Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

thanks for the vote of confidence @BDutch , but I can't see it happening.

I already know more about commercial feed than I wish I did, and if I start getting into the sort of coops that some people think adequate, I might get really depressed. But maybe you would have a go at that topic, or one of the others you've thought up recently?

 

[fluffycrow]

Happy birthday Fez! the wild child is 1 today

Killay is paying her very close attention, and my hunch is that he too thinks she's going broody, so he is keen to ensure his paternity of her clutch, so he's not letting the other roos near

View attachment 3848137

If she does go broody, this might turn out to be a useful advance warning sign, at least for keepers with roos.

Happy birthday Fez!

 

[fluffycrow]

Perris, I have been thoroughly convinced by your posts and articles, as well as some readings of my own that layer feed especially is terrible for a chicken's health.

My free range flock, as many of you know, is on 50% layer feed. Back in the day, it used to be 100%. Now, they're also fed 50% grower, plus scraps, plus whatever they can free range. Feather condition and overall health has definitely improved. Still, I have a few birds whose feathers seem overly brittle. Even before Kolovos's son did some damage to them, they always had feather issues. The main one is Miss Mayhem.

This is a current photo of hers, but it doesn't look much worse compared to last year. She's always had this. Same with all my ISA browns. My birds have never been touched by the factory farming industry, and are used to running around eating whatever they can find, plus whatever scraps I give. She should not look like that, but she does. Her companions of the same breed and line don't look like her, but they also have more brittle feathers compared to the rest of my birds (all of which are either or non layer feeds, or they can eat layer if they choose to, while their normal feed is grower).

Here we don't get brands. We kind of just have to buy whatever our local mills give us, so I don't have much to chose from, and I'm pretty certain we get a really crappy feed. I'm hoping to transition them to better feed soon, and eventually make my own, based on your articles

 

[RoyalChick]

I agree. But I don't think many (any?) people reading BYC have such productive hens with such needs. There is really not so much difference between old and new breeds. The contemporary broiler breeder hen lays about 150 a year. Compare these breeds from 150 years ago: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-many-eggs-were-laid-by-hens-150-years-ago.1593024/

I am not sure about there not being any backyard chickens laying 300 eggs.
If you look at US hatchery websites they usually give a rough estimate of eggs per year for each breed. Many of those are in the 250-300 range (eg ISA Browns, production RIRs).
Although I don’t source chicks from these big hatcheries, I used that information to select breeds described as poor layers.
Mostly that has worked - Bernie lays about twice a week and stops for the winter as an example.
Strangely my barnyard mix laid about 300 in her first year. I wish she would slow down!

 

[fuzzi]

thanks for the vote of confidence @BDutch , but I can't see it happening.

I already know more about commercial feed than I wish I did, and if I start getting into the sort of coops that some people think adequate, I might get really depressed. But maybe you would have a go at that topic, or one of the others you've thought up recently?

What about a series of smaller articles?

 

[no fly zone]

I am not sure about there not being any backyard chickens laying 300 eggs.
If you look at US hatchery websites they usually give a rough estimate of eggs per year for each breed. Many of those are in the 250-300 range (eg ISA Browns, production RIRs).
Although I don’t source chicks from these big hatcheries, I used that information to select breeds described as poor layers.
Mostly that has worked - Bernie lays about twice a week and stops for the winter as an example.
Strangely my barnyard mix laid about 300 in her first year. I wish she would slow down!

Skeksis probably laid 300+ a year. And that is what led directly to her life being too damned short.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 70s sunny.

Have a great day!

I have six Barred Rocks and three RIR that were three years old April 29th.

I'm getting anywhere from one to five eggs a day.

 

[LaFleche]

I don't know if there is any truth in it, but some old poultry manuals assert that there will be a preponderance of males in early clutches and of females in later clutches. I have not looked for any proper modern study on why that might be, if it is indeed true.

From my own experience I can say that this claim has been and still is true with my birds over 20+ years.

Cold stress or any other stress the hens are exposed to leads to more male offspring.

 

[BDutch]

thanks for the vote of confidence @BDutch , but I can't see it happening.

I already know more about commercial feed than I wish I did, and if I start getting into the sort of coops that some people think adequate, I might get really depressed. But maybe you would have a go at that topic, or one of the others you've thought up recently?

I find it too hard to write an article in proper English.

English not my native language. I suppose its okay to reply in these threads, but I need better skills to write a book or an article.

 

[ManueB]

exactly. I am trying to keep in mind the difference between modern industrial layers, and backyard chickens. This thread is about ex-industrial layers, and started with some of them, but relatively few posts that I read on BYC are about industrial layers. By accident, ManueB had some that were rescued before facing a year in the unit, instead of once deemed 'spent', so they had the genetics and the pre-placement industrial feed for chicks and growers, and then they ate whatever she gave them from adoption. They could offer a rather rare insight into what difference it might make.

We made tons of nutrition mistakes in the beginning because we knew nothing ! We began by giving them the layer feed produced and milled by the place where we got them, but they were only three months old, so probably too young for a feed targeted for laying hens. Then, we mixed that with what my partner had seen his grand aunt do, which was give them all the potatoes too small for human consumption ...daily . Also, we didn't realised milled layer feed had a pretty short date before turning stale, so we bought a year supply. In spite of that I can't really say for certain whether any of their health issues came from the food. I had six, and five are now dead : four died of various reproductive issues. They always had access to a small space to forage and they did a lot of exercise because our land is very steep.

It's been a bit less than a year since I switched to a feeding system where all the chickens can choose from layer feed, starter feed, a mash made with a mix of both, fermented grains, or dry grains. Three of my ex-batt's died while they were under this type of feeding. Once they were really sick, anyway they ate a lot less of any of those food, and more things like grass, scrambled eggs, fruits and anything they would accept to eat, really.

Honestly, I can't say what has been the impact of food on their health, compared to their living conditions, and their genetics, and I would also add the eventual stress from their social relations when I got more chickens, and a rooster, then another ... It would require more experience with keeping chickens than I have, and a more scientific approach.

What I can say is that they did a bit better health wise and in longevity than the same generation of hens from the same place who got out at 18 months instead of 3 and lived in a much smaller space at my in-laws.

My last ex-batt, Nougat, is now four and 8 months old. She is still one of my most prolific layer, laying five eggs a week. She actually lays more and with better egg shells than she did last year, so that can possibly be due to the change in feeding regimen- or to the fact that there is less stress in the group now that the dominant rooster is a nicer guy .

I have no issue with commercial food in itself. I don't think it's the best option, but I think it can work if a chicken has access to foraging and other food and has good living conditions. I do have issue with saying it needs to be 100% of their diets and that it will make a chicken healthy, especially saying it in a very assertive manner.

Most people here don't give chickens "complete" food like layer feed or starter feed, and when they do, it's seen as a complement to grains, scraps and foraging, not the other way round. So I was very surprised when I first began reading posts on BYC, and it did impress me sufficiently that we gave less extras for a while.

I think sending upset beginners with ill chickens reliable links to either good BYC articles or other sources is the most helpful way to respond. I saw recently that a member who could be said very pro-commercial food sent this, and I think it's a very good start to evaluate if nutrition may be causing an issue :
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultr...ement-poultry/vitamin-deficiencies-in-poultry