Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[TropicalChickies]

More solid poop is something I've been looking forward to. Carbon is the worst mainly because she eats so much of the laxative type foods. I end up having to wipe out the coop rather than just scrape up the poop.

Now that the berries are done for awhile, I can better assess that they have adapted well to the change in diet to homemade feed. Ours get into papaya skins in the compost bin as well occasionally. But when they aren't scavenging such things, their poop is fine.

For loose poop caused by eating laxative foods, I find that giving them boiled rice (cooked so that all of the water has been absorbed and the rice forms a solid mass) then mixed with a little barley meal really helps to make more solid poop.

The Honorable Mrs. Arbuthnott, in her book "The Henwife" (1868) recommends cooked rice as "cooling" and "an agreeable change in diet." I feed my group rice every day in their cooked mash, because this is South America and rice is locally produced and of good quality. But nutritionally, it's mainly carbohydrate so I'm careful to balance it with more nutrient dense ingredients.

Btw, @Perris, thanks for referring to the Hon. Mrs. Arthbuthnott in your article. It's a wonderful read chock full of old school wisdoms and scathing commentary that makes me smile ("means of forced fattening are an utter abomination!"). And the illustrations of the chicken couples are delightful.

It's interesting when I talk to locals about chicken care how many of those old school remedies are used by the people in the country here. Feeding capsicum (hot pepper) for "grippe" (respiratory sickness) is common, as is using a feather dipped in lemon juice to extract gapeworm from the throat.

Anyway, I don't think a lot of people realize that eating excessive fruit can be a problem -- especially if it's overripe or has fallen on the ground and has been fermenting away in a warm and humid climate. To my advantage, I'm able to make all sorts of fruit wines, kombuchas, and vinegars simply by placing mashed fruits on the window ledge and waiting for the bacterias or yeasts to fall in.

But for the chickens -- I once had three nasty cases of sour crop on my hands when my old group got into a bunch of bananas rotting on the ground on the outskirts of the fruit forest. A bunch of bananas in the jungle isn't what you see in the grocery store. It's over a hundred bananas. That much sugar will easily corrupt the balance of yeasts and bacterias in a crop. All three hens recovered after I flushed them with Epsom salt and dosed them with acidified copper sulfate aka "bluestone" for five days (another one of those old-school remedies worth knowing about).

Now I regularly cruise the fruit forest picking up any fallen rotting fruit before the chickens gorge on it.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I am trying really hard to let them sort things out for themselves, unless it starts to get vicious. It is just hard, but I feel like it is inevitable that there will be minor skirmishes, that it is only natural, you shouldn't interfere except when necessary. It was like when my boys were little, you learned to recognize when you needed to intervene, so they would learn how to work things out.

Yes, this is really hard. I let Toby and Segundo tussle the other day, but when I saw the purple bruises around the eyes, I think I let it go on too long. Especially poor Segundo's little head was wobbling when I scooped him up and took him in for care. It's difficult to know when they will break it off themselves or enough is enough and one could be seriously hurt or killed.

 

[TropicalChickies]

It's not that multiple males in a group can't work; it just doesn't work for very long in my experience.
These three and a bantam rooster lived together for a bit over a year and then it all went wrong and I was faced with one of those very rare situations where it was quite apparent that one of them was going to get killed in the fighting.
View attachment 3580702

I've had five cockerels all live together (siblings) for a while. At six months or so that all unraveled and one did get killed by the others.
Tribe 2 (Bantams) managed very well with three males, two roosters and one cockerel. Their advantage was they had very strong leadership from the most senior rooster (Harold) and his partner (Bluespot) so there are always the exceptions.

Once again, I am learning a good deal of useful information from the exchange here. Real life stories beat theory and "I read on the internet..." anyday

 

[TropicalChickies]

Having an adult rooster around teaches life to the cockerel, until it becomes a rooster and wants to challenge the leader, and that seems to happen around one year old. So what would be the right age for rehoming ? Do you want to try to separate Segundo as soon as possible or do you think it's best to try to temporize for another few weeks ?

I'm going to keep him and Toby around for another few weeks or longer. They are learning a lot from the Tina and Patucha (the senior hens and mothers) about behavior and from watching Lucio as well.

I will definitely move one of them, probably Segundo since he came off worst in the fighting. I think if I give Segundo -- or Toby -- his own group right now, especially if they are young pullets, he will have free reign with them and become a spoiled playboy rapist.

Four years ago, I had a big white rooster named Claudio. He came with my original group of point-of-lay pullets and was the same age. Now that I know a little about cockerels and roosters, I can see that he grew up with them, probably not with a senior rooster or older hens around. He was a nightmare. Not aggressive to me or Juan, but horrible with the ladies. They were ragged, deplumed, and exhausted. Two had bleeding wounds on their backs. I found blood on the ground, in the coop -- finally I was able to examine them at night and disinfect their wounds. That was my first chicken experience, so in addition to them all having bronchitis and/or bumblefoot on arrival, you can imagine how trying it was. Anyway, I gave Claudio back to the seller after two months because the girls were literally hiding in the forest and wouldn't roost at night they were so terrified of him.

So, yes, absolutely, I think cockerels need older birds of both sexes to guide them in their crucial development time.

But I'm glad I'm giving the rooster experience another try, with a bit more seasoning on my plate. It's well worth it.

