Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[TropicalBabies]

Maybe it's something that's not sufficiently emphasized in the advice given to people who want to build a coop- how easier it is if you can grab or just check the birds easily. Confort scooping poop is always mentioned but not necessarily easy access to the chickens themselves.

I said before people here are used to have really high roosts, (probably for predator protection?) , usually at least 6 feet high and up to 10. We inherited such roosts but changed them lately because our chickens had trouble climbing up. It makes a world of difference that we can grab them and check them on all the roosts now, especially with a few invalids.

It's a lot more efficient to check on one, two or three birds every evening once they are on the roost than having to catch them during the day.

Though we did add one temporary roost more difficult to access for us, for the newer hens that didn't want to sleep on the main roost. It's a compromise between their confort and mine.

As for the mites in the coop, I don't know how it's impossible to notice because if you don't see them in the coop (indeed I didn't the first summer as I hadn't heard about them and wasn't especially looking) you can't not see your chickens itching and excessively preening and looking unconfortable.

What kind of pressure washer ? I've been wondering about them but I'm not sure they are safe to use in my coop (cellar with lime washed porous walls).

I should have said a pressure hose nozzle

 

[BDutch]

And it's the same on this side of the pond... Which is why I raise my own poultry for food.

About the same on the other side of the Canal. Chickens locked up inside with too many on a square meter. Even the best option (organic) is not very animal-friendly.

Glad that they finally lifted the restrictions for risking a HPAI infestation in a large part of my country. So what they call free range chickens and organic chickens are allowed to spend time on the grass again (farmers are obliged to give acces for the labels)
Sadly the 3 regions with most chicken farms /km2 are still under restrictions.

Good luck getting a few new exbat hens soon Shad!

I couldn’t read everything because I’m on a summer vacation and the free wifi isn’t stable at the camp site. (my 4g is too limited). Chickens are taking care of by one of my dear neighbours and my eldest who lives nearby.

Highlight of yesterdays mini-hike.

Rocher du Hât - Ardennes - .

 

[BDutch]

I just want to point out, with my myth-buster hat on, that those hens lay eggs despite the conditions.

Edited to add, to avoid confusion, the myth in question being that "

2. Coop Environment​

If birds are stressed, egg production may suffer. Stress comes in many forms – predators, over-crowding, aggressive hens, loud noises, too much heat or cold, poor nutrition and illness. Check the environment to be sure there aren’t stressors in the area."

From https://www.purinamills.com/chicken...y-solved-why-did-my-chickens-stop-laying-eggs

IMHO it’s sad that these hybrids even lay an egg every day in poor and disgusting conditions. If chickens wouldn’t lay well in bad conditions they would have a descent life. And dont forget the hybrids for meat in this picture. Farmers managed to breed extremely obese chickens for that purpose. These broilers genes are so F up that they cant live long as adults. Not even 4 years as laying hybrids can in normal circumstances. My eldest Dutch is 9 now which seems to be a normal age for this heritage breed. 12 yo is not an exception if what I read is true. Exceptions even lives up to 15 yo.

Back to factory farming.
Other animals in factory farming (for meat) don’t have a live either. We had a large pig-farm when I was a teenager and couldn’t stand the conditions the pigs were kept in. My dad said: they are better of now, than the way pigs were held before, because they live in hygienic, warm but never hot and draught free stables now. And if the pigs suffer they get sick and don’t grow well. End of discussion.
Another discussion we had was on the feed. Pigs eat a lot of soy from Brazil. I had read how bad it was to feed such food (for the health of inhabitants there and the impact on the environment) and told my dad this was wrong. His reply was that they grow soy for the oil and the pigs get the waste from it, the soy meal.
My primary reaction to all of this was: I will never ever marry a farmer. My secondary reaction was to stop to eat , and more .
Many years later I married an educated forester who became an expert in sustainable building with bio-based materials. And still don’t eat . And I never tell teenagers they will change their minds if they grow up.

 

[BDutch]

In my opinion it depends on the keeping circumstances. Most of everything does in my experience.

