Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fuzzi]

Just catching up. As @rural mouse says foxes out in the day is totally normal.
I have several multi generational fox families here and in the summer I see them more in the day than I do at night. In winter night time sightings (on camera) increase, but they are still seen in the day.
My theory on that is prey availability. In the summer they eat a lot of squirrels. One fox would bring a squirrel three times a day presumably to a den of kits. Every day like clockwork. In winter I see them pouncing on mice through the snow.
Daytime foxes - all very healthy:
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And fox tax:

One of my Littles getting curious about me
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My "chicks" observe their elders eating greens from my hands. They're still not sure about The Big One, but are getting closer to me when I bring "treats": tomatoes, grapes, BOSS, etc.

 

[fuzzi]

He is also the best rooster I've ever had. Tuff's father was a hatchmate, along with another. Those 2 buddied up together...until 1 day they got into a fight that ranged across the yard. Started by the coopView attachment 4226471View attachment 4226469View attachment 4226470View attachment 4226468coop in the background

Whiskey was hanging out with some of the ladies under a bush to the right of the last pic. He moved out from under the bush, farther off behind me and called the ladies to join him, kept them moving away from the fight. Just barely a year old all 3 of them. The fight took a pause, the 2 idiots went back to the area it started at, reset and went at it again. Both of them landed in the freezer. Tuff's egg was headed to the incubator at the in-laws during the fight. He's been a sweetie.

Last fall, my smartest lady ended up getting "treed" by a mini schnauzer in a juniper bush. She spent the night out there (I hadn't been able to find her). Next day, found her, fished her out, brought her inside to warm up (she was shocky) and check over the missing feathers. Whiskey looked to have also tangled with the brat dog, so caught him and brought him in to join her. He turned himself into a large heating pad. She burrowed under him. They spent the night inside with him cooing to her most of the afternoon and evening. No eating or drinking from her....until late, when he got her to drink a little bit. Next morning, he finally convinced her to eat something, then he started crowing in answer to the guys outside. When I went to put him out, he did an about face and tried to come right back inside. He wasn't willing to leave her by herself. She decided to hop on up on the edge of the nursery box, then out the door to join him. As soon as she did, he was content to stay outside. That guy is a gem of a rooster.

Edit: actually, not sure if was last fall or the year before.

Whisky's a Good Boy.

 

[fluffycrow]

He is also the best rooster I've ever had. Tuff's father was a hatchmate, along with another. Those 2 buddied up together...until 1 day they got into a fight that ranged across the yard. Started by the coopView attachment 4226471View attachment 4226469View attachment 4226470View attachment 4226468coop in the background

Whiskey was hanging out with some of the ladies under a bush to the right of the last pic. He moved out from under the bush, farther off behind me and called the ladies to join him, kept them moving away from the fight. Just barely a year old all 3 of them. The fight took a pause, the 2 idiots went back to the area it started at, reset and went at it again. Both of them landed in the freezer. Tuff's egg was headed to the incubator at the in-laws during the fight. He's been a sweetie.

Last fall, my smartest lady ended up getting "treed" by a mini schnauzer in a juniper bush. She spent the night out there (I hadn't been able to find her). Next day, found her, fished her out, brought her inside to warm up (she was shocky) and check over the missing feathers. Whiskey looked to have also tangled with the brat dog, so caught him and brought him in to join her. He turned himself into a large heating pad. She burrowed under him. They spent the night inside with him cooing to her most of the afternoon and evening. No eating or drinking from her....until late, when he got her to drink a little bit. Next morning, he finally convinced her to eat something, then he started crowing in answer to the guys outside. When I went to put him out, he did an about face and tried to come right back inside. He wasn't willing to leave her by herself. She decided to hop on up on the edge of the nursery box, then out the door to join him. As soon as she did, he was content to stay outside. That guy is a gem of a rooster.

Edit: actually, not sure if was last fall or the year before.

Such a wonderful story. It’s always so nice reading how some roosters treat their hens .

I also remember those photos. Especially that last one is quite the shot! Quite rare to capture them in such a stance

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I think most people who keep multiple roosters experience similar to Perris's with Chirk and me with Major and others; it's all okay then it isn't. Sometimes one can see it coming and avert the conflict which usually results in serious injuries. The bickering fights between tribes/groups rarely amounts to much.

This is certainly my experience, which is why that situation stuck with me. So many roosters confined together, with hens. Conspicuously harmonious but with nowhere to hide. I'd be worried all the time that something would happen when I wasn't there.

Further on the "it's fine until it isn't" topic: I've posted this image previously but without the [literal] background story of the prayer flags over that gate.

A couple weeks before the photo, Stilton tried a new thing where he'd fly to the top of that gate and, after enjoying the view for a minute, casually dismount on Andre's side to commit attempted murder

This is after 3 years of being Stilton and Andre being neighbors.

The first time, I thought it was an accident because the roosters actually walk the other way when a gate's open. They enjoy fence fighting but don't seek real conflict. When Stilton did it again, I put the flags up as a stopgap, but they've ended up being all we needed.

I still close Andre in his run when I leave the property in case Stilton invents more new ways to trespass. Stilton and I share a bond, but I can't pretend to know what he's thinking.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I don't think that will work here either, because when the cockerels do start to find their voice they do it out in the open, in the middle of the lawn for example, when mature roos are in sight as well as sound, and no-one bats an eyelid. If fear of attack kept them quiet before that point, why would they do it in the open, and why wouldn't anyone learn from anyone else's experience that there's nothing to be afraid of? Crowing is not something one can practice in secret

Interesting! I wonder if there's a shared, neutral space for crowing, or perhaps an established culture that crowing is for the common good.

I've seen crowing weaponized. It's how Merle instigates arguments when his brother Andre's trying to ignore him. They'll do this over and over: Andre starts to walk away only to rumble back as soon as Merle opens his beak.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Interesting! I wonder if there's a shared, neutral space for crowing, or perhaps an established culture that crowing is for the common good.

I've seen crowing weaponized. It's how Merle instigates arguments when his brother Andre's trying to ignore him. They'll do this over and over: Andre starts to walk away only to rumble back as soon as Merle opens his beak.

The slow-mo!!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

The slow-mo!!

That never gets old to me. Though that video's funny in regular mo, too.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Echoing that yes, skunks, raccoons, foxes, etc. all forage during the day. No disease necessary. We see them out all the time.

We even saw a skunk slap a raccoon the other day without resorting to spraying, which was fascinating! The raccoon ran away quickly, possibly realizing that spraying was the next step. Not sure what they were arguing over.