Chicken bald back

[Nicho]

Have to confess - I was surprised they recognised the shapes.

Aaaah but did they? Or could they just smell the worms? Or sense their movement?

 

I'm going to do my own test to find out.

 

I'll do the same test as they did on the telly and then when they have started going only for the stars, put meal worms in ALL the panels and see if they still only go for the ones with the stars.

 

I'm going to have a go as soon as I can sort a jig out and I'll let you know the results.

[staceychristie]

TUESDAY 20TH JULY At 00.20 (early hours) on BBC2, for all of you that haven't got iPlayer and Sky.

 

Our ExBatts were quite bad. Took 30mins to find out how to scratch the floor, and just 24hours to lay first eggs.

 

Don't think that they wanted to show the farm in too bad alight, as the cooperation between the BHWT and the farms is very good. It's us as consumers that drive the caged hen industry.

 

ExBatts are the most loving hens, and are really friendly.

 

We're getting 3 more Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Stacey

[patsylabrador]

I assumed the fox in the henhouse bit was trickery. It never occurred to me that it would be real. Surely the BBC would be in tons of trouble if they had set up some chickens to be killed by a fox, I thought they had all those 'no animals have been injured in the making of this programme' rules.

I really enjoyed it, I can feel some experiments coming on too. I hadn't thought about them using their sense of smell, even so that would be quite impressive to get round the shapes so quickly and correctly.

[joza2210]

I quite enjoyed the program ...

 

Hated - When the fox went into the hen house ...

 

Loved - The little white frizzle

[sjp]

I think the fox in the hen house is from a wildlife on one program from a few years back. the same one that they followed a stoat family

[lillybettybabs]

I enjoyed it, I have left it on Sky for the Other Half to watch as he thinks i'm nuts and to obsessed with chickens.

[staceychristie]

I enjoyed it, I have left it on Sky for the Other Half to watch as he thinks i'm nuts and to obsessed with chickens.

 

Aren't we all a bit nuts about hens here?

 

Hugs Stacey

[The Dogmother]

Did they mention about when Jimmy got some ex-batts from Jane, then didn't secure their area and they all got foxed I remember shouting 'ELECTRIC FENCING' at the TV when that was on.

[purplefowler]

Really enjoyed the program although there wasn't really anything behaviour wise that I haven't already seen in my own garden, but always love to see other chickens doing what chooks do! I was hoping there might be abit on feather eating although I guess they couldn't feature every behaviour. I am have nightmares with mine at the mo so was watching like a hawk (sorry ) to see if I could learn something new that might help. The only thing I did see was when it showed the chooks in the field, quite early on in the program, I noticed a couple had bald patches on their rears and were covered in something green. Does anyone have any idea what it was?

[brambles]

Does anyone know if that was Tarzan at the show? I was convinced it was!

 

I'm pretty sure that the fox was old footage with a bit of trickery thrown in too. They would not be allowed to do that for real nowadays and the grading of footage quality wasn't the same as the rest of the programme - they are extremely fussy about that sort of thing and it would not have got through quality control if it was recently filmed. (* knows stuff! *).

 

Looking forwards to watch it again with my children later.

[lillybettybabs]

I enjoyed it, I have left it on Sky for the Other Half to watch as he thinks i'm nuts and to obsessed with chickens.

 

Aren't we all a bit nuts about hens here?

 

Hugs Stacey

 

He thinks i'm the only one, He doesn't believe there are other chicken nutters out there.

[batcatz]

I enjoyed this programme too, but I always knew my hens were clever... most of the time. It made me wonder as my top hen does that clucking noise and picks up and drops things she finds for the bottom hen. (silkie) I know this is because they have shared the same coop since I got them so now the silkie clings to the top hen, and the top hen probably treats her like her little chick, so it's not strictly cockerel behaviour.

 

I was a bit worried by all the chicken wire at Jane's place especially after seeing the foxie, but I'm sure she keeps her chooks safe. I loved her house! I now want a couple of ex battery hens. So, I think this was great if it makes people want to adopt some battery hens.

 

I also thought I saw Tarzan... I recorded it in HD so I will watch again. haha

[meezers]

I though the state of the bum on the light Sussex broody shocking

 

Loved the stars and circle experiment, tempted to try it with my lot

 

 

I thought she was rather anaemic looking as well. Not a good advertisement for someone with animal welfare in their job title ( I'm sure the job title of the woman observing the broody had something to do with welfare )

[Blue-DiamondChick07]

I though the state of the bum on the light Sussex broody shocking

 

Loved the stars and circle experiment, tempted to try it with my lot

 

 

I thought she was rather anaemic looking as well. Not a good advertisement for someone with animal welfare in their job title ( I'm sure the job title of the woman observing the broody had something to do with welfare )

 

I thought that too. Didn't think she looked healthy at all!

[jellykelly]

I was disgusted by the broody. Dirty bum, rather pale and manky looking eggs.

I think it was shocking that an animal welfare specialist was 'in charge' of her. My three year old would know that that is not how a chicken should look - let alone one thats on eggs and mothering a chick.

