Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

We've had a lot of rain.
This is what it used to look like when we had a lot of rain.

Since I dug the run over it doesn't get much worse than this and it drains quickly whereas before it sat like a sludge for a few days.

You can just see the darker patch of earth that Mow is standing on. I dug this over yesterday because water was pooling there. It's draining better now.

 

[RoyalChick]

He's a bit further ahead than Glais then.
What breed, if any is Mr. Chips?
Today was the first time I have seen Glais take a treat from my hand, drop it on the floor, stand back and call the hens. Usually he drops it, then picks it up again and eats it.

Does piglet fancy him?
It was quite apparent that Sylph fancied Glais from day one.

It looks like you'll be getting some fertile eggs. If a hen went broody would you let her sit?

Mr. Chips is a Speckled Sussex - hence all the spots.
He is very far ahead in the taking food from my hand department and is now sharing some of it with those hens and pullets who listen to his call. Given it is so cold I am wearing gloves, I am not sure if he is progressed in the 'don't bite the hand that feeds you' department! He absolutely associates me with good eats and follows me around and sometimes searches my pockets. The funny thing is I don't always have treats - probably about once a day or so I have something special to offer him.

Piglet started out terrified and hid in the nest box for 3 days only emerging when Mr. Chips had roosted for the night. She has progressed to being out and about but wary of him. I now see some signs that she may even like the attention, but I think she (and I) still wish that he wouldn't ambush her!

The whole chicks thing is complicated because I have Marek's in my flock. That means I should expect a very high early death rate among chicks hatched in the flock. I am not sure I am emotionally strong enough for that. The chicks I gave Tassels (which are the 4 that includes Mr. Chips) were vaccinated and kept in quarantine in my bathroom for 5 days for the vaccine to take before introducing them under Tassels. I knew there was a risk she would reject them at that age, but I was balancing that against the Marek's risk - and given how desperately Tassels wanted to be a mother I thought it was worth a try. There was a scary moment at dawn when she saw them running around and was ready to kill them all, but one look from the then supposedly female 'Chippy' and she got overcome with motherliness and we haven't looked back!
Here they are on their first full day with Tassels (6 days post hatch). I am convinced Tassels was just so proud of her exceptional chicks passing their developmental milestones so young!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Not as well as I and the eldest think he needs to.
The waiting lists to see various specialists is long, priority rightly being given to those who are unable to leave hospital. The whole business is painfully slow because the NHS is underfunded.

Heart attacks and strokes tend to be of the, one minute your fine, the next minute you're dying type of events. They're not just shocks to the body, they can effect ones outlook on life should one survive them. It's that outlook on life bit that determines the rate and completeness of recovery.

The eldest can only do so much during the day because she works. Luckily her company will let her work from home. My view is he needs to get outside in wild and in the weather as much as possible. It has that ability to put one back in touch with life and the vibrancy of nature.

Did his GP or at least the discharging physician put him on any oral meds for now? Anticoagulants; even aspirin at a minimum.

(This assumes that it was a thrombotic stroke, due to a blood clot, rather than the much less common hemorrhagic stroke, due to a brain blood vessel bleeding.)

Not a ton he can do on his own; keep his blood pressure down, no alcohol, no tobacco for now. Stress-reduction techniques if he’s willing, even as simple as breathe in for four counts and out for eight. Go for walks around the neighborhood; yes, the outdoors can be healing, assuming that he’s not walking along a six-lane highway. Be familiar with the signs of stroke (BE FAST):
Balance: dizziness, coordination problems
Eye: partial or total vision loss (ocular stroke)
Face: drooping or twisting of one side of face; uneven smile
Arm: one-sided weakness - arm and/or leg weak on one side of body
Speech: slurred speech; word-finding problems; “word salad” (nonsense speech)
Telephone: telephone emergency services immediately - get seen in “the golden hour”. Always have a charged cell phone on hand.

I hope this ^^^ isn’t intrusive. My previous life was in health info management (human medicine.)

 

[kattabelly]

The funny thing is I don't always have treats - probably about once a day or so I have something special to offer him.

This seems relevant and hopefully counts towards tax

Hand feeding = "treats"

• kattabelly
• Dec 15, 2025

 

[RoyalChick]

This seems relevant and hopefully counts towards tax

Hand feeding = "treats"

• kattabelly
• Dec 15, 2025

So gentle! Mr. Chips and a couple of the hens will go for a big chunk of hand once the treats are finished.

 

[kattabelly]

So gentle! Mr. Chips and a couple of the hens will go for a big chunk of hand once the treats are finished.

How's the screeching been going, if you've been trying it?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

How's the screeching been going, if you've been trying it?

Are we talking about chicken screeching, or @RoyalChick screeching when chickens mistake her hand for snackies?

 

[kattabelly]

Are we talking about chicken screeching, or @RoyalChick screeching when chickens mistake her hand for snackies?

The latter

 

[RoyalChick]

How's the screeching been going, if you've been trying it?

Are we talking about chicken screeching, or @RoyalChick screeching when chickens mistake her hand for snackies?

So it turns out I am not an instinctive screecher and I forget to screech. Also the last couple of weeks have been too cold for bare hands so I have been serving Mr. Chips his treats from a small paper cup. I note he doesn’t grab chunks out of the cup!

 

[kattabelly]

So it turns out I am not an instinctive screecher and I forget to screech. Also the last couple of weeks have been too cold for bare hands so I have been serving Mr. Chips his treats from a small paper cup. I note he doesn’t grab chunks out of the cup!

Swearing or calling them names also seems to work, with the right tone of voice