Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[kcan2]

Rain this morning then dryish until around 4.30pm. Windy with 30mph gusts.
They were waiting at the gate wanting out when I arrived. They ate and headed out the gate as soon as I opened it. They got about an hour on the field before the rain showed up. They saw it coming before I did and it pissed down.View attachment 4298652View attachment 4298653View attachment 4298654View attachment 4298655View attachment 4298656View attachment 4298657

So much rain!
Did I miss the Boris update?

 

[BDutch]

Usually there is no need to trim as in cut. It is a good idea to file the spur points round and check down the spur shaft for rough patches. A good quality nail file does the job.

I tried filing the upper beak of Ini mini. It didn’t work good enough. Goes too slowly and Ini mini didn’t cooperate. Cutting a piece off with a baby nail cutter (no sharp ends) works much better. I only file the sharp edges after cutting now.

I need to cut her upper beak regularly. Ini mini is my oldest Dutch bantam who is getting 12 yo this spring. Here her beak got at a point it hinders her (eating and preening) and I need to cut it.

 

[Shadrach]

So much rain!
Did I miss the Boris update?

Boris is still alive!

 

[kcan2]

Boris is still alive!

Yay for Boris and those disgusting eating habits of his!

 

[Shadrach]

6C less wind chill and it was chilly. Rain on and off but nothing torrential. One and a half hours. They came out to eat, did half an hours foraging in the extended run, ate their treats and settled down under the coop in time to avoid the next bout of rain.

There is a call that a hens rooster makes in responder to her escort call. The call verges on hysterical. It winds up and then down, 6 or seven sounds with the peak at 3 seems roughly correct. There's been quite a bit of this going on between Glais and Sylph. Mow has made the call in the past for Henry but rarely but I haven't heard her call Glais yet.

 

[Sally PB]

There is a call that a hens rooster makes in responder to her escort call. The call verges on hysterical. It winds up and then down, 6 or seven sounds with the peak at 3 seems roughly correct.

A video with sound would be great, if you can record one.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Usually there is no need to trim as in cut. It is a good idea to file the spur points round and check down the spur shaft for rough patches. A good quality nail file does the job.

Stilton's spurs are super long. He usually sheds the points in late summer, but it didn't happen last year.

Importantly, the way he treads, his spurs don't contact the girls' sides. Regardless, I did try to blunt the points with a dremel last fall, several times.

It's easy to do. He doesn't mind being held and enjoys the blueberry afterward. But it just made his spurs sharper and sharper! So I gave up and bit my own fingernails over whether it's a bad idea to keep his talons this long.

The spurs are finally showing signs they'll shed again. Will be interesting to see how much shorter they get at this point.

Merle didn't shed his spurs either, but his grow in a curl with blunt ends.

Miss Hazel's dainty hen spurs have also grown! They're big and sharp. I'm more mystified by how her nails have grown so long. She scratches the ground all day

 

[kattabelly]

Boris is still alive!

I was so worried about what would happen to my house spiders when I moved that I've brought as many as I could catch to my new house.

 

[Shadrach]

Glais took a further step from cockerel to rooster today. I opened the field gate and Glais led Sylph out of the gate where they waited for Mow to stop eating and then headed onto the field without me. Usually when they come out they had for the two chairs looking down the field where I place my rucksack and sit to give out treats, weather permitting. They didn't head to the chairs until I had finished the chores.
They moved around the field, more or less as a group. Glais hasn't got the herding business down quite yet, but Mow and Sylph will follow him.

Part of the change in Glais is he's more concentrated on the task at hand. This makes every bodies life easier. Mow and Sylph will trust him more if he isn't wandering off half the time and stops charging at them.
I've done what I can to show him how to make Mow and Sylph move along and Glais has been watching. I gentle tap their bums and they move on. I've tried to explain to Glais that when he does this with his chest, they'll either crouch, or move away. He's hackle flashed Sylph a few times; effective but not the best first option I've tried to explain.

I've stepped up my getting Glais to trust me more. Hand feeding is no problem; he's very gentle and has developed some manners. I can grasp gently a handful of his tail feathers without a problem. I don't hold for long, just long enough for him to feel the tug. I moved onto feeling his crop as I do the hens which initially bothered him enough to stand on the bar and move away. He's stopped trying to move away now but hasn't reached the indifference level of say Henry. We've also been doing wattle inspections off the roost bar when he is close. He seems to prefer this to most other forms of physical contact.
My aim is to be able to vet style handle all of them; not cuddles, although cuddles are nice, but to be able to inspect a calm bird. It's a lot calmer all round if one can pick a bird up with just an indignant squawk rather than a full on battle.

Niether Mow nor Sylph are laying eggs. It does seem like some point has past where they've gone from almost full on hibernation under shelter to wanting to be out and about. I think diet requirements may play a role. If they are winding up to laying then possibly there are nutrients out there they need in the forage despite looking like slim pickings from my point of view.
Full moult recovery may be another factor. It wasn't that long ago I was sweeping up feathers.
Longer daylight hours; this is noticeable even for me and I think it effects humans as well as chickens, we've just tuned it out with the noise of busy lives.

There is spilt chicken feed in the bucket in front of Mow. The jackdaws are after it. Mow's guarding it.

 

[Molpet]

Longer daylight hours; this is noticeable even for me and I think it effects humans as well as chickens, we've just tuned it out with the noise of busy lives.

Seasonal affective disorder is fairly common around here.