Recent content by Shadrach

  1. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I have the cage in the extended run which I plan to grow fruit bushes in. At this time of year a simple shelter for a couple of hens is easy to do. The cage is the most secure place at the field. It's chainlink with chicken wire and it's got a chainlink roof.
  2. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Yes I'm sure. I know the Ex Battery hens don't live long and that is in part why I'm leaning towards keeping them. I'm 70 and probably won't manage another ten years at the field.:old For Ex Battery hens just the coop and run would be a vast improvement on their past keeping circumstances. Out...
  3. Shadrach

    Chicken etiquette?

    The only time in nature (more or less) that a hen has her wings restrained is during mating with a rooster who stands on the hens shoulders and pins her wings to the ground while holding onto the scruff of her neck with his beak. Most chicken keepers go for the full body grab, a hand either side...
  4. Shadrach

    Is two roos one too many for 13 hens??

    https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/shadrach’s-multi-coops.74344/ You might find these articles of interest. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-egg-song-it’s-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/ https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/
  5. Shadrach

    Is two roos one too many for 13 hens??

    If you have the room and either the tribes split of their own accord or one knows enough about ones chickens to make a split for them, then seperate tribes is the way to go for so many reasons, not least, for a fascinating view into how their ancestors lived. My uncle had three or four tribes...
  6. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Three hours today. Grey with drizzle. C euthanized Fret today. I've written a t various points in this thread that trying to ensure Henry had a better life in his senior years was my main objective. I made a wonderful friend and buried him. I don't think Fret got over Henry's death which made...
  7. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    :hugs It hurts less if one gets pecked if one slides ones hand under the broody hen palm up I've found.
  8. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    It does I think. C hasn't had much involvement with the field chickens for the last almost four years. She wasn't able to claim Henry as hers, I don't think they ever got on very well. Fret was different. C bought Fret with money from her husbands life insurance I believe. The rest, including...
  9. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I have often hoped that there is some worth, not just for me as a dairy, but for others to see the day to day reality of chicken keeping, albeit under rather odd circumstances. Once the coop was changed and the auto pop door fitted the conditions at the field are not so dissimilar to many...
  10. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Three and a half hours yesterday. This can't go on. I have spoken to C about Fret. Fret is the only chicken that C, without any doubt, bought with her own money so despite what I may think about C, they have the final word on what to do about Fret. C, says she will euthanize Fret this weekend.
  11. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Definitely worth reading and reviewing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/building-a-better-coop-coastal-challenges-forest-solutions-and-the-stuff-nobody-tells-you.80133/
  12. Shadrach

    Review by 'Shadrach' in article 'Building a Better Coop: Coastal Challenges, Forest Solutions, and the Stuff Nobody Tells You'

    As a standard coop building article this article is decent. It's the other stuff, like the consideration for the environment the chickens live in, the provision of natural shade and protection that make the article a cut above many in my opinion. If the chickens are ranging from dawn to dusk...
    • Shadrach
    • Article rating
  13. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    There has been so much going from Henry to the weather I couldn't even begin to guess what caused what currently. Everyone is stressed.:confused:
  14. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Three hours today. 22C down to 15C late evening.
  15. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    There is quite a large tolerance in the time it takes a hen to lay an egg. Better to look at the 24 hour standard as an average rather than a median value. It can be even more misleading when the manufacturing runs faster than the delivery. You can see this sometimes when one or two eggs are...
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