Yes

I have never tried to integrate new arrivals. I don't even believe in the concept of integration. In human multicutural society integration doesn't work. What happens over time is assimilation. I live in a multicultural city and you could draw a line around each ethnic area. The different nationalities cooperate and mingle due to pressures of economics and resources but live with their own kind by and large. Common language and culture make this almost inevitable.

Ahum.. . In human multicutural society integration works sometimes - many times. In my opinion it depends on the ‘keeping circumstances’ too. Like the contact circumstances, and of the curiosity of the people involved. I see a lot of intercultural relations in the town where I live, within the (high tech international) company where I work and with friends who have travelled and worked abroad.
It just doesn’t work with suspicious minds.

As for chickens: I can’t figure it out very well. Only understand their social behaviour has nothing to do with compassion for newbies.
Getting two or 3 hatched female chicks worked great. Getting one hatched female chick didn’t for a very long time (Janice). Adding one adult female of the dominating breed was complicated (Kraai).
Until this day both Janice and Kraai are still a bit the outsiders within the flock. While Katrientje who’s looks are very different (she had a sister in the first year) never led to problematic or anti-social behaviour. Same with the Naine de Tournaisis I had.
This experience led to the decision to buy 11 hatching eggs this year. I wanted to be sure I had at least 2 females. Because of the poor results of earlier hatchings I thought 10-12 eggs was a good amount.

With the great outcome this year I have too many chicks now, and created another problem. Need to sell/give away a few chicks asap.

PS @RoyalChick , can’t you buy hatchery eggs where you live? I prefer that over buying new chicks/chickens because of the risk of new diseases and the ‘feel good experience’ of giving a eggs to a broody.

 

[BDutch]

I know. What I'm more concerend about at my age is I drop dead before they do.

You won’t! You just can’t! Don’t make up your mind to do so! The new chickens will prevent you to ever drop dead on them! And you all live happily ever after!

 

[Nomadicus]

I mulling the idea of not having roosting bars screwed down tight but put in so that they can be removed and laid out on sawhorses to be pressure washed with an acceptable soap that won't hurt the birds but will leave the roosting bars clean as new. I have a mental image in my head and will tinker with it in the new coop that should be finished today.

 

[MrsNorthie]

About the same on the other side of the Canal. Chickens locked up inside with too many on a square meter. Even the best option (organic) is not very animal-friendly.

Glad that they finally lifted the restrictions for risking a HPAI infestation in a large part of my country. So what they call free range chickens and organic chickens are allowed to spend time on the grass again (farmers are obliged to give acces for the labels)
Sadly the 3 regions with most chicken farms /km2 are still under restrictions.

Good luck getting a few new exbat hens soon Shad!

I couldn’t read everything because I’m on a summer vacation and the free wifi isn’t stable at the camp site. (my 4g is too limited). Chickens are taking care of by one of my dear neighbours and my eldest who lives nearby.

Highlight of yesterdays mini-hike.
View attachment 3575370
Rocher du Hât - Ardennes - .

Enjoy your vacation! It looks like a beautiful spot!

 

[MrsNorthie]

I mulling the idea of not having roosting bars screwed down tight but put in so that they can be removed and laid out on sawhorses to be pressure washed with an acceptable soap that won't hurt the birds but will leave the roosting bars clean as new. I have a mental image in my head and will tinker with it in the new coop that should be finished today.

The way we built the 2nd coop, we can easily get in there to pressure wash everything. the floor is fully covered in water proof linoleum. I am going to build some new nesting boxes that I can completely remove. What they have now is more like cubicles walls on 3 sides and a wide shelf, with a lip to keep the eggs from rolling out, but they all like to lay in the same corner.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Dry and mostly sunny at 17C, just right for me.

"What did you bring my girls today Bucket Boy?"
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Fret. The bald patch on her head is filling in. While I've been there I've seen very little of Henry mating either Fret or Carbon. Carbon has laways been a once a day is quite enough thank you kind of hen. Lima would crouch if Henry just looked at her.

