Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

Like to read more about oyster shells and other Ca extra's? @BYC Project Manager created an article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...yster-shells.77372/?page=2#ams-comment-526992

Good luck @Perris with the offspring! how many eggs (max) will you let her hatch? Are you sur you want this in 3 months time too?

Don't know what to think about this gif, but cant help laughing.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 80s sunny.

Have a great day!

 

[SimpleJenn]

I wonder if there is a different way to get the calcium they need, a different way? Maybe through adding a calcium supplement to their food?

My girls are always eating the oyster shell, usually supervised by the boys, that luckily seem to know they don't need it.

I give my problem layer a half of a human calcium supplement wrapped in cheese.

 

[Molpet]

She said it was an interesting way to use those and it adds both proteins and calcium for her chickens, which are fed wheat, scraps, and forage in her orchard.

What does she feed in the winter or doesn't it snow there. She doesn't say in the article.
I pressure cook carcasses for broth. The bones crumble and I give them to poultry.
I have read people grind in a machine necks and backs for dogs.

ETA I smash dried eggs shells with a potato masher

 

[Perris]

Good luck @Perris with the offspring! how many eggs (max) will you let her hatch?

I gave her 5; 3 of her own, 1 of Maria's, and 1 of Rhondda's. She continues Zimmet's as well as Amadeo's genes (both lost, and missed birds), and is Janeka's granddaughter too, so 1 of her eggs for each of them. Maria's fecundity must be nearing its end now - she's coming 8, and has laid about 30 eggs since May - so this is probably her last shot at producing a decent daughter (her girls have not been a great success to date). And I felt sorry for Rhondda losing her secret clutch to whatever predator got it. She's only just re-started laying, but her propensity to nest off base suggests it might be wise to reproduce her genes sooner rather than later.

Are you sur you want this in 3 months time too?

No not really, but I'll cross that bridge when/if I get to it!

 

[BDutch]

Now it makes sense why you let her sit.

fecundity

My Ini mini who is 10 yo, still laid eggs in spring. Getting broody in the first week of June stopt this of course. And I dont expect her to lay any eggs after she stops caring for the chicks. Janice is her daughter and is raised by Ini mini. The father was a naine de Tournaisis. She has a completely different character.

Unfortunately I didn't have a rooster this year. Who knows… I intend to keep a bantam Amrock cockerel (Thompson) till spring. But the eggs of Ini mini and the teo black Dutch (9yo) are too similar to know who laid which egg. I don’t know how much eggs she has laid, but caught her in the act/ before& after laying, so I am sure her eggs are/were not finished.

propensity

Another difficult word. So happy I can use google to translate such words instantly.

 

[Perris]

Another difficult word.

sorry! I forget that most people don't have as extensive an everyday vocabulary as I do, and that some, like you, are reading this as a second or third language. I don't think I know any Dutch words, so they're all difficult for me Google translate is a boon to us all.

 

[BDutch]

sorry! I forget that most people don't have as extensive an everyday vocabulary as I do, and that some, like you, are reading this as a second or third language. I don't think I know any Dutch words, so they're all difficult for me Google translate is a boon to us all.

Please don’t excuse yourself. I should, for not being clear enough. Learning such words is good for my English vocabulary.
It only bothers me when uncommon language is not known by Google, like abbreviations and chicken language. (Buk buk)

Nice read about chicken talk.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Mine prefer the eggshels over oyster shells too. But I don’t rinse and dry them. If the shells were not boiled I put the shells in the microwave.
Cut them with a scissor and scatter them in the run or in the garden.

Eggshell eaters
View attachment 3897918
They have oyster shells and if they are not in the same space as the chicks, they get layer pellets too. They like to eat the organic layer pellets too.

Mine just hate pellets. I think that they would starve themselves if they got nothing but pellets. Whole grains, especially the hard red wheat, is their favourite.

 

[MrsNorthie]

I give my problem layer a half of a human calcium supplement wrapped in cheese.

They LOVE cheese!