Ex-battery rescue

[Flummery]

At least they are cared for and I feel sure they know it. You are doing your best for them. No one could do more. Hope they both come through.

[Suechooks]

At least they are cared for and I feel sure they know it. You are doing your best for them. No one could do more. Hope they both come through.

Yes I'm sure they know - Pip "talks" to me when I arrive at the lottie and follows me around if the others are giving her a hard time!

[HayleyB]

Aww, I hope she pulls through..

[Suechooks]

Aww, I hope she pulls through..

Some of the others were giving her a hard time and she had a little cut on her comb, so I brought her home last night. She's still with us and eating but not really doing much. She'll stay here now but I feel it won't be long. At least she's not being picked on and we give her lots of treats.

[HayleyB]

At least she's happy Sue and getting spoilt to boot.

Aunty Mo, how's your laydee getting on?

[MaureenHall]

My "laydee" is hanging in there, still ever so wheezy though. It can't be the bedding that's causing the wheeziness, I'm using dust-extracted Hemcore only in the coop and in the nest boxes. I think it's possibly a chicken "cold" type thing, similar to what humans get when they start a new job, start a new school etc, they're exposed to a different set of bugs that they haven't experienced before, plus the stress of moving out of the battery farm to the co-ordination centre, then a car journey, then a new home plus (in my case) new bed-fellows! anyway, they're just having their afternoon mash treat with extra poultry spice and cod liver oil

[BilboWaggins]

However, this chap's chickens are in a draughty old barn and I plucked up courage to go into his yard today and say hello' to the girls. What a pathetic bunch of shabby, semi-featherless chickens they were.

Hi Flummery, grrrrrrrrrr, you KNOW how angry this makes me. Would a phone call to the RSPCA have any effect or do they not care?

[MaureenHall]

Bilbo, I think that as long as the hens have the minimum amount of "recommended" space each, and are fed and watered then there's little or nothing the RSPCA can do. Maybe Trades Description might be questioned if the eggs are being sold as "Free Range"

[RichmondHens]

Hmmm - There are quite a few people who advertise their eggs as "free range" but the hens are kept in relatively small pens - not my idea of free range!

[MaureenHall]

Hmmm - There are quite a few people who advertise their eggs as "free range" but the hens are kept in relatively small pens - not my idea of free range!

Not my idea of free range either! I've got a notice by my front gate that says "Fresh eggs from Happy Hens". People know they're in my back garden and if they ask, I tell them that as far as I'm concerned, no they're not free range but they've got the maximum amount of space I can give them and they're welcome to come and see them if they wish (they often do just so they can chat to them )

[julesapple]

Any News?

Any news on the poorly chook?

Jules

[MaureenHall]

Any news on the poorly chook?

Jules

Well she's still wheezing a bit, but trotting around seemingly quite happy and content (as are all the others ) I think she'll be called Fennel. It's fantastic watching them all change from the pale sad girls I got last Sunday to the cheeky little things they're becoming. One particularly flirty one stands gazing adoringly at Basil through the fence - I've called her Belladonna because once she's got all her feathers back, she really will be a beautiful lady Perhaps in a few months, when she's fully feathered and strong again I might let them spend a night or two together and see what happens

[julesapple]

Maybe Fennel is wheezy in the same way that my Dad was just after he gave up smoking - only in her case it's giving up bad battery living and just getting used to fresh, sweet air. She just needs to clear the crud from her lungs. Glad she's perked up a bit.

Fab names, Fennel & Belladonna. I guess Belladonna is just discovering gentlemen, a bit like an ageing spinster on a Club 18-30's holiday!

Jules

[HayleyB]

Garlic is good for clearing the tubes. I can imagine Belladonna all dewy eyed at Basil bit like a grandma fluttering eyelids at Will Smith

[MaureenHall]

I'll have to see if I can get a photo of it, it's so funny she's so scraggy and scrawny and he's all butch and beautiful, and doesn't even give her a passing glance