Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

That was always my mother’s argument against criticism for me eating with muddy hands as a kid, or for eating fruit that had fallen on the ground, or veggies from the garden that weren’t properly washed.
Trace elements she would sing out happily and ignore criticism of her mothering skills.
Years later she clipped some academic paper that was positing a causation between multiple allergies and hyper sanitized upbringing in young kids.
“See - I told you so!”

I think your mother was right. I was brought up in a similar manner regarding hyper cleanliness.

 

[Perris]

I've now finished the Worthington book, and I think you'd find much to agree with Shad. The author started working with chickens in the early 1920s. He was employed by a county council to conduct laying tests, and investigate incubators, brooders, and paddock management for poultry. He was in professional contact with numerous commercial and backyard poultry-men and -women, and vets, for decades, through war and peace.

He got interested in feeding whole grains, split peas and suchlike in the early 1930s. He found fowls could balance their own ration in the 1940s. He used dairy products, soya and peanut meals to supply protein, as well as fish or meat meal. He was keeping poultry successfully despite rationing. And fwiw, his remedy for scaly leg mite "is crude but effective, neat creosote". He wrote the book as he approached retirement, intending it for beginners, to save them from repeating his mistakes or from wasting time reinventing wheels.

Edited to add, he was also aware that the approach he advocated - simple or natural poultry keeping - "has not been received with enthusiasm by the dieticians and purveyors of mash and pellets. In the one case their professional beliefs and teachings are affected, in the other their profits." Nothing changes eh?

 

[Shadrach]

I've now finished the Worthington book, and I think you'd find much to agree with Shad.

I'm sure I would. I've never been a fan of modern chicken keeping practices. So much so that I have to be a bit carefull not to condem the whole coop and run keeping method in it's entirety given the site I'm on.
My problem is, THE problem is, one can't do what I'll call old style chicken keeping in a piecemeal fashion; it's an all or nothing kind of thing. Step up saying people shouldn't keep single sex flocks, people shouldn't feed commercial feed, people shouldn't use incubators, people shouldn't confine their chickens, etc etc just isn't going to fly here.
There are better and worse examples of the modern chicken keeping arrangement and if I/we hope to achieve anything it's tackling the worst, not heading straight for the ideal.
This applies to much of what gets debated here, feed in particular. Yup, there is an ideal/optimal feed balance but I don't eat it and, most here probably don't eat it and we survive and so will the chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

Well, nobody died due to me having the day off yesterday. Heavy downpours throughout the day and still on the cool side at 7C.
Dig is eyeing me up for another round. he'll get a slap.
Everybody was hungry. I need to speak to C about quantities, clean water and mention they'll need to keep an eye on Dig.
Fret was less distressed today and Dig wasn't harrasing the hens as much, partly because Henry has been pushing Dig out to the edges more often.
Mow is still a wandering concern. Dig does check on her but it's not enough.
Without Dig she would stick closer to the others from what I've seen.
However, given I'm there when they are out and about and tracking her as best I can while doing what needs to be done, I'm happy that she forages and doesn't complain when I usher her closer to the rest when she wanders off too far.

 

[RoyalChick]

It was a lovely sunny day here today and things are beginning to turn green. My ladies were very busy all day digging stuff up and eating artemisia, worms, and grass.
Some photos as I haven’t paid tax in a while.

 

[16 and me]

"Raw greenfood is the foundation for health. The failure to provide it has caused the deterioration of the modern hen and the commercial egg." Worthington. Discuss.

My flock concurs. My grandson & I planted fall rye in one of our veggie gardens last year. I live in the PNW so it grows (slowly albeit) all winter. This and the chickweed patches scattered about are the prime grazing areas the flock hits up when let out to free range. I chop up a bunch into 1-2" pieces and throw a couple piles in the coop when I have to leave, and it's all gone by the end of the day. They know what they need!

 

[kcan2]

Well, nobody died due to me having the day off yesterday. Heavy downpours throughout the day and still on the cool side at 7C.
Dig is eyeing me up for another round. he'll get a slap.
Everybody was hungry. I need to speak to C about quantities, clean water and mention they'll need to keep an eye on Dig.
Fret was less distressed today and Dig wasn't harrasing the hens as much, partly because Henry has been pushing Dig out to the edges more often.
Mow is still a wandering concern. Dig does check on her but it's not enough.
Without Dig she would stick closer to the others from what I've seen.
However, given I'm there when they are out and about and tracking her as best I can while doing what needs to be done, I'm happy that she forages and doesn't complain when I usher her closer to the rest when she wanders off too far.View attachment 3785838View attachment 3785839View attachment 3785840View attachment 3785841View attachment 3785842

The geese do appear to be refereeing from their recliners with language habitually varied and colorful as are their opinions

Today was a good day for perching on the barrel to keep a good eye on the hen dirt bathing inside:

 

[16 and me]

How old is the naughty boy? I have seen this occasionally with my juniors, it is like they are trying to challenge Blue for his crown and force some of the girls to switch allegiance.

At first, Blue would just stand there and watch almost looking a bit overwhelmed, but when I expressed my disapproval of their methods,(and lecture them about using charm not brute force..LOL) Goldie and Spud stop immediately at the sound of my voice and recently, Blue has started to intervene. It is like he has realized, that he has the right to stop the other boys from being naughty.

Goldie and Spud still get grabby once in awhile, but now Blue stops them when one of the girls cries out and the 3 of them work together to keep the 2 youngest boys in check. Blue also intervenes when Goldie and Spud try to have little spats. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, so I always praise Blue and give him extra treats to help establish that he has my full support.

It is better this year, compared to last year (the first year.) so I am hoping that as they mature, it will continue to improve. Some of the more confident ladies also have started pecking the boys if they seem to be getting a little rough.

I am amazed how quick they learn and take our lead. I've got a 6 month old cockerel who put himself on a timeout today when I yelled at him for being a jerk. If I yell Samuel! he knows I'm coming to chase him into the penalty box. So when I yelled Samuel! today he just ran inside the pen and disn't try to come out even though I disn't close the gate! When Pedro, the big boss hears me yell at Sammy he struts over and chases him too. The problem is that the hens pick up the stress from the drama. Between Sammy's agressive mating, the boys working out their differences, and me and Pedro chasing down Sammy, I'm seeing some misshaped eggs, along with some signs of stress among some of the hens. I don't know if I'll be able to wait it out for Sammy to mature - that just seems like forever away. If I can though, I really think he'll be a good roo.
Sammy:

And Pedro, the head honcho.

 

[16 and me]

That was always my mother’s argument against criticism for me eating with muddy hands as a kid, or for eating fruit that had fallen on the ground, or veggies from the garden that weren’t properly washed.
Trace elements she would sing out happily and ignore criticism of her mothering skills.
Years later she clipped some academic paper that was positing a causation between multiple allergies and hyper sanitized upbringing in young kids.
“See - I told you so!”

I still ise my Mother & Grandmother's line - "it's just good clean dirt!"
Given the chemical filth in processed foods, I'll take my chances with the dirt.

 

[Perris]

this reviews the hygiene hypothesis as of 2022
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2022.1051368/full

spoiler: "Children from large families with farming exposure have approximately sixfold reduction in prevalence of hay fever, indicating the potential strength and epidemiological importance of these environmental determinants. During the 21st century, a wide range of specific microbial, environmental and lifestyle factors have been investigated as possible underlying mechanisms, but sadly none have emerged as robust explanations for the family size and farming effects."