Poultry Keeping General Discussion #2

[Mildez]

Are they all the same breed out?

[Bella29]

So far yes, 6 austrolorpes

[Dansta]

naww! 6 little chicks! they're so cute for about 2 weeks then they start getting more freathers and get kinda ugly (i reccon, LOL)

Its interesting about the icubators, i use my chooks for that LOL and they kinda just roll 'em around from what i've seen?

I may have a broody chook down the yard FX for my friends sake, LOL he really wants them (he's 16 and his sister is 14) part of me would laugh like an evil women if they ended up with 12+ chicks as in march mardi chook (who died) hatched 15 on her own - after theaveing some eggs from smokey.

Any one have any clue WHY my mottly crew (3 hand reared red chooks - dunno the breed) will NOT roost down n the shed? i locked them up (along with my others) for two weeks yet they wont frekking stay down the yard! and them pooing on the back veranda is annoying!

[Mildez]

Maybe they think they are of a different social class Dansta and don't want to socialise with the others lol. I know all my hand raised animals behave differently to the others. My Dad reckons my cows don't like to mix with the commoners as the hand raised ones have formed there own mob (there are aboutb 30 and then about 50 paddocked rared ones) thats what Id put it down to anyway.

Anyone know how to encourage a hen to go clucky? If I leave gingers eggs will she sit on them when she has built up a large enough supply? I collect the eggs every day but soon I'll stop incubating them and it would be nice if a hen brought out a batch instead.

Bella good news on the 6 chickens. Do the others look like they will hatch also?

[Bella29]

Yeah when I left home all but 2 had pipped. So fx

[Jennifer13]

Woohoo Bella! Now we need photos.

Fx you get lots of girls.

[Mildez]

Bella what did your grand total come to?
Bad news here. We have a black out. Ive been down the paddock so only noticed 20mins ago so Im not completely sure how long it has been out for maybe up to an hour. I hope it comes on soon. Not sure what to do. I could take the eggs to my parents and hope their power is on but I could also drive all the way there to find there power is out also. I cant even heat water for a water bottle whilst I wait.

[Bella29]

Oh no! Mildezhowwi

[Bella29]

Oh no mildez! That's a real worry.... No idea. You could put them on your skin and then put a blanket on the other side. That would be the right temp. Depends on how many u have...

Out of the 15 that went into lockdown, I have 14 live babies. One died last night when I tried to help it out..... It was the first to pip, but then just stopped an I shoul have just left it alone . Oh we'll, live and learn. Photos soon I promise!

[Mildez]

That is an awesome result Bella. The best Ive done is 8 from 9 then I lost one today so I'm down to 7 from the 9. I only got 10 from my first effort from 17. Thats what I get from using a $47 incubator from ebay. But with this R com Ive only read good things so I'm hoping next hatch will be better. I've got 12 eggs now I'll probably incubate when I reach 24. I'm really hanging out for these speckled sussex eggs and so far Ive only got 1. I think they have gone of laying since been moved.

[Bella29]

Its ways the way isn't it. When u r waiting for something, bloody Murphy's law.

[Dansta]

bother meldez! thats not good. hope the eggs are ok (chooks get off them to eat and stuff so they might be ok?)

LOL i have snooty chooks. joy, rapture little ingrates LOL. i'll try locking them up again and see...little blighers will learn...some one suggeted a rubber snake...i think they'd try and eat it. they eat everything else even lollie snakes!

[Mildez]

Dansta any luck getting the chooks to go in at night?

Bella how are your chickens going? Getting smelly yet?

Unfortunately I did loose alot of my developing chickens with the blackout. 13 I think all up and 4 made it and hatched yesterday. My exciting news is I am incubating some duck eggs for my sister and mother. I got 10 and 3 are fertile and developing now. I was so excited when I candled them to actually see the beating hearts in the 3 fertile ones. It was just like a human ultrasound almost. I hope all 3 of them hatch and that they are all ducks not drakes. There is 1 indian runner and 2 call ducks.

[BellyBelly]

Interesting reading about a few of you incubating. We've thought about it but we need to move first I think. Sad to hear of the lost babies with the blackout Do any of the machines have some sort of back-up system?

Had a big scare this morning, was in bed and heard lots of knocking on the door, the chickens had escaped (and had before but we thought we'd closed the holes up). Went around the back and the roof had been ripped of the laying area of the chook cage, a panel of the roof of the rabbit hutch was also ripped off and two big dogs (ridgeback looking things my partner thinks) were trying to dig into the guinea pig cage. The chickens had obviously fled through the gate that the dogs had somehow opened, and even after we shooed them away, they came back. We called the council and the dog catcher called us, wasnt keen on coming from another town 30 odd minutes away as he thinks they'll be gone. But i'm worried for our girls wandering around the garden If we see the dogs again we'll have to lock them up.

[Dansta]

kell - eeep :/ thats no good. chooks can fly fairly high when needed Ive seen one of mine fly and clear the car port and shed then land on the other side of the fence. (but i dont clip my chooks wings JIC my dog goes down there they can escape)

We currently have 16 eggs being sat on between 3 chooks. i moved two from under two roosting next to each other and popped them under another broody chook to sit on. so hopefully between thursday next week and sunday i should have some bubba chooks!

Then when a neighbour gets dome gunie fowl i'll get some of them too down the track - they bail up snakes and dogs. LOL wont say no to that haha

[BellyBelly]

Awwww @ bubba chickies Dansta.

How much would you all pay to save a chicken? My family are very pro-animal and my mum just paid for surgery for her bantam for a second time for a blocked crop - $350 a time! I dont know if I could justify that, sounds awful and I have paid a fortune for cat surgery time and time again... But yeah, a bantam?! Dunno. Could just happen again too!

[Jennifer13]

We paid $80 for our poor chicken's meds and vet visit after her dog attack. Not to mention all my nursing time. But it was worth it.

I've had one blocked croup and cured it at home with the warm olive oil and massage technique. But if that hadn't worked I'd have had her put to sleep. at that vet bill! I'd say the bantam is eating too much grass if it's recurring. Maybe free range her less?

[Astrid]

I won't let DH read those posts, he just "deals" with them. I think we would only pay if one of the rare breed roosters was in trouble and we still needed him for breeding. As we are breeding, we really only want to breed from the strongest and healthiest, the ones who need too much help, could just pass on some bad genetic traits. They live a good life with us, but they are farm animals not pets.