Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[TropicalChickies]

It does not directly address a relationship with broodiness, but it does highlight the differences in moulting patterns between good layers and poor layers, and broodiness makes a hen functionally a poor layer in a year when they are broody, irrespective of their rate of lay in a year when they're not broody, so biologically the two states may be equivalent.

Thanks for sharing the resource and the thread. But...hmmm, I don't think the two states would be biologically equivalent.

A hen who only lays 2 -3x times per week but does not go broody would lay about 120 - 140 eggs in a year. Most people would probably consider that "poor" by today's standards.

My broody prone hens lay 5-6x per week. For the past several months, they've been laying as many as 12-15 eggs in a row, before taking a day or two off, then laying another 12 to 15 eggs, then going broody. Then it takes them at least 3 weeks to start up again. At this rate they are laying about 26 eggs per month, but only for 7-8 months out of the year. Still, that's 220 eggs -- not bad, and more than the hen who lays 2-3 times per week all year. The rest of the year the broody prone hens are either acting broody or not laying after going broody. (If they actually hatch a clutch, that's more time off of course).

It just doesn't seem that laying a couple eggs per week over a long stretch of time versus laying a lot of eggs in concentrated bursts and taking longer breaks would be biologically the same. It's kind of like comparing a long distance runner to a sprinter.

 

[Perris]

Thanks for sharing the resource and the thread. But...hmmm, I don't think the two states would be biologically equivalent.

A hen who only lays 2 -3x times per week but does not go broody would lay about 120 - 140 eggs in a year. Most people would probably consider that "poor" by today's standards.

My broody prone hens lay 5-6x per week. For the past several months, they've been laying as many as 12-15 eggs in a row, before taking a day or two off, then laying another 12 to 15 eggs, then going broody. Then it takes them at least 3 weeks to start up again. At this rate they are laying about 26 eggs per month, but only for 7-8 months out of the year. Still, that's 220 eggs -- not bad, and more than the hen who lays 2-3 times per week all year. The rest of the year the broody prone hens are either acting broody or not laying after going broody. (If they actually hatch a clutch, that's more time off of course).

It just doesn't seem that laying a couple eggs per week over a long stretch of time versus laying a lot of eggs in concentrated bursts and taking longer breaks would be biologically the same. It's kind of like comparing a long distance runner to a sprinter.

I was assuming a broody hen would then raise a clutch, so 3 weeks off incubating and at least another couple of months off (in my hens' cases, at least) rather than a broody who keeps getting broken. The latter is an artificial pattern caused by human meddling, not a natural biological one.

 

[Perris]

Storey's section on moulting included a comment that a tame or pet chicken would appreciate some help removing the hard-to-reach keratin sheaths on the new feathers, by gently scraping with the fingers, rubbing the feathers in the direction of growth with a damp cloth, or wiping with a dry terry towel after misting with warm water. So I brought Chirk in and we set to work. After multiple sessions trying different methods through the day, we found the best one by far is a little fine pin brush and a soft bristle shoe brush used in rotation. The tougher sheaths needed pressing between my fingers first. The really tough ones are still there, but we managed to fill a dustpan with the bits! I think he'll be a lot more comfortable tonight.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I was assuming a broody hen would then raise a clutch, so 3 weeks off incubating and at least another couple of months off (in my hens' cases, at least) rather than a broody who keeps getting broken. The latter is an artificial pattern caused by human meddling, not a natural biological one.

True. But goodness if I didn't meddle in my hens broodiness, they would all hatch at least four clutches a year...

 

[TropicalChickies]

Storey's section on moulting included a comment that a tame or pet chicken would appreciate some help removing the hard-to-reach keratin sheaths on the new feathers, by gently scraping with the fingers, rubbing the feathers in the direction of growth with a damp cloth, or wiping with a dry terry towel after misting with warm water. So I brought Chirk in and we set to work. After multiple sessions trying different methods through the day, we found the best one by far is a little fine pin brush and a soft bristle shoe brush used in rotation. The tougher sheaths needed pressing between my fingers first. The really tough ones are still there, but we managed to fill a dustpan with the bits! I think he'll be a lot more comfortable tonight. View attachment 3662314

Aw, way to go!

 

[Shadrach]

I have been ripping apart weed block fabric in my yard, put down by my previous owner. I hate this stuff. A nice layer of soil has been built up on the fabric where weeds are growing anyway ... so it takes a lot of work to take it out.

What this lot have done is poke tiny holes in the geo textile fabric and plant fruit bushes through the holes, then weight the cloth down with rocks, then throw soil on top.
There are not only things growing on top of the fabric, there are things growing through it and underneath it.
Never mind, I'm getting it out slowly. I'm having to rip out some fruit bushes on the way; mostly dead from the ground up. I had the same problem on my plot and once the fabric was taken out and the really badly hacked about fruit bush stumps were dug out the remaining bushes came to life and they are now spreading as they should with new growth next to most of the bushes.

 

[fuzzi]

I could be all over that, except... the dang stuff DID NOT WORK!

I could hear it laughing at me. "Ha ha, fooled you! And it worked brilliantly! And I worked not at all!"

I use cardboard, the corrugated type. It only lasts a year here in wet, warm, and humid Eastern North Carolina, but it blocks weeds well, and earthworms love it. The soil is loose and ready for planting within a couple months.

I'm currently using old carpet to destroy honeysuckle, poison ivy, and other weeds on a slope. It's plain dirt underneath the carpet after a year, yippee!

 

[Shadrach]

I don't count the number of eggs each hen lays. I have a rough idea but nothing that counts as meaningful data.
Fret had a mini molt after the sit before last but it was a very minor affair. She's not moulting now, but she's still mothering the chicks.

 

[RoyalChick]

I use cardboard, the corrugated type. It only lasts a year here in wet, warm, and humid Eastern North Carolina, but it blocks weeds well, and earthworms love it. The soil is loose and ready for planting within a couple months.

I'm currently using old carpet to destroy honeysuckle, poison ivy, and other weeds on a slope. It's plain dirt underneath the carpet after a year, yippee!

I do the exact same thing.
Most painful part is ripping all the tape off the cardboard boxes.

 

[MaryJanet]

I was assuming a broody hen would then raise a clutch, so 3 weeks off incubating and at least another couple of months off (in my hens' cases, at least) rather than a broody who keeps getting broken. The latter is an artificial pattern caused by human meddling, not a natural biological one.

It seems very few people trust a hen to keep herself adequately fed during brooding.

I let broody hens sit for three weeks then I start putting them on the roost at night. Sitting hens don't need as much food because they're not doing as much. One huge meal a day, a poop, a dust bath, a huge drink, and all's good.

I know of one person whose hen died through a failure of self-care during brooding but that cause of death was assumed rather than confirmed. I know of dozens of hens who sit through brooding without any bad outcomes.