Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[SimpleJenn]

Got a nice picture of my bresse cockerel, Breezy. He's massive and behaves very well.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Thank you. Eastern Box turtles don't achieve maturity to reproduce for several years, and are killed crossing roads. Their numbers are in decline.

Turtles are amazing. They're far enough from a road here that they probably haven't seen a car except ours, but lawnmowers and tractors can be tricky for them, too. We strive to stay turtle aware.

So does Lorraine! She made sure the whole yard knew about the interloper, even if she wasn't extremely worried about it.

However, when Lorraine bakaws, rooster Merle Hagbird does, too. His voice carries to the house so we know to trot out to do a yard check. Very helpful.

Tax: eagle-eyed Lorraine and crew.

 

[notabitail]

Four and a half hours yesterday. Too warm to be doing much so I didn't.
Fret, Tull and Sylph not at all comfortable with 30C. I must get the worst of those stones out from under the coop. The ground grows stones.
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An hour and a half on the field.
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We've got too many rocks here too.

Would a swamp cooler work? Is it too humid for that?

 

[fuzzi]

Turtles are amazing. They're far enough from a road here that they probably haven't seen a car except ours, but lawnmowers and tractors can be tricky for them, too. We strive to stay turtle aware.

So does Lorraine! She made sure the whole yard knew about the interloper, even if she wasn't extremely worried about it.

However, when Lorraine bakaws, rooster Merle Hagbird does, too. His voice carries to the house so we know to trot out to do a yard check. Very helpful.

Tax: eagle-eyed Lorraine and crew.
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POW photos!

 

[no fly zone]

4 of my chiltepin pepper seeds sprouted.

 

[thistlewick]

4 of my chiltepin pepper seeds sprouted.
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Those are so cute

 

[Shadrach]

Yes this has been my experience.

stress central for all concerned. Better they're with mum, calm and quiet, hidden somewhere.

I must admit, I've had some interesting encounters with mother hens when it came to getting mum and chicks all in the coop at the same time. I've always managed it though. It can be time consuming.

 

[Shadrach]

I hadn't noticed how opinionated they are about this topic.

Aren't they just. Worse, it changes with the seasons and the weather.
The field lot have been on a type of grass, I think it's a grass, that grows in the abandoned/not managed plots. There are three at the field currently and they all produce this particular plant. Usually they snack and move on but the last few days when they get to one of these plots they are there for quite a while stripping the seed from the plant. The green short grass on the paths around the plots they're not showing that much interest in which during spring and winter they have in the past eaten a lot of, particularly before roost time.
They won't touch the long clump grass that grows at the goose end of the extended run and that's mostly all there is in that area.
I've found myself wishing I knew a lot more about what these plants are and what nutrients they contain. Some grasses have a higher protein content than the standard 16% that we get in the UK.

 

[Shadrach]

S/he's had mealworms, the regular feed (which is well hydrated anyway), bread and milk, and has a bowl of plain water in reach from sitting position, and of those only the mealworms and the feed have been consumed vigorously, so I don't think dehydration or electrolyte imbalance was the issue. Maybe s/he just didn't get enough to eat if foraging was a challenge and it was a struggle to hold place at the food bowls recently.

Heatstroke?

 

[Shadrach]

did Fret leave the nest because of the heat?

There's a bit of a story I'll put in with today's pictures.