Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

Im getting a bit worried about Ini mini. Yesterday I saw her sitting as if she was producing a big dropping . But no dropping arrived and she walked on again. Today she did this again. And I had the idea she wasn’t moving around as quick as she normally does.
I think she has a constipation. Tomorrow I will buy some grapes for her to make stimulate the intestines. But if you have other or better suggestions I be happy to read them.

My flock of 6 bantam hens.
View attachment 3696647

Hope the grapes work.

 

[MrsNorthie]

I will miss having those amazing birds, but I don't want to go through losing them so soon ever again

That is heart breaking. I take a long time to recover after the loss of animals. Hopefully, when you are ready, you can find a nice breed that has a more natural laying cycle, not to say that there will not be more opportunities for heartache. (They never live long enough.) That is an unfortunate side-effect for loving living things.

I would not have cared if Skeksis only laid one egg a year. I loved her so much.

Exactly! I am a more than a little relieved to find our girls are not all laying everyday. To anyone other than this group, that would cause some confusion. If they are going to use selective breeding to bring out the most favorable traits, I wish they would focus on health and longevity.

Carbon's droppings were well within acceptable overnight in quality.

Yay Carbon! Hopefully she is getting this (whatever it is.) worked out of her system!

Today I got a cancelation and my money back. reason : The factory only produces chick feed in spring.

That is VERY frustrating! *sigh I have a grain grinder that I can use to grind the fermented grains whenever we get peeps and hopefully, I have the chicken garden done before any of my girls commit to expanding the tribe. I just need to make sure that I have the optimal mix for growing peeps.

Commercial hybrids don’t lay more eggs than many older breeds. They only lay faster.

Which is a shame, that greed outweighs compassion.

I think she has a constipation. Tomorrow I will buy some grapes for her to make stimulate the intestines.

I have read that a soak in warm water with Epsom salts can help, but tricky this time of year, you will have to make sure she gets dry. In this https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/constipated-chicken-what-to-do.617094/ some one mentions molasses in water and warm wet compresses applied to the vent. I bet, due to the lower temps, they aren't drinking as much.

 

[MrsNorthie]

With all the discussion around finding an optimal mix of feed, I have found a few sources in the US for whole grains, in bulk:

• https://shop.honeyville.com
• https://bulkfoods.com
• https://www.redhillgeneralstore.com

Honeyville and Red Hill both include the nutrition labeling, which is really handy.

I really need to act like an adult and do the maths to figureout how much of everything I would need equal or improve on what they are eating now.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Im getting a bit worried about Ini mini. Yesterday I saw her sitting as if she was producing a big dropping . But no dropping arrived and she walked on again. Today she did this again. And I had the idea she wasn’t moving around as quick as she normally does.
I think she has a constipation. Tomorrow I will buy some grapes for her to make stimulate the intestines. But if you have other or better suggestions I be happy to read them.

My flock of 6 bantam hens.
View attachment 3696647

Mix 1/2 teaspoon of Blackstrap (dark) molasses with 1/4 cup warm water and a dash of ginger. Carefully syringe it to her. Gently massage the crop and then abdomen.

This was very helpful for Butchie when she got backed up and helped her to have many more energized days (before her final decline).

The molasses flush will produce some loose poop. It's ok, just moving stuff out. Just make sure she hydrates afterwards.

Also, mixing a little warm water and a tsp of olive oil in with her feed will help.

 

[fluffycrow]

That is heart breaking. I take a long time to recover after the loss of animals. Hopefully, when you are ready, you can find a nice breed that has a more natural laying cycle, not to say that there will not be more opportunities for heartache. (They never live long enough.) That is an unfortunate side-effect for loving living things.

It truly is. I haven't gotten over the loss of my sweet boy Napoleon, a silkie mix cockerel that passed away unexpectedly the spring of this year. Thankfully, I have found said breed(s). Serama, and Tsouloufati. I really like brahma as well, but they don't work in this climate. The serama are such a joy. The Tsouloufati provide me with eggs, without completely messing up their systems. I got my last ISA brown 3 and a half years ago, and I'm content with what I have now

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

It seems like everyone is still working on the minerals, vitamins, and anything else to get the best homemade feed.

Temperature is in the 70s and cloudy.

Have a great day!

 

[no fly zone]

Messing around with AI generated art, I got Skeksis (sort of) dunking over Lebron.

 

[MaryJanet]

Messing around with AI generated art, I got Skeksis (sort of) dunking over Lebron.

View attachment 3697085

That's brilliant!

 

[townchicks]

I also appreciate the thoughtful and well researched discussions in this thread. It's a big part of why I follow it ,as well as living vicariously, the more natural chicken lives with roosters and broody raised chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

It rained overnight and this morning. Temperature thankfully up a 7C.
I only got two hours at the allotments today because of the man in the picture below.
I was waiting at the bus stop along with other people on what is a very busy road for pedestrians and vehicles. The man below is walking along a narrow section of the central reservation. I watched him make his way along the edge where he occasioanlly collapsed over the fence for a few moments and when he toppled off the edge into the road, decided to intervene. Everybody at the bus stop saw the man collapse apart from a couple of people glued to their mobile phones but nobody said or did anything. I went over the road to ask if the man needed any help. He looked like many of the street people in Bristol, there are lots, he wasn't drunk and he had blood dripping out of his mouth. I called an ambulance and put a ten pound note in his pocket. I left shortly after when a police car pulled up.

Three types of feed offered again today. Dry chick crumb, fermented home mix at 40% spelt wheat and a dry mix at 40% spelt. The food I left in the coop overnight was growers pellets and spelt at 50%.
The food bowl in the coop was empty when I cleaned up. I hold around 200g of grain and pellets.
Carbon was the only one who ate a significant amount of the chick feed and between the two mixes I couldn't see a noticable preference. Everybody checked out all the bowls.

Everybody got out for some foraging. They were all obviously more comfortable at 7C than they have been at 0C. It's interesting to read what science says about humans and how they deal with hot and cold temperatures. Research says we are okay to about 10C. Below 10C we undergo physical and mental changes that measurably effect our performance.

On the droppings front...
There's some not shown in the near corners.

Generally good and about 30% more than yesterday.