Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[notabitail]

Too much time on your hands?

Probably that. Though I do love drawing stuff like that. I haven't done it in a year or so.

 

[BDutch]

I took 7 eggs out from underneath Sylph.

Good luck with breaking their broodiness.

4 or 5 eggs in one nest is enough to trigger my Dutch to become broody.
I check if there are eggs to collect (except the fake one) once a day now, and try to collect them twice in spring/summer.

The bantam Amrock are known to have no appetite for broodiness. They told the same story for RIR but my Katrientje is even harder to break than the Dutch. Curious if the story of the Amrocks is a fairytale too.

 

[Molpet]

And when the weather is perfect no broodies here.
When it very hot and humid I'll have 8 at once

 

[BDutch]

View attachment 4031875

My neighbours have a sow. When she is in heat, she becomes restless and wants to look for a partner. She often breaks out and her behavior is absolutely impossible.
Drops with an anti-heat tincture have proven to be a miracle cure.

I wonder if such a tincture exist for broodies?

 

[kcan2]

If Henry goes with her finding them isn't such a problem; on her own...

She surely looks camouflaged by herself! What weather to choose!

 

[fuzzi]

Looks like the calm period I mentioned a while ago is over. Sylph is broody and Tull is planning to be.
It was bitter at the field. 2C with wind chill on top. Grey and damp.
When I got there and let them out, Henry and Tull didn't bother with food and shot off to do what I assumed was foraging. Fret and Mow stayed behind and ate. No Sylph! I looked in the coop and there she was in the nestbox where everyone has been laying eggs. I thought she was laying an egg initially but a closer look and a hand slid under her belly showed warm organised eggs. She swore a bit and gave my hand a halfhearted peck; definitely broody.
Back out to the field and no signs of Henry and Tull foraging. A quick search and I found them in the large wire cage trying to make a nest in one corner. For two hours the pair of them went from one prospective nest site to another with me following behind.
I picked Tull up and deposited her in the other nest box. She came straight out, went and got Henry and they continued the search. There are a few places that if Tull made a nest at, unless I had seen her and Henry check them out, I would have trouble finding her after dusk. She was still hunting when the others had gone to roost, including Henry.
I collected her and put her on a roost bar in the coop. She was in a nest box when I left the field.
I took 7 eggs out from underneath Sylph. Lifted her out and dumped her in front of the food tray. She ate a bit and went back to the now eggless nest.
She was on the roost bar when I put the overnight food in. Hopefully I've been quick enough to at least postpone the full broodiness.
What are Tull and Henry thinking? There is no way Tull can make an outside nest work when she can niether got to or leave the coop run unless I'm there. It is possible she could fly out of the run and I'm hoping I don't find this is what she's done when I get there tomorrow.
It's just too cold and too early in the year to be sitting. Hatch rate is likely to be poor in these conditions.
So here's a laod of pictures of me following Henry and Sylph around trying to find out where Tull is likely to try and sit in case she goes to a nest site on her own tomorrow. If Henry goes with her finding them isn't such a problem; on her own...View attachment 4031823View attachment 4031824View attachment 4031825View attachment 4031826View attachment 4031827View attachment 4031828View attachment 4031829View attachment 4031830View attachment 4031831View attachment 4031832View attachment 4031833View attachment 4031834View attachment 4031835View attachment 4031836View attachment 4031837

Reminds me of when my in-laws went shopping...she's looking, he's tagging along.

"What do you think of this one, Henry?"
"It's lovely, my dear."

 

[no fly zone]

Yuck.

 

[Shadrach]

Three hours today. Nobody in the nest boxes. One egg laid. Nobody looking for nests.
I know they're thinking about it though.
Did feet again this evening. If my coat wasn't waterproof (it was and it is) the recent coating of vaseline should sort it out; such a mess.
I moved some of the wood that's been rotting on various plots today. Lots of bugs and a very full Tull.
Henry stumbled and fell today. First time I've seen him do that so I went and checked the ground where he went down. I pulled out three metres of rusty line wire that was buried in the grass. I think he must have caught his foot on it.
We now have a skip load of broken shed, tetra packs, plastic wrappers stuffed in eveything from plant pots to bags, not to mention the gravel under the shed that needs shoveling up. The person who is responsible for bringing all this stuff to the field is no longer a member.

Henry doing a bit of digging for Mow.

Mow wandred off when Tull and Sylph turned up.

They went most places today apart from around the back of the run. Tull has tried to get Henry to escort her to the undergrowth by the orchard hedge which is dangerous ground and of course a wildlife route including foxes. Henry wouldn't do it and tried to herd her back into the field.

This one crow will eat with the chickens.

I swept the ground where the grian is on the ground. I think I'll add this to the daily tasks.

I've been thinking of Dundee cake and proper custard all day. Bought the stuff to make it this evening.

 

[Barbours]

Random, but if any of you have talents you should show them for the talent show at the BYC'S GOT TALENT thread!!!!!

 

[BDutch]

Henry stumbled and fell today. First time I've seen him do that so I wnet and checked the ground where he went down. I pulled out three metres of rusty line wire that was buried in the grass. I think he must have caught his foot on it.

I hope Henry and all other feet are going to be fine again soon. Keep us updated.