Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fuzzi]

Someone who wrote a book with just a very little research could be wrong in her conclusions. Maybe your suspicions is good and there might be more to it than written in the book.

Happy chickens free ranging, until ..
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This bastard came along.
Its the tomcat that chased my chickens in previous years but I hadn’t seen him for a very long time.

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The chickens sounded the cat alarm to each other, a little louder and a little more distressed as when they see a neighbour cat/female cat.

This very well might the beast that hunted my chickens a couple of times and injured Black 2 weeks ago.

Got a water hose? Cats hate water, so give him a dowsing!

 

[BDutch]

He is running around in the back yard.

I don't know what to do with him.

Can’t you could keep him for offspring in Spring when you have a broody. ?

Got a water hose? Cats hate water, so give him a dowsing!

Only works temporarily with the cats I know. And I didnt have one at hand.

I locked my chickens up in the run and told the cat to piss off. The cat listened (at least for 10 minutes).

The authors (2) are Swiss, both have PhDs on birds, both are older than me, one's the scientific director of the Swiss Ornithological Institute, and the other was the curator of the bird collection at the Natural History Museum Basel (now retired, volunteers there still). I think they know what they are talking about.

You convinced me. But there is no need to quote/reply me twice.

 

[fuzzi]

He is running around in the back yard.

I don't know what to do with him.

Can you keep him?

 

[notabitail]

This is why an electric bike is great. They advertise with ‘always wind in the back’ . It has eco-support , tour, sport , and turbo. Going up hill or with a strong wind in front I choose turbo. Having both could be problematic with an ordinary electric bike.

I have a not electric bike and the winds here, even on a relatively flat ground, always give me problems because they are quite strong in these neighborhoods.

 

[Perris]

there is no need to quote/reply me twice.

I didn't. The second one was Fuzzi.

 

[Shadrach]

Jenni and Winkler contd. Chapter 3 is the core of the book and is 90 pages long. It deals with the processes of feather growth, physiology, energetics, and control during the moult. The upshot of it all is that the main burden of the moult is decreased performance and increased vulnerability. Reduced activity, especially close to safe feeding ground, can compensate for the added costs of moult.

There are lots of incidentals. These from 3.1 to 3.3 (3.4 to 3.6 to follow separately). Feathers grow at a similar rate both day and night, and the growth rate is almost linear apart from at the very start and the very end. Feathers and associated material (such as the sheath on a pin feather) are 90-95% protein. Besides the protein synthesis for new feathers, whole body protein turnover is greatly accelerated - but little is known about the functional significance of these changes to whole body protein metabolism. A protein-poor diet depresses feather growth rate and quality, and the immune reaction; it seems that when resources are limited, moult and immunity are in competition for energy and/or protein. The relationships between moult and immunity are described as 'somewhat bewildering' (p. 107).

Feather quality is the first thing to suffer from adverse environmental conditions.

Moult is accompanied by a substantial expansion of the vascular system and blood volume, and an increased body water content and turnover. As an aside, independently I have noticed that I have to refill waterers more at this time of year, and that explains it.

I have observed similar; moulting hens drink more.

 

[Shadrach]

Because some birds convert body protein (and thereby reduce their whole body mass, which also lowers maintenance demands), to grow new feathers and fuel the other renewals going on, without having to expend energy on foraging or primary digestion. The extreme case is penguins, who moult while fasting.

that and fault bars are discussed in chapter 4; to follow.

But the ones that go off their feed forage more than those not in moult.
I'll read the book I guess.

 

[Shadrach]

But at your age I recommend to wear a good helmet too in case you get involved in an accident.

Nothing in my head worth worrying about.

 

[notabitail]

I have observed similar; moulting hens drink more.

Mine drink water and complain it's not infused with Batty Ol' Hens' Broodiness Enhancer for the Moulting.

 

[Shadrach]

the one I have been citing has 50 pages of densely printed references, all to academic papers. The authors (2) are Swiss, both have PhDs on birds, both are older than me, one's the scientific director of the Swiss Ornithological Institute, and the other was the curator of the bird collection at the Natural History Museum Basel (now retired, volunteers there still). I think they know what they are talking about.

The first edition can be read here.
https://issuu.com/angelc7/docs/moult_and_ageing_of_european_passer