Poultry Keeping General Discussion #2

yay Kelly for chooks!
we have the 5 8(ish) week olds in the kitchen still. roosting on a shoe rack they're figureing out how to fly so we now have an old sleeping bag over the top (also keeps boofhead out)

But it looks like one of the chooks in the chook shed is going to kark it soon - she's lethargic and not really moving much. but she was given to us by a neighbour who has no idea how old she was when she got him. hopefullly she passes in her sleep as i'm not really looking forward to chopping heads off.

Another chook is sitting on eggs (around 6) so we might have more babys with her next month (and i am dusting her with flea poweder once a week just to be sure!!!)

Hi all, just looking for some advice. I have previously had chickens but am chook free at the moment.
My dad has five isa browns and due to health reasons, can't look after them anymore. I told dad I would take them but I'm worried about getting them to my house. My dad lives 3 1/2 hours away.
Normally for a much shorter trip, I would put the girls in a well ventilated, dark box. I am inclined to do the same, but will the girls be okay without water for that long, particularly given they are likely to be stressed?
Thanks in advance.

NN I think they would be fine as long as its not to crowded the box they are in. And well ventilated like you said.

Thanks Mildez- i'll give it a go and keep a close eye on them.

yeah, space and air and they'll be fine. my 5 baby chicks came from 3hrs away in a cardbord box! on the day the hatched!

AFM Little S died not last night the night before. i knew it was comming. so not sad as such. im glad that she got a few good months with my flock
the 5 in the kitchen are going well. Monkey and Sparrow are the tamest. sparrow more so then monkey.

Girls are well & truly back to laying. Check out this egg we got the other day.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1342683228.669947.jpg


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

Wow Zarava!! Nice sized egg!

We have eggs! Two days in a row now, and ironically the younger of the two. My daughter is like a proud mother.

Question - we had the option of getting more chooks today but they were a year old, and also they are previously caged animals - they were bought by a stockfeed shop on consignment and she said the poor things were almost bald when she got them, but are getting lots of feathers back now. They are Isa Browns and the owner said she has an 8 year old who still lays. I'm a bit worried about health and disease issues - what do you think? Feel sorry for the poor things, but don't want them to be picked on by our other two or worry about disease. Other option is to get more from the original supplier, been very happy with these girls.

Gemma the limping chicken can finally get up into the coop at night if I leave her a wooden box as a step (she can't use the ramp). I think her limp is here to stay, but she seems happy and even friendlier than before the attack. Her eggs are bigger too, which is probably because she's getting a bit more food since there's two instead of three.

I'm getting three from three most days now which is very exciting for DS (that's his job), even though it's seriously freezing here of a night.

HOWEVER, they are driving me crazy!! Despite heaps of scraps and the right amount of pellet they are eating everything!! Any grass that hadn't been frostburnt, every plant down to the roots, vegies destroyed....etc etc. THey have a yard up the entire side of the house but they can get over the fence despite wings clipped. I've tried making the top of the gate wobbly with soft mesh but they still fly over it!!!
I need to grow veges as the cost of them up here is just stupid.
Help!

My girls have the front yard and the veggies are in the back, with a house in between! Lol They destroy my plants otherwise. On the plus side, when I (occasionally remember to) weed, they demolish whatever I take out, so not much need for the green bin. They also keep the lawn and weeds under control where they roam.

My issue is the mess they make on the front step, particularly if it rains (they shelter at the front door). But I figure they're worth it.

Kim - We're starting to grow veggies here too and from chicken keeping in the past I know how much damage they do if you dont protect them very well!! So they will be fortress protected over here

Have two new girls today, so four in total, three of which are Isa Browns. We've been so lucky with great chooks, very healthy, very tame and eggs in under four weeks when we were told around 6-10 weeks. The chook lady's daughter apparently likes playing with all the chickens and carries them around lol so we get very friendly chooks

Ohh Kelly i would love to know where your getting your chooks from - i'm thinking i would like to add to our lovely bunch.
I was really hoping to say to Dp wait until near x-mas and i would LOVE to get some chicks and let the girls raise them, at the moment though it's FREEZING over night here and don't have anything setup, come summer though in the glorious weather we could setup somewhere for them inside & out (away from our big dog) and watch them grow.

At the moment we are getitng a few eggs still despite the cold, we had about 2-3 weeks where we were getting 5-8 eggs every 2 days (with 8 chooks thats pretty good i think) and we had to give some away, i still have quite a few but after cleaning out their 'hotel' we are back down to 2-3 every 2 days.. but they normally go a bit funny sometimes after we've been in and changed the nesting boxes around.

Going away next weekend so the gorgeous HotI is on egg duty - watch her get about 8 eggs in 1 day while we are away

ZF - mine are inside (the three that are left ) and even summer they'd need to be under a lamp for at least 16-20wks as they dont have "warm" fethers untill point of lay (or near to) according to my neighbour. we have ours in an play pen in the kitchen with a tarp on the floor that gets hosed down once a week.

we have 3 mottly crew left - thanks to Vic and his "cuddles" so no more chicken cuddles for him!! but they're cheeky as! if you lived next door to me you'd hear "Boof IN elle IN star IN Sparrow OUT monkey OUT lucky OUT" almost every time the door opens! chooks down the back are starting to lay too but i need to make some temp. covers for some of the boxes as mine seem to like some privacy to laying. which shouldnt be too hard.
we did lose baby girl and Little S a few weeks back - the cold did it i think but i also dont know how old they where.

I saw some Gunie foul listed on a local buy/swap/sell group and was tempted to talk to DH about them - they're noisy like gard birds but look soo cute and apparintly scare off snakes? we'll see. i cant wait til we have *all* the chooks in the back yard..more people in the house than animals for the first time in like 8 months LOL

I would never get guinea fowl again! Happy night when the fox got it.

Just spent a wad load of money on a new incubator, so now we can start the breeding program for the Fav's. Hope it is worth it, but the old incubator was no longer doing the job properly.

ZF - shoot me an email and I will give you her number. Couldn't be happier with our chookies! Double yolker this week too

We have 5 chickens, but 2 got chased out of the pen by my cat today! Grrrr
I hope I can find them or they come home. Poor chickies

Well DH has made them a fortress. They cannot get out of their own yard. They were pretty cranky the first few days and I only got one egg per day for 3 days. Went in the next....and got 6!
They don't even try to get out any more. They've also been eating way more greens then they did before which I'm glad about. They used to turn their beaks up at them lol. DS took a couple of barrow loads of sand in to them today. Not sure who was more delighted - the 3yo little boy and his barrow being helpful or the chooks lol. Back to getting 3 from 3 a day. I've given loads away.

Guinea fowl are sooo noisy Dansta. Friends of ours have a couple. They are good guard dogs though.

Ooooh an incubator Astrid...cool.

Thanks kelly, will do - whats the e-mail addy?

Ours girls are upset about something as i'm getting 1-3 eggs every 2 days now, sometimes when i clean the hotel they slow a little so will see how they go.
Might just be getting a little cold again.