Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fuzzi]

Lovely update. Pleasant weather changes everything. Good to see Mow's leg up close. It looks much improved.

Andre and Merle, our feather-legged Marans brothers, both have funky leg issues, from wacky scales to curled-up outer toenails. I may post photos at some point for advice on whether to intervene.

Merle does the leg-kick thing while walking. A feather growing on the bottom of his foot may be to blame. Meanwhile, it's hard to tell if Andre is troubled by thick leg scales or if his bumbling gait is fully the fault of orthopedic issues.

He'd have trouble with under-foot feathers as well if he didn't live with Peck, who came by her name honestly and is happy to help out by wrenching feather from foot at the merest hint of irritation.

"Shall I peck this for you?"
View attachment 4303817

Recently, Peck has also been great at "treating" Andre for mites by removing select feathers around his comb and tail, 2 of his mite hotspots. Andre has so many nooks & crannies that it's hard to effectively treat for mites, but Peck's method works exceptionally well.

Here's 3 minutes of Peck grooming Andre. I had just noticed mites on his neck and had mite treatment in hand when Peck beat me to it. I obviously held off on dusting him and let Peck work. There were no mites to be found on Andre for weeks afterward.

Love the video!

Is Peck a Speckled Sussex? The feather patterns are gorgeous.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Love the video!

Is Peck a Speckled Sussex? The feather patterns are gorgeous.

Yes, she and Lil Nugs are 3-year-old Speckled Sussex. They're large fowl but on the petite side, probably because they're hatchery. Peck in particular has become prettier with each molt.

 

[Shadrach]

Lovely update. Pleasant weather changes everything. Good to see Mow's leg up close. It looks much improved.

Andre and Merle, our feather-legged Marans brothers, both have funky leg issues, from wacky scales to curled-up outer toenails. I may post photos at some point for advice on whether to intervene.

Merle does the leg-kick thing while walking. A feather growing on the bottom of his foot may be to blame. Meanwhile, it's hard to tell if Andre is troubled by thick leg scales or if his bumbling gait is fully the fault of orthopedic issues.

He'd have trouble with under-foot feathers as well if he didn't live with Peck, who came by her name honestly and is happy to help out by wrenching feather from foot at the merest hint of irritation.

"Shall I peck this for you?"
View attachment 4303817

Recently, Peck has also been great at "treating" Andre for mites by removing select feathers around his comb and tail, 2 of his mite hotspots. Andre has so many nooks & crannies that it's hard to effectively treat for mites, but Peck's method works exceptionally well.

Here's 3 minutes of Peck grooming Andre. I had just noticed mites on his neck and had mite treatment in hand when Peck beat me to it. I obviously held off on dusting him and let Peck work. There were no mites to be found on Andre for weeks afterward.

What a great video and didn't Peck get rightfully named. She's good at it, if a bit rough. Love the half hearted you're my girl shuffle about halfway through.

 

[Shadrach]

25/02.
Cloudy but remained dry. They were wanting out on my arrival.

We had a couple of hours on the field.
Got more crud off Mow's right foot and gave it a coating of iodine and Vaseline.

Still going to roost earlier than I would expect in fine weather.

 

[Shadrach]

You have to worry about your sanity when you hear yourself asking a person who has just told you they found a large rat lying dead on the path which they threw in the hedgerow, "which rat was it? What did it look like?" I did have a brief look in the hedgerow but it was immediately obvious I would be wasting my time and get ripped to shreds in the brambles.

The thing is, Mrs Psycho Chew A Coop hasn't been chewing recently. I mistakenly thought rats lived to around five years old but apparently two years old is more representative.
I think the egg closest to the camera is Mow's. Mow lays rounder eggs than Sylph. Not much to choose between colour although Mow's are a touch greener when she gets going.

A rainy afternoon was forcast so I didn't spend more than an hour and a half at the field. Despite the light rain they all went onto the field for about half an hour. The rain set in with a bit more enthusiasm so we retired to the coop extension for supper and treats.

A fraction of a second too late, Mow's head was fully visible. It would have been a decent picture.

 

[fuzzi]

@Shadrach what's that yellow line/cord?

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach what's that yellow line/cord?

It's a hosepipe.

 

[fuzzi]

It's a hosepipe.

Wow. I don't recall seeing yellow before, just green or black.

 

[kattabelly]

You have to worry about your sanity when you hear yourself asking a person who has just told you they found a large rat lying dead on the path which they threw in the hedgerow, "which rat was it? What did it look like?" I did have a brief look in the hedgerow but it was immediately obvious I would be wasting my time and get ripped to shreds in the brambles.

Not sure what it says about my sanity that I read this and thought "I wish I had a small enough rat population that I could recognise individuals!"

Rat tax: both Bertha Baby cockerels grooming their adopted dad

I'll be interested to see how he reacts when they start showing interest in the girls. Rognvald was already about this age when they met for the first time, whereas these two were only two or three weeks old.

He met the latest chicks as soon as they were out from under mum - this is from this morning. He seems to be sticking a lot closer to the plot while there are babies around, even though the weather's been good the last couple of days. Clearly if I want to keep them out of other people's veg plots I just need to continuously hatch chicks

 

[Molpet]

Wow. I don't recall seeing yellow before, just green or black.

They come in all kinds of colors nowadays