Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I still get asked if I miss Catalonia. I miss the tribes but the thing external to the smallholding i miss most is the other chicken keepers I was slowly getting to know. I got told all sorts of stuff which even then after over a decade of chicken minding just didn't make a lot of sense to me.
Don't feed the birds wheat was one very strongly made point by the game fowl keepers.
Pick a call, mine is close to buk buk. Make the call every time you get within a couple of metres of the birds. The chickens do this. The game fowl keepers said it wasn't about letting them know you were there, they often know long before you can see them that it's you. It's to let them know you know who you are and your position in the tribe.
One I tried a few times with some success I might add is if you've got chicks gone to cover at roost time; sometimes the going to roost for chicks is like running the gaunlet of beaks, wait until the adults have settled and then take the senior rooster off his perch and place him on the ground between the chicks and the coop. The chicks will run to the rooster and hide under him much as they would their mother. At a certain stage the mothers don't want the chicks under her and she'll peck at them along with the others. The tribe senior rooster doesn't peck the chicks and he won't peck you while you remove the chicks from under him and put them in the coop.
Lots and lots of information about what and when to feed but even after all my asking I didn't manage to get the keepers to part with an exact recipe of what they fed. Family secret apparently.

 

[notabitail]

This reminds me of one of the game fowl keepers I knew in Catalonia. His top rooster used to sit on his shoulderif the man was eating food.Every time the man lifted the food to his mouth the rooster took a bite along with the man. It didn't matter which way the man turned his head to take a bite, the rooster would just change shoulders. I asked the man why he didn't just put some on the ground for the rooster. Apparently the rooster wouldn't eat it.

My hens do not jump on my shoulders. They use psychological warfare. They stand on the ground, one on each side, making pitiful long drawn out bawking noises. I shoo them out. They always come back in. Agathae is very cute and she will turn her head in such a way so that you cannot resist and you will give her food. Usually I end up having to pay my chooks in feed. It is very annoying, trying to get them to leave you alone.

All of them seem to believe I am a rooster due to fake crowing at them. It does have unfortunate side effects like being harassed by two chickens at lunch every day.

They know that when I sit down at the computer at around 2PM that I am probably eating something.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Not that I've noticed. Many good quality feeds years ago were based around a fishmeal protein.

Same here. Haven't noticed any fishy taste. Of course, only Lil Nugs is laying. She's the last to molt.

Ours always do long, slow molts. We'll go a quarter with 1-2 eggs/week. They often start laying again on December solstice.

Overdue tax:

Stilton and Eula growing new feathers fast. Stilton's tail is particularly impressive already.

Peck in the hardest molt we've seen here. Her molt was ordinary last year, so I feel this may be related to losing her best friend, Starla, a month ago. She's good friends with Lil Nugs, but Starla was her rock.

Lastly, Lil Nugs looking a little smug about not molting yet.

 

[BDutch]

What are mops dogs?

Pug dogs

you say you fed certain herbs to repel mites? I can't remember if you expanded on that but would be interested in knowing more.

Its a herbal powder and a liquid they sell in the animal shop here. I found info in English from this brand.
https://finecto.com/en/finecto-method-chicken

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Since I seem to have the staying power to sit and write today, I will add one more post, about Starla, our first predator loss

She flew out of the electric perimeter (a habit Peck taught her) on a day I had a migraine and wasn't being as vigilant.

Based on the scene in the orchard, I think the bobcat finally got lucky, but will be unlucky if we catch it near the chickens again.

We only found Starla's tail and butt feathers. No blood. I called neighbors and searched the forest for hours over the next few days, even tracking her with the hound dog, but we found no trace.

We don't take this loss lightly. I moved items around in the orchard and added another camera and a motion-triggered siren to decrease predators' sense of familiarity and comfort. Ranging is currently fully supervised. Peck fortunately stopped flying out a few days after Starla was taken; I had been planning to clip her wings.

