Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

In other news, Polka has gone broody , some of the flock are moulting, some of the garden plants think it's autumn and are colouring up while the tomatoes have barely got 2 trusses out and only single tiny fruits starting to set. I appreciate it's tough for those with incessant heat or incessant rain (is anybody having normal weather this year?), we could really do with some summer warmth here now.

My Pearl is broody too, wanting to be a mother once more this year.

I made a mistake yesterday not checking properly before closing and two of my hens slept outside.

No signs of moult.

The weather was way too wet this year (sofar). Yesterday was horrible. In the south of our country, near Maastricht, lots of roads and basements had flooded.

 

[ManueB]

Having just caught up, I can't help thinking that I've been very lucky with my sole two hatches where the only stress I had was the broodies not going off their nest on their own. For those of you who have seen dozen and dozen of hens sitting, is it frequent to be chaotic in the sense of hens throwing out eggs, leaving the nest in the middle, or eating the eggs ?
Would you say it depends on the hen, or on external circumstances during the brood ?

I'm very tired and while I read what threads I can I do not have the energy to comment much.

Yes, I've been told having children does that to you, especially when you're not twenty anymore .
Be careful please, we don't want you having another serious health issue like this winter. You had quite a warning then. If you really want to wait until they roost maybe you should turn up later. If you are now in speaking terms, couldn't C. just take a look in the morning to warn you in case the chickens are stuck in the extension?

In other news, Polka has gone broody , some of the flock are moulting, some of the garden plants think it's autumn and are colouring up while the tomatoes have barely got 2 trusses out and only single tiny fruits starting to set. I appreciate it's tough for those with incessant heat or incessant rain (is anybody having normal weather this year?), we could really do with some summer warmth here now.

I hope you will recover completely soon ! It seems like we're all getting it in different countries.
Though ours was not that bad, my partner fell ill again last week, more or less two weeks after his first round of COVID. Not sure if it's an after effect, or if he was so tired his immune system couldn't fight another bug.

Abnormal weather ...is now the new normal. I'm not complaining that we are only now beginning to get tomatoes, because I'm so glad we got more rain and less heat than "normal"

Tax : Théo giving me the stink eye.

 

[MrsNorthie]

In other news, Polka has gone broody , some of the flock are moulting, some of the garden plants think it's autumn and are colouring up while the tomatoes have barely got 2 trusses out and only single tiny fruits starting to set. I appreciate it's tough for those with incessant heat or incessant rain (is anybody having normal weather this year?), we could really do with some summer warmth here now.

I would gladly donate 10-20 degrees of our summer weather! It has been in the 90's F 30-36 C here. The chickens are doing brilliantly between their dust baths, electrolytes or nutridrench and fans. We refresh their water frequently during the day.

 

[Molpet]

. I appreciate it's tough for those with incessant heat or incessant rain (is anybody having normal weather this year?), we could really do with some summer warmth here now.

I'll send you some heat also.
Going to be in the high 90s f and humidity....feel like up to 110 f

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 90s sunny.

Have a great day!

Mother Nature seems to be taking all of us to task!

 

[Molpet]

For those of you who have seen dozen and dozen of hens sitting, is it frequent to be chaotic in the sense of hens throwing out eggs, leaving the nest in the middle, or eating the eggs ?
Would you say it depends on the hen, or on external circumstances during the brood ?

Usually.... they throw out or eat the bad eggs and chicks. ... not the healthy ones. But like people not all are good mothers.
I usually have at least a dz (out of 50-60) chickens go broody every year and all the turkeys (8-21). So I tend to have all kinds of mothers. Turkey hens are famous for being bad mothers especially the first year.

 

[SimpleJenn]

My broody hens have some hatchable eggs!
I gave them four each, they are a bit bigger than standard silkies and have both proven they can keep that many sufficiently covered.


Morinth, the black one, is completely comfortable, she acts like this isn't her first clutch. Samara, the white, is a bit more confused and nervous but I have high hopes she'll pull through. And I have an incubator now just in case she completely drops this broody business.

 

[Perris]

My broody hens have some hatchable eggs!
I gave them four each, they are a bit bigger than standard silkies and have both proven they can keep that many sufficiently covered.
View attachment 3890103
View attachment 3890105
Morinth, the black one, is completely comfortable, she acts like this isn't her first clutch. Samara, the white, is a bit more confused and nervous but I have high hopes she'll pull through. And I have an incubator now just in case she completely drops this broody business.

good luck to you all!

 

[fluffycrow]

We have a new broody here as well. It's Ursula. Not sure what I'll do with her. I would like some broody raised birds this year (and she is the most handleable out of all the mix breed bantams, so it'd be easier to do a bit of free ranging), I'm just not sure I want *her* to sit. She's not very reliable. We're also expecting extreme temperatures next week (40°C+). The serama hen I was not letting hatch seems to have broken. The broody in the free ranging group seems to be back to normal after the incident with her eggs/chicks, although she still is a little awkward around her peers

Good luck with your broodies and mothers, everyone!

Today I sat and observed the whole roosting process. Something about 19 chicks spreading a bit of chaos in the whole group was very amusing. Some of the oldies weren't having it. The newer birds were much more accepting

Tax:

 

[Shadrach]

I got second place with my last article, beaten by an excellent article with a natural writing style I would find difficult to match.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...icle-writing-contest-21.1607242/post-27880490