[the bradley bunch]

i got my first 3 chickens from the bhwt about 5 weeks ago, so i really enjoyed watching the programme and learnt alot about my girls behaviour; for example the beak wiping thing (which mine all do and i'd always wondered why) and how they communicate with each other... i'd never noticed the 'stare' technique being done within my small flock, so in the feeding experiment when it kept zooming in on the top hen giving the others a good 'stare' i found it hilarious hens are so funny, everything about them is truly mesmerising. my brother looked after ours last week whilst we were on holiday and he said he was shocked at how much they interacted with him and how individual each of their personalities was. i hope the programme showed people how keeping hens in cages is like keeping humans in cages, and like jimmy said - how they really deserve to be a respected animal.

 

one thing that did confuse me - jimmy stated that no hen who has ever laid an egg will be eaten. i didn't think this to be true, as i'd always thought that ex-bats are used in processed foods and pies, etc. and not just pet food

i feel silly now someone please set the record straight for me!

 

ps. how cool was lloyd!? want him! and i loved the scene when the mommy hen wanted the chicks to eat out of the yellow bowl! hens are awesome! ...

[jellykelly]

Having spent time on a battery farm in the farm in the past, I was led to believe that the 'old' hens were used to make baby food, animal food, soups etc?

I'm hoping what they meant was that no chicken that has passed an egg in that enviroment will be sold as 'proper' chicken - eg. Whole chickens, legs, breast or thigh portions?

[The Dogmother]

Spent battery hens have traditionally been shipped off to slaughter for use in pet food and other cheap rubbish. Old birds can be used for meat, but it will be tough meat and generally not preferred by humans. Old farmyard hens were usually 'dual purpose' birds like a sussex or Marans, which will provide eggs, but will meat up well enough so that when their optimum laying time is over, they can be eaten. The toughness can be tempered by slow cooking in wine, hence the dish Coq au Vin.

 

Sooo, generally egg birds aren't considered worth eating, but they can be if culled young enough.

 

Modern meat birds (see below) are a whole different kettle of fish and are hybrids bred to put on masses of meat in a short space of time.

 

[jellykelly]

Cor - I don't rate my chances down a dark alley with that one

[the bradley bunch]

Having spent time on a battery farm in the farm in the past, I was led to believe that the 'old' hens were used to make baby food, animal food, soups etc?

I'm hoping what they meant was that no chicken that has passed an egg in that enviroment will be sold as 'proper' chicken - eg. Whole chickens, legs, breast or thigh portions?

 

thanks jellykelly ... well if that is the case then i think jimmy's wording was very misleading

[Bertrum]

Have to confess - I was surprised they recognised the shapes.

Aaaah but did they? Or could they just smell the worms? Or sense their movement?

 

I'm going to do my own test to find out.

 

I'll do the same test as they did on the telly and then when they have started going only for the stars, put meal worms in ALL the panels and see if they still only go for the ones with the stars.

 

I'm going to have a go as soon as I can sort a jig out and I'll let you know the results.

 

Excellent. I was just going to suggest that that is what they probably did. The 'control' bit of science experiments rarely gets included in programs like this. I believe they were Ph.D. students doing the tests? They would be in for a big fail if they had not controlled for other factors.

 

You also need to do a control with no meal worms at all. They should still look under the right symbol.

Also, replace the meal worms with corn or another treat once the training is done and see what difference that makes.

 

I noticed that that had to cut the paper, probably to make it easy to break through, but it also lets the smell out better...

[Bertrum]

well if that is the case then i think jimmy's wording was very misleading

 

I think that at least once in almost every factual program I watch. "Well that isn't quite true".

My Wife suffers greatly when watching TV with me.

[Roobaloo]

I enjoyed it but was very disappointed how acceptable they made intensive farming seem. I appreciate it's the BBC and they love to sit on the fence but the fact that the lady (Jane?) merely made the comment that "yes, the adapt very well" was heartbreaking.

 

I found the fox sequence horrible but I would assume it was old wildlife footage (though again, that would still mean someone set it up to wait for it to happen...again, it seems a bit much for the BBC ) or it was some clever editing...

 

Fox goes into the coop while it's empty/baited...add previous footage of chickens having an argument...then show fox running off with a recently despatched hen.

 

I hope so.

 

I loved watching the Mother hen instructing her chicks as to which feeder they should use!! So cute!!!

[Eggasperated]

I'm pretty sure that the fox was old footage with a bit of trickery thrown in too. They would not be allowed to do that for real nowadays

.

 

My OH was quite shocked at how determined the fox was to push under the wire and now realises why I'm so paranoid about foxes

[The Dogmother]

I watched a bit of it on my lunchbreak; the poultry show mentioned earlier looks very much like The National at Stoneleigh Park; great show if you want to see loads of different breeds and don't mind being deafened

 

Tasha came back from the last one with a boot full of chickens!

 

I also liked the certainty with which Jimmy said that 'none of the eggs we eat have been fertilised'. While it is not unknown to find the odd cockerel when doing a battery rescue, most battery eggs are unfertilised, but free ranging flocks quite often have a cockerel or two in them; mainly because they just can't be bothered to catch him, but also because a flock with a male will be much more settled and there will be less bullying and pecking... happier hens will lay more eggs.

 

A friend of mine regularly incubates supermarket free range eggs and gets quite a good fertility rate, she has her own legbar flock hatched from supermarket eggs from that famous flock !