Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[kattabelly]

I need to catch up later because I have discovered the hard way how smart @Shadrach is Just found my feral game hen sitting on a clutch on the ground. I’ve had a rooster for almost a month (will be four weeks in two days). I have no idea how long she’s been there but she did kick a rotten one out which is how I found her. I have never candled eggs before but not sure if I should bother but maybe just let her do her thing?

I'd definitely leave her to it - if she's that feral she might abandon the nest if she can tell it's been disturbed.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I'd definitely leave her to it - if she's that feral she might abandon the nest if she can tell it's been disturbed.

She was sitting on it when I found it and told me off. I got enough of a peek to know there are about eight eggs under her.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

I think chickens have mastered the art of half conscious activity. From my observations they do not fully wake when they poop. I believe this from watching chickens in the nest box in my house in Catalonia. It's also how I found out they snore and fart.

I did read that chickens are capable of unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) where they basically sleep deeply with one half of their brain while keeping the other hemisphere awake. So literally half conscious. They'll also take naps with one eye open and alert during the daytime. I (and I'm sure most here) have seen them do it but I had no idea they were actually sleeping while they were looking at me

 

[notabitail]

I did read that chickens are capable of unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) where they basically sleep deeply with one half of their brain while keeping the other hemisphere awake. So literally half conscious. They'll also take naps with one eye open and alert during the daytime. I (and I'm sure most here) have seen them do it but I had no idea they were actually sleeping while they were looking at me

Mine would do that. Especially inside the house. One eye watching me in case I try eating food and the other eye sleeping.

 

[fuzzi]

It really depends on the chicken.

The bantams here are early roosters. So were the brahmas; sometimes they roosted an hour before the rest even thought about roosting.
Big Red was the total opposite; 10pm roosting time during the summer was not too out of the ordinary for him.

Well-functioning groups tend to follow the head male. The core group wouldn’t roost until the lead rooster did, but they would give him signals.
Same goes for broodies and their chicks. My limited experience there seems to suggest that in the first few weeks, the mothers take the kids to roost earlier than the rest of the group.

Individual personality, roosting preferences (most tree huggers here tend to be early roosters), time of year, age and weather all play a part in this, I’ve found

My 3 month old juveniles are on the roost before the adults. I think it's to avoid being blocked.

 

[Skyeknight]

I did read that chickens are capable of unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) where they basically sleep deeply with one half of their brain while keeping the other hemisphere awake. So literally half conscious. They'll also take naps with one eye open and alert during the daytime. I (and I'm sure most here) have seen them do it but I had no idea they were actually sleeping while they were looking at me

Interesting bit of information! Makes a lot of sense my chickens are always awake when I visit them in the evening. Also interesting that when I went to sit with my CX during the day and they decided to sleep next to me, they did close both their eyes. So maybe they decided that I was alert so they didn't have to? To them I am filling the rooster role part-time atm, so it wouldn't surprise if if trust in other flock members plays a role.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Interesting bit of information! Makes a lot of sense my chickens are always awake when I visit them in the evening. Also interesting that when I went to sit with my CX during the day and they decided to sleep next to me, they did close both their eyes. So maybe they decided that I was alert so they didn't have to? To them I am filling the rooster role part-time atm, so it wouldn't surprise if if trust in other flock members plays a role.

Chickens can also go into normal slow wave sleep like we do, they just have the ability to rest one half at a time in case they feel the need to stay alert. They also enter REM sleep like we do, which implies that they have their own chickeny dreams

 

[BDutch]

Do you know, is that the same or different from volvariella gloiocephala (which = stubble rosegill, last entry of BDutch's 3)?

these are three different species. The last is described in Phillips' Mushrooms field guide as "edible but careful identification is needed to avoid confusion with deadly, white-spored Amanitas (pp. 140-152); the latter have rings but these may become detached." Phillips p.155. His guide has no entry for a rose-gilled grisette, btw, but grisettes are aka amanitas, which most foragers avoid, because the family includes a few highly toxic types and you really need to know your mushrooms to distinguish them.

100% score for what? That it is one or another of the 3 suggested? I could say it is right, or wrong, and be 100% accurate on that reckoning

The wiki page in Dutch said the volvariella gloiocephala is goes by the name Beurszwam. No alternatives names were mentioned and 100% certainty its a Beurszwam. Other webpages say the latin name changed a few times over the years.

The English wiki page gives 3 different names. And mentions name changes too. I don’t know why and I am not a mushroom expert. I thought the different names were 3 alternative names (synonyms) who perhaps have its origin in different regions.

 

[Shadrach]

One hour and a bit today. Got had over by the clocks changing again.

A bit of light rain but not enough to prevent Mow, Sylph and Glais getting onto the field for an hour.
Moulting progress. Sylph is handling her moult rather well so far. She isn't losing primary feathers yet, but she avoids get wet now and heads for the coop extension at the first sign of rain.

Glais is full of surprises. I was late cleaning them out and they had gone to roost when I got around to it. I expected some complaints from Glais as I scraped the floor and used the dustpan brush to clean out what was left of the spilt feed and feathers. He didn't even stand up on the roost bar, let alone try to leave the coop.
Sylph went and rested on the roost bar when a few drops of rain fell. I took the opportunity to get some high protein food down her without Mow and Glais pestering for some. That all went well and later, when I wanted to give Glais and Mow what was left of the treat food I decided to hand feed them. Glais was very gentle in taking his share and seemed to grasp that he would get his in turn. I call each by name as I hand feed them and feed them in rotation, one bit at a time. Glais either knows his name or understands that when I say Glais it means food for him.
They're still bickering at roost time though and it's not until I close the pop door that they settle down.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

One hour and a bit today. Got had over by the clocks changing again.View attachment 4240216
A bit of light rain but not enough to prevent Mow, Sylph and Glais getting onto the field for an hour.
Moulting progress. Sylph is handling her moult rather well so far. She isn't losing primary feathers yet, but she avoids get wet now and heads for the coop extension at the first sign of rain.
View attachment 4240236

View attachment 4240237View attachment 4240242

Glais is full of surprises. I was late cleaning them out and they had gone to roost when I got around to it. I expected some complaints from Glais as a scraped the floor and used the dustpan brush to clean out what was left of the spilt feed and feathers. He didn't even stand up on the roost bar, let alone try to leave the coop.
Sylph went and rested on the roost bar when I few drops of rain fell. I took the opportunity to get some high protein food down her with Mow and Glais pestering for some. That all went well and later, when I wanted to give Glais and Mow what was left of the treat food I decided to hand feed them. Glais was very gentle in taking his share and seemed to grasp that he would get his in turn. I call each by name as I hand feed them and feed them in rotation, one bit at a time. Glais either knows his name or understands that when I say Glais it means food for him.
They're still bickering at roost time though and it's not until I close the pop door that they settle down.
View attachment 4240243

We end daylight savings time next week in the US, and I’m dreading them keeping to the old clock and not letting me sleep in!