Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

I remember learning about Major.

Major's story would make for a great, albeit sad, animated film.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Spoilt for choice here. Got everything from East African to Polish shops.

Ah, that's one thing I miss about living in a Global North city -- all of the fabulous diversity of food and music and culture of people from all over the world.

If there's East African shops, you can probably find teff, in either flour or seed form. Washington DC (where I lived for 20 years) has a big population from Eritrea and Ethiopia. Lots of restaurants with delicious food. They eat everything wrapped in a flatbread called injera.
Injera is made with teff, a tiny, round grain that flourishes in the highlands of Ethiopia. While teff is very nutritious, it contains practically no gluten.
Teff is highly nutritious. Just 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of teff flour provide (4Trusted Source):

• Calories: 366
• Protein: 12.2 grams
• Fat: 3.7 grams
• Carbs: 70.7 grams
• Fiber: 12.2 grams
• Iron: 37% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Calcium: 11% of the DV

It’s important to note that teff’s nutrient composition appears to vary significantly depending on the variety, growing area, and brand.

Might be something to add to your growing stock of chicken food ingredients!

 

[TropicalChickies]

I've been depressed since Skeksis died. This past week has been especially tough for some unknown reason. I miss being able to just go outside and spending time with chickens. It was basically my therapy.

Sorry you are going through a hard time. You know, even though I still have chickens, and new chicks hatching and all the exciting stuff, not a day goes by that I don't miss my best girls Cleo and Butchie. They were so special, each in their own way. Cleo because she was smart and tough and such a capable senior hen. Butichie because she was just so sweet and really needed us. It's very hard to lose the ones that are close to us.

 

[TropicalChickies]

You just need a pressure cooker. Seriously. Reduces cooking time of even the hardest beans to 20 minutes max. Saves on gas or electricity. And makes beans that aren't just well-cooked, but creamy and good to eat.

I thinks that's Perris's portion.
Can you believe I've cooked that stuff for my own meals!
I don't know what's come over me. I don't eat birdseed.
I did some beans the other day. It took about 26 hours to make a rather unappetizing looking broth. One hour cooking, then twenty four hours after cooking fermenting with frequent water changes. Cold beans on cous cous.

I'm going to get some help, either that or a recipe book.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Must have gone down the windpipe.
Since mine have eaten whole mice and a quarter of a fledgling robin.

Yep, down the wrong hatch is all I can think. I've seen them slurp down snakes like linguini.

Although, Lucio did get his crop stuck for a few hours once when he was about 8 weeks old from swallowing a pretty big lizard. I saw him standing there shaking his head with his whole neck area writhing and moving spastically. I thought it was something neurological at first. He was so occupied trying to clear his crop, I was able to scoop him up and I felt a big lumpy hard mass in his crop. I helped him get it down with a syringe of olive oil and a gentle massage.

 

[no fly zone]

Sorry you are going through a hard time. You know, even though I still have chickens, and new chicks hatching and all the exciting stuff, not a day goes by that I don't miss my best girls Cleo and Butchie. They were so special, each in their own way. Cleo because she was smart and tough and such a capable senior hen. Butichie because she was just so sweet and really needed us. It's very hard to lose the ones that are close to us.

I went from two to zero. Chippy is still alive, but she's not with me any more.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I believe it’s northern fowl mite. It doesn’t look like lice to me, and they aren’t red. I think I might use Sevin spray to get the vertical surfaces in the coop, and I’ve mixed sand into their dust bathing areas just to try to break up the clay a bit more for them. I’m seeing an improvement, just have to keep at it until I’ve made it through all the eggs, I suppose.

We had an issue with northern fowl mites a few years ago. Tiny, brown, like to run around their vents but can often be seen on the skin if you part their feathers. They can be visible on surfaces like roosts if you look very closely. Our mites liked plastic and could be found on our waterers.

My first step was to remove all bedding from coops and nesting boxes. I added mite powder to the garbage bags of bedding before taking them to the dump. Then I treated coops and birds themselves. It was a journey that lasted 9-ish months.

It wouldn't have taken that long if I'd known what worked, but different pests respond to different interventions, and it's hard to know what will work best. The liquid permethrin everyone raves about did nothing for us! Elector is ridiculously expensive but did beat back the mites...for 3-4 weeks a time. Then they'd be back.

Gardstar powder (on the shelf near the permethrin at T-S-C) was the most effective for us. It's also cheap and easier to apply, as there are no spray bottles, no measuring correct dilution, no making birds wet.

What finally worked was dusting under roosts, under floor coverings, under nesting material: places where the birds won't really contact it but mites will (these days, I still do this quarterly to reduce chances of a recurrence). I'd carefully apply dust directly to birds and, finally, reluctantly, one carefully measured ivermectin dosage to the necks of birds with the worst mites. Ivermectin is a last resort because it isn't easy on their systems, but neither are mites, and neither is regular dusting with poison.

If it's mites, it's important to beat them back decisively. As much as I can't stand chemicals, if applied correctly, they work faster and do less damage than mites will to the chickens' health. Lastly, don't waste time with things like DE that can harm their respiratory systems without hurting the mites a bit Best of luck with whatever you're dealing with!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Taxes for mite talk: Stilton (a.k.a., Mr. November ) warming his feet on Beakwipe's lap. (I'm Beakwipe. That's my chicken name.) His hackles are molting in funny layers, but it's looking like he might grow fluffier cheek muffs this year.

We've had a lot of warm weather, so on this unusually chilly day, when the sun never came out from behind the wildfire smoke, he was happy to relax/nap/preen for almost 30 minutes with me after he safely rounded all the hens back in from the orchard.

 

[tranquiliti]

Taxes for mite talk: Stilton (a.k.a., Mr. November ) warming his feet on Beakwipe's lap. (I'm Beakwipe. That's my chicken name.) His hackles are molting in funny layers, but it's looking like he might grow fluffier cheek muffs this year.

We've had a lot of warm weather, so on this unusually chilly day, when the sun never came out from behind the wildfire smoke, he was happy to relax/nap/preen for almost 30 minutes with me after he safely rounded all the hens back in from the orchard.

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Love the nickname

 

[townchicks]

I went from two to zero. Chippy is still alive, but she's not with me any more.

I'm so sorry you are going through such a difficult time. I was wondering if a small indoor bird such as a cockatiel or small parrot would be something you can do or would consider. A handfed one can be amazingly personable and cuddly. Nobody will ever replace Skeksis, but you may find a new love.