Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[SimpleJenn]

Poor sweet Carbon. She's had a good time with you at least. It's sweet that the younglings want to spend time with her, since normally she wouldn't let them.

 

[Shadrach]

Three and a half hours today. I went over this morning to check on Carbon and got some vitamins and mackerel into her. She was already looking better than yesterday. Got some roast beef and calcium citrate into her this evening.
As you can see by comparing the pictures from yesterday to today she looks much better; not right but better. She went out foraging today, even ran a little.
There is little doubt in my mind that the restrictions they've had on their ranging has had an effect on their health, both mental and physical. They are getting out more now and the difference is noticable. Also interesting is my plot has far more vigerous growth than most of the others who didn't want the chickens on their plots. I have very little pest damage while some of the plots look like they had a swarm of locusts visit.
You just can't tell people and today a plot holder posted a short video where some gardening buff was saying between the rain and the pests stuff wasn't flourishing. What he points out in the video is it's the edges of the plots where the pests breed and hide. It's the edges of my plot that the chickens spend most time scouring for grubs and other edibles.
I harvested two kilos of broad beans today and there are more to come.
Carbon (back) and Fret.

Carbon (right) Fret and Henry waiting for me to break out the goodies.

Carbon out foraging and looking alert.

Henry.

Carbon eating feed.

The white cockerel on the adults perch tonight.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Mine prefer eating mixed grains too. They get the whole grains at the end of the day. Or when I have to lure them in the run because I don’t want my chickens to free range anymore when no-one is at home.

I have noticed there is a huge difference in quality/liking of the pellets/crumbles. The organic pellets I have now are good.
I changed brand many times and noticed a huge difference in liking and spilling.

Most significant was a few years back. I bought organic crumble at the mill. The first provider (Van Gorp) had good feed, but the factory was bought by a large company and the brand + quality changed (Forfarmers). My chickens hated the new crumble. I needed to buy the chicken feed elsewhere. This (Welkoop) crumble had lots of dust and then I switched to pellets.
They ate the pellets just as wel and they didn’t spill so much on the floor.
The provider where I buy now (AR) has tasty pellets. My chickens eat chick feed too. The organic chick feed from AR only comes in crumble.

One hen (Kraai) spilled a lot when she ate from the chick crumble. She eats the tasty bits and threw the rest out. Making the chick feed wet seemed the only solution.

I bought a new feeder with a small silo because of it. In the description its saying its made against spilling. It helped a lot.
View attachment 3898858

Spoiler: Product description

Galvanized feed silo 2.5 kg with plastic dividing wall is a feed trough made of galvanized sheet, is ideal for compact poultry houses. The product can be placed against a wall. There are 2 hanging holes at the back of the food bowl. The lid is hinged and can be opened to refill the food. The sloping top prevents animals from sitting on it.

To prevent spillage, a special grille has been made of plastic so that the animals cannot play with the food. The low feed level also ensures that spillage is kept to a minimum.

Dimensions: 15 x 16 x 25 cm (capacity 2.5 kg)
Price: € 10,95 excl. delivery costs

I hate when you find something really good and then it is gone. They would not touch the organic pellets that the neighbor bought for them as a thank you for the free eggs, until I turned them into a mash. *sigh Fussy little things.

I make a lightly fermented mash with the chick feed and mix their whole grain feed in. The love that.

That feeder is awesome! I have 2 5ft trough feeders that we made, for their dinner and breakfast feedings, then 6 wall/post mounted metal feeders, some that have whole grains, others grit, and then a big round feeder in the coop, with calcium. The girls pick at that when they feel they need it. I like the mash because I can mix in some nutridrench or electrolytes, they may not get enough when they drink, but if I mix it in with the mash, everyone gets some.

 

[Shadrach]

What happens when a roosters spurs overgrow?
I've often wondered and I've been fairly sure that the rooster has and always has had a way of dealing with this. In Catalonia I noticed that some roosters had uncomfortablyy long spurs and then they didn't. I put this down to accidental damage at first but having watched Henry deal with his spurs both of which curled upwards and were making sitting uncomfortable; I could see him shuffling about trying to prevent them digging into his belly. I wrote in this thread some time ago that one spur had broken off. I've got the broken off bit somewhere. It's over an inch long. The other spur broke off sometime today. I couldn't find the discarded piece. Like the last time, no blood, no fuss, just shorter spurs. I'll try and find some pictures at some point. The spur ends seem to sort of die off leaving a hollow tube into which the new spur point grows. At some point these end tubes get knocked off.
I can't help wondering if the rooster knows when to give the spur a knock to remove the hollow casing.
It makes the trim your roosters spurs a bit of a nonsense if they can sort the problem out without our help; much like many other problems we unnecessarily interfere with.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Carbon wouldn't normally let the juveniles rest this close to her.

I wonder if they are kind of guarding her or trying to comfort her because they sense that she is not feeling well. Animals can be really compassionate.

Extensions of life are more common through medical intervention but at a cost in quality of life more often than not. For me over the last three years it's been a mission of palliative care for the majority of the rescues and Ex Battery hens.

Quality of life is more important that quantity. A lot of times, the fight to extend an animal's life ends up being more about our feelings than theirs, the choice to provide palliative care is hard but the right choice. (LOL That is actually what I am hoping for in the end, I don't want extraordinary measures, just keep the pain down to the minimum and let me be with my animals and the Egg Thief, at the end.)