Henry does ask both of them. I watch with some amusement when Henry walks up behind them and chest bumps them. Fret generally does a complete about turn so Henry can't rush her but stays close. Carbon just says no and moves away until she thinks Henry has gone off the idea.
Henry has always done the rounds checking if anyone wanted fetilizing before bed, He caught Carbon with a neck grab late this evening; Fret, knowing what Henry is like is often on the roost bar before Henry wanders around asking. She knows she wont be bothered up there. Carbon will stay on the ground until she's absolutley sure there will be no more food forthcoming.

I have to write though, Henry is very good with them.
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Roost bar strip out this evening. One live mite and a couple of eggs. This is after almost three weeks of regulat checks and cleaning. There are no mites anywhere else in the coop. I know, I checked and if I can find 1 I doubt i'm missing anything.
View attachment 3575110

Imagine a large wooden coop with all that end grain getting a red mite infestation.

There is a thread running currently about a couple of mite infestations. It should be quite apparent from reading it that it's something rather more than chuck a bit of this chemical or compound around and your done.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bio-security-and-mites.1589475/

The sad part is there are probably lots of chicken keepers that don't even know their birds have a mite problem because they don't check their birds properly and don't inspect the coops properly either. One just cannot get it through to many chicken keepers that one needs to inspect and to do that one has to be able to handle the birds at some point. If it means taking them off a perch at night and going over them with the light of a headtorch, then that's what needs to be done. It's a lot easier for me with the roost bar in the coop extension. They're used to me lifting their feather and running my hand under their bellies and feeling their crops.

Getting things ready for the possible new additions. Still raking out the stones that C threw in to attempt to deal with the drainage. The ground just grows them now.
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The tarpaulins are holding up well. Now it's rained and cleaned them off a bit I can see what's going on.
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I made an evening check system. Every evening when they are comfortably roosting, before full dark, but still using a flashlight, I check 2 or (if they don't start fidgeting) 3 birds for:

-Any crop abnormalities (gassy, balloonish, very hard, or smelly) and poopy vents.

-Bottoms of the feet for abrasions or splinters.

-Back of the neck, back feathers where the wings fold, under each wing, and where the legs meet the abdomen for mites. So far, this cob and recycled plastic coop I made is doing well on not getting mites. There are some wood beams holding up the roof, but I get up on a ladder and rub them liberally with linseed oil at least 2x per month. At some point, I'll persuade my partner to replace the roof beams with recycled plastic, but right now we're swamped with El Niño preparation...

-Combs, wattles, and faces for sticktight fleas. I keep an small eye dropper bottle with.5% permethrin in it and a cotton ball soaked with sulfur soap solution to kill/remove any fleas I find right away. The bloodsucking capacity of sticktight fleas is really dangerous. Surface fleas I take off with the soapy cotton ball, embedded ones get a drop of permethrin.

3 is the max I can do without the others getting fidgety on the roost and for me to do a thorough job in the time I've allotted for this task (10-15 minutes per day). The rooster takes a longer as his comb and wattles have so many crevices and folds.

So at this rate, every bird is getting checked thoroughly every third to fourth day. When/if I have more birds and more coops, I'll allot more time to the task. When it takes 30 minutes, no more chickens!

 

[TropicalChickies]

Pigs eat a lot of soy from Brazil. I had read how bad it was to feed such food (for the health of inhabitants there and the impact on the environment) and told my dad this was wrong. His reply was that they grow soy for the oil and the pigs get the waste from it, the soy meal.

Statements like this astound me. And truly, nothing against your dad -- he's one of millions or even billions of people who make these sorts of "arguments." And we ALL rationalize our way around certain things. But even in uttering such a remark, does it not occur to one that the outcome is the same? It doesn't matter if the soy is grown for oil or feed or to stuff beanbags with... The result of soy farming in Brazil is ecocide, homicide, corruption, and gross social inequality. If the soy were not grown, the pigs would have to eat something else.