Some of my Rescue Hens

About a month ago I rescued 17 Hens from a farm that had over 180 chickens in a enclosed barn with no exposure to sun or the outside.  They were in pretty bad shape with mites and 12 have bad cases of Bumble Foot. 
Since they were also very over crowded, they picked on each other and picked each other bald. All the sores and Bumble Foot have healed up nicely, but several are still working on growing new feathers.
Here's one of them that was totally bald on the head, neck and back.  She is a real trooper and has started to get new feathers on her.  She had a really bad sore on her back that has healed up quickly with some daily care.

Here's some more of my new girls

This one only had two tail feathers left and a bald head and neck.  Now she has some new feathers growing in and her neck isn't bald anymore, but she sure does need some more feathers on her head.  Don't tell her, but I think right now she looks like a Turkey Vulture .

Look at this beautiful face.

I don't know if this one had it's beak clipped or it got broken.  She has been able to grow her feathers back really fast and she is such a sweetie.  She comes right up to me for treats.

The first day I got them, 8 laid an egg!  In the condition that they were in I wasn't even sure they would survive and now these gals are doing so great and are laying about 14 eggs a day, not bad out of 17 !  You can see a couple with Purple feathers,  lol,  they are still being treated for the open wounds they had.

Bunny's

The babies are just over two weeks old

Nicolette and Lily, this is Speedy, hasn't she grown?

And here is three of the guinea Hens on top of the bunny hutches.  See the ducks swimming pool in the background? They love it! Not a very good photo, my battery ran out.

Look how big Turkey Lurkey is, this one we know is a male.

Oyster Shell Dispenser for your Hens

 Etched Glass Wine Bottle Oyster Shell Dispenser

With 

Copper Wire

I have tried several types of bowls and feeders to give my hens free access to oyster shells and also grit for the young birds that don't get to free range all day, but every one had it's faults.  Most were just too easy for the girls to dump out and waste  so I was forever buying more oyster shell and grit.

Then I thought of this

I used some recycled wine bottles, wire and cans to make one of the best dispensers for oyster shell and grit.

I have made several now with different colored wine bottles and wire and they are each very different, no two are ever alike.  Some of my designs are done free hand and others I have traced out designs on the bottles with a permanent marker before I start etching with the Dremel.  

These are really etched, it is not a chemical application or a painted etching process.  Using a Dremel and a diamond tip bit I spend several hours carving out the designs.

 The one pictured here is made from a clear bottle and different copper wires. The copper has begun to age and is just getting some nice patina on it.  They work on gravity, as the access bowl is consumed, more comes out of the bottle and they are easy to refill by just swinging the can over to the side to get access to the bottle opening.

Best of all, the girls haven't wasted any !  I hung this one about chest high to the girls and not one has tried to jump on it or dump it all out.