Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

Our chickens love ants too. Rarely see many anthills in our backyard.

I wish my chickens developed a taste for fire ants

 

[BDutch]

The bantams in Catalonia were a pretty mellow bunch and seemed to be better at their social arrangements than the cross breeds and the Marans. They weren't particularly human friendly; not in an aggressive manner, just not that interested.

3 of my Dutch are human friendly. They come to me out of curiosity and sometimes like a pet on their back (rooster replacement). They don’t jump on my lap or want a real cuddle.

The other 3 (Dutch, mix and Rir) are more flightly and only come to see if i have any food.

That chickens have their own personality, even with largely the same genes and upbringing, prove my 2 black Dutch. These 2 have the same parents and were born in the same nest.

 

[janiedoe]

I wish my chickens developed a taste for fire ants

You and me both!

 

[BDutch]

My trio of naked neck hens would come up onto the back deck for the sole purpose of hunting anoles.

Anyone who has witnessed the fate of a frog at the mercy of a chicken or two might agree that the foraging/predation habits of the chicken have a tendency to be more ruthless than helpless. The pre-digested frog would agree, anyhow.

Once I saw my chickens hunting down a salamander. I wasn’t amused. These are protected species were I live.
But my chickens never listen if I teach them a lesson in human language.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Not tractor supply, but similar big box farm store , R and P. .. last year one got out of the brooder
View attachment 3480958

Wow. That's really something. I have to say, while I'm philosophically on the side of letting nature (a broody hen) do this job, right now I have two broodies sitting on eggs and it's kind of a mess sometimes. The pullets coming in to lay want to get right up in their broody nests to put their eggs too, even though I make them their own nice places to lay, and the broodies kick them out and its a squawking drama. Dealing with animals who want to do things their own way is a tremendous learning experience, but not exactly convenient.

There are some big agricultural supply stores in Ecuador of course that sell agrochemicals and fertilizers, etc. Monsanto Bayer relentlessly sends their minions into the Global South. Some of these stores sell chicks from brooders, but they are for meat and intended to be slaughtered at 4 months. Everyone knows they wouldn't live long enough to lay eggs. But for "ponedoras" -- laying hens -- the rural folks keep broody hens for setting and mothering because they believe the natural process creates more resilient chickens. And it's just easier and cheaper when you have a broody than buying all the equipment. Most folks here eat their hens after two laying seasons. I'm the "gringa loca" with the ancient chickens (even though my oldest are only four).

 

[GregnLety]

I wish my chickens developed a taste for fire ants

Ours love em. Occasionally we let a few of ours outside the fence to help clean the rest of the yard. I only do that when someone can keep an eye on them because there's foxes around.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'll bet that Bruce has what we call the Texas bullnettle.

Nope, we have what @Perris has. As she sid yours looks more like thistle.

It doesn't seem to matter whether there is a rooster there or not and I've read some reports of hen only groups where the senior hen answers the call and does the escort duty.

I guess my hens are weird. No one answers the "Where the heck are y'all" calls. Neither do they seem to care if one of the girls dies. They don't even seem to notice.

I am going to start by soaking, very gently scrubbing and observing the water. If no mites seen, I won’t do anything else. If I’m not sure, I’ll take a picture of the water & add petroleum jelly.

You might consider castor oil. It isn't nearly so gooey as petroleum jelly. But it will smother mites just as well. And it has many healing properties.

I've never seen a Tractor Supply, but my imagination has conjured up a vast Chicken Mega Mall, where little baby chicks pop out of shiny bins labelled in alphabetical order according to breed, color, and expected number of eggs per year.

I've probably concocted an absurd fantasy,

Quite a fantasy! They have "chick days" where chicks are shipped in from big hatcheries.
It is a "farm" store with fencing, tools, clothing, feed for various species of animals from dogs and cats to horses, pigs and cattle.

I wish my chickens developed a taste for fire ants

No fire ants here. Probably none in Jersey either

 

[Shadrach]

Wow. That's really something. I have to say, while I'm philosophically on the side of letting nature (a broody hen) do this job, right now I have two broodies sitting on eggs and it's kind of a mess sometimes. The pullets coming in to lay want to get right up in their broody nests to put their eggs too, even though I make them their own nice places to lay, and the broodies kick them out and its a squawking drama. Dealing with animals who want to do things their own way is a tremendous learning experience, but not exactly convenient.

There are some big agricultural supply stores in Ecuador of course that sell agrochemicals and fertilizers, etc. Monsanto Bayer relentlessly sends their minions into the Global South. Some of these stores sell chicks from brooders, but they are for meat and intended to be slaughtered at 4 months. Everyone knows they wouldn't live long enough to lay eggs. But for "ponedoras" -- laying hens -- the rural folks keep broody hens for setting and mothering because they believe the natural process creates more resilient chickens. And it's just easier and cheaper when you have a broody than buying all the equipment. Most folks here eat their hens after two laying seasons. I'm the "gringa loca" with the ancient chickens (even though my oldest are only four).

I'm with the rural lot.

 

[Shadrach]

Reasonably pleasant this afternoon. Around 10C, light Easterly wind with occasional glimpses of the sun. Three and a half hours at the allotments today.
We were all out on the allotments for two and a half hours.

I've moved five raspberry plants over the past few days (behind Lima in the picture) and it looks like they are going to survive. Not the best time of year to be moving fruit bushes.

Turning over the compost.

For anyone who is new to the thread or has lost track of who is who...

Lima. Ex Battery Red Sex Link. Three years and maybe six months old.

Carbon. Crested Cream Legbar. Rescued. At least six years old.

Fret. Marans Legbar cross. Around four years old.

Ella. Ex Battery Red Sex Link. Not really sure how old. This is her second home since leaving the battery probably around three years old.

Henry. Light Sussex rooster. Rescued. Eight years and some months old.

This is what's left from 26 chickens when I first came to the allotments nineteen months ago.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

"I saw chickens today" -- from A Turtle's Journey

Lots of rain yesterday night and somehow I ended up on this woodchip pileView attachment 3479010

I was spotted by some weird looking reptile (if that)
View attachment 3479017
She was afraid of me.

Then her friend came over too. Supposedly a very adventurous one.
View attachment 3479004
We hung out for a bit together.

Then another friend of hers came over.
View attachment 3479007
They were friendly.

But I need to carry one, so I walked all the way to the end of the fence.
View attachment 3479002

A much bigger sized weirder looking reptile saw me and thought I'd like this TINY pond
View attachment 3479001


Nope, not at all. I walked out of the barrel and kept on going.

Annnnnd I was stuck.
View attachment 3479000

(In the end, I had to walk backwards to unstuck myself, yes yes, not very dignified, but I am all good now.)

I liked the story, it was cute and entertaining.