Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Mother of Chaos]

…We have a short heatwave atm and the 2 Amrocks pantrd while Ini mini found herself a spot to sunbath, definitely enjoying it.

I think you’ve written about this before, but how closely related are Amrocks to Plymouth Barred Rocks? If I recall correctly, it’s not just the same breed named differently in Europe.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Frank Heck. It is a little difficult to navigate the different names for chicken ailments but I can probably look that up easy enough. Some interesting things I’ve noted so far: “Oyster shell is not so valuable and generally supposed…is not necessary when proper food is given.” I have been providing oyster shell free choice for years.
He also has a recipe for homemade chick starter and talks about feeding meat to birds “in confinement.” Nothing earth-shattering but there is an emphasis on birds being able to forage. He even says that 150 eggs a year is a “record” amount which makes sense for that time.

I wonder if oyster shell was less important in those times of lower average numbers of eggs laid per year.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I wonder if oyster shell was less important in those times of lower average numbers of eggs laid per year.

Let me quote it because I will butcher it if I try to paraphrase: “Its chemical constituents are similar to those of the egg shell as regards lime compounds particularly, and the feeding of oyster shell is supposed to aid in producing material in the hen for forming the shell of the egg…It is supposed to prevent the laying of soft shelled eggs, but the laying of such eggs is generally controlled by conditions over which the feeding of oyster shell has no influence.”

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Let me quote it because I will butcher it if I try to paraphrase: “Its chemical constituents are similar to those of the egg shell as regards lime compounds particularly, and the feeding of oyster shell is supposed to aid in producing material in the hen for forming the shell of the egg…It is supposed to prevent the laying of soft shelled eggs, but the laying of such eggs is generally controlled by conditions over which the feeding of oyster shell has no influence.”

Huh. I wonder if this was a repeatable experiment/observation.

In other words, if someone today had a flock of 100 on shell and another half not, would there be a difference in the rate of soft shells.

I especially wonder what forage was available for these 19th birds. Maybe there was a plenitude of calcium-rich plants, animals, and kitchen waste.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I think you’ve written about this before, but how closely related are Amrocks to Plymouth Barred Rocks? If I recall correctly, it’s not just the same breed named differently in Europe.

Answering my own post (had to take a break from knee exercises):

Amrocks are direct descendants of Barred Rocks sent by the US in 1945 as a dual-purpose breed to Europe to help feed the post-WWII population. They weren’t interbred with non-BR chickens, but they were selectively bred in favor of the meat side b/c of the widespread food shortages, and over time, their appearance changed a bit.

Still genetically Barred Rocks, but phenotypically (appearance, behavior) different due to a shift in the distribution of alleles. (Un)natural selection at work!

Edit to add: huh, I actually remembered something from class last year. Maybe there’s hope!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Further on the soft-shelled egg discussion, Heck writes something I found very interesting: “[soft-shelled eggs] may be the result of diseased organs of reproduction and especially of the oviduct. Excessively fat hens are liable to lay soft-shelled eggs when the layers of fat are so abundant as to force the egg out before it can receive a sufficient coating of shell. Heavy laying birds are also thus afflicted, by reason of the egg passages being weakened by continual strain and not being able to retain an egg after the shell begins to harden. In exceptional cases it may be lack of shell forming elements in the food.”

Which makes me think modern, high-production birds are more prone to this issue and lack of range time/exercise exacerbates it. I have never dealt with an egg bound chicken but I also tend to favor heritage breeds and I have a very hard time keeping them in a coop. Not because they escape but because I hate everything about it lol

 

[Perris]

@Perris what do you think of something like this, for fermenting chicken grains? I am looking to improve my operation.

you don't need to exclude air for fermenting grains @MrsNorthie ; in fact it's better if air and the local microbes in it can circulate to join the brew when fermenting grains. I use normal mason jars with their lids just resting atop, slightly ajar, as the built-in mechanism leaves the lid if you don't squeeze it shut. Others just put a teatowel or piece of cheesecloth over the open top.

 

[Perris]

Huh. I wonder if this was a repeatable experiment/observation.

In other words, if someone today had a flock of 100 on shell and another half not, would there be a difference in the rate of soft shells.

I especially wonder what forage was available for these 19th birds. Maybe there was a plenitude of calcium-rich plants, animals, and kitchen waste.

I think there were other alternatives; oyster shell was not the only option. Wright, for example, expects the keeper to have old lime mortar about the place for the chickens to eat, either foraging it themselves or supplied from e.g. walls or rubble.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I think there were other alternatives; oyster shell was not the only option. Wright, for example, expects the keeper to have old lime mortar about the place for the chickens to eat, either foraging it themselves or supplied from e.g. walls or rubble.

That makes sense! Even if a hen is laying fewer eggs per week/ per year, she still needs to replace that Ca from somewhere. Go peck at the wall! Bonus: automatic beak trim service.

 

[Skyeknight]

Do you know how many eggs each of your chickens lays per year?

My impression is that few people on BYC keep records (even an average for the flock), and very few get anything remotely close to 300 eggs per year from each of their backyard hens. They might say that's because they don't have production breeds or don't aim for maximum productivity etc., but whatever the reason, it brings the converse of your point into view; maybe conventional modern wisdom which is solidly based on commercial exploitation of production breeds doesn't apply very well to most backyard chickens even today.

I have started keeping count since this year! I want to know mainly how much influence the father and mother have on the amount of eggs their offspring will lay. I will be crossbreeding different breeds and comparing the amount of eggs layed with how much both parents breeds are supposed to lay. Just fun genetic stuff to see if I can find a significant difference with leaning to either laying less or more eggs. Does become a bit harder when eggs are being predated and in the future which egg belongs to which chicken.