 

[MrsNorthie]

What happens when a roosters spurs overgrow?
I've often wondered and I've been fairly sure that the rooster has and always has had a way of dealing with this. In Catalonia I noticed that some roosters had uncomfortablyy long spurs and then they didn't. I put this down to accidental damage at first but having watched Henry deal with his spurs both of which curled upwards and were making sitting uncomfortable; I could see him shuffling about trying to prevent them digging into his belly. I wrote in this thread some time ago that one spur had broken off. I've got the broken off bit somewhere. It's over an inch long. The other spur broke off sometime today. I couldn't find the discarded piece. Like the last time, no blood, no fuss, just shorter spurs. I'll try and find some pictures at some point. The spur ends seem to sort of die off leaving a hollow tube into which the new spur point grows. At some point these end tubes get knocked off.
I can't help wondering if the rooster knows when to give the spur a knock to remove the hollow casing.
It makes the trim your roosters spurs a bit of a nonsense if they can sort the problem out without our help; much like many other problems we unnecessarily interfere with.

I will have to pay attention, Goldie's are quite long, I normally just zip them with dremel tool type thingy (it has been a long day and my words aren't all working. I think I need a little single malt and an early night.) that I use for the dogs claws, just to soften the points, but they hate it, they are so good about it but I think it makes them nervous.

 

[Perris]

she looks much better; not right but better. She went out foraging today, even ran a little.

that's great to hear

my plot has far more vigerous growth than most of the others who didn't want the chickens on their plots. I have very little pest damage while some of the plots look like they had a swarm of locusts visit

I'm sure I've posted this before, but it can't hurt to post it again

 

[Perris]

What happens when a roosters spurs overgrow?
I've often wondered and I've been fairly sure that the rooster has and always has had a way of dealing with this. In Catalonia I noticed that some roosters had uncomfortablyy long spurs and then they didn't. I put this down to accidental damage at first but having watched Henry deal with his spurs both of which curled upwards and were making sitting uncomfortable; I could see him shuffling about trying to prevent them digging into his belly. I wrote in this thread some time ago that one spur had broken off. I've got the broken off bit somewhere. It's over an inch long. The other spur broke off sometime today. I couldn't find the discarded piece. Like the last time, no blood, no fuss, just shorter spurs. I'll try and find some pictures at some point. The spur ends seem to sort of die off leaving a hollow tube into which the new spur point grows. At some point these end tubes get knocked off.
I can't help wondering if the rooster knows when to give the spur a knock to remove the hollow casing.
It makes the trim your roosters spurs a bit of a nonsense if they can sort the problem out without our help; much like many other problems we unnecessarily interfere with.

Do roosters' spurs overgrow, and if so, why?

They have never been a problem for any of my roos. I don't know what they do or don't do to them, but I have never seen any that seem to be too long. I have seen broken off tips (evidently hollow, as you say) very occasionally, but no blood and no fuss.

I imagine it's like chimps' fingernails, turtles' or parrots' beaks, rodents' teeth and other always-growing working animal body parts: they grow constantly because they get worn down by use, and usually become a problem when insufficiently used.

 

[fuentemoon]

I have also noted that some of my hens will only eat the crushed eggshells and not the oyster shells. Some days when I bring it in the dedicated bowl they actually fight for it like it's a treat.
I've been trying to switch to high calcium treats, I try to give crushed almonds instead of sunflowers seeds for example.
I put some yoghurt in their mash once or twice a week.
I was thinking of giving them some tofu and was wondering if anyone has tried that ? I'm not sure they would like it .
I have two young hens with laying issues right now so I also add a calcium supplement to one of their water bowl. But I make sure they also have plain water if they don't want to drink that.

I wanted to share something about chicken feed that I read yesterday on a french blog post. It would not be of any use to me as I don't eat meat, but it could interest some of you who have a lot of chickens, eat meat and are interested in alternatives.to commercial feed. (This woman is not a chicken expert by any means, she is a successful cookbook author who also writes about her small permaculture garden and she was explaining how she feeds her chickens).
To add protein, she uses a manual bone grinder meant for making dog food, to grind carcasses and bones for her hens, left over from the meat they eat for themselves. She's had it in her family for ages but she said it was something like this : https://www.tompress.com/A-10000456-broyeur-a-os-manuel.aspx

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.

(Edited to add the link to the article from the blog :
https://permaculture-familiale.fr/ce-que-mangent-mes-poules/#comments )

You got hit by the chicken math virus .
That's pretty funny for someone who has been breaking broodies all spring and planning so carefully for the future controlled subtractions and additions to the flock !
Send your potential adopters loads of cute chick photos, that should help to decide them .
I understand trying to keep Amadeo's genes. He was such a beautiful roo and gone too soon.

Speaking of which, Merle once again decided that after two weeks without sitting and 10 eggs laid, it was time to try again for babies. Never mind that she's beginning to molt !
View attachment 3897931

Mine love tofu, but I don't give it often, they cluck like its a very good treat.

 

[fluffycrow]

Interesting thought, seems to make sense that they'd be able to trim their spurs down themselves I've often wondered how long their spurs can be before starting to become uncomfortable, since Kolovos will probably reach that point soon, if he hasn't already.

He's never broken a part of his spur, but he does seem to be slightly uncomfortable at times; probably because his spurs are long enough to irritated the leg across them. What I see him doing quite often, is using one spur to rest his other foot. It's hilarious.

Maybe one day I'll find part of his spur on the ground, there's plenty of ways he could chip at them if he'd like. Since my relationship with him isn't as amicable, I see no reason to forcefully trim them, when he seems to be getting around excellently, with just some minor adjustments to his footing here and there