 

[RoyalChick]

Now that the berries are done for awhile, I can better assess that they have adapted well to the change in diet to homemade feed. Ours get into papaya skins in the compost bin as well occasionally. But when they aren't scavenging such things, their poop is fine.

For loose poop caused by eating laxative foods, I find that giving them boiled rice (cooked so that all of the water has been absorbed and the rice forms a solid mass) then mixed with a little barley meal really helps to make more solid poop.

The Honorable Mrs. Arbuthnott, in her book "The Henwife" (1868) recommends cooked rice as "cooling" and "an agreeable change in diet." I feed my group rice every day in their cooked mash, because this is South America and rice is locally produced and of good quality. But nutritionally, it's mainly carbohydrate so I'm careful to balance it with more nutrient dense ingredients.

Btw, @Perris, thanks for referring to the Hon. Mrs. Arthbuthnott in your article. It's a wonderful read chock full of old school wisdoms and scathing commentary that makes me smile ("means of forced fattening are an utter abomination!"). And the illustrations of the chicken couples are delightful.

It's interesting when I talk to locals about chicken care how many of those old school remedies are used by the people in the country here. Feeding capsicum (hot pepper) for "grippe" (respiratory sickness) is common, as is using a feather dipped in lemon juice to extract gapeworm from the throat.

Anyway, I don't think a lot of people realize that eating excessive fruit can be a problem -- especially if it's overripe or has fallen on the ground and has been fermenting away in a warm and humid climate. To my advantage, I'm able to make all sorts of fruit wines, kombuchas, and vinegars simply by placing mashed fruits on the window ledge and waiting for the bacterias or yeasts to fall in.

But for the chickens -- I once had three nasty cases of sour crop on my hands when my old group got into a bunch of bananas rotting on the ground on the outskirts of the fruit forest. A bunch of bananas in the jungle isn't what you see in the grocery store. It's over a hundred bananas. That much sugar will easily corrupt the balance of yeasts and bacterias in a crop. All three hens recovered after I flushed them with Epsom salt and dosed them with acidified copper sulfate aka "bluestone" for five days (another one of those old-school remedies worth knowing about).

Now I regularly cruise the fruit forest picking up any fallen rotting fruit before the chickens gorge on it.

View attachment 3580734

My grandfather used to treat sheep for diarrhea using water that rice was boiled in (maybe also the rice itself I am not sure). It is the starch that helps.
As a kid if I was sick that was the treatment I got too.
Anecdotally it seems pretty effective.

 

[TropicalChickies]

My grandfather used to treat sheep for diarrhea using water that rice was boiled in (maybe also the rice itself I am not sure). It is the starch that helps.
As a kid if I was sick that was the treatment I got too.
Anecdotally it seems pretty effective.

Yes, the proof is in the pudding (or lack thereof)

 

[Sally PB]

My grandfather used to treat sheep for diarrhea using water that rice was boiled in (maybe also the rice itself I am not sure). It is the starch that helps.
As a kid if I was sick that was the treatment I got too.
Anecdotally it seems pretty effective.

When our dog gets diarrhea, we feed her cooked white rice mixed with canned pumpkin. (The stuff you can get in the store.) One day's worth of meals, and she's all better. Cheap, easy, she likes it, and best of all, it works.

 

[ManueB]

Once again, I am learning a good deal of useful information from the exchange here. Real life stories beat theory and "I read on the internet..." anyday

Well..you are reading on the internet, but about real life stories .
My partner is getting totally fed up when I start telling him "I read on BYC..."

My grandfather used to treat sheep for diarrhea using water that rice was boiled in (maybe also the rice itself I am not sure). It is the starch that helps.
As a kid if I was sick that was the treatment I got too.
Anecdotally it seems pretty effective.

That was also my treatment as a kid . And one I was very glad to be given for a whole week in Casablanca when I was 19, if a moroccan lady cook from a cheap downtown hotel hadn't taken pity on me I would have probably died !

Also the most commonly used OTC remedy for diarrhea here is made from diosmectite, a type of white clay. (I don't think it exists in the US or GB.) Sometimes when I would like to find more solid poops from my chickens, I put a spoon of white clay in the chicken's water, I can't find pure diosmectite so I use kaolin. (Green clay works also, but is more mineralized).

 

[LTAY1946]

I don't have a clue as to what a few of mine find to eat when they are out and out of sight. Some have normal firm poop, some thick caramel, some hot fudge, some green goo. None appear sick from anything so I don't worry to much. When fall comes with temps that will allow me to keep them in a spacious coop for a couple of days maybe they may a get normal again.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Well..you are reading on the internet, but about real life stories .
My partner is getting totally fed up when I start telling him "I read on BYC..."

That was also my treatment as a kid . And one I was very glad to be given for a whole week in Casablanca when I was 19, if a moroccan lady cook from a cheap downtown hotel hadn't taken pity on me I would have probably died !

Also the most commonly used OTC remedy for diarrhea here is made from diosmectite, a type of white clay. (I don't think it exists in the US or GB.) Sometimes when I would like to find more solid poops from my chickens, I put a spoon of white clay in the chicken's water, I can't find pure diosmectite so I use kaolin. (Green clay works also, but is more mineralized).

If anyone wants to nerd out I found this article when looking up diosmectite. Seems it also helps fight loose poop caused by Sars-CoV-2 & slow the progress of infection. Sometimes simpler, older treatments are best