Poultry Keeping General Discussion #2

[BellyBelly]

Thats impressive I am pretty sure the woman I was referring to said 7 lays.

We don't have a rooster - sounds like lots of you do though

[Dansta]

we have two roosters kelly. I am thinking of getting a big rooster for ny big chooks, we'll see as im waiting for them to start laying.
I also locked one.of my girls up in the cat cadge so if her eggs.hatch an im.in town no risk.of dead chicks.

Zf just let her go and keep collecting the eggs. Mine.peck at me when I collect their eggs. Its normal. And all part of the fun

[BellyBelly]

How do the two roosters get on? Do they fight?

[Dansta]

not really.
C()crell my older one is Dustys dad. they kinda just cruse around together; but dusty is also bigger then 'rell but 'rell has bigger due (???) claws but they're little bantoms. so its not so bad. my big red girls are more annoying - they steal food out of your hand.

..no cheeping eggs yet, LOL hopefully friday

[~me~]

We lost one of our girls yesterday. It's the one that I am pretty certain had been attacked by something a while back. DH found yesterday morning. The day before she seemed OK, still laying albeit a bit sluggish and sitting down alot.

One of my other hens has gone broody. Does anyone know how I can get to stop? We don't have a rooster and buying fertilised eggs is not an option as we don't want to breed. I want to do it as nice as possible.

We plan on buying two more hens from the guy we got these girls off, he is Cranbourne North. Hopefully we can get some breeds this time around as well like last time.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Not as pecky now and ok for me to pick them up and collect the eggs.
I have found that randomly the girls are EATING THE EGGS.
I am checking now in the morning when i let them out and then again when i put them away but every now and then i see them getting at one??

[~me~]

They need some shell grit ZF, that's usually why they eat their own eggs as it's the shell they want rather than what is in the egg itself.
We mix up their normal pelletts and chicken seed with shell grit as well.

[diva det]

must be the time of the year- one of mine has gone broody as well
they say the main thing to do is to try and discourage it
take the eggs away regularily, also make sure they are drinking and eating- as they tend to forget to when they are broody
also try and lift them out of the nesting box when you see them there

also one of my girls has worms- eeewww
i thought there was spaghetti on their perch but it wasnt
so i got some worming tablets and gave them to them
apparently you are suppose to worm them every season if they are free ranging at all
we just got some fresh mulch layed so dare say they would be gotten them from their or the wild bird in the area

it is since then that my chook has been broody- only one of the 3 is
also have to withdraw their eggs for 7 days so thank goodness i had 2 1/2 dozen eggs stashed to keep us going
some people feed their eggs back to their chooks during this time- but not looking like an egg if that makes sense
thinking of getting some astrolorps x rhode island hens- anyone else had this combo before??
love the chooks!
x

[~me~]

Thanks *det*, gave her a gentle push and she is off for a bit. Will just keep doing that.

We have australorps, not x though. I have had rhode island hens in the past, I would think that is a great x breed combination. They are both great layers.

[Doing my best]

Just subscribing and reading.. My brother called tonight to ask whether he can buy the kids a chicken house and chickens for Christmas.. We had talked a few times about it, but the money needed for the house always was needed elsewhere. So now it might finally become a reality.

[Dansta]

we ended up aith 7 chicks between 3 chooks. (took one of the 4th as she was hell bent on hatching a dudd -.-
but she now has one BIG egg under here (she plonked on it and by the looks dusty might be able to *ahem* mount my red girls and get it right LOL) plus a gunie foul egg so we'll see how she goes with them. the guinie fowl is for a neighbour who has them but none have gone broody - so we'll see.

the chicks are doing well... all locked up in the "nursery" side of the chook shed. and there they'll stay until they no longer fit though chicken wire then i'm going to devise a way of locking them in the run untill they're *almost* full grown. and i may look at selling some at that pont or tradeing with a neighbour who also has chooks.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Sad news here, had started trusting our dog again. She's been out while the chickens have been out a couple if times over the last few weeks.
Mowed yesterday & left the gate open, went down to feed the girls, called them then saw our girl Cassie run out of the shed and up the hill raced down. 5 chooks in the shed 3 missing.
White feathers near a fence (DD2's silkie) then down in the bush off the side if the hill more feathers, had to go the long way round but feathers & no bodies
1 girl Hird the Bird was Injured AGAIN so she's in my 'shower clinic' again and our dog is tied up.

