Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

I've noticed, throughout the day, there are times where the chickens sit around and do nothing but preen and sleep.

that's the 'rest and digest' period - called siesta in some circles , afternoon nap in others

Communal preening is a sign of contented, secure chickens. Whatever you're doing, they like it

 

[Perris]

Polka slept out with her brood of 5 last night, and they all lived to tell the tale. She was the one who incubated and raised Fez outdoors 24/7 for her first 6 weeks, till I persuaded them to use a coop. She has been laying in a coop since, and I thought we had cracked this problem when she chose to go broody in a coop (and I wanted to reward her for her choice and not inadvertently drive her back to secret nesting, hence that brood's existence).

The night before, she and Oxwich were in neighbouring nest boxes in the same coop, and I thought that was nice if unusual (most nights each broody has selected a different coop) and wondered if they might even engage in some communal brooding, but evidently it was not an experience Polka wanted to repeat, and she preferred to go it alone in every sense last night. I wonder how it will go from here

(Fez, Polka's wild child and only previous brood/solo, has laid in a coop, is brooding in a coop, and shows no signs of following her mother's inclination incidentally. She is at 5 weeks now, and left her kids last year at 8 wks, which is very short for here. I'm curious to see if she hangs in there longer this time.)

 

[BDutch]

Lazy chickens.
I've noticed, throughout the day, there are times where the chickens sit around and do nothing but preen and sleep.

Yes, here they prefer to sit/lay under the hazelnut bush. Or on pebble path or the doormat on the terrace to stretch their wings in the sun.
The chickens have organic commercial feed available whole day and love hunting/searching/scratching for goodies for a short time. But why bother to gather food all the time the are set free ?

I have one chicken who is lazier than the others. Katrientje comes running to me me, hoping for a goody every time I open the back door (when she is close enough to hear me).

Ours now have (well, tomorrow morning will have) two separate areas to yard-range. They’re out 3-4 times a day, but rarely stay beyond 30-45 minutes. Then they put themselves back in the run, often in the coop, and then just preen and sleep. And discuss. Lots of discussing.

Normally my chickens prefer to stay in the yard. Only after a predator attack they prefer the run/coop to relax when they are free to go where they please.

The doormat, the sunniest and most comfy spot fir an afternoon nap.

Karientje:

 

[BDutch]

All the non-fancy photos I post come from a cheap-o iPhone SE.

Iphone is known for their descent cameras. The quality of the light sensor is very important to make good photos.
The larger the aperture, the more light the camera can detect. A larger image sensor captures more light, so your photos are sharper and more colorful.

I found an article about photo-camera quality in mid range phones.
https://amateurphotographer.com/buying-advice/the-best-budget-camera-phones/
And this one comes with general tips
https://www.coolblue.nl/en/advice/camera-quality-of-a-smartphone.html

 

[Perris]

I got a photo of Cadle snoozing at the edge of the lawn a couple of days ago, when the others had all upped and offed and he was still in the land of nod

and this is one from a couple of weeks earlier, with his mum snoozing by a conifer at another edge of the lawn while the kids preened and amused themselves alongside

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Polka slept out with her brood of 5 last night, and they all lived to tell the tale. She was the one who incubated and raised Fez outdoors 24/7 for her first 6 weeks, till I persuaded them to use a coop. She has been laying in a coop since, and I thought we had cracked this problem when she chose to go broody in a coop (and I wanted to reward her for her choice and not inadvertently drive her back to secret nesting, hence that brood's existence).

The night before, she and Oxwich were in neighbouring nest boxes in the same coop, and I thought that was nice if unusual (most nights each broody has selected a different coop) and wondered if they might even engage in some communal brooding, but evidently it was not an experience Polka wanted to repeat, and she preferred to go it alone in every sense last night. I wonder how it will go from here

(Fez, Polka's wild child and only previous brood/solo, has laid in a coop, is brooding in a coop, and shows no signs of following her mother's inclination incidentally. She is at 5 weeks now, and left her kids last year at 8 wks, which is very short for here. I'm curious to see if she hangs in there longer this time.)

Since you have multiple Nesteras, have you ever experimented with removing the divide between boxes? Even just for regular laying and not for brooding.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Now that they’re 16+ weeks and reddening up quite dramatically, I’ve set up the nest boxes in hopes of getting them interested. Two fake eggs in each, and hemp bedding.

They climbed in and out a few times, scratching at the hemp and kicking one of the eggs out, but I don’t know what will set off the “lay here” signal when the time comes.

Jumping the gun, I guess, but I’d like to avoid having them start laying under the rhododendron or something.

 

[BDutch]

Since you have multiple Nesteras, have you ever experimented with removing the divide between boxes? Even just for regular laying and not for brooding.

Just want to share that my chickens prefer smaller nest-boxes over larger ones to lay an egg.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Just want to share that my chickens prefer smaller nest-boxes over larger ones to lay an egg.

Good to know! I figured that would be so, but my young ladies seem intent on disproving everything I thought I knew.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Taken with Pixel 6:

That is extremely good resolution. You can count her eyelashes.

Given your relationship with your chickens, I'm thinking you didn't have to use the zoom here? If you did, that's a stunning optical zoom.

Edit: wanted to clarify that I'm not an experienced photographer. These were just point and shoot

It looks like this tom hired you for a portrait shoot. Great composition on these.

I have one chicken who is lazier than the others. Katrientje comes running to me me, hoping for a goody every time I open the back door (when she is close enough to hear me).

Eula, Lorraine, and Plumbus have always napped longer than others around here. They sleepily watch the others run off.

And Raisin is the one who follows us around. She'll forgo foraging stay with me, even if I bear no treats. She likes some shoulder time, too, and she's the only one who preens my hair.

It's a newer development. As a younger bird, she wasn't interested in me. Raisin right after she feathered out: