Oh No HotI thats terrible :(
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Oh No HotI thats terrible :(
:( Hot1, foxes are such a pest. Where I used to live as a kid, there used to be a local guy who people and us hired to shoot foxes, he was a fox hunter.
We have a chook yard around our chook house as well, just to try and deter the local cats and I have seen the odd fox around here, I would hope they wouldn't be able to dig under our fence, as we have vacant block behind us.
Oh no Hot1! I hope you can get the yard done.
I've seen our chooks chase the only local cat brave enough to venture into the yard. It ran away and never returned! No foxes here, although down the road five mins I know there are regular chook losses to them. Hope they don't come around. I'm thinking our terrier might be a deterrent too.
I heard my labrador run down the yard and bark at around 4am but i think fox must have already done his damage by the time our dog realised. The chooks were pretty tough, but at night they are just easy targets cos they just don't react quick enough to anything.
That sucks HotI damn foxes!!
now we have eggs do you just give them a wash and enjoy?? how long is too long to leave them outthere? and if i take them all from her nest will she go at me? and still lay in the same spot?
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Unless they are clucky, they will leave the nest after laying and won't be possessive of the eggs. Just give them a wipe with a damp cloth - they have a natural protective layer on the outside that keeps the germs out so try not to wash too much.
Oh no HotI, sorry you lost your chooks.
We've been outside all day trying to get this coop together... it is getting there but we ran out of time and will finish it next Saturday. So excited!
hi!
sorry all i seem to do is come in here and ask questions =P
next one... we put stuff down for the chook to eat, but little sparrows always get in and eat it, they can fit through the holes in the wire. any way to stop this? or is putting an extra layer of wire around the only way?
It's a bit of a free-for-all with our chooks and the local wildlife as well. But if the chooks really want it, they chase away any competition. If she's leaving it be, I'd assume she's had enough. Are you leaving the food out, or do you just feed her once or twice a day? There's no need to leave the seed/mix out permanently, that should help keep the sparrows down.
=*(
I came home today to find my beautiful Balina dead by the gate. Either she or the puppy worked out how to open the gate to the coop...cause it was open, and she had lost the game =(
not sure if i will get anymore, i did like having a chicken, but cant seem me rushing into buying more.
she did though leave us a total of 7 beautiful looking eggs.
Teirae oh no! Rip little chicken!
Oh no, T, sorry to hear. :(
T :hug:
Anyone know what the best egg layer is?
Generally one of the commercial hybrids, such as a ISA Brown, are the best layers. They do tend to have a shorter life span as a result. Depending on where you are, they are about $16+ for a point of lay, or you maybe able to get ex battery chooks for a couple of dollars. It is one of those ethical dilemmas of whether you are supporting the breeders that support the cage egg industry by buying off them. They are no good for breeding, as you can't get the roosters, plus they don't breed to type. You can cross them with another breed, but we have never had a girl from any of those matings.
:hug: Teirae - sucks to lose a chook.
We got our ISAs from a free range farm and (the only) seller (in Sydney, I might add, to give you an idea of how few there are they considered responsible) they recommended. Sometimes the RSPCA has hens that need homes too.
Isa Browns as they are bred for battery hen farms mostly I believe and also now for pets. In the pure bred range, Australorps. We purchased our girls for $30 each.
The guy we got our Australorps from didn't breed Isa Browns due to the battery hen industry.
Oh T, that is terrible :( :hug:
ETA: According to my Backyard Poultry book a backyard breeder can expect 250 eggs per year from a well cared for Australorp.
We have some Australorps as well, been trying to breed them, but have not had the best luck. Magnificent bird.
Thanks for the advice ladies :)
We are planning to get some chickens soon. DH has built a house for them. I am hoping to get some Silkie's and some Araucana's. The Araucana's lay blue eggs and the Silkies are a friendly bird. We aren't huge egg eaters so I am mostly going for novelty.
We don't live near anyone that breeds them, but I can get some fertile eggs sent by courier to hatch myself. I know a couple of people that have some clucky hens so I may be able to borrow one. Does anyone know if the hen would stay clucky if we moved her? Or would it be better to put the eggs under her where she is and move her after they have hatched? I would like her to sit on them here, so the kids can be there when the eggs cheep and hatch.
Artechim, the only issue I can see is if you remove the hen from her 'flock' she won't cope very well. And you can't really introduce one hen to yours (if you have any) without issues. So I'd think if you can 'borrow' a couple of their hens, including the broody one, until they hatch, you might be okay. But I have no experience! What about an incubator? They only need it for a relatively short time (although you'll need a heat lamp for the chicks). We inherited our first chicks from the preschool egg hatching program and kept them like this until they were big enough to run around (and the weather was warmer, we had them over winter).
The hens I am thinking of are free rangers so they find a hole in a hedge or something when they go clucky so they are away from the rest of the flock anyway. I just wouldn't want to go to all the trouble of moving her and ordering the eggs to find she was unclucky once we got her here iykwim.
I could borrow an incubator...actually, the kindy idea is good! Maybe I could borrow the incubator and set it up at DS's kindy! That would be fun for everyone :) I think I will look into that!
Broody hens are so temperamental. The ones we have tried to move end up abandoning those eggs, only to go broody again the next day in their old spot. We have so many troubles with where they go broody, as other chooks lay around them, the move nests by accident etc. Go an incubator if you are specifically bringing in eggs. We only trust our broodies with the eggs that have been laid on site.
We finished our chicken coop today :dance:. It's sooo cool! Going to the markets in the morning to get the hens.
What do we need, other than a laying box, straw, cocidiosis and worm meds, and grain feed?
