Martin B Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 This weekend has been a rescue simply like no other because everybody had been and collected hens by 1:50pm on saturday and everybody was on time today! AMAZING! Normally there are a few let downs or people stuck in traffic etc. this weekend was tip top. I think we raised around £1000 which is great. 225 hens came out saturday and 228 today. It's not every day you pull out one of these either... I've never heard of The Battery Cockerel Welfare Trust. We actually rescued 2 cockerels today, the 1st and 2nd ever, but the Lincolnshire co-ordinator had the other one. His comb is astoundingly big, that in fact it weight so much that when it flops to one side it closes his eye lid. Here is the standard photo. 225 happy girlies on saturday. I can not believe I have to go back to school tomorrow! The weekend always seems to pass away without me noticing. The positive thing is that we only have 15 days of school left, so that makes it 75 more lesson hours to go until half term. Well today was quite pleasant. It was good to see another 228 hens come out of the farm today. They are currently 12 hours into their life of freedom. Yet again the birds were in quite good condition considering what they had been through. Today I also took some photos of J&M's own hens, they are all ex-battery girls who wern't in good health on rescue days, but they have all lived on to provide J&M with a happy flock of egg layers. Just to say thankyou, the new girls alone laid these and another box of 30 today. (Sunday) They were destined to be Tesco's cheapest and finest yet they are now just simply 'The Finest'. A little closer to home, infact, just outside the back door. Lesley, Carly, Alice, Geraldine, Cleopatra and Roman have now fully integrated, yet the Roman and his girlfriend do still seem to keep a slight distance away. Who are Roman and Cleopatra? Well, 16 weeks ago yesterday I hatched 8 chicks from some eggs Lesley and Carl gave me. 6 of them went to a Lincolnshire small holding in midweek but I was reluctant to sell the 2 barnevelder bantams as I am certain I can get a bit more money for them than the other place offered. Here they are. Cleopatra was the top photo and Roman is directly above this text. I think I've fell in love with Roman. He is such a character, and his morning crow is just amazing. It makes me feel like a 'real' chicken keeper. I wouldn't be surprised if Cleopatra starts laying before she moves on, I've already seen Roman 'jump' her, so it would be quite amazing to have 'home-made' babies aswell. Despite having full roam of the garden, the chooks never seem to stray too far away from the flowerbeds, and they just love to dig up all the fresh home-made compost, which is nice for them but not for me. My ex-batts have done exceeding well since they arrive and there are signs of new feather growth. I am planning to do a BHWT garden party/fete next year and I'll hopefully get some more ex-batts for then. Since I got back from the rescue I've made some damson jam and pickled onions. Poor John is rescuing a further 100 tomorrow. Anyway I am off now, Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 WOW!!! Martin another fantastic rescue day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rona Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Yes WOW ! Well done Martin. All that rescuing and jam and pickles too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Lovely photos Martin But.......... please don't hatch any eggs from Cleopatra, they'll be too inbred!! You could end up with problems if you tried to sell any on. As I said earlier, we don't know ourselves just how inbred our Barnevelder Cockerel and hen are - you could be storing up problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted September 30, 2007 Author Share Posted September 30, 2007 I was told that it doesn't matter about the inbreeding as that then becomes a strain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Fantastic Martin . Thanks for posting the photos. It gives a real feel for the day, doesn't it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Great martin and lovely pics, I'll be speaking to Jane about it all later today. Thanks for your hard work BBx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Well done Martin...but heed Lesley's advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen&Lee Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Lovely post Martin Helen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisa33 Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Well Done Martin. Great photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 The Barnevelders are pretty. I hope your neighbours don't mind the morning crowing though If I have more room one day, I'd like to rescue some chickens. I like the way the cockeral has a huge area, and the hens are all on the other side. I didn't know you could battery farm cockerals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovemychooks Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Yay, well done Martin. Love the bantams too One question though, why would there be a cockerel in with them...actually it probably just slipped through the net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted October 1, 2007 Author Share Posted October 1, 2007 We pulled out 2 cockerels this weekend, it would have just been human error during the auto sexing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner.girl Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Gosh! You have been a busy little bee Martin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 I was told that it doesn't matter about the inbreeding as that then becomes a strain. There is a bit more to it than that Martin. Just constantly breeding from related animals will not necessarily bring desirable traits to the fore. On the contrary I would say. To be able to breed animals to create a new strain takes an understanding of genetics, and years of careful pairing to bring out a specific trait such as a particular colour. You would also have to submit your new "strain" to the rigours of careful assessment by the poultry authorities before you could announce to the world that you have created a new breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Well done on your rescue help Martin, Barnevelders are very pretty, (I've done a bit of a post about Spice! See the chickens forum and hee, hee, hee). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Martin you really shouldn't keep inbreeding birds as you will start to have welfare problems with them trust me I do know Genetics The sorts of problems you will start to see are crooked toes and feet that just won't work What happens is you will get genes that shouldn't normally meet in nature they are called deleterious genes they are present in all creatures in what is called a recessive form and will only be seen in the deleterious way when two recessive genes are present in the one bird something that is rare in nature due to natural selection and outbreeding Inbred strains can be produce by 20 generations of brother sister pairings but if you started off 20 'lines' you would be lucky to get one survive the in breeding process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 wow, great pics. Well done you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I was told that it doesn't matter about the inbreeding as that then becomes a strain. Martin I think Lesley and Louise are giving you good advice, some times we just have to take a step back and do what's best. I want more hens but know we now have enough in our garden so the next ones will be after we move BBx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 (edited) Well done on your hard work martin, some very happy chooks there!! I see in your pic you have lots of quail too, do they have a run? I guess they don't mix well with the 'big girls' (after seeing my Laverne attack a baby pheasant i guess not) Fab pics of the rescue! Edited October 3, 2007 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 Hi Christian, yes we do have a lot of quail! They are up for sale elsewhere, but I have them for now. I'm having one of them for tea! I did the deed and all that stuff for the first time on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Errr.......nice. Thanks for that Martin Do they trash the garden like the chickens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 You can't let quail out to freerange - you'd never see them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Think i'll stick to chickens and sandwiches Clare!!! Coffee? Tea?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 they're expert escapologists Christian, try saying that after a few cheeky vimtos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
