Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Two hours. 6C max, rather cloudy with some sunshine.
They came out onto the extended run to eat as usual and when I opened the gate to the field, Glais and Sylph headed out on their own. I had to encourage Mow a little.

To further encourage some foraging I hacked some of the compost pile and they all came over to have a look. The ground is still very cold, not quite frozen but too cold for bugs etc. They lost interest after a while and made do with some grass.

Sardines for tea. A bowl each; a tin of sardines split between three. It's take Mow and Sylph awhile to get a taste for sardines for some reason. Now Mow is quite keen and Sylph eats them because Mow does. They're always more interested in what's in someone else's bowl!

It's the young jackdaw that thinks I should be feeding it. Glais tried the stare but jackdaw unimpressed.

Sylph however is a rather different proposition and the jackdaw backs off out of easy range and waits for Sylph to leave the tray. Sylph will go for them.

Snow is forecast for tomorrow. I doubt it will be much if any. It's warm enough now for the water freezing problems to be over for a while at least.
I think it froze enough to seize the standpipe and tap in the field three or four times last year and it stayed frozen until I arrived and warmed it up with the blowtorch.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Just out of interest, how many of you see the smallest/most junior hens/pullets trying to become the cockerel/roosters favourite?
In my experience it tends not to last. Most roosters once they mature have settled on senior hens as favourites.

The only one I've noticed it with is Periwinkle, a silkie/marans/legbar mix. She is just about bantam sized and would happily squat for any and all the boys. She's still one of Riddicks favorites, as long as she isn't broody she's usually hanging around him.
Not sure if that applies to your question since they're all around the same age, his other favorite pullet is Squatch who is roughly the same age as Periwinkle. Squatch however does not roost with him. The leghorns all fall over themselves to mate as well, they are younger and have not stopped laying for winter. We have only one senior hen, an old buff orpington who neither lays nor mates. In fact, I think they're all a bit afraid of her iron beak still. The rest are all under a year old until Feb 10 and the 29th.

 

[fuzzi]

Good for Sylph!

 

[RoyalChick]

View attachment 4279349
They love this tree. It has a lovely view of the field next door, and has some wind-shade from the garage nearby. Good sunning tree.

What a great picture!

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

What a great picture!

Seconded. I love some treehuggers

 

[kattabelly]

And that was why I was so nervous at the start when I realized Chippy was Mr. Chips.
And now I don’t know if Mr. Chips was a super special guy (of course he was to me!), or whether it is usual for a cockerel to be so lovely if he has enough space and you treat him with some respect.

He did seem like an especially lovely boy from your posts but in my opinion/experience cock(erel)s that are actually "rotten", like I've seen them described on other threads here, are the exception rather than the rule.

I think it's largely a combination of giving them a chance and a bit of respect, and putting some effort into understanding their behaviour and body language and how to use your own to work with them. I reckon a lot of the time I "defuse" situations before they even get to the point where that's really needed, just by being seeming calm and confident and chatting a lot of nonsense about whatever I'm doing.

Just out of interest, how many of you see the smallest/most junior hens/pullets trying to become the cockerel/roosters favourite?
In my experience it tends not to last. Most roosters once they mature have settled on senior hens as favourites.

Dolly (the more nervous/shy of the Rock pullets that didn't hatch here) was obsessed with the Light Sussex boy(s) for a while when they all first met. She seems to have mostly lost interest now. I was really pleased to see her feeling confident enough to chase Rognvald around last week.

One of the RIR pullets is really interested in the LS cockerel and spends a lot of time around him and the older pullets, while the other still sticks close to her brothers and Wednesday. Lady M (Hyline) has gone the other way - LS was very keen on her and she was suffering a bit with the size difference plus his poor technique. She's hanging out with the RIRs a lot, now.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Just out of interest, how many of you see the smallest/most junior hens/pullets trying to become the cockerel/roosters favourite?
In my experience it tends not to last. Most roosters once they mature have settled on senior hens as favourites.

Bub bub’s favourite is Minnie who is bottom of the pecking order, then Millie, queen of the flock whilst Hennie, the wild child is not so interested but squats for him unless not interested when she shows a very fast turn of speed.
Not sure if it’s relevant that he and Minnie have been together the longest.
If both Millie & Minnie go broody at the same time Bub bub gets very grumpy!

 

[Skyeknight]

Currently my rooster still charges me a lot. I have all my chickens cooped up due to avian influenza, so that doesn't really help. Their coop is about the size of a large horse trailer. It mostly happens when I have fed them and collected eggs and proceed to exit the coop, sometimes when I enter or during egg collecting. Although he never charges when I squat down to clean their water. So I assume it's me walking that he "dislikes". Only a very few times does he actually fight my leg.

The thing here is that I do not really care about that. With a bit of work I feel like I could create a more healthy relationship. So definitely not worth culling him over.

 

[RoyalChick]

Currently my rooster still charges me a lot. I have all my chickens cooped up due to avian influenza, so that doesn't really help. Their coop is about the size of a large horse trailer. It mostly happens when I have fed them and collected eggs and proceed to exit the coop, sometimes when I enter or during egg collecting. Although he never charges when I squat down to clean their water. So I assume it's me walking that he "dislikes". Only a very few times does he actually fight my leg.

The thing here is that I do not really care about that. With a bit of work I feel like I could create a more healthy relationship. So definitely not worth culling him over.

Has he always done that?

 

[Skyeknight]

Has he always done that?

Yeah, got him for free from friends because he kept charging their family members. I am not going to say no to a free, and according to them, show quality Ayam Cemani.