Starla is very missed. She was an intrepid adventurer and a delight. She was a natural head hen – a patient, confident, thinking bird who fell in love with rooster Andre the moment she saw him. She stood up to the scary older birds who picked on her friends Peck and Nugs, and she let Peck and Nugs snuggle under her to roost at night. They are slightly lost without her.

Starla Long Toe:

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Pug dogs


Its a herbal powder and a liquid they sell in the animal shop here. I found info in English from this brand.
https://finecto.com/en/finecto-method-chicken

Thank you!

 

[fluffycrow]

Since I seem to have the staying power to sit and write today, I will add one more post, about Starla, our first predator loss

She flew out of the electric perimeter (a habit Peck taught her) on a day I had a migraine and wasn't being as vigilant.

Based on the scene in the orchard, I think the bobcat finally got lucky, but will be unlucky if we catch it near the chickens again.

We only found Starla's tail and butt feathers. No blood. I called neighbors and searched the forest for hours over the next few days, even tracking her with the hound dog, but we found no trace.

We don't take this loss lightly. I moved items around in the orchard and added another camera and a motion-triggered siren to decrease predators' sense of familiarity and comfort. Ranging is currently fully supervised. Peck fortunately stopped flying out a few days after Starla was taken; I had been planning to clip her wings.

Starla is very missed. She was an intrepid adventurer and a delight. She was a natural head hen – a patient, confident, thinking bird who fell in love with rooster Andre the moment she saw him. She stood up to the scary older birds who picked on her friends Peck and Nugs, and she let Peck and Nugs snuggle under her to roost at night. They are slightly lost without her.

Starla Long Toe:
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I'm so sorry for your loss . She was without a doubt a gorgeous and special bird. It is clear that you loved her very much. The birds are sure to miss her as well

 

[RoyalChick]

Since I seem to have the staying power to sit and write today, I will add one more post, about Starla, our first predator loss

She flew out of the electric perimeter (a habit Peck taught her) on a day I had a migraine and wasn't being as vigilant.

Based on the scene in the orchard, I think the bobcat finally got lucky, but will be unlucky if we catch it near the chickens again.

We only found Starla's tail and butt feathers. No blood. I called neighbors and searched the forest for hours over the next few days, even tracking her with the hound dog, but we found no trace.

We don't take this loss lightly. I moved items around in the orchard and added another camera and a motion-triggered siren to decrease predators' sense of familiarity and comfort. Ranging is currently fully supervised. Peck fortunately stopped flying out a few days after Starla was taken; I had been planning to clip her wings.

Starla is very missed. She was an intrepid adventurer and a delight. She was a natural head hen – a patient, confident, thinking bird who fell in love with rooster Andre the moment she saw him. She stood up to the scary older birds who picked on her friends Peck and Nugs, and she let Peck and Nugs snuggle under her to roost at night. They are slightly lost without her.

Starla Long Toe:
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Sorry you lost her. Lovely looking birds.

 

[Perris]

Do the eggs take on a fishy taste when the flock eats sardines?

No.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Since I seem to have the staying power to sit and write today, I will add one more post, about Starla, our first predator loss

She flew out of the electric perimeter (a habit Peck taught her) on a day I had a migraine and wasn't being as vigilant.

Based on the scene in the orchard, I think the bobcat finally got lucky, but will be unlucky if we catch it near the chickens again.

We only found Starla's tail and butt feathers. No blood. I called neighbors and searched the forest for hours over the next few days, even tracking her with the hound dog, but we found no trace.

We don't take this loss lightly. I moved items around in the orchard and added another camera and a motion-triggered siren to decrease predators' sense of familiarity and comfort. Ranging is currently fully supervised. Peck fortunately stopped flying out a few days after Starla was taken; I had been planning to clip her wings.

Starla is very missed. She was an intrepid adventurer and a delight. She was a natural head hen – a patient, confident, thinking bird who fell in love with rooster Andre the moment she saw him. She stood up to the scary older birds who picked on her friends Peck and Nugs, and she let Peck and Nugs snuggle under her to roost at night. They are slightly lost without her.

Starla Long Toe:
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So sorry to hear

It's bad enough to lose a beloved bird, but to a predator is even worse.