the coop and her running about barebacked. After a few days I had to toss the thing out because the elastics were shredded and she or another chicken pooped all over it.

I think I'll just wait until she molts.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Now I'd put him at about 14lbs. I plucked him off the roost a few evenings ago for a follow up lice treatment. I used to be a fitness trainer and when I held him it crossed my mind that he felt "almost like a 15lb weight" -- of course live weight feels lighter, so he could be more.

I just did a quick search on average rooster weights, and I guess I'm overestimating Lucio's weight. The articles I checked say they average closer to 9-10 pounds except for very heavy breeds. He's not a heavy breed, though he is a pretty big fella. I suppose he "feels" heavier to me because he's quite silky and slips through my arm if I don't hold him pretty tightly so my arm gets tired. At any rate, I don't see myself hanging him from the scale as I'm sure he'd hate me for such a breach of his dignity.

 

[tranquiliti]

I just did a quick search on average rooster weights, and I guess I'm overestimating Lucio's weight. The articles I checked say they average closer to 9-10 pounds except for very heavy breeds. He's not a heavy breed, though he is a pretty big fella. I suppose he "feels" heavier to me because he's quite silky and slips through my arm if I don't hold him pretty tightly so my arm gets tired. At any rate, I don't see myself hanging him from the scale as I'm sure he'd hate me for such a breach of his dignity.

His muscle mass, though! Very dense tissue.
I vote for (there’s an icon for an abacus, but no scale?)

 

[TropicalChickies]

His muscle mass, though! Very dense tissue.
I vote for (there’s an icon for an abacus, but no scale?)

He is solid muscle, I must say. I boiled some meaty beef bones yesterday and today the chickens are getting the meat and their grain/seed ration soaked in the bone marrow broth. I'll be wearing high boots sturdy clothes on my way out to the feed area today for sure. Lucio is pretty good at lunchtime, it's the mama hens try to jump into the feed bowl these days, especially when there's meat involved.

I only have a hanging scale. I'd have to put him in a sack to weigh him. I'm pretty sure he would feel totally humiliated and make me pay for it. He's still learning that he has my complete respect, but I'm going to be in "his" space sometimes. We're figuring it out together, but I'm not curious enough about how much he weighs to disturb the balance right now.

One of the biggest advantages but also challenges to free ranging birds, especially roosters -- and I mean free ranging in the pure sense of the phrase -- is that there's no fenced off areas. There's no "my territory" or "their territory." Boundaries are fluid and we all have to share the space. I don't bother him when I know he's guarding a hen dust bathing or staying close while she's laying for example. But I also need him to know that taking the wheelbarrow over to the coop to scoop poop is something I need to and will do. So is tree-trimming, weed slashing and harvesting in the fruit forest. And that charging me or my partner when we are holding a machete or other sharp implement is just plain dumb. He's learning. I'm learning. And I just don't think dangling him like a sack of potatoes from a scale would help the process.

2 people, five dogs, and 12 chickens on 8 acres. But somehow we all congregate in the same little spot. Why?

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I just did a quick search on average rooster weights, and I guess I'm overestimating Lucio's weight. The articles I checked say they average closer to 9-10 pounds except for very heavy breeds. He's not a heavy breed, though he is a pretty big fella. I suppose he "feels" heavier to me because he's quite silky and slips through my arm if I don't hold him pretty tightly so my arm gets tired. At any rate, I don't see myself hanging him from the scale as I'm sure he'd hate me for such a breach of his dignity.

My chicken-weight estimates are usually off. Andre the Giant Chicken looks and feels like a bowling ball. I'm also a former fitness trainer/long-time weightlifter and was sure he was 12-13lb.

We weigh birds sometimes, to dial in medication dosages or satisfy curiosity, by having them stand in a mixing bowl on a zeroed scale. Andre only weighed in at 9.5lb! I thought our Brahma hens would be 7lb, and they're only 5.

Andre has the thickest legs I've ever seen on a chicken and loose feathering, which adds to the illusion.

Tax: Andre being adored by Starla. This pullet is all about Andre.

 

[Perris]

having them stand in a mixing bowl on a zeroed scale

I get them to stand on a scale too, though without the mixing bowl. It's a bit haphazard, usually takes quite a lot of mealworms, time and patience to get both feet on, and in the right direction that I can still read the display, but when needs must, this works for us.