Chookies are in the process

[NaeNae]

I am SO excited.

I have just ordered a coop and run and I have found a really lovely seller thanks to Heather72 in Emerald to go and see what he has available he has raised different breeds together so it means I can get a variety of pretty birds.

I am hoping for 4-6 birds, maybe 1 or 2 more price depending, standard size as I think the cat will be less likely to try to kill them.

SO I need to ask,

What kind of feed (aside from scraps) do you recommend and what is the price range for them.

What things CAN they eat, I have a few toxic plants (currently) in the garden - Angel trumpet, Olliander, Arnum Lillies to name a few will these endanger the birds?

The birds will be caged over night and I will need to organise different run times for the cat (in the beginning at least) and definately the dogs who are notorious bird killers) but the chookies will have from 3.30 til dusk out to roam the garden to coincide with MIL's chooks times

The garden is large, some of it is very well established so will offer some protection from Hawks/Eagles but the front and left side I have only just planted.

Are the chooks, prey bird savvy?

ALSO

Should I put some chicken wire or dog wire underneath the run and cage to prevent foxes digging under? I cannot imagine they'd come up to the house as there are carcasses added to the bone heap whenever SIL's cows calf.

Should I do this anyway to stop snakes (we have lots) from getting to the chooks? we're not at this stage having eggs for chicks though won't right that off further down the track.

Thanks so much for letting me pick your brains.

Nae x

[little_mrs]

Do you know how old and what breeds your getting? I'd keep them in a small mesh pen - we used shadecloth and treated pine to make one - to keep them out of snake and owl reach especially at night. Not sure about those plants you have but I know I have to be careful of my chooks not going near my avocado tree as it's poisonous to them. We feed ours scraps in the morning, they get let out around 4 most arvos to run around andpick from the lawn and then I lead them back to the pen with a bought mix of corn, seed, pellets and which we buy from the local stockfeed shed for $25 for a 20kg bag. We get an egg a day per chook (I have 6 highland browns left) when i weed the gardens I throw that in the pen for them to scratch at too, and I line the coop with hay. They were in the shadecloth pen at night until they were around 3mths old and have been laying since about 5mths. Clip their wings too... They like to roost at night and once they've been roosting in the same spot for a little while they will most likely head back to that same spot just before dark, so arvo/evening isthebest time to let them out for green pickings.

Hope all that helps it's great to see them running around hey, and it keeps bugs and ticks away!

[Kazbah]

Nae - are you by any chance going to Abundant Layers? That's where we get our chooks from, and they have lots of breeds. (and they're near Emerald too). Google "absolute poultry" for some good info.

Predators -
We didn't line the base of the run with mesh, but we did dig down about a foot and then dig the mesh into the earth (we have rocks though). We also angled mesh in the top of the run (like a prison) as foxes can climb. Foxes only really attack at night, they are sly creatures. It generally takes a week or two for foxes to come round and get that bold. If you have dogs and leave them out, that will deter foxes.

As for cats ... well, mine live in the coop with the chooks (it keeps rats down!) and the chooks are really a bit bigger than cats!!! (mine anyhows).

I have seen docos where chooks do get attacked by eagles, but they tended to go for the smaller chicks etc. We don't have snakes here, so no comment on that!

Just lock up the chooks each night - after a little while they'll get the routine

Breeds -
I can't go past Barnvelders. Pretty and tame too, with lovely large chocolate-speckled eggs. Apparently they are good eating too.
For kids and the "fun" yet still with usable eggs, I like Aracaunas. Lavender aracaunas give blue eggs and they look a little different with their head feathers, they are very tame. The eggs are a "small" egg from the supermarket size.
And for reliable egg production, Rhode Island Reds or Isa Browns - or a cross-breed of the two.
Australorps are apparently lovely, but they're a bit too big for us.

Pip (almost 4) has his daily job of feeding the chooks and getting the eggs.
Enjoy!!!

[Yeddi]

A stock feeders store would be the best place to get their food. You will also need to get some shell grit for them to chew on otherwise their shells can get soft. As for foxes, what Kazbah said. But if you are really worried you can make a make-shift electric fence to go around the cage with some wire and a car battery...

