Poultry Keeping General Discussion #1

Anyone around to answer some questions about chook keeping? Friends of ours have 3 laying hens and the boys (esp Ds1) fell in love playing with them the other day so I thought it might be a good experience for them to have two of their own.

Well, we just our girls yesterday!! Two Australorps 18wks old and 1 Ancona 14wks old. They are so placid and docile.
The kids love them, DS1 got up and dressed and straight out to say Hi this morning.

Freya: We live in Melbourne, 20mins from the CBD. My DH built the coup. You would need to check with your council on regulations. We are allowed to keep up to 8 hens I think.
It's becoming very popular. The guy we got our hens from said he is having trouble keeping up with supply and demand here in Melbourne.

The kids go in the coup and DS1 has already had a hold, so we are making sure they are tame enough for the kids.

I can't wait for our eggs. My Mum gaves us her old water fountain for the hens and also a couple of 'fake' ceramic eggs to put in the nests to encourage laying.

I am here, what would you like to know Freya?

Tons of people here in Townsville have laying hens. I think your allowed up to 6, depending on yard size. We have a sizable yard so enough for a coop and them to have a run, we'd only want two maybe three at most. Our dog has been around our friends chickens and she said she did fine with them so she shouldnt be a problem.

We'd probably want a breed good with kids. I know the boys will want them as 'pets' and not just laying hens. Is it better to get them young for that purpose?
Where did you find your coop and how did you decide on size?
Is it high maintenence health wise?

Just seeing Ds1's eyes light up yesterday collecting eggs from the laying boxes and chasing the chickens around the yard, he even climbed in the coop haha, was the best afternoon. He really enjoyed catching them to put them back in the coop and feeding them. He's been asking ever since for chickens lol

You are best off getting point of lay pullets or a big younger - not tiny chicks, as they need to be under heat lights until they get feathered - you also can't tell if they are boys or girls till much older. So point of lay pullets can be guaranteed to be girls.
I built my coop from scratch - my dad helped and it's purpose built off the back of the garden shed with a cement floor and a small tank for drinking water but that's not necessary for a small set up.
Google chicken tractors - they are ideal for only a couple of hens and you can move them around the yard as you like.
For pets - bantams are great, you can get bantams in most breeds. Have a look at frizzles which are gorgeous curly chooks and make great pets. Not huge layers though.
I recommend avoiding your commercial layer type pullets (ISA browns, etc) as they are bred to lay, lay, lay and then basically they die. I had a lot of these just get sick and die of various things. So then the next hens I got were crosses of pure breeds and they are much more hearty and healthy.

Health wise, basically they need good nutrition - so a good layer mash or mix or pellet is total nutrition (a 20kg bag lasts me around 4 weeks for 8 chooks around $15 for a bag). Allowing to free range in a section of the garden will give them lots of extras - worms, insects, lizards, etc. You also need to worm every 3 months which is a liquid you put in their water.
Being in Townsville yor main concern would be heat - so make sure you have a nice shady area for them in the summer months.
Chooks are great for kids - just make sure to teach from day one that you don't chase them (stresses them out alot) or catch them by the tail. If you start young with them (both kids and chook) they will be great pets.

Oh an a warning, don't leave the dog alone with the chooks - even the best behaved dog can be tempted!

I have 2 labradors that share the yard with our chooks and the only problem we have had is the dogs eating the eggs. They share the watering hole (shell pools filled with water) too!

Well our girls are doing well. I am just wondering, other than a good poultry mix, what scraps do you give your Chickens?
So far our girls like lettuces leaves and some meats.
I had leftover chocolate ripple cake, wasn't sure if you could chickens sweets??

I give my chooks anything... seriously!
Any scraps the kids don't eat after meals goes to the chooks, yes including cake :)

chooks LOVE cake!

For optimal laying and health, scraps should comprise of no more than 20% of your chooks daily intake.
An average chook eats 50-100 grams of food per day, so thats not alot of scraps.
I give mine leafy veges (cabbage,lettuce,bok choy etc) and a little raw mince or cat food a couple of times a week. This combined with a couple of hours per day free ranging seems to keep them happy and healthy.

ETA, they have acess to unliimited quality layer mash/pellets 24/7

Chocolate is a no-no for chooks (and most animals). Also avocado and rhubarb. Otherwise they are not fussy!

No onion or citrus either.
They can have dairy, so any left over yoghurt or milky wheatbix they get it.

Any ideas why one of my chooks would have shed a heck of a lot of feathers? I'm talking about a chook run (quite large) which is nearly carpeted in feathers.

Fighting? That's generally the only way mine have ever lost feathers, when there's some pecking order establishment going on. Although that shouldn't arise out of the blue.

Moutling? Can happen depending on age and also what food they have recently eaten. From memory a lot of oats can bring on a moult.

The other question is the chook still around? Normally a lot of feathers around here means one has been taken.

I am back after a break and I have some exciting news. My girls have started laying and one has been laying for close to a month. I had no idea she was laying because I hadn't been out to service their apartment due to the crappy wet weather and when it did clear up I discovered 9 eggs :rofl: A week or so ago my IsaX started laying as well so went from 1 egg daily to 2. Then THIS week my Welsummer started laying and I have had 3 eggs from her so far ... though nothing today ... which brings me to a question ....

If the girls go off the lay for a day is it anything to worry about? I noticed her bum was a little white mucky so I am hoping she will lay later today. She has been getting lots of rubs from me and I am wondering if the weather has put her off its really gusty.

They are now sitting/ dust bathing under the house so I hope she won't lay under there :rofl:

From intial tastes I couldn't tell much of a difference from fresh to supermarket eggs but I think that was mainly due to a cold. BUT I had bacon and fresh eggs for breaky yesterday and I could taste a subtle difference ... yummy!!

Freya - the others have given some great advice so I wanted to ask you what is your main idea for the chooks, do you want a high quantity of eggs AND a good natured bird? Are you not worries about the number of eggs but want a bird the kids can play with?

Some pure breeds to look into:

Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Arucanas, Sussex, Leghorns ... there is actually lots so maybe check out Backyard Poultry they also have a breeders directory or you could even go into a grain/farm supply store and ask about breeders in your area..

I have a couple of crosses, I have an IsaBrown X and a Commercial BlackX these two are great layers but are not pure breds, the reason is some breeds (like the Isa Browns) are such heavy layers that it can cause the bird more harm than good long term. Heavy laying breeds tend to be more prone to cancers etc and I believe have a shorter life span.

You may want to consider the size of your birds, Bantams are small and come in a variety of breeds, Standards are just that and you have some larger breeds as well.

Of my flock my tamest is my Light Sussex, my most scattiest (is that a word?) is my Silver Campine, my bossiest is my Welsummer, my silliest is my IsaX and well that just leaves my commercial black and she won't let me touch her but is more or less my shadow when I am outside LOL.

yes, Bolly (bollinger, she's a champagne colour) is still with us ... gotta bring her in tonight to a dog crate out of the wind.

Hi everyone =)

we have adopted a chicken. DH came home from work one day to find her in our yard, and she seems to have made it her home. and hes started growing a soft spot for her and was feeding her his cornflakes. today he actually went and bought real food for her. and today i met her for the first time and have named her Balina.
None of our neighbours around the place have chickens either...so we dont know where she came from.
Neither of us have had a chicken before... and obviously want to make sure she is ok. it looks like she is roosting(is that the word) in one of our trees, because he havent a coop or anything.
What do we need for her? she she ok to just run free in our yard? The other thing is we are getting a puppy in the next few weeks and obviously puppy and freerange chicken dont mix.

what can we do to make sure she is happy and safe??

TIA!!