Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fuzzi]

It is so peaceful with the right boys and some sassy girls.

I felt so sorry for him, the hens were not nice, but it worked out well.

From July

Zack is good with his chicks. His own father tried to kill him.

 

[Skyeknight]

Just a somewhat random comment about bringing back rare breeds. Someone else posted a similar comment, and I read back a bit on this thread and didn’t see it, so apologies if I’m reposting.

A huge problem with rescuing a species or sub-species from near-extinction is that we generally wait too long. When there are few individuals left to restart the breed, we are looking at a genetic bottleneck: where after a natural disaster or some other event, there are very few individuals left to breed from.

Unless these individuals are scattered around the world, the chances are that they are closely related to one another (inbred), and using them as breeding stock increases the likelihood of concentrating lethal and other harmful genetic defects in their offspring.

If we want to maintain their specific genetic contribution to chickendom, a strong argument can be made for cross-breeding them with other breeds (subspecies), rather than trying to keep the line “pure,” which just continues to weaken the bloodline.

@Perris ‘s breeding program with the aim of increasing genetic diversity is far more important than trying to preserve unique individuals of a traditional but fading breed, sad as it is to say.

I also quite like the way Perris keeps chickens. Preserving genes by just letting rare breeds intermingle is not something I would think of. It's much like the Galveston island coyote, which is a hybrid canine still carrying genetics of extinct canine subspecies. Even if the respective chicken breeds die out for some reason the genes will still be there in other forms.

I myself am trying to "collect" phenotypic mutations like the 5 toe genes, fibromelanosis, crest, beard, tufts feathered shanks and double spurs. Although I am not as handsfree and will select for specific mutations. I hope I can at least keep some of those mutations around and see how they interact with each other.

 

[Perris]

We're going to get a second crop of strawberries this year
This one, picked between the downpours yesterday, was delicious

 

[Perris]

A bit late, but just want to say Im very pleased and exited too, to read Shad and Perris git in contact over choosing a cockerel! ! View attachment 4214110View attachment 4214111

I missed a few days again. And I think I know now why I didn’t get any update warnings. I was reading in the thread and stopped/skipped, bc I needed to do something else. Didn’t read up to the newest page.

In the Netherlands and Germany there a several industrial hatcheries that sex the eggs halfway the breeding process. They get a little liquid out of the egg with a thin needle. The minuscule drop of egg-fluid comes into a tube with liquid that reacts and changes in colour. A different colour for males than the females. A numbering system with coordinates makes it possible to take the male eggs out.

I have seen a documentary on TV about the hatchery that developed this new technique and how they made this work.

and then what do they do with the c. 50% of eggs/foetuses rejected via this process?

 

[BDutch]

and then what do they do with the c. 50% of eggs/foetuses rejected via this process?

The eggs find a ways somewhere in the food industry. ½ brooded eggs are good food for lots of animals that are not to be eaten afterwards by humans.

I try to find the broadcast and come back to you with more details.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Half full eggs are a delicacy on some cultures.

 

[BDutch]

Article bbout stopping the killing of day old male chicks:
From 2026, day-old male chicks may no longer be killed
11-02-2025
From 2026, day-old male chicks may no longer be killed because they cannot lay eggs. This agreement was reached by Minister of Agriculture Femke Wiersma with the poultry sector and animal protection y.

What's in the egg?
Instead of killing the male chicks, chicken farmers will use innovative methods to determine whether a hen or a rooster will hatch. This allows them to prevent the birth of a rooster at an earlier stage.

According to the minister of agriculture , these agreements will prevent 6 to 7 million day-old male chicks from being killed annually. Wiersma calls it a "huge step" in the poultry sector.

Already buying eggs without day-old male chicks?
In the supermarkets in the Netherlands , eggs for which no male chicks have been killed can be recognized by their ZED eggs, which stands for "without killing day-old male chicks." Researchers at Wageningen Economic Research estimate that this new method will make an egg 1.15 cents more expensive to produce.
Source: ANP
(Looking further…)

 

[Molpet]

Half full eggs are a delicacy on some cultures.

Balut
Buy Balut Egg near me with free delivery https://share.google/TOkTlrdLowCoXj3w7

 

[Molpet]

Article bbout stopping the killing of day old male chicks:
From 2026, day-old male chicks may no longer be killed
11-02-2025
From 2026, day-old male chicks may no longer be killed because they cannot lay eggs. This agreement was reached by Minister of Agriculture Femke Wiersma with the poultry sector and animal protection y.

What's in the egg?
Instead of killing the male chicks, chicken farmers will use innovative methods to determine whether a hen or a rooster will hatch. This allows them to prevent the birth of a rooster at an earlier stage.

According to the minister of agriculture , these agreements will prevent 6 to 7 million day-old male chicks from being killed annually. Wiersma calls it a "huge step" in the poultry sector.

Already buying eggs without day-old male chicks?
In the supermarkets in the Netherlands , eggs for which no male chicks have been killed can be recognized by their ZED eggs, which stands for "without killing day-old male chicks." Researchers at Wageningen Economic Research estimate that this new method will make an egg 1.15 cents more expensive to produce.
Source: ANP
(Looking further…)

I prefer to harvest cockerels for meat...
They need a better PR campaign for upscale sales, like quail.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

…I'm going to go for Glais if that's okay @Perris. I think he's a good looking bird and hopefully Mow and Sylph will agree. He's a little older than I would have liked but hopefully when the hormones bite he will have learnt enough with you to back up and be polite.

One concern is moult for Sylph and Mow can't be far away. It will be Sylph's first and Mow had a rough time with her first moult and it remains to be seen how she copes with her second. Glais will probably want to mate by that time.

I'll PM you to make arrangements.

Ha! I told you that you had a plan, and it was coming up to the surface!

Seriously, this sounds great. I’m looking forward to hearing how the integration goes.