Poultry Keeping General Discussion #1

[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.

[kimmi]

We live in suburbia, what's the deal with giving two or so chooks a good home.... How much square 'meterage' would you suggest for two or three chooks?

[NaeNae]

Heather - Thats great, I think a thorough job will serve you best and a loong time. Are you talking about Abundant layers? They can provide you with a box but if you have a cat cage or can borrow one I strongly recommend that. We nearly had bords loose inthe car because the bottom of the box they provided had fallen through.
See about getting them young too. My Pullets were about 8-10 weeks old when I got them and seriously its taken a fair bit of my hanging around to get them semi ok with me. I would check out Backyard Poultry and get into their forum (Info Centre) as there are quite a few breeders on there. I really liked Bianca and Brendan though I had hoped for birds that were handled quite alot. Never mind ... I may or may not buy from them again when "Cluckingham Palace" is built. I htink I will check out the local poulty club as they have auctions so might be able to get some of the rarer breeds cheaper or something. I have been given a name of a man to seek out at the Warragul one to ask him to show me "good" birds because I am inexperienced.

Kimmi - for their housing I believe the general rule of thumb is 4 square feet per standard bird (bantams are smaller so might be different) and approx 12inches of perch and allow a meter square per bird for a small enclosure. If the birds will get run of the garden through the day then size doesn't matter so much but if they are enclosed then the bigger the better really. If its too squishy the birds can resort to cannibalism which you don't want. This is just the info I am aware of, someone else who is a lot more experienced may be able to offer more

~*Mizqtie*~ might want to get either "Raising Chickens for Dummies" and/or "Build a Chicken coop for Dummies" ebay has a "Dummies" sale on at the moment as there are plenty of designs in there. Build it yourself, DO NOT BUY A PREMADE ONE you can do it MUCH cheaper making it yourself AND at least it will not be made with flimsy materials, I could have got ALL my run materials (it will be 42.1' x 18') for the cost of what I spent on that cheap, china made crappola!

Jennifer13 - thanks for that, I never give chocolate away so no issues there

Well today I went and got a few prices for some materials for one side of the run. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but still its going to take me ages to build due to finances. I have found two good local recycled places and I am just waiting on my open air book to come so I can finally decide on a design once and for all.

I am still barking like a dog thanks to this rotten cold thing, so may skip playgroup tomorrow (again) so I am not coughing over other peoples kids. IF I do this I should be able to dig my trench along the post line so I can bury the wire.

I plan on attaching the wire to the outside of the run rather than run it on the inside like Granny did.

I also plan on attaching a gate/door thing to the run on the garden side so that we can let the girls out. I have found a cute arch shaped one for $55 its wide enough for a wheelbarrow too

Anyways,

I should hit the sack I have a big day tomorrow. Being sick and still working on things takes so much energy but every time I look into their clucky faces I just can't help myself LOL

Nae x

[~me~]

Thanks Nae, it was abundant layers I was talking about. I like the Bakcyard Poultry site, will have a good look around the site later.
Mirboo North had fair not long ago, they had quite a few breeders with their poultry on show. I wish I had got a few names!
The last Mirboo North market I went to, a man was there sellling chicken coups he made himself. They looked very sturdy.

[HotI]

I got 7 new chooks today! Just been down to put them on the perch. Have to go in to training mode again.

We only have one old chook left, so hoping she copes well with the new additions. She will also have to be locked up with the newbys for a couple of weeks so they get to learn where home is. I don't think she will be too happy about that.

We cleaned out the chook house completely yesterday and washed it out with the hot wash pressure washer. It looks brilliant. All fresh wood shavings and sugar cane hay stuff in the nesting boxes. looks very comfy!

[NaeNae]

Thanks Nae, it was abundant layers I was talking about. I like the Bakcyard Poultry site, will have a good look around the site later.
Mirboo North had fair not long ago, they had quite a few breeders with their poultry on show. I wish I had got a few names!
The last Mirboo North market I went to, a man was there sellling chicken coups he made himself. They looked very sturdy.

Heather why don't you get in contact with the Warragul Poultry CLub or similar in MIrboo North I have been told most places are quite friendly and happy to help out.
I think I know the coops your talking about, I am SURE I have seen one parked in Leongatha on the Mirboo Road with a for sale sign on it. I am not sure if you know the price he sells them for but I am sure its between $650 and $800. You could build your own for the same price if not less than ....

[Maruschke]

Wow I had no idea this thread existed! We are building our coop tomorrow! Woot! Getting 2 chickens for the moment, but we will get them young so DD1 can watch them grow. We want laying hens. Any suggestions? We are just building a moveable A frame.

[Floweryfields]

Wow I had no idea this thread existed! We are building our coop tomorrow! Woot! Getting 2 chickens for the moment, but we will get them young so DD1 can watch them grow. We want laying hens. Any suggestions? We are just building a moveable A frame.

Unless you want to deal with keeping them under lamps, and risk ending up with roosters, I'd avoid chicks. Point of lay pullets are still pretty small and your dd will get to see them grow.
I'd go for bantams in an Aframe as that way you could get a couple more later on and still fit them in okay.

[Maruschke]

Oooh we got lucky and a wonderful woman from Freecycle has given us a 2m x 3m coop! Woweeee! Maybe now we can get 3 point of lay...