Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[HiEverybirdy]

Thank you so much! I really didn't expect getting POW with this photo, as the resolution is not good. Kolovos and I don't always see eye to eye, but from the moment he came here, he had something special. He has been by far, the most caring and aware male for his ladies, far more than any male before him, and possibly after

His comb and wattles are so big it almost looks like AI. He's very impressive!

 

[fluffycrow]

His comb and wattles are so big it almost looks like AI. He's very impressive!

Yes, his large comb and wattles are my favourite (visual) traits about him! They have a lot of surface area to help him with the 40°C+ summer temperatures. I suppose his comb does look a bit unreal, but I can assure you, his kicks are not

 

[Shadrach]

The rain is back. We did get out for three quarters of an hour but I was to busy in the goose run trying to sort out a mesh problem to take any pictures.
I did get some roosting time pictures though.
Henry going to roost first. It's a tigh fit through the pop door for him.

Dig going in last. Easy.

All of us sitting in the coop extension eat roast beef slices. Needless to note Carbon likes to be as close to the supply as possible.
I'm so pleased Carbon is feeling better. I had run out of ideas. She's an important part of the family despite not being related. She's had quite a lot of handling over the last few months and while far from delighted at being picked up, she will sit still on my lap once I've got her and let me check her over without any fuss.
It's a odd thing is that emotional conection one gets when trying to help a sick chicken and in some form or other appears a two way exchange.

There you have it. Hope for no sick chickens, you only get fonder of them.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm calling it a day on the fermented food front. It hasn't been much a success here. There were and still are problems with crop capacity and the change in volume from dry weight to fermented. This lot need the maximum nutrition from each crop load. Adding 30% or more water. despite the claimed easier digestibility doesn't come close to making up for the reduction in feed intake.
The only way the fermenting worked was to ferment and then dry out which I tried.
Add to this limited forage time and no proper arrangement for ensuring there is feed available in the mornings at least, all that seems to be happening is the chickens get less feed and too much water.

 

[notabitail]

I think the reluctance to eat mash has a number of reasons.
Not all crumbles produce the same mash consistency. The crumble I gave in Catalonia produced a different kind of mash compared to the crap I've tried here. Some crumble turns to a adhesive paste and this is what the chickens don't like, It sticks to their beak, inside and out and much of their ability to guage texture and possible other factors is reduced if their beaks are coated with sticky mash. Lots of time spent beak wiping and looking in their moths one can often see lumps of mash stuck to the inside of their beaks.

Chickens don't have the same digestive system as humans and for the gizzard to work properly it needs hard particles and quite large particles. I used to get hard particles in the Catalonian mash but the stuff I've tried here in the UK turns to glue basically if not immediately fresh.

Chickens have been eating hard grains and seeds for centuries without digestive issues. Eating dry hard feed also helps them to regulate their water intake better. It's not always a case of more of everything is better.
Part of Carbon's digestive issues seem to have been too much water in her diet.
On dry feed only her poop has been a lot better. She also has a drinking problem the cause of which I don't understand. She doesn't drink in the same way as the others. I wondered if she has a tapeworm that the last worming didn't deal with.

Didn't know chickens had moths.

Here the feed turns into that pastey goop. The Littles will eat it. The Bigs don't care for it. The Bigs are a lot more refined and picky.

 

[notabitail]

The rain is back. We did get out for three quarters of an hour but I was to busy in the goose run trying to sort out a mesh problem to take any pictures.
I did get some roosting time pictures though.
Henry going to roost first. It's a tigh fit through the pop door for him.
View attachment 3718906

Dig going in last. Easy.View attachment 3718903

All of us sitting in the coop extension eat roast beef slices. Needless to note Carbon likes to be as close to the supply as possible.
I'm so pleased Carbon is feeling better. I had run out of ideas. She's an important part of the family despite not being related. She's had quite a lot of handling over the last few months and while far from delighted at being picked up, she will sit still on my lap once I've got her and let me check her over without any fuss.
It's a odd thing is that emotional conection one gets when trying to help a sick chicken and in some form or other appears a two way exchange.

There you have it. Hope for no sick chickens, you only get fonder of them.
View attachment 3718905
View attachment 3718924

Is Carbon a Cream Legbar like Agathae?

 

[RoyalChick]

Didn't know chickens had moths.

Here the feed turns into that pastey goop. The Littles will eat it. The Bigs don't care for it. The Bigs are a lot more refined and picky.

Mine love goop. They also love the drier version. They love pellets. They love wheat berries soaked overnight.
They love grass. Babs loves cauliflower.
What is the theme?
They just love food.

 

[RoyalChick]

Mine love goop. They also love the drier version. They love pellets. They love wheat berries soaked overnight.
They love grass. Babs loves cauliflower.
What is the theme?
They just love food.

Oh and they wipe their beaks on my shoes or my pant legs.

 

[notabitail]

His comb and wattles are so big it almost looks like AI. He's very impressive!

Hearing that phrase makes me think of how fast AI leaked into everything.

AI Rooster, what could go wrong? Rooster fights? Never heard of em'. Dominance? No, only the government can have that. They're just two roosters screaming at each other.

 

[notabitail]

Mine love goop. They also love the drier version. They love pellets. They love wheat berries soaked overnight.
They love grass. Babs loves cauliflower.
What is the theme?
They just love food.

The Bigs will eat a whole bowl of goop-y cream of wheat if they get their mitts beaks on it.

We tried pellets, but there ended up just being a ring of pellets from where they tried digging in them to find "real food".

They love food, just not all food (which works in my favor).