Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Molpet]

The chicks I got from a farm store (hatchery stock) March 31st , laid through the winter... except for the CX who laid for a month or so and never started before she died around a year old.
Their offspring were selected for size and over the years the laying has dropped. Last 3 winters there's been no eggs from even pullets.

 

[Ribh]

count me in there! Your winter = balmy day here!

I'm flattered, but that's a really bad idea To err is human and I am human.

Don't sell yourself short, @Perris. I always take your or Shad's advice into account even when I don't agree or my own observation/experience differs because we all know my chickens are weird & I'm on the other side of the world. Just the input, whether right or wrong, is valuable in & of itself.

 

[Ribh]

TAX.
This is Sweatpea, one of my new babies ~ & yes Shad, they're all feather dusters!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

TAX.
This is Sweatpea, one of my new babies ~ & yes Shad, they're all feather dusters!
View attachment 4147776​

What a cutie!

 

[MrsNorthie]

Yeah, here in the Netherlands welfare is becoming more important. Although pigs are more forgotten on that end. With chickens in the early 2010s a campaign was started by an animal rights organization to get rid of the "plofkip" which means something along the lines of exploding chicken. This was highly effective and all supermarkets now sell chicken meat with way better living standards that grow slower. These are Hubbards and from the same company that is behind the genetics of the freedom ranger. We still do have Ross 308 mostly for international stuff and other types of businesses like restaurants. I own a few individuals of both of these and the behavioural and physical difference is pretty big. One of the wordt thing about living in the Netherlands is that the welfare of animals in other countries is basically always worse.

Btw is processing weight for American farms/companies with CX around 4 kg? Cause here in the Netherlands its almost 3 kg, meaning less legs problems.

That is why we haven't gotten meat chickens yet, the CX are huge, but you would have to harvest them pretty fast to avoid health issues, I guess knowing that if we didn't harvest them, they would have a miserable existence, would keep us from getting attached to them, too much..lol The turkeys that we have are for breeding purposes, so we don't feed them like meat birds and they graze like our chickens do.

I think the corporate farms survive because most people don't like to think about what they are consuming, it is easier to believe that animals don't have feelings then it is to do something to make sure the animals are kept and harvested humanely.

 

[MrsNorthie]

TAX.
This is Sweatpea, one of my new babies ~ & yes Shad, they're all feather dusters!
View attachment 4147776​

An adorable 'feather duster" though!

 

[MrsNorthie]

count me in there! Your winter = balmy day here!

I'm flattered, but that's a really bad idea To err is human and I am human.

So you might, one day, get something wrong.

I think that climate seems to impact their biological clock, For example, it doesn't really start to get autumnal here until almost December so ours tend to moult late November to December.

The first group were a winter hatch, and started laying around 8-9 months old. the late spring and summer hatch groups started laying around 7 months, but were also almost double the physical size, at the same ages after the Winters.

Buffs are pretty prolific layers, so I was worried about their reproductive health, but I am pretty happy that most of the ladies don't tend to lay everyday. I will gladly take fewer eggs over them suffering or losing my lovelies early.

 

[BDutch]

As @fluffycrow states, the weather an light conditions in various countries/regions can influence the egg laying pattern. It not just the daylight hours that counts. A few years ago we had a very sunny January and February with lots of sunshine. That year the chickens definitely started to lay about a month earlier after their winter break.

Does BDutch not know Perris background in research and academia??

Yes, but if her statements are from a research, Perris usually puts a link or reference in her post.
I thought this was from personal experience.

I trust and value Perris observations about literally anything and everything

I value her observations too. But I don’t take everything for granted.

 

[no fly zone]

TAX.
This is Sweatpea, one of my new babies ~ & yes Shad, they're all feather dusters!
View attachment 4147776​

I'm always going to have a soft spot for frizzles.

 

[Skyeknight]

That is why we haven't gotten meat chickens yet, the CX are huge, but you would have to harvest them pretty fast to avoid health issues, I guess knowing that if we didn't harvest them, they would have a miserable existence, would keep us from getting attached to them, too much.

Yeah there are definitely way better alternatives then getting CX. But I want to say with everything I have read on this site so far and my own limited experience of owning a few for a month, that it's all about management with them. You can let them live longer but you need be on top of feed management. This will be harder as I don't believe there are many sources on letting them live longer and still eating them later on. Most would probably get Freedom Rangers, Buckeyes or New Hampshires etc at that point. The next problem comes if they are on some sort of diet, they will be chronically hungry. They have been bred to be always hungry, so for welfare they need to be able to get some sort of food all the time. This is where keeping them outsides comes into play, they will be able to eat grass or bugs all the time even when not having excess to pellets etc. This exercise will also keep their leg muscles healthy and strong. But this will have the effect that their meat will be less tender cause they are using their muscles more than store bought chickens. Also there are different strains of CX. If you want a healthier version go for Hubbard or Sasso instead of Cobb or Ross, but I imagine this would be harder to find out. Although non white meat chickens will be most likely a healthier version.

As for getting attached to them, well that's indeed very easy. Although it won't just be you that gets attached to them. I have never met chickens as sweet as them. Pullets from other breeds I have bought around the same age have remained scared of me while at least one CX literally tries to jump the fence to get to me. It might be that they have just connected me with food, are simply curious or maybe they have established a deeper connection with me. Their behaviour is a bit complicated to put into words and I simply don't know how they view me.