Poultry Keeping General Discussion #2

OMG went down to my chook shed the other day to see a very big tiger snake slither between the chook wire/reo and the corregated iron we have.
It was very un-nerving to say the least. My poor girls couldnt get out of their coop quick enough

So i did what everyone should do and got out of there real quick.
Went back hours later after we got home and no sign of it, so i got the jet hose on and tried to fill up the dirt hole i saw it curl up in, to try and get the hole to collapse!

Rang the snake catcher and he said to lay some bird netting to catch it and then call him if it gets trapped.
also chook coops are like 5 star hotels for snakes- so please be careful everyone!!!!!!
apparently he said its not usual to go out and find a snake curled up under a chook for warmth!!!! OMG
chooks and snakes can live together, but if the snake get picked on and angered by the chooks, it will bite and will kill them!!!!

So now i call out before i get to my girls to make sure they are OK and carry a shovel with me at all times when i am in the coop!
dont know if I would be quick enough with a shovel to protect myself, but hey the theory is there!!

so please be careful in your chook houses in this weather- have an exrta look before you stick your hand in to get eggs too!!!

No more egg collecting for my kids for a while!!!!! Look like its back to just me doing it

Wow diva det...scary stuff!

Need some advice..

I introduced 3 new chickens a while back. The younger ones have settled in fine with my existing girls. The problem is one of the new ones, my gorgeous Isa is being absolutely bullied by the original ladies.
Today she was being attacked, I heard it, by the time I got there she was on top of the coop and jumped into our back yard.
I have left her out as the older two seem to really have a nasty thing for her.

What is the best plan? Do I put her back and let them sort it out? Do I keep her separate?

It has gotten worse over the last week or so, it was OK before.

I dont usually post in here BUT my sister had a chicken have a fit and die on her tonight while I was on the phone with her! She doesnt have net access till tomorrow and is a little worried it might be contagious. She has fresh hatched chicks to take care of! She txtd me the following description about what happened:

Pasty yellow poo, general lethargy for a day or 2, picking at feet yest. No sign of egg bound, but acting same way as egg bound chicken that died. No obvious signs of injury.appeared 2b drinking. Chicken is old as anything. The boys said she was dying, and had a cut on her leg just before she fitted and died. She curled her neck in and fitted for a few seconds before dying. I suspect old age or egg bound, maybe both. Or infection somewhere i didn't see.

She also mentioned this:
I found maggots in their nesting box this week too.. When i cleaned It. Under all the hay. My bad for being neglecting, been so busy i missed my usual clean out

Any ideas what it could be or if it is dangerous for her chicks??

She just sent me this too:
Also we had been getting weird eggs, egg pimples, big, cone shaped. Could be from her, showing her reproduction was going haywire

We got our two ladies - Lolly (DD4yr named her) and Princess Leia (DH named her, who is a fan of a pun and star wars haha). Princess has started laying eggs which is awesome! But we are having a huge issue with their plastic feeders (they hand from the roof) as they keep falling down/being knocked over as I see them jumping over them all the time and I am losing so much feed!

Has anyone installed a feed silo like the ones on chooknet. There is make it yourself one.

well we now have two ducks - Scarlowie and Splash.
I have to build a duck-hut for them this weekend. they're so cute. boy and girl. heh.

Chooks are going well, another two roosters will be off towards the pot soon (neighbours friend takes them)

Hows every one elses feathered babies going?

well we now have two ducks - Scarlowie and Splash.
I have to build a duck-hut for them this weekend. they're so cute. boy and girl. heh.

Chooks are going well, another two roosters will be off towards the pot soon (neighbours friend takes them)

Hows every one elses feathered babies going?

Feathered babies going well. Three on the lay and two just thinking about it. One of my hens started with a bantam sized egg and then stopped. So I am waiting for her to come back to lay.

No Mel...we looked at the chooknet style feeders and waters. As we only have 5 hens they were not worth our while and suit our current housing and feeding system.

Our Leghorn is so frosty and flighty, does not mingle well at all with the rest. She is a loner and very smart, I have to heard her in at night as the other night, I locked the chooks up after dark and assumed they were all in asleep only to find her up and about in the morning. My DH thought I hadn't locked them up properly, then I set him straight explaining she must have been asleep elsewhere.

Chook update:
Isa's / Hylines:
Penelope - our only original girl
Charcoal
Rockstar

Elina the silkie
Bella the OEG

Patch the rooster

5 new babies (silkies or silkie cross) - 2 black, 2 partridge & 1 silver / grey.

Bernard & tiny went walk abouts.

Will upload pics to an album soon... Chicks are soooo cute, DP's uncles mate gave them to the girls.

Well it has been ages since I posted in here wanting to get chooks. Since then I have gotten heaps of trios. I have anconas, Australorps, buff and light Sussex. I have partridge brahmas and three pekins plus a little partridge silkie. I also got some silver appleyards ducks. Full sized, and last week I got four little call ducks. A drake and three little girls Most of the ducks have names, but most of the chooks don't yet.

Because most of them I have hatched myself, they are at oldest 6 months old. I have also bought pol chooks, but still waiting for my first eggs. I have been told my Australorps, are likely to start 28-32 weeks. So anyway now. But man the waiting is hard!!!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1365328796.303505.jpg. Here are my calls

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1365328856.385705.jpg

And a group shot of the menagerie. . It isn't all of them. But I now have 20 chooks and 11 ducks . It is seriously addictive!

set up the duck run... blardy boofhead got splash. a mad FB BSS call out and i got another - older male on monday called Dash (as he is Dashingly handsom) he's a brown mac-someting duck and scarlowie will be white.

Took a day for them to be "paired up" but now are both snuggled in their duck hut!

chooks are going well... culled out a few more roosters over the weekend - soon i'll be putting one in the pot for myself i think. i need to start eating what i grow from the chooks - a step closer to self relisance. (i will not be eating baby ducks though lol)

Oh no Dansta but yay for finding a friend.

Girls are living the chicks!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/12/a5abujeg.jpg
Spot resting on my arm.

Oh that little chicken is super cute Zara!

Will update pics of the chicks & patch the rooster soon.

Looking at getting 5 ex battery hens from Edgar's mission on Sunday, they are trying to adopt out 800 hens... How sad!

Will quarantine them in a desperate room in the shed for a few weeks before putting them with the girls.

Can't wait to see them fatten up & enjoy some sun, grass & fresh air.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21369486554.000376.jpg some of my little pekins.

AImageUploadedByTapatalk 21369486749.600649.jpg and a few from my flock.

I got 6 eggs today! Pretty stoaked! Looking forward to putting some in the incubator. I have 23 chooks (6 roosters). And I have 11 ducks of those 2 are drakes . Gone crazy I know!