Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fluffycrow]

I think its mainly a wise recommendation if you dont want a staggered hatch because that is what is happening with uncontrolled eggs. There are often eggs nearly full developed that get abandoned because the 2 - max 3 days old need to be fed.

Thats why I always changed fake eggs with eggs that were marked. Took away newly laid eggs. Even then I had differences in the day of hatch. Although never to a problematic extend.

But that's exactly the benefit of having a secluded nest, typical for birds who want to go broody. Less females are likely to lay their eggs while theyre brooding

 

[fluffycrow]

This, from the FAO 2004, gives a rather different view of it than that commonly seen in the West:
https://www.fao.org/3/y5169e/y5169e00.htm#Contents
The focus is on small scale village production, not commercial practices and scale that we normally encounter in our reading and research. Incubation and hatching is chapter 5.

Thank you for this, Perris. There definitely are some distinct differences in the techniques used. I've seen some of these techniques being implemented across the many videos I've seen on aseel brooding

 

[MrsNorthie]

I'm not sure I understand, what would you say was the error ? Letting them to sort it out all on their own ?
To me it seems a good thing that you have found a way to make roost time routine more peaceful, because it's certainly a moment when tensions can become exacerbated.

Are you still in the wait and see phase with Dig, or have your plans for their future become clearer ?

I'm a bit out of the current subject, I hope you will forgive me Shadrach for coming back to ex-batts. I wanted to do a follow-up on a post I wrote on this thread at the beginning of February 2023 comparing the lives and outcomes of the six ex-batts that have been sharing our lives since January 2020, with the six my partner's father got 13 months later from the same battery and same generation. Here was the post.


Since I wrote this post in february 2023, I (badly) euthanised on the 21 june Brune, that was dying from EYP and had flystrike. And we lost Cannelle at the beginning of this week. She had had EYP this summer and recovered, but this time had a bad case of ascites. I didn't do a necropsy but wouldn't be too surprised if it was cancer. So we now have two remaining ex-batts out of the six, Blanche and Nougat, that are almost four and a half years old. Blanche never recovered from last year's hawk attack ; she lost an eye, and is what I would call lightly invalid ; but she hangs on to life even though we dug a grave for her months ago. Nougat is doing good, she is in good shape, eats and is active, is still laying about ten eggs a month and looks like she won't be in trouble for a while.

My partner 's father lost two of his remaining ex-batts when we had a week of 40°c/ 105 this summer. Not enough shade and too tiny a space to get cool. The only one that remained was Popeye, the tiny crossbeak. Like Blanche, her grit kept her alive although she should have been the first to die. And because my partner's stepmother liked her especially, she fed her some extras that probably helped. However, she came to a sad ending at the beginning of January. The new generation of ex-batts, that at the beginning had gotten really well along with the older hens, turned on her once she was getting weak and sick. They kept pecking at her, harassing her, and not letting her eat enough. It would probably have been a good idea to isolate her but although they did like Popeye for people who see most chickens as laying commodities, they didn't have a space for it and didn't want to go the trouble to do it, I guess. So she died scared and bullied and the remaining hens were beginning to peck at her remains when they found her in the morning. My partner's stepmum felt bad about it after but I don't know if she will do things differently.

So I guess the fact that ours got out of the battery at three months and were kept ranging in a wide yard, whereas theirs spent a year longer in the battery and had cramped living conditions in a coop and run did make a small difference in longevity, but a difference in months, maybe a year at best. It did not compensate the production hybrid layer genetics.

And, loosing Cannelle at the beginning of this week has me wonder again if I am definitely done with keeping ex-batts once our two remaining leave us, or if the short lives we can give them here after the battery do make it worth it.

In 2022, they were six.
View attachment 3760729
View attachment 3760728
Today, Blanche and Nougat.
View attachment 3760727

It is just heart breaking that they come to you, in such bad health and may not recover or improve. You have made a big difference in their lives, by giving them the opportunity to be cared for and live like chickens.

