Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Chickens taste s varies from bird to bird, even with treats. Mow isn't keen on meat in general, Sylph loves it. Can't go wrong with blueberries, prawns, small pieces of Brazil nut plus a few seeds. Mow will eat leaves that Sylph won't.

I wish all those people who think that homogenised feed is the best thing for all chickens had seen that.

 

[BDutch]

I see that a lot here.

Very occasionally I see a mature roo do it even to a pretty much grown cockerel, e.g. about 2 weeks ago Gwynedd (who's 2 in September) tid-bitted for Hensol (who's 1 next month). I wish all those people who think that you can't keep more than 1 roo had seen it.

Not many people free range their flock like you do. Keeping 2 roosters in a run that isn’t very big is often problematic.
And even free ranging with more than 1 roo can be problematic. Remember @ManueB ‘s struggle with her roosters?

If you want to keep multiple roosters you might need a friendly family with nice characters like the Swedish and a great free range plot for them from sunrise till sunset.

 

[Perris]

Not many people free range their flock like you do. Keeping 2 roosters in a run that isn’t very big is often problematic.
And even free ranging with more than 1 roo can be problematic. Remember @ManueB ‘s struggle with her roosters?

If you want to keep multiple roosters you might need a friendly family with nice characters like the Swedish and a great free range plot for them from sunrise till sunset.

fair enough. I'm trying to offer a counterpoint to those who generalize on the basis of their experience, which is usually keeping their birds confined (or just on what they read of course, parrot fashion).

 

[fluffycrow]

Three hours today. Grey with drizzle.
C euthanized Fret today.
I've written a t various points in this thread that trying to ensure Henry had a better life in his senior years was my main objective. I made a wonderful friend and buried him.

I don't think Fret got over Henry's death which made the neurological problems more difficult to deal with. Having fits and wry neck is one thing, not eating any solids for three days after eating not enough from the moment she first sat to hatch just made things worse. Barking Bracket with similar symptoms ate like a horse when she wasn't rolling around or star gazing and was young enough to have the stamina to keep up with the tribe and to the casual onlooker, lead a normal life.

I'm devastatingly sad about what happened to Fret and will always wonder if I should have done things I didn't. I think the feeling is common for many of us.

Now there are two and two isn't enough.
I've rejected the idea of taking a cockerel and even a hen with him from my friend who keeps Light Sussex chickens. I want to be able to provide whatever comes to the field with a better life than they life, or death, they would have with their current keepers. That means rescues and/or Ex Battery hens.

A further practical and moral problem is many heritage breeds are artificial and the breed is only kept going for the backyard keeper. The vast majority of these breeds would have died out years ago, but instead they been isolated, bred to produce more eggs, or more meat and while an extreme view perhaps, being turned into more colourful production hens. I don't want to be part of that. There are good breeders but very few.

I've started looking at the local advertisements for unwanted chickens and made contact with a couple of Ex Battery rescue centers.
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I’m so sorry.


Sorry for the lost of beautiful Tamar as well, fuzzi

 

[fluffycrow]

A group hug I think is in order.

Seems like we’ve all (or most) had significant losses this week and the last few. As SimpleJenn says, a group hug would indeed be nice

 

[fluffycrow]

Not many people free range their flock like you do. Keeping 2 roosters in a run that isn’t very big is often problematic.
And even free ranging with more than 1 roo can be problematic. Remember @ManueB ‘s struggle with her roosters?

If you want to keep multiple roosters you might need a friendly family with nice characters like the Swedish and a great free range plot for them from sunrise till sunset.

This is sort of what I’m dealing with right now. The two yearling roosters have always grown up with other males around, and have no issue working together. Big Red is a different story. Ever since he got the position of head rooster in the free range group, he has driven out the other two. Not sure if it’s a breed thing, or how he was raised (maybe both), but he does not act his age(3+).

The hen’s back feathers are the only ones truly suffering, since Big Red and his grandson are twice as large as the largest hen, and three to four times as large as the smallest. The chickens currently get more protein than the dogs here. I wouldn’t say that Big Red is a terrible rooster, or that the hens hate him. I will say that peace, as I had known it under Kolovos rule is not what I’m seeing.

Not nearly as important to me as the happiness of the birds, but with four roosters here, the neighbours aren’t happy either.

Apologies for three posts back to back. Tax is due, but I’m very much low on photos right now. I hope the tax collector can be merciful enough to accept this photo from around Easter time

. This hen has been very receptive to the orphans, and so have they. I wonder if she reminds them of their mother at all, seeing as both their mum and her were black and white, and of similar-ish height

 

[Perris]

This hen has been very receptive to the orphans

she's beautiful, in character as well as in appearance it seems.

My boys are all different personalities despite having the same-ish upbringing and a lot of shared genetics. And they change, a bit like human friendship groups. Hopefully things will settle down between your boys.

 

[fluffycrow]

she's beautiful, in character as well as in appearance it seems.

My boys are all different personalities despite having the same-ish upbringing and a lot of shared genetics. And they change, a bit like human friendship groups. Hopefully things will settle down between your boys.

Thank you. I think she’s very pretty too, even though her back is much worse now.

I keep hoping, but I’m not hopeful. Big Red is an absolute angel with me, but he has less maturity than some males at 6 months old.

If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to read more about each of your male’s personalities, as well as the general flock dynamics. We could all learn a lot from your flock (and your chicken wisdom). Perhaps Shad’s thread is not the right place. Have you ever thought of starting your own flock thread?

 

[Perris]

Have you ever thought of starting your own flock thread?

yes I've thought about it, and decided against it. I don't want the pressure to post that comes with it. But maybe a thread devoted to the subject of roo personalities would work - if the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade could be excluded from it! My fuse can be a bit short with such posts - especially those prefaced with an admission that the writer doesn't actually have a roo

 

[fluffycrow]

yes I've thought about it, and decided against it. I don't want the pressure to post that comes with it. But maybe a thread devoted to the subject of roo personalities would work - if the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade could be excluded from it! My fuse can be a bit short with such posts - especially those prefaced with an admission that the writer doesn't actually have a roo

Understood!

I think a thread like the one you described would be nice. Yes, I would also prefer if the overused advice of culling isn’t a part of said thread (and I know exactly what you mean about certain roosterless posters). Not that I’ve never culled a rooster, or that I will never do it again, but I have no interest in culling a rooster simply because he attacked a human