Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

My first experience with a fox, a year ago, was in the middle of the day. I heard a ruckus just outside my door and went to investigate. There was a fox right on top of one of my ducks! I chased it away and no one was hurt, not even the victim. Took me a while to gather them all back up as they were understandably frazzled. It must have been a very young fox.

Just a few days later, I was letting them out of their pen to forage in the morning, and I assume it was the same fox waited until they were all out then jumped out of the tall grass RIGHT NEXT TO ME and grabbed one of the juveniles! It ran back to the forest and I chased it (screaming obscenities) hoping it would drop the duck but no such luck.

I'm terrified of letting them out now.

tax: View attachment 3972450

Found the hidden broodie!

A quote from my uncle. "I don't mind the fox living here, it helps keep the rat population down. If it kills one of my chickens I'll kill it."

 

[Shadrach]

I got to experience the magical sound of a rooster having a good chuckle while dirtbathing. What a happy noise it is!

It's lovely isn't it. Henry is a major bath time chuckler.

 

[Shadrach]

Wouldn’t they stick up on cheese? Mine would definitely include that.

Tax: after 24 hours I think it is fair to say the chickens have defeated poor Mr Pumpkin-head.
View attachment 3972816

The field lot had a bit of mature cheddar with their walnuts and brazil nuts and blueberries this afternoon. Two blueberries each. I had to hand feed Mow the brazil nut before making the others aware I had food out.
Mow and the pullets have got much better at waitng their turn to be hand fed, almost orderly in fact.
If I can hand feed them then I can catch them.

 

[BDutch]

During my undergraduate degree, I studied colonial art in Oceania, which evolved into a focus on dogs in Gauguin's paintings.

His Tahitian dogs tended to be the same body style: mid-sized, slender, short-haired, with semi-erect ears and almond eyes, brown or black in color.

I remember unearthing several journal articles deep in the library regarding the natural progression of mixed-breed dogs to return to the body type painted by Gauguin. If you've gone to a shelter to adopt a dog, or been places with unchecked populations of stray dogs, you've seen plenty like it.

Arearea, 1892
View attachment 3971638

Given more time to shed traits provided by colonists' European breeds, there is a theory that dogs eventually shift towards prick ears, mid-length hair, a curlier tail set, like a coyote/Carolina dog/basenji/dingo/New Guinea singing dog/Telomian/Norwegian Lundehund...pick your continent. Besides physical traits, they bark less and only go into heat once a year.

This Wikipedia article on the Indian pariah dog covers some of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_pariah_dog

Anyway, not chickens but seemed relevant. I'll dig up some tax shortly.

Something completely different about dogs. In my country they are prohibiting having dogs and cats that have been bred with unhealthy features like mops dogs (headaches). And naked cats (skin problems).
Of course this is only for new ones. They are not going to kill the established pets. But within 10-15 they do get extinct in the Netherlands.

This is an easy one. After they pile the cart high with corn on the cob and cartons of blueberries...

• Gentle giant Andre would timidly toss in a packet of cucumbers for himself.
• Stilton would choose one of every variety of pear, then shuffle everybirdy along before the produce manager noticed beak marks in all the peaches.
• They'd make a brief stop at the meat aisle for a moment of silence for the fallen.
• Lil Nugs and Eula would agree to split the cost of a gallon of raw milk (they seldom have milk, but when they do, I have to watch that those 2 don't overdo it).
• Bebe and Merle would be delighted to find a 2-for-1 deal on bags of yellow locust leaves, only to be disappointed when they realized they were potato chips.
• Plumb would snack on a bag of flax seeds on the way to the register.

Unfortunately, they'd have to put everything back when the cashier wouldn't take a chick.

Har-dee har har.

Your chickens are far more poetic than mine.
Love your imagination and to read about the food preferences of your gang.

Mine all would definitely go for the grapes and blue berries. And cheese. They probably won’t stop at the meat counter just because they simply don’t know it.
Do you know the saying: “what the peasant doesn’t know, he doesn’t eat.”
+: The chickens wouldn’t bother to go to the counter, eat it all ‘sur place’.

 

[Shadrach]

"These birds also regularly bathe in dust to keep the right balance of oil in their plumage; the dust absorbs extra oil and then falls off. Red junglefowl"

The quote above comes from a site I found looking for jungle fowl hen pictures/landrace hens in various parts of the world. The site is okayish but even they get this right.

https://animalia.bio/red-junglefowl

Yet here most people believe the purpose of dust bathing is to remove predators.
It still doesn't answer the question why roosters prefer damp soil and hens prefer dry.

 

[Shadrach]

Children in general and everyone who has a good weight or has overweight. The no sugar and fat advice is not for people who are very thin.

Not so. While obesity is commonly associated with type 2 diabetes there are planty of slim people with it.

 

[BDutch]

Not so. While obesity is commonly associated with type 2 diabetes there are planty of slim people with it.

I didnt know you were referring to Diabetes. I know my mother in law got very skinny from heart disease (mourning) after her husband died. She got instructions to eat all kind of sweet and fatty food. And I know more skinny people who got advised similar.


Tax feed container - broody with 6 chicks

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today. 14C with sunny spells.
Returning to the who hunts when. The light was blinding,

The chickens on my plot now with both the sun and the fruit bushes behind them for cover.

Until then they spent most of there time under and around this bush on the other side of the field. Lots of cover between the herbs growing and the structures.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Wouldn’t they stick up on cheese? Mine would definitely include that.

Tax: after 24 hours I think it is fair to say the chickens have defeated poor Mr Pumpkin-head.
View attachment 3972816

With a few tweaks, they could have a bat symbol on that pumpkin.

I was today-years-old when I realized people are feeding chickens cheese. Ours have had cream cheese, but only because I had the romantic idea that one could eat breakfast while visiting with chickens. Nope.

 

[fuzzi]

With a few tweaks, they could have a bat symbol on that pumpkin.

I was today-years-old when I realized people are feeding chickens cheese. Ours have had cream cheese, but only because I had the romantic idea that one could eat breakfast while visiting with chickens. Nope.

Just occasionally.

Leftovers from work, tomatoes, lettuce, and shredded cheese from a fajita "bar".