Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[LTAY1946]

All the coops are locked down. As usual I watered the log pile to get the misfit Cornish girls to go in their coop. Tonight they had convinced 3 additional Jersey Giant girls to join them in the log pile which got them wet as well. As hot as it is they had dried down by the time they hit the roosts. Soon new coops with runs will be ready and they will not have access to the log pile. By the time they start laying I want a few weeks worth of purebred eggs before they get to mix and mingle again like yard mutts.

 

[saysfaa]

.. The geese ...

If you feed and water them sometimes, c will find it easier to not come in a timely manner. Well, as timely a manner since it isn't anyway. Choice of frying pan and fire for you and the geese.

Tax: Mocha

 

[MrsNorthie]

If you feed and water them sometimes, c will find it easier to not come in a timely manner. Well, as timely a manner since it isn't anyway. Choice of frying pan and fire for you and the geese.

Tax: Mocha

Mocha is lovely! I imagine that it is hard for Shad to let them be neglected, no matter how bad C is. Letting animals suffer because this woman in a complete and utter, well I will exercise my better judgement and assume you know what she is, would be really hard. I don't understand how people can be so neglectful and down right cruel to an animal.

 

[TropicalChickies]

What do you do about calcium for the hens or don't they lay enough eggs for it to be an issue?

I give them oyster shell. Right now there's 4 layers, 2 two year old hens --Tina and Patucha, and 2 ten month old pullets -- Rusty and Dusty. The hens are laying 4-5 eggs per week and the pullets almost every day. When they aren't broody that is.

 

[TropicalChickies]

You might like to challenge such an interlocutor whether they know the actual ingredients in a bag of commercial feed, if they buy typical bags of the stuff with a nutrient analysis but not a proper list of ingredients - what exactly is 'processed grain by-products', 'plant protein products', or 'poultry waste meal' for example? or go down the chemical route and ask 'what is the role of the monocalcium phosphate? [or other chemical of your choosing]'

Yeah, the labels are ridiculously vague. Almost as bad as the labels for human food, like what does "May contain less than 2% of the following" mean?

 

[TropicalChickies]

Things certainly happen fast on chicken time. What a day. I knew it would come, but was hoping for a little more time to get prepared. But at just 11 weeks old, little Tobias and Segundo decided to try to kill each other for real.

The reason appears to be pretty little Prima -- the only pullet out of the 4 chicks that hatched between April 30 and May 7 from two broody hens. Prima looks exactly the same to me as she did yesterday and the day before, but something must have flipped from "neuter chick" to "cute girl" because not only did Toby and Segundo fight like demons, Prima was viciously attacked and driven from the main coop this evening by Frida (the very shy 6 mo old pullet who, until now, was at the bottom of the order.)

Here's how the action unfolded: This morning I installed the roost bars in the new coop area (formerly our laundry area) behind our outdoor shower. Since this area already has a bamboo frame and is covered with a big roof (the most important thing in a rainforest), I was able to get it ready for chickens in a much shorter time than building a whole new structure.

"Hey, check out this place!"

But who will get the girl?

The dashing Segundo...

Or tidbiting Tobias?

The (formerly) three amigos went right for the new roost after breakfast and seemed to be having a grand time cavorting. Then I saw something new: Toby jumped down and started to tidbit and call Prima. Prima went to investigate Toby's offering. Segundo jumped down and went straight to challenge Toby. They had play-skirmished a bit as little chicks but this was for real. I watched them tussle a bit thinking we'll, this is gonna happen -- and neither one of these fellas is gamecock material, it was like watching drunks fight. I broke it up when Toby took a piece out of Segundo's comb. I separated them to opposite sides of the common ranging area (60 meters of so apart) and tended Segundo's wound. Toby had some bruises and nicks, but was ok. Segundo was breathing heavily and had obviously come off worse, so I put him in the hospital pen with some electrolyte water.

Right before I served them lunch, I let Segundo out of the pen. He seemed better and calmly went about nibbling grass so I went to prep their food. Well, in those few minutes this little instigator made a beeline for Toby looking for a rematch. I heard the screeching and by the time I found them in the forest, they were staggering after each other like Rocky and Apollo after twelve rounds. Segundo was clearly losing (again) and while I really try not to meddle in their affairs, watching one eleven week old cockerel kill another one isn't really on my personal highlight reel. So I scooped up a very woozy Segundo and took him back to the hospital, cleaned his wounds and dabbed on antibiotic cream, went back and found Toby to take care of his wounds, and then fed everyone in separate areas -- Toby and Prima by the forest, the adults in their usual spot, and Segundo in his hospital bed. He was pretty punch drunk after the second fight, but he recovered to eat a good amount. Today's Sardine Sunday.

