Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Boringly, this one is wysiwyg: the -ais is pronounced 'ice', as in ice-cream, so as if spelt Glice.

Oh dear, I've been pronouncing it with a strong A and a weak I.

 

[fluffycrow]

I've seen a lot of talk about upping the protein content for adult chickens, but relatively little talk on chicks. I know that various sources say that red junglefowl chicks consume mostly--if not almost exclusively--animal matter, and I just read a very interesting study by Savory et al. 1978 which observed that feral chicks would consume about 65% invertebrates for their first month of life. This would translate to protein percentage in the high 20s at the very least, more likely 30% or more. Most chick starter is closer to 20-22%, which seems quite low in comparison. And that isn't even mentioning the amount of extra fat in many insects, including termites (a cornerstone in RJF diets). Fats are essential for brain development, and chicks go through some very important cognitive milestones in the first few weeks. Should we be throwing chick starter out the window and using game bird feed instead? Or homemade feed supplemented with a ton of fish?

That would explain Galadriel’s hogging of all canned and scrap meat.
I’ve posted before about the daily substitution of scraps, with a heavy emphasis on protein rich food.

Mum has been particularly adamant about giving all meat products to the chicks.
Every day I learn something new, and am shocked by how much these mothers know

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh dear, I've been pronouncing it with a strong A and a weak I.

Same here.
As long as you don’t slip up while Perris is around, you’ll be in the clear

 

[Perris]

Same here.
As long as you don’t slip up while Perris is around, you’ll be in the clear

I'm a stickler for some things, but not pronunciation. As long as it's recognizable, it's fine by me

 

[Perris]

My lot are getting an unusually diverse diet at the moment. Why? because I emptied the tin and jar cupboard at the weekend and hoicked out all the long lost stuff at the back. Worst offender was a Gourmet chestnut puree bought for a Christmas long ago Looked fine, smelt fine, but we didn't eat it when it was new and we certainly aren't going to eat it now , so I offered that - and the chickens enjoyed it . And some tinned pear halves. And for breakfast this morning they got some German hot dogs - aagghh - ultra processed food! They wolfed them down

 

[Mother of Chaos]

… Fats are essential for brain development, and chicks go through some very important cognitive milestones in the first few weeks. Should we be throwing chick starter out the window and using game bird feed instead? Or homemade feed supplemented with a ton of fish?

I’m not certain that I’d want my five’s brains to be any better developed. Now that the Littles are pretty well fully-voting members of the flock, I could swear that all five are sometimes conferring among themselves, with the occasional glances over their shoulders at us.

I think those quiet bok bok boks mean more than they appear to mean…