Poultry Keeping General Discussion #1

[HotI]

I have a few Q's.

Also - a few of the birds seem to do a little bit of a cough, thinking they might have a cold. Are there vitamins that can be added to their water to help them recover or is their something I can "whip up"

Yep, i can't find the name of it now (we have it around here somewhere though), i think it was a powder that you add to their water. we have used it when chooks look abit off.

Also - Scraps, the girls don't seem interested yet in scraps but are there things they SHOULD NOT be fed?
and - I have been covering one section of their run where I keep their feed because its been raining and I don't want their food getting soggy. Do chooks care about soggy food?

Chooks don't like similar foods that shouldn't be given to dogs or put in the compost- onion skins etc

You don't want their food to get wet cos it can get mouldy or start to grow (especially if it a seed mix).

[NaeNae]

OK I have been spending a fair bit of time on 2 different poultry forums lately but wanted to share that I have started working on the reconstruction of part of the original run. Granted I am working faster than I have materials or money but it feels good to have something else to keep my focus on rather than really noticing the "so we are not pregnant this month" thing.

I enjoy a good hard days work being out in the fresh air and seeing the changes I make thats the thing ... I hate doing stuff that is sublte, that you cannot tell stuff is happening.

Anyways My girls faces are starting to redden as is their little sticky uppy things and they certainly are becoming more friendly and trusting though I do resist the urge to catch and cuddle them LOL

Nae x

[Floweryfields]

The redding of their faces and sticky uppy things (combs) means they are very close to laying!! Do you have a nesting box for them?

[NaeNae]

Yeah my coup has 4 nesting boxes though they all seem to want to sleep in two of them. They girls are still on the pullet mix and their faces and combs are not quite red but they are redder than when I got them. i winder who will be the first to go??
They are sweeties, today I had to chase them onto the other side of the fence as I was rehoming some jasmine that I had planted to cover up the old wires and I have decided that I will build the trench and attach the wires on the out side of the new run so my plants would be in the way. The girls took it upon them selves to investigate the area where the new run and coop will be cheeky little chickens!!

I am heading out tomorrow to price and maybe order some ACQ treated pine 2x4's will be interesting to see how much that will cost LOL Am also going to buy a professional stapler too.

Nae x

[~me~]

Well DH has been madly digging holes for the foundations He is so particular and thorough I expect it will take a few weeks to build.
I have checked out a few places to get the chicks from and are now hoping to get AustralorpXLeghorn. Think it's the same place you got your hens from Nae? How did you go transporting them in the car?
We are soo excited, I have been saving my egg cartons already in anticipation I also have a few 'orders' already for eggs!
My book arrived today, it's as good as I remembered.

[Floweryfields]

Yeah my coup has 4 nesting boxes though they all seem to want to sleep in two of them. They girls are still on the pullet mix and their faces and combs are not quite red but they are redder than when I got them. i winder who will be the first to go??
They are sweeties, today I had to chase them onto the other side of the fence as I was rehoming some jasmine that I had planted to cover up the old wires and I have decided that I will build the trench and attach the wires on the out side of the new run so my plants would be in the way. The girls took it upon them selves to investigate the area where the new run and coop will be cheeky little chickens!!

I am heading out tomorrow to price and maybe order some ACQ treated pine 2x4's will be interesting to see how much that will cost LOL Am also going to buy a professional stapler too.

Nae x

I had one of my babies lay for the first time and it was the cutest widdle egg I've ever seen - about the size of a quail egg and when i cracked it, the yolk wasabout the size of the tip of your pinky!

[tellytubby]

Ooo I just realised this thread existed! Yey!

We have two chooks. Used to have 5, but I found them a bit too much. And considering we very, very rarely eat eggs I didn't really need that many. hehe! Henny Penny and Chicken Lickin' (original names eh? )

Will pop in later tonight and have a read of what everyone is saying

[HotI]

We are restocking our chook house later this week. Yay! In the next couple of days, we will clean it all out, wash it down and then put more shavings down.