Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

Despite them not using all the space they have now, I am still planning on giving them the rest of the property.
I find that they 'rest' areas instinctively, I guess driven simply by supply or lack thereof of whatever they've been foraging in that area until it has chance to reproduce and become worth foraging again, and/or by seasonal availability of said forage species (animal or plant). So while they can and do range all over the property, and the lane for a little distance up and down, it's noticeable how some areas are being worked harder than others at any given time and that the worked areas get holidays from it too.

It's also noticeable that they never go into the field in front or the field at the side, while they have and a few still do sometimes wander into the nearest neighbours' gardens. They are highly territorial, in other words, and the territory is surprisingly small.
 
I actually used the EAZA guidelines for Vietnam Pheasants as a inspiration for my own chicken coop and run. A lot of things in there won't be feasible, but it's a good document for providing insight into a more comfortable life for your chickens. One of the main things I took away from it is using sand as a bedding, which is such an improvement from straw.
thanks for linking to that; a very interesting and thought-provoking document.
 
Out of curiosity, how much space should a group of five chickens have, both ideally and minimally? I've suggested before to people that chickens do need a lot of space and usually people aren't receptive to that or call me a Californian (of which I am).
The Dutch chicken forum advices more practical than Shad does.
Rule of thumb: count 18m2 run space for the first 2 normal sized chicken, and add 6 m2 each for the others.
So 5 normal sized and normal behaving chickens need 36 m2 run space for a good life in confinement (Dutch soil/climate). Optimised space is even more.
Bantams need about half this space.
Source: https://www.kippenforum.nl/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=23554
 
I have been looking at ways to improve the quality of forage materials for the birds and also increase the food sources for pollinators to enhance the food forest plans, I came across this:

https://hancockseed.com/products/hancocks-happy-hen-forage-seed-mix

I think I can use that list to source local varieties from the Farm Bureau grain elevator. I would love to get more crimson clover.
 
Wow! Very thorough. I think I have it easy by comparison (no fan, heater, supplements, vet bills at least). But how do you value any chicks that your flock produce?
That's an interesting question for several reasons, but if you recall, I'm in the Land of the Never Broodies over here. Not a single broody in 5 years.
 
That always seems so weird to me - trying to get hens to wear aprons and whatnot.

Our chickens get to chicken. Observing is way more fun than training them to do weird chicken tricks.

It would be nice for them to reciprocate, though, and grudgingly accept that, for now, this really is all the space they get to have. It’s quite a lot, actually, compared to what a lot of city chickens get to use.
Chicken clothes really bother me. Just leave the birds alone. They have FEATHERS.
 
Our first trifecta! Three birds, three eggs. 22 weeks tomorrow.

The perspective in the photo is skewed. The EE egg is largest, the BO egg marked B is next, and the BR egg marked T is the smallest, so far.

1750089086696.jpeg
 

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