[Kazbah]

I don't do a lot of shell grit for them - I keep all egg shells, and then after I finish baking, I put the egg shells into the hot oven to dry out, then crush them with a masher into fine bits. These I add into the chook feed and also use as snail deterrents

[Astrid]

We really like Peter's RSPCA approved chook food. It is not at all pet/stock food suppliers unfortunately, so you may need to shop around for it. I have notice Coles does sell it in small boxes, but it is very expensive that way.

[Yeddi]

I don't do a lot of shell grit for them - I keep all egg shells, and then after I finish baking, I put the egg shells into the hot oven to dry out, then crush them with a masher into fine bits. These I add into the chook feed and also use as snail deterrents

Put them in the oven What a fabulous idea! And here I've been buy shell grit. Will be trying that.

[NaeNae]

Yeddi - Thanks again for a helpful post, had to spread the love before giving to you again We have several vipers available for use and I think I might actually post off a section behing where the chooks will go to start off and move my Alpacas there

Kazbah - YEP thats the place. He was SO lovely very helpful and he was keen to get me up there to have a look LOL I told him I'd be up there as soon as I have some $$ saved so I can get a few chookies

[Kazbah]

Nae - just something to be aware of, the "rare" breeds are older before they start laying - our aracaunas were almost 9 months old before they started laying

[NaeNae]

Thanks Kaz, I am not too fussed if they don't all lay when we first get them. I actually would like them to be on the younger side so they can get/be use to being handled. In my "perfect world" they'd follow us around and come and sit on our laps for a pat

Does he supply you with a box to take them home in? I have a cat cage that'll need to be cleaned out first so it doesn't smell so catty ... its not been used in YEARS. I might ring the vets int he morning and ask them if they sell those cardboard ones and get a couple of those.

I'd love some ducks as well but as our "water" is a bit far from the house I'd worry they'd get got by something through the day.

hmmmm maybe I can do a small water feature in my veggie patch or backyard LOL

[Yeddi]

Ducks don't need that much water, just enough to have a splash. We just use an old baby bath we put in the run.

[Livinthedream]

Table scraps should make up no more than 20% of a chooks daily intake.
A layer mash or pellet food is the way to go, this way they can less effectivly sort through the food. You can feed whole grains, but you will find that they will sort out the choicest morsels and leave things like sorghum. Ask they seller what they are feeding or recommend, this way there is less cahnge for them when you get them home.
Over about 12 weeks, a full sized (not bantam) chook will have little to fear from birds of prey or cats. A big eagle could in theory take one, but it would want to be pretty hungry and most chooks are pretty savvy to things overhead.
If you have foxes, do all you can to protect your birds, in the dead of winter, a sleeping chook is easy pickings for a mumma fox.
Younger chooks (teenagers) tend to be a bit flighty and twitty,the closer to laying they get, generally the more settled they get.
Backyard Poultry by Andy Vardy is a good place to find out heaps of info, go to the info centre top right of screen. (and you may just see the odd BBer there too!)

[Shanti]

Chooks rock! We have 7 running around our yard, free range 24/7.... eggs are delicious! ENJOY them sooo good for the kids to play with too!! DD LOVES them.

[NaeNae]

Yeddi ... do you have your ducks in with your chooks or do you have a separate enclosureand coop for them?

[Yeddi]

I have them in together but you have to get them as chicks and only females, if you want to breed them then no. Certain breeds/personalities get along better than others, mainly the easy going ones. I have found I've had to give 1 duck away as she was causing trouble. I'm pretty sure that in a fight between adult chickens/ducks the duck would win but its never come to that. That being said, you have to make sure the hens lay their eggs up in a nesting box, not on the ground, as ducks are ALL feet, and will step on them and break them.

[Kazbah]

Nae - I think he has boxes, but I've always taken my own. If you're getting chicks, then a small box is OK, otherwise any box with a lid will do - a dark box for the trip home will keep them a bit settled.

[NaeNae]

I have a problem ladies - a BIG PROBLEM.

I was looking at Abundant Layers and going between that and Google Images HOW ON EARTH do you decide on a breed of bird when there are SO MANY GORGEOUS CHOICES?

I think I am a bit more partial to the Sussex birds but OMG the Welsummers, Barnevelders, Plymouth Rocks, Salmon Faverolle, Campines ...... well all of them

I could take one of each

So when you're choosing a bird how do YOU do it?

[Yeddi]

We go through 18 eggs a week here, so for us it's all about yield, then temperament, then looks. It depends upon your individual needs really.