Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fuzzi]

Not the sort of weather one wants to be standing in a wind swept field in! Supposed to be 12C; didn't feel like that to me.
Got them fed, watered and out of the run for a bit and then the rain started and everyone, including me sought shelter in the coop run.
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This picture shows the different feather pattern between Carbon and Fret. Fret is much more Marans like in shape. Fret also has Marans type feathered feet. Not really much in common apart from being shades of grey and similar chest colouring and of course the head tuft.
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This is Mow. She's got the head tuft and that's about it on the Crested Cream Legbar front.
Mow is a complete fluff ball. She's got the head tuft but it's closer to Fret's than Legbar. I have no idea where the feather texture comes from, it's incredibly soft.
She's got feather feet and Henry's oversized rear end. Hardly any leg showing due to Henry's contribution to the heavy thigh feathering.
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Mow's wearing bloomers!

 

[Shadrach]

I can't help but feel sorry for Dig. All he wants to do when he's let out of the run, is tear about the place chasing crows, explore the boundries of the field and search for those places where interesting edible things might be found. When his mind isn't on food and fun, it's on sex and if he doesn't get a slap before he even makes a neck grab, he either gets a slap after and more recently his dad bowling over to interupt his mating attempts. Watching Dig when he does get a taste of freedom just reminds me of the evils of the coop and run chicken keeping model. Many never witness this because many just keep hens and even pullets like his sister Mow start thinking about egg laying while Dig at their age is mainly interested in having some fun. Mow does still accompany Dig but she has got her mind on other priorities and of course, avoiding Dig's inept mating attempts.
The recent bad weather hasn't helped. I'm less keen on spending more hours standing around in the cold and wet while Dig lets off steam and often it's just he and I outside of the run, the others prefering the relative increase in comfort of the coop extension or the coop run.
This restriction of freedom is I believe bad for healthy developement and not something thankfully I, or any cockerels I've cared for in the past have had to deal with.

 

[Molpet]

This restriction of freedom is I believe bad for healthy developement and not something thankfully I, or any cockerels I've cared for in the past have had to deal with.

I have one coop with 2 cockerels and another with 1. It was below zero f for over a hundred hours last week.-7f this morning and up to 20f this afternoon. I open the coops around sunrise and only the one cockerel has gone out in the snow the turkeys trampled.

 

[MrsNorthie]

I probably worry about the chickens in this weather more than I should. We just don't have that much practice with this level of winter. Fortunately today kicks off a regionally appropriate warming trend

We're 30 minutes out of Gatlinburg, < 3 hours from Anderson. I thought about moving to SC, to the low country, before meeting DH. It's a laid-back state, and I love some mustard-based BBQ But the mountains (and work) called and pointed us to Tennessee.

I worry too, but their coop is pretty comfy and as you said, we are on an upward trend back to normal!

I get wander-lust, it is almost like the bottoms of my feet get itchy if I stay somewhere too long so I periodically look. I really want to spend my last few years in England's green and pleasant land(the egg thief's home land.), but I really can't see moving anywhere with the chickens, and they keep me pretty content. I haven't tried the mustard BBQ yet..lol.

Getting pictures one handed takes more practice than I've had obviously. By the time I'm sorted the moment has gone.

I agree with you it is very hard to take pictures with one hand while feeding the chickens

I didn't stand a chance at catching any shots of hand feeding our boys, the girls bomb in and scarf it all down. I tried, this afternoon with sardines, the poor boys start to come over and get a nibble and the girls bowl them over. They actually don't seem to mind, and I eventually sneak enough to them that they get to eat some, but the girls are like velociraptors. LOL

Poor Blue, hurrying to tidbit to get their attention, "Look what I made her do for you..." , and of course, I play along.

 

[kcan2]

Trophy win to Mow for having the fluffiest tootie patootie! From that vantage, she certainly resembles a pillow

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Mow is a complete fluff ball. She's got the head tuft but it's closer to Fret's than Legbar. I have no idea where the feather texture comes from, it's incredibly soft.
She's got feather feet and Henry's oversized rear end. Hardly any leg showing due to Henry's contribution to the heavy thigh feathering.

Not sure if there's an extra, extra soft gene, but if so, our Marans hens have it. They're unbelievably soft.

 

[Shadrach]

Trophy win to Mow for having the fluffiest tootie patootie! From that vantage, she certainly resembles a pillow

She's fluffy, no doubt about that. Fret is quite fluffy but nothing like Mow.

 

[fluffycrow]

As one can guess by my username, I'm very fond of fluffy birds. They don't work great here at all, so I don't have many, but I enjoy the ones I have. Efi and Gogo the brahma are by far the most, well...fluffy

 

[SimpleJenn]

Marans are soft like kittens in my opinion! My girl shep is the softest, cuddliest hen I've met. She puts my satin silkies to shame in fluff and how she feels to pet.

 

[no fly zone]

Not sure if there's an extra, extra soft gene, but if so, our Marans hens have it. They're unbelievably soft.

Skeksis and Chippy had really soft feathers.