The outcome. Toby took some knocks too, but Segundo took more

"I coulda been a contender, I tell ya!"

So, yowza, these two scrappers have known nothing but care and camaraderie since they hatched together. They preened each other and were best buds. Now, in one day, bam.

Segundo was feeling better by the afternoon, so I put him in the big mobile enclosure I use for brand new chicks so he could eat grass and kept him near me while I worked tying netting around the new coop. It was starting to turn dusk and drizzle, and just as I was wondering if I should actually install anyone in the new coop or just wait and see, I heard another big screeching ruckus from over by the original coop. When I got there, Frida was attacking Prima and Toby and driving her off the "preferred" roost bar. She was pecking Toby more like an annoyance, but she was going after Prima with hate in her eyes. She and Toby jumped to the extension roost and cowered there in the drizzle. That seemed to be a sign. So I plucked those two up and carried them over to the new coop where they settled right in. I let Segundo out of the enclosure and (with relief) watched him walk over to the main coop. Interestingly, when I went to make sure everyone was roosting as it got dark, Segundo was next to Frida and she wasn't hassling him at all.

Which also makes me think that somehow Prima was the object of all the attention today.

I'm going to talk to our new neighbors from the States about taking in Segundo (and a couple pullets for him). They expressed interest in keeping chickens and they're just a few hundred meters up the road so I could help them get set up with housing and feed and start a whole new colony.

I'm just thinking, even if he did settle down to "low man on the totem pole" here, I'd rather give him a better life with a tribe of his own while I can.

So, yeah. Chicken life comes at ya fast.

 

[kcan2]

Lucky today. Just managed to squeeze three hours in between the rain cloud fronts. A bit chilly at 13C.
C arrived at the allotments just as the chickens headed for the coop. The geese had been in all day and there was no sign that they had been fed or their water changed. C said they had given the geese some bread this morning, I don't believe them. I had fed them by the time C arrived and done their water. Not a word of thanks from C who headed straight for their house.
Fret is looking the best I've seen her despite not having finished her moult. She's filled out a bit at her rear end and has feathers where there were bald patches before. I told her I was going to call her Little Miss Fat Arse; she didn't look impressed.

We all got out. Fret and Carbon laid eggs today. Nither laid yesterday. Every other day or less works for me.

Some of the plot holders are complaining about the level of pests they have on their plots. I have very few. I think it's because the chickens go on my plot daily.
The person who keeps the plot next to mine grows flowers rather than veg and has siad they are quite happy to have the chickens on their plot. They too have had much fewer pest problems and now we've had a decent amount of rain their plot despite the odd plant getting trampled looks great as you may be able to appreciate in this picture.

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My plot, although not particularly well laid out this year looks greener and healthier than most of the others.
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Carbon eating some of the bolted spinach.
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I know exactly where these two are off to and I'll have to get of my arse and intercept them. That's C's plot directly ahead and while it is a mess, C does not want the chickens on it.
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Henry is trying to encourage the hens to make a nest here. He checks this spot out most days.
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Just Henry.
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Bed time.
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Does it get much lovelier than pictures of chickens with sunshine and flowers?
Henry looks like he has found a very nice nest spot there. He certainly has me convinced, if not any hens (yet).

Also, a big thank you for feeding & watering the geese from:
1. The geese
2. All of us here!

 

[Perris]

The person who keeps the plot next to mine grows flowers rather than veg and has siad they are quite happy to have the chickens on their plot. They too have had much fewer pest problems and now we've had a decent amount of rain their plot despite the odd plant getting trampled looks great as you may be able to appreciate in this picture.

that's great news! My garden improved hugely since having chickens in it. OK there are a few craters in the lawn here and there (where they decide to make a dustbath), and a few plants succumbed to eating, scratching or both (Japanese anemones, I'm looking at you), but on balance there's no contest. Not to mention the saving in time and money on scarifiers, moss treatments, pest treatments, fertilizer etc. The lawn was a muddy mossy quagmire before the chicken patrols started.

 

[kcan2]

So, yeah. Chicken life comes at ya fast

Wow! I think I had every emoji reaction in reading about Frida, Prima, Toby, and Segundo's eventful day. Good thing it was Sardine Sunday to hopefully end on an up note for all of your key players. Prima sounds like a genuine prima donna in the making!

 

[ManueB]

I'm so sorry Shad. You did very well by her ♡ and continue to educate us all.

Your name sake is still alive and fairing rather well. He has managed to keep a few hens around him. Gotten rather good looking and better behaved. View attachment 3553721

Shadrach the feral rooster reminds me a bit of my little Théo.
Can't say he has gotten better behaved, he's really mean with the hens now he has lost dominance. Here he is for once redeeming himself keeping watch for bantam Chipie who's just back into lay - what drama!