Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

I should add that of course the cockerels are adorable, so I'm not complaining

But I will probably have to cull some of the old guard roos if the new blood plan is to work.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Thank you very much, Shad. Your many posts and articles have made me love the roosters here that much more, so I try to do right by them, but also by the hens. Sometimes an outside perspective is nice, as my decisions are not always as just I hope they are.

I’ll start from when Kolovos passed, when his two sons became co-heads of the free range group. About two months after his passing, a time that passed with relative peace (both boys were accepted by the hens, and ruled very fairly and maturely for their age), Big Red’s (Oriental Gamefowl) hens passed. As not to leave him by himself, he was added to the free range group. As one could imagine, he became head very quickly.

Big Red is a dream when it comes to humans, but he is very intense when it comes to other chickens, very territorial (as is the nature of his breed), and worst of all, incredibly immature and rough with his matings. As a result, the hens were not very fond of Big Red, but they accepted him regardless. Due to Big Red taking the top position in the group, and aggressively driving away the other two, both of those very mature (in temperament, not age) males have returned to a cockerel-like state, of forcefully grabbing any hen that comes near them. On top of that, Big Red is still very aggressive with his matings, a fact that I have stopped believing could change at 3 years old.

This has left every single hen in the group with some sort of feather damage. The best cases are barely noticeable, while the worst look worse than some rescued ex batts that I have seen. The hens don’t seem particularly pleased with this arrangement. In the afternoon, when they should be more active, they all huddle together in the most hard to get to parts of the property, to avoid any mating grabs.

It all came to a head three days ago, when I thought one of the senior hens went broody on a wild nest (slight parenthesis here: all senior hens started clucking a week after Kolovos’s passing, which i interpret as mourning). Turns out that she was not broody, she was just hiding in the bushes all day to avoid being seen by Big Red. The reason was that she has a big wound on her side, under her wing, from forceful mating, which I only found out when I was forced to grab her to get her bag in the coop for bed time. What was really heartbreaking was seeing her behaviour the next day, when I also had to guide her towards the coop at sundown. I had closed the coop door, and Big Red was frantically pacing back and forth. As soon as she saw him, from the other side of the wire, she crouched. Same thing happened today, when I was (once again) guiding her towards the coop. She crouched, for me this time. I interpret this as her trying to make sure her wound doesn’t get any worse, which would likely be the case if she were to run away, and be forcefully grabbed.

Please educate me if this is not what you think is happening. I was definitely giving Big Red the benefit of the doubt before seeing the wound, as I know that feather damage is rather insignificant. I really love him, I have raised him from a chick, he flies on my wrist when we he sees me, and loves wattle scratches and hugs. But I will also not sacrifice the health of the group for my sake, if you think that it comes to that.
I would really appreciate the help, even if that is a huge shouting at, for missing something very clear, and/or misinterpreting their behaviour.

Here is some tax for what I’m sure is a massive postView attachment 4183241

Is it an option to get him is own girls? I am so NOT an expert, but Kosovo's sons sound like ideal roosters for that group of hens, they were accepted. Scared and wounded hens sounds pretty intolerable to me. If you can give Big Red his own group of ladies maybe closer in size to his breed or larger (to give them the advantage..lol), and let the brothers have their ladies, that may be the ideal solution. You get to keep the Rooster you love, the brothers and their hens get to go back to a peaceful existence and Big Red has girls of his own again.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Caution, random question coming in:

For those of you (in the British Isles maybe) who eat a type of pea called mange-tout (French for “eat it all”), which of these do they look like? Trying to translate an English recipe :

Basically, are they flat or fat? Both are “eat it all”, but their flavor profiles are very different to me.

snow pea in US (flat):

snap pea or sugar snap pea in US (fat):

Edit to add a pretty feeble tax payment:

 

[kattabelly]

Caution, random question coming in:

For those of you (in the British Isles maybe) who eat a type of pea called mange-tout (French for “eat it all”), which of these do they look like? Trying to translate an English recipe :

Basically, are they flat or fat? Both are “eat it all”, but their flavor profiles are very different to me.

snow pea in US (flat):
View attachment 4183373

snap pea or sugar snap pea in US (fat):
View attachment 4183375


Edit to add a pretty feeble tax payment:
View attachment 4183379

Mange tout are the flat ones, we call the other ones sugar snaps here too.

 

[RoyalChick]

Caution, random question coming in:

For those of you (in the British Isles maybe) who eat a type of pea called mange-tout (French for “eat it all”), which of these do they look like? Trying to translate an English recipe :

Basically, are they flat or fat? Both are “eat it all”, but their flavor profiles are very different to me.

snow pea in US (flat):
View attachment 4183373

snap pea or sugar snap pea in US (fat):
View attachment 4183375


Edit to add a pretty feeble tax payment:
View attachment 4183379

Snow pea. The flat one.
The snap peas outer jackets get tough unless you eat them very young.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Mange tout are the flat ones, we call the other ones sugar snaps here too.

Thank you! I’ve wanted to ask this for years but had no one to ask!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Snow pea. The flat one.
The snap peas outer jackets get tough unless you eat them very young.

This is true!

I plant snap peas, but they rarely make it into the house, because I just pull them off the vines and munch them.

I’ve also grown English (garden) peas, the ones you have to hull, but the cool weather season is a bit too short to get the full crop in.

 

[RoyalChick]

This is true!

I plant snap peas, but they rarely make it into the house, because I just pull them off the vines and munch them.

I’ve also grown English (garden) peas, the ones you have to hull, but the cool weather season is a bit too short to get the full crop in.

Me too. I go out with an empty basket intent on bringing back a harvest and I return with an empty basket.
So delicious!
I have the same issue with the blackberries

 

[SimpleJenn]

Snow pea. The flat one.
The snap peas outer jackets get tough unless you eat them very young.

Tried to eat one yesterday that had gone tough! Spat it out and the chickens immediately started begging

 

[SimpleJenn]

Tax, brainiac chick