I wish the battery practices would be banned, it is cruel. They either need to regulate the keeping conditions to improve the quality of life for the chickens, or ban it all together. Let people keep and care for a few chickens of their own or buy eggs from people raising backyard flocks, where the chickens are loved and cared for.

 

[Shadrach]

They also eat the chopped hemp

How did the growing of the hemp go?

 

[Shadrach]

A shame when the good guys go too early
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68433675

I saw this in the papers and despite not being keen on cooking and not having a TV I knew who he was and what he was famous for.

 

[Shadrach]

This, from the FAO 2004, gives a rather different view of it than that commonly seen in the West:
https://www.fao.org/3/y5169e/y5169e00.htm#Contents
The focus is on small scale village production, not commercial practices and scale that we normally encounter in our reading and research. Incubation and hatching is chapter 5.

I've had time to read this now. It's an interesting article.

 

[Shadrach]

Small rant. I hear quite often people saying that you need to place new eggs under a broody when she commits to sitting, because the embryos in the old eggs she periodically sat on will have died. If that were the case, wouldn't that mean that every chicken left to make a nest and hatch chicks on her own accord would be unsuccessful. Unless of course, a female doing a few "test runs" for a few days before committing to brooding is not the status quo; that I do not know. Maybe I should not be talking unless I knew the answer to the above, but seems to me like we can't trust chickens to sort out their natural behaviours anymore. Tax for the rant, and for the randomnes (and for possibly being wrong). Picture from today, the grown chicks of a hen who didn't receive any kind of assistance from me while brooding, and prepping her nestView attachment 3760585

I've not heard that one before.
It's complete nonsense.

 

[BDutch]

I wish the battery practices would be banned, it is cruel. They either need to regulate the keeping conditions to improve the quality of life for the chickens, or ban it all together.

Yes! Also ‘free’ indoor ranging in a crowd (9 on a m2) with no access to a outdoor run is cruel. Imo governments should ban such cruelty. There are eggs with other labels from hens that have more space. But people often look for the cheapest eggs in the supermarket, not realising what goes on behind the stable doors.

Let people keep and care for a few chickens of their own or buy eggs from people raising backyard flocks, where the chickens are loved and cared for.

I suspect it is impossible to keep enough backyard flocks to feed everyone who cant have chickens.

I saw this in the papers and despite not being keen on cooking and not having a TV I knew who he was and what he was famous for.

I didn't really, but we had similar programs on our TV stations. I think a few famous cooks in Belgium and the Netherlands got inspired by this duo in combining traveling and cooking with local products.

Tate tax (a tiny impression)
Roosters

Picasso

Outside

 

[Shadrach]

Got lucky again and had a dry patch between the hail and rain. Cold at 1C.
Two hours today. They headed off to roost about twenty minutes before sundown.

Dig had his mate round for supper again. None of the other crows behave like this. I think this one is young.
Crow, "What are your parents like then Dig."
Dig, "Dad keeps whacking me when I try to mate mum or aunty."
Crow, "My parents threw me out."

As I was saying about Dig waiting at the back door.

Put him on the roost bar. Kept him on it for a couple of minutes. Quiet as I sat outside.

Considering Henry's reluctance to get off his perch Fret and Carbon get their heads under Henry's beak. Dig makes a grab and Henry will get him. Once Dg has settled they get on the perch.

 

[Shadrach]

Yes! Also ‘free’ indoor ranging in a crowd (9 on a m2) with no access to a outdoor run is cruel. Imo governments should ban such cruelty. There are eggs with other labels from hens that have more space. But people often look for the cheapest eggs in the supermarket, not realising what goes on behind the stable doors.


I suspect it is impossible to keep enough backyard flocks to feed everyone who cant have chickens.

I didn't really, but we had similar programs on our TV stations. I think a few famous cooks in Belgium and the Netherlands got inspired by this duo in combining traveling and cooking with local products.

Tate tax (a tiny impression)
Roosters
View attachment 3761140

View attachment 3761143
Picasso
View attachment 3761141
Outside
View attachment 3761139

Could you post that rooster picture on to me. I think it would look rather good on my wall.