Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Skyeknight]

How old is the roo?

He is from may 2024, so about 1 year and 5 months old. He is an Ayam Cemani who was raised by humans. He has his biological children from June walking around in the flock.

 

[fluffycrow]

When I used the incubator I woke up hearing chicks a few days before pips.

Same here, I’m pretty sure. It might’ve been over two and a half days before hatching. Three day, maybe? Usually I can hear at least one peep on lockdown day

The earliest I’ve heard peeps coming from under a broody was two days before hatching

 

[fluffycrow]

Almost a week for such a small trip is kind of ridiculous within the Netherlands.
& Sorry for all the losses you had this year. I do remember reading it before. I just thought the genes of Perris’s flock are great for you to free range future chickens. The weather (heat) in summer probably would be a minor though.

Yeah, I thought so too. Out of all the eggs, only one little Araucana egg showed signs of life, but passed at the second candling.
Note that they were not under a broody at this point, for multiple reasons, hence why I went ahead and candled.
I had placed 10 Tsouloufati eggs in with them, 8 of which made it to hatching age, but the “horrors” of that story are an entirely different post.

I totally agree, the genes that make up Perris’ flock would surely help a lot with our upcoming genetic bottleneck, as well as a couple of other things (like natural brooding, and foraging). But what I’m saying is that I’d hate to bring in birds that would otherwise get to live a wonderful life, only to pass from an illness they have no immunity against, or a predator.

While I don’t think it’ll prove to be much of an issue (seeing as the mix has a lot of Mediterranean and some African blood), heat resistance is also quite an important asset here. Most of the group are pure Tsouloufati, and have no problems with any temperature 39C and under. They’ve done well with some discomfort (but no support from me) in temps up to 44C.
That is a drastically different environment from a typical Welsh summer

 

[Perris]

That is a drastically different environment from a typical Welsh summer

Oh yes!

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

Because I was warned for this, I always added a wide plank (50 cm) with an old bath towel on top to make it easy for the chicks to walk upstairs. The angle was like 30-35° instead of the normal stair plank of 45-50°

Finding the way to go up this ramp can be problematic if they are under/behind the nestbox and hear the mother clucking from above and not through the open pop-door .

When the mothers leave the nest with their chicks the first time, they stay in the small run whole day til sunset. I like be around at sunset when the mother goes back to the upstairs nestbox to be sure.

Another problem with young chicks is fencing with hwc. My coop/small run is on the outside of the larger run. Divided with a fencing the chicks can see through & a pop door 20 cm from the ground.

If the chicks are old enough to explore the larger run (after 1-2 weeks) , they always try (tried) to go through the hwc. They walk about 50 cm to the left, 50 cm to the right and back again to try to get to their mother or siblings.

As soon as they reach the step for the pop door they seen to realise that is the way to go. Some are really clever and get it after a few times. Other chicks get exhausted. So I never dared to leave them alone in the big run for a long time, until they were older.

A few years ago I decided to cover the hwc with a few planks so they couldnt see through the hwc anymore. This was a great solution for this problem.


How are they doing? Can you add a link or post a photo here?

I remember reading a thread by @centrarchid where he was able to get chicks to climb a ramp that was something like 60-75 degrees. He stapled some sort of netting to it for them to get purchase, and after a couple days of training they were able to follow their mother on their own. It was very impressive to see the video of chicks scrambling up a near vertical surface

 

[Shadrach]

how did that attack end? did Cillin drive/shake it off? did you intervene? sounds horrendous.

He fecked up. He turned to run too late. I imagine he shook it off coming out of the flood ditch (one of the weasels we had lived there). I heard the general panic and got to the top of the bank in time to see him charging up the bank to the house.

I saw a lot of weasel attacks. Most were complete failures, just rear end feathers torn out. Cillin got the full teeth treatment. Vet job.

 

[Shadrach]

Without warning, she let out a bakaw and jumped up, going from a serene sleeping ball to full alarm mode in a split second.

I used to see broody hens do that when they finally shook off their broody trance.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

He fecked up. He turned to run too late. I imagine he shook it off coming out of the flood ditch (one of the weasels we had lived there). I heard the general panic and got to the top of the bank in time to see him charging up the bank to the house.

I saw a lot of weasel attacks. Most were complete failures, just rear end feathers torn out. Cillin got the full teeth treatment. Vet job.

Ouch, poor Cillin. At least there was a vet who was willing to take on chicken surgery.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm a bit confused about the timing of these various assaults on the Solway, but it started before he came yes?

Yes, he got here in time for the most recent.

Might this be connected to proximity to where the rat is appearing? Is it about being nearest or furthest from the area under assault?

It could be. I've wondered if it had anything to do with air flow. They've always favoured that side of the coop.

Perhaps there's a better shot to indicate how high Glais could reach from the roost if he tried to; is the rat trying to get in in a section beyond his reach?

The rat entry holes are too high to be reached from the roost, just.

 

[Shadrach]

I wonder if being on an allotment makes rat incursions more likely. They are a smorgasbord of culinary opportunities for a range of pests and diseases. Add in the proximity of a lot of housing & you have a ratty paradise. Youngsters are exploring this time of year too.

I'm pretty sure if I didn't leave food in there overnight there wouldn't be a problem.