Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

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

only contemplated, after BDutch wrote about hens co-brooding. The pin through the tenon under the base of the divider supports the nest box base, and it might sag if the divider is removed. That would not be a structural failure, but might resemble an old and worn out double bed mattress that tips both occupants towards the middle methinx.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

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.

View attachment 4119636

Very exciting! And not too early. That's when I'd set things up. Even if they didn't end up laying for weeks, they'll enjoy kicking the bedding around

 

[ChaosMom]

only contemplated, after BDutch wrote about hens co-brooding. The pin through the tenon under the base of the divider supports the nest box base, and it might sag if the divider is removed. That would not be a structural failure, but might resemble an old and worn out double bed mattress that tips both occupants towards the middle methinx.

Garrison Keillor once called that mattress center “the valley of commitment.”

I hadn’t thought to check that intersection of divider and base. Just by eyeballing it, I thought its only function was as divider. Thanks!

 

[RoyalChick]

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

I did a lot of research when building the Chicken Palace and was repurposing a lot of things, but I made a mistake with the nest boxes. Mine are an old kitchen upper cabinet with holes cut out the back for the hens and I open the cabinet doors to get the eggs.
The mistake I made is that they are meaningfully smaller than all recommended nest boxes.
I have since added some bigger nest boxes by repurposing an old dresser.
Nonetheless, even my larger ladies (Maggie, Bernadette, Tassels) have steadfastly used the kitchen cabinet nest boxes and I often have two hens squeezed in one box at the same time.
When Tassels is broody (it is always Tassels) the others go in with her and lay their egg on top of her and she tucks it under her.
The bigger nest boxes get some scratching action but I have never seen an egg in them.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

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

My pixel 8 also came with nice cameras. The cool thing about pixels is that they're very easy to "de-google" which is nice for people like me that don't like spyware and useless junk on their phone

 

[notabitail]

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.

I think I may have used 2x digital zoom. It's a 50 megapixel camera binned to 12.

 

[Perris]

I found Polka's secret nest. Can you see a tiny bit of red comb?

she's right under one of the lilacs, which is in full bloom, so no chick odours are going to be detectable. Smart girl.

 

[ChaosMom]

I found Polka's secret nest. Can you see a tiny bit of red comb?
View attachment 4119826
she's right under one of the lilacs, which is in full bloom, so no chick odours are going to be detectable. Smart girl.

Even with the hints, I still don’t see her!

Is it the reddish-brown spot that looks a bit like a slug on a leaf between the two slender stems?

 

[Perris]

Even with the hints, I still don’t see her!

Is it the reddish-brown spot that looks a bit like a slug on a leaf between the two slender stems?

I think you have her. Her comb is more or less bang in the middle of the picture, her body left of centre and the chicks totally out of sight. Correction; at >200% I think I see a bit of the back end of one of the light chicks between the left thin stem and the chunkier stem further left.

 

[RoyalChick]

I found Polka's secret nest. Can you see a tiny bit of red comb?
View attachment 4119826
she's right under one of the lilacs, which is in full bloom, so no chick odours are going to be detectable. Smart girl.

And such pretty flowers for her to contemplate.