Going to the market today, might have to convince DP to get the girls a few more chooks DD2's 2 chooks are both gone now

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Oooooookkkkkkk SOOOO we managed to get Dp to buy some more chooks... BUT.
We came home with 2 POL Isa Browns - named Tic Toc & Rockstar BUT we also came home with a gorgeous Mummy and her 12 babies
At the moment we have setup the old bathtub on DP's shed bench, he has work lights above it we can setup that kick off a bit of heat (we have used these when the chooks nearly drowned), we have some starter crumble for the chicks, fresh water and mum will be getting some of our normal food.

What else do i need to do for these cheeky little ones, we really want to give them the best chance at growing big and healthy... also HOW do we sex them?
Will post a pic of the mum soon as the guy couldn't remember 100% what breed she was - he had 8 customers lined up and we bought them an horu before and came back to get them - she is a bantam but not 100% on what.... really hoping most of them aren't roosters

They are so damn cute though... yay we got CHICKS!

Is there anything i need to do for them from a medical point?

[Dansta]

chick crumbles are good...
got any old marge tubs? cut down the sides of them an put a little water in them - you'll need to re-fill often - they love pooing in the water (but it makes a fail safe water fertiliser, LOL. plus its shellow enough for them not to drown OR you can use frizbees they're shellow and hold a fair amount of water too. if you're worried about mum not getting enough turky starter crumbs have a higher level of protine/fat and the chicks can eat them with out a worry :-) aaaaaaaand i'd suggest at least two plasic bins (the kind you get at sams wherehouse) full of chick crumble to, my lot go though a bin a fort night so two bags goes into one and a half bins so i have a few days to get more for when im intown ect.

have you got sawdust? use that on the floor - it absortbs poo/wee stuffs - again can be used in the veggie patch to keep slugs away. dont put *any* grain what so ever in there, chicks cant eat it and it causes lumps on their chests (found that out from my suggent "mum" lol)
We also have put lawn clippings in with ours down at the shed/clover for them when they where in "play pen" *if* you let them roam have them under chook wire, crows/hawks looooove chicken nuggets. (lost a few to them out here) and table scraps too. mine loved cooked rice. when they get bigger you'll be able to see which are males and females.
(the females tend to be the dumber ones i've found LOL) and if possable - if they cant all hide under mum have a light on so they can huddle under that as well as mum. if you flick though the photos on my FB page of my fuzzbutts/mottly crew thats what i used. are they road islands or what?

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Got hay in the bathtub & shallow water dishes.
The guy said it was ok to put mums food in too???

Do they need any medicine?
They are only a couple of days old so we won't let them outside just yet.
Might see if I have the old porta cot and when we do let them on the grass i will turn that upside down over them?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1352513340.204866.jpg

Check out this little one HERE ( a few pics in that album too)

Not 100% sure Dansta, on the poultry forum someone has suggested Bella MAY be an Old English Game Hen but they aren't 100% that the chicks look to be the same breed, i would hope they are similar to her but i don't know much about the breed so hoping to get more of an idea once they get their feathers in and see how we go?

[Dansta]

well hes wrong, going off what i;ve been soak bread in water/milk or chick crumbles. my "mum" told me that the grains get caught in their chest and cause like a crunchy lump (a few of mine have it) which can, if left long enough kill them. I'll ask the local chicken/duck guru next week about it - he shows/breeds and is like a studerd for the pulary autions... for mum i wack extra chick crumbles in plus the grass cliping and if i dig up the veggie patch i try and dig up enough worms for all of them.

No medican other then dusting when they're older. i used an old play pen - and some shade cloth over them - but the pora cot should be ok for now until they get bigger, they'll need more room as such (thats why half my chook shed is the "nursary" )

Speaking of worms i need to dig some up for bandit, she needs some protine the poor thing has been sitting for 30days now.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

We are going to give them about a week up here then will put them down in the other room in the chicken shed.
We have 3 rooms in there but I think I will cut the front off a broken washing basket & they can use that as an in ground nesting box

Taking all my patience not to run out and check on them now

When did you start letting them outside?

Have pics on a poultry forum, looks like mum is an Old English Game Hen but all comments are that the chicks are too big to be 'hers' and some think they might be RIR's but its all a wait & see I guess.

[Dansta]

mine are still in the shed at almost 4 weeks old - and i have an old grain bag covering the chook wire to stop them escapeing and old fence plilings stopping anything sacraching out under the walls... I'll be lletting them out in the run in about...3weeks once they're big enough not to escape though the chook wire. mainly due to the hawks and crows Oh and the dog, lol.

Im fairly protective of mine though, lol.

And they may not be hers. - my silky is on one gunie fowl egg, one RIR at the moment...which the RIR seems to have a chick in it!! kinda exciteing, lol.