Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Sally PB]

What I'm begining to wonder given the direction the chickens face when roosting is East is if they face the rising sun for some reason.

Interesting!

In my coop, it's either north or south. Most face south.

 

[saysfaa]

Mine consistently face south. I though it was because it was the open side of the shed - so lighter, or air movement, or would feel less sheltered from predators.

It would be interesting to hear from many people.

Tax is the hens checking out the supply storage area.

Edit to correct east to south. Sigh, I do know basic directions; don't know what happened there.

 

[GregnLety]

Thanks Shad, he is usually side by side with his father who is king of the yard so he rarely if ever fights. If he starts getting skinny we can separate him and pour the feed to him but I prefer hands off. My wife handles him so we can try a filing session on the bottom beak. If he handles it well we can do it on a regular basis. Thank you, your advice is very much appreciated.

What I've found is how and if a beak grows back can depend on how the beak was injured.
With the Ex Battery hens their beaks grow but often it's at the sides rather than the front. Ella has exactly this problem and I'm sure there is a picture of her beak in this thread somewhere.
With non Ex Battery hens I've had damaged beaks repair but it takes a very long time and again on how they got the injury.

With Cholo Jr I would be tempted to let the top sort itself out and try to tidy up the bottom beak by filing it back a very little at a time, less than 1mm each time.

Having attempted a few beak reshapings I would say unless you have a lot of patience and a well behaved patient and the bird is managing to eat and drink and doesn't look to be at a major disadvantage fighting other roosters, then leave it and see what does grow.

 

[micstrachan]

Oh good. I hope you enjoy it. I will explore making pita. I believe it is steam heat that puffs them up and makes the pocket.

More cooking tax.

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Look at them being a little tribe!

 

[micstrachan]

Mine consistently face south. I though it was because it was the open side of the shed - so lighter, or air movement, or would feel less sheltered from predators.

It would be interesting to hear from many people.

Tax is the hens checking out the supply storage area.

Edit to correct east to south. Sigh, I do know basic directions; don't know what happened there.

Mine don’t have a favorite direction.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Had to ask for help in directions mine face east.

 

[ManueB]

Mine face south east, but given the setting they don't really have a choice unless they turn their head back to the wall.
It could explain why one of the roost that faces west is never used.

I was thinking of completely changing their roosts and having two roosts facing one another on opposite sides , which would make them face east and west. If directions matter that's maybe not a good idea then.

 

[Perris]

There are more further along.

concrete paving slabs - probably made sense before they got buried in spent litter and sh*t...

What I'm begining to wonder given the direction the chickens face when roosting is East is if they face the rising sun for some reason.

how a roost is fixed limits the options to two. In your case, with roosts lengthwise through the coop, they can either face the wall or the central opening. In mine the roosts run side to side, and then the choice is facing the door or having their back to it, or in the back row, facing the back wall or facing the heads or bums of the birds on the other roost. Some choose one, some another.

Then there is orientation of the coop. Mobile coops may get orientated differently each time. Currently mine have the door facing the east (so roosts run N-S and birds on face E-W), but next time I move them they may be south facing (so roosts run E-W and birds face N-S). I think what all this means is, roosting orientation is incidental, unless the coop builder/ mover plans otherwise, and the birds have only 2 choices.

 

[BDutch]

6C but stayed dry. 3 hours today. Old coop is out.Had a bit of a night rush so didn't get pictures but I'll sort that out tomorrow.
I've found out why the stretch in front of the old coop doesn't drain. There are more further along.
View attachment 3415633
View attachment 3415632View attachment 3415634


The compost heap is spreading. Still, I've never seen anyone turn a compost heap at the allotments.
View attachment 3415635

It's that face in one direction when roosting in the new coop.
Henry used to roost in the same direction when he roosted outside in the old coop and the other either did the same or those who didn't roost outside the old coop are copying the rest. Looking back over the roosting pictures 90%+ of the roosting positions are in this direction.

What I'm begining to wonder given the direction the chickens face when roosting is East is if they face the rising sun for some reason.
View attachment 3415628

Do you think it was a path and dirt accumulated on top?

My chickens always choose south in the extension coop. It’s the open side and they can not choose east because of the direction of the roost bar (N or S) . If a chicken roosts in the old small prefab coop, they choose east (E or W). Towards a small window.
If any naughty chicken roost in a tree or on top of the run door they generally choose south.

 

[Shadrach]

Do you think it was a path and dirt accumulated on top?

I've given up thinking on allotment matters. It's hard enough dealing with the fallout from others thinking without confusing the issue further with my thoughts.