Marushke..A water and feed dispenser. A scarp bucket for your scraps :)
Righteo... off to buy some choccie icecream tomorrow then ;)
Ice cream tubs are perfect, we also use Yoghurt tubs as well.
Yay we have three chickens and I forgot what species they are, doh!
One is Rhode Island Red, another is blue with furry feet, another is a normal brown. They aren't point of lay because we want DD1 to watch them grow up. They are very happy for her to pat them gently etc. We will need to eventually clip their wings so that we can let them roam free in the backyard (more space, more food).
Off to get them some laying food soon, but I have bird seed, can I feed them bird seed? Anything I should NOT feed them?
Chocolate, onions and citrus..NOT to feed.
We bought a book called Backyard Poultry Naturally byf Alanna Moore, it's a great book.
Enjoy..the normal brown is probably and Isa Brown.
Your blue one could be a Pekin..this one does not need wing clipping.
A tip in my book says routine garlic in the birds drinking water is a good preventative for diarrhoea.
garlic in the water is also good for worms.
Living at my sis's place.... she has about 6 chooks and over a dozen Indian Runner ducks which she breeds.
Our new pets :)
and their new home (in progress, still building a run)
Dh went out and got me 2 new chickens (a peace offering seen as we had a fight last night =P) anyway..
They are dark brown with a hint of red, he thought they might be Rhonde Is Reds, but not sure, I'll take a photo next time I'm out there with them. They are in the same cage that Balina was, but he has gone around and reinforced the wire in weak spots. I'm really hoping Shelby doesn't get them..
so, my new girls. not as friendly as Balina, but they will be if i have alot of contact with them right?
We bought 5 today @ the market, I have no idea what they are, just wanted something to start with to make sure no foxes get in, will post some pics tomorrow.
They are named Penelope (mine), Dora (DD1's), Barbie (DD2), Betsy (MIL named it) & Roast (DP) :rofl: but they all look VERY similar, mine and DD1's looked lighter in color. How do you tell your chickens apart?
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Also ladies now we have our chickens what are things i need to do for them or check them for?
I just read about galic in the water ?????
HotI will hopefully come check them out when she's not so PG and TB has arrived and let me know some more Do's & Don'ts but until then i need a quick run down.
Regarding feed we bought a mix from the guy at the market (will get the type & name) and we will be giving them scraps, they loved the lettuce & chicken we gave them yesterday and i will sneak them a few wormks every now and then from DP's worm farm :shhh:
I am making a list though to go on the fridge for DP and to show the girls of things chickens LIKE and things NOT TO FEED, i know there are random suggestions throughout the thread but maybe if we can get a list together and make 1 big post to add to the front page or something?
DO NOT FEED - Avocado, Onions, Green Potato Skins, Rhubarb, Chocolate, Citrus Fruits
Pictures HERE of 1 Chicken with Miss A then a pic of a few random shots.... can someone tell me the breed? i can take a better pic today with the proper coloring etc.
They look like Isa Browns ZF.
I love our chickens or chook chooks as DD calls them :)
My boys can tell the difference between our two Australorps as one has an up tail and the other has down tail..it's a bit like twins in real life, the more you hang around them the less the differences become :lol:
We buy the poultry mix and also some shell grit and mix it up. We have discovered the birds eat more than the chooks out of the feeder we have, so now we just put enough seed on the ground for the chooks to eat.
Thanks Heather, i thought they might have been.
My next Question is about clipping their wings, when/how do you do it?
We would love to free range them a bit during the day (once we introduce the dogs to them) and then lock them up later in the day or when we go out but i don't want them flying off down the paddock etc?
Ohhhhh HOTI where are you, i need you to write me up a chicken fact sheet :)
I'm joining the chicken parade!!!
We have 2 chicks one is red (yellow at the moment) and one is black, we are also getting 2 polish ones they have the coolest afro's!!!!
Is it weird all I want to do is go down, let them out and watch them run around the paddock?
Don't trust our dogs though, or the cat. Hmmm have to figure out how to 'introduce' them. Thinking lock 4 chicks away in the back room then let the dogs suss out 1 or just all in a room and 1 dog at a time????
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Probably no need to cut their wings. We have only done it when they start flying over fences. Not all chooks do it, and yours have probably got heaps of space that they will be content in.
The dogs?? That will be trickier. As you know, my dogs never bothered the chooks. Our older dog moved here with us, and we inherited one chook from the previous owners. The dog had one sniff, and we said strongly "no", and she knew they were off limits. The other dog came as a pup after the chooks. She would round them up sometimes, but being quite strict with her as a pup, she knew they were off limits. The dog will chase birds and ducks and whatever else comes in the yard but leaves the chooks alone.
The neighbours had no success with combining chooks and dogs, and have to keep fences between them.
It is best to keep chooks locked up for a couple of weeks so they get to know where home is. At night, go in and put them on the perch so they know where to sleep. If they sleep in the nesting boxes, they will poo in there and then you get poo on your eggs. After a few days, they should go on the perch automatically.
When you start to let them out, do it for just an hour or two before sunset. They should go for a run and then head back to their house when it starts to get dark without you having to move them. If they don't, then keep them locked up for another few days.
It is not always so easy to move chooks back into their house during the day, so easier to let them out at a time when you can let them make their own way back and then just lock them in.
i wouldn't let dogs in the chook house at all. that should be their space- plus you don't want the dogs eating their food or your eggs.
Thanks HotI, I put them all on the perches tonight when we took them some scraps & fresh water.
We will be checking them twice a day but the girls want to spend all arvo in there ;)
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