Australians - Where are you all???? - Page 290

Where do you live? I could hatch out some SLW chicks for you if you live close enough.

Hi Guinea Foul, I noticed you are on line.  I am sooooo sorry that you are going through such a rough time. I wish I could help in some way, let me know.   I live 700 metres from the water however it's the sea so tides are always the same however this evening is a "King Tide" as it is full moon and monsoon time which will affect some low lying areas.  I'm fine for the time being.  Our back yard is totally waterlogged, I can't walk in it without sinking down through the grass. The frogs are crocking, our 2 large water tanks are overflowing and water nowhere to go and to top it off our drains on the roads are not coping with the mass of water so the gutters are flooded.  One street over, the road is impassable in the lower area.  It's still raining non-stop and my husband has just gone to work in the city hospital.  He may not make it through, a lot of the roads there are already cut off, some closed down.  He said I may see him back in 1/2 hour.  I just prayed and told him to not do anything silly.  They predicted this to go on for the rest of the week.  It's Gumboots Time!!

 

Guinea Foul we may have to build an Ark!!!!!!!    

 

Hold up there my friend

 

Chrissy  

I've already started  

 

Just kidding. Your the third person today to suggest building an ark though. The neighbours have got a boat, That'll do  

Apparently, although it will continue raining all week, it is supposed to get lighter. I'm glad to hear that. I'm at the stage where I don't even bother with umbrellas as I always seem to get wet anyway. So I just put on togs or clothes that need a wash and accept the fact that I will be soaked through by the time I get back inside. I've already had two showers today and am deciding whether I need a third after taking the dogs out. If it keeps raining like this then I'll have to swim to the chooks tomorrow. I really do hate these monsoon times. Mother nature really is an 'All or nothing' kind of gal.

I'm walking around in Gumboots.  I had just started to plant some corn & beetroot and other tasks in the garden when it started to rain.  Fortunately I was in by bathers, thongs and my straw akubra so getting wet was having a cool down.  Oli was smart, he sat on the veranda watching me.  I'm sure he was laughing thinking I'm dry and your're wet.  

 

By the way, I am sooo excited, I'm picking up my Silkie this afternoon.  I'll probably leave her in the laundry for the time being and let her out to graze.  I want to get her settled in first before I get the Australorps.

 

Oh well, no need to water the garden, however the mowing will be fun (hubby will do this).  By the way hubby made it to the hospital and back.

 

Chrissy 

Yay!!! What colour is she going to be? And how old? How are you going to do the introducing procces with Oli?
Glad your hubby made it to and from work safely.
It is still raining here this morning, not as heavy as yesterday but it's constant.
I hope this week goes fast.

Hi all - long time. I think the forum changed and I stopped getting notifications, or something.

 

Like all other chook owners in Perth, I'm desperately trying to keep the young 'uns cool - putting frozen bottles in their water, throwing out frozen watermelon quarters, dashing out every hour to put the newly-rigged-up chook sprinkler on for a few minutes. The poor dears are still panting away, but what else can you do? (They have plenty of dense shade and places to dust bathe.)

 

And there's no relief in sight, with the forecast 40/41/39/42/40/38/38. Gah.

 

In other news, my "babies" are now big chooks - three months old, and nearly as large as my layers. The babies are blue Australorps and Barnevelders. My five layers, Australorps and Leghorn hybrids, are producing 4-5 eggs a day; we're hoping the new ones will start laying around about as the others go into winter moult. I keep doing the "pullet or cockerel?" squint, and my answers keep coming out optimistic, but only time will tell! Of the seven, there's one very obvious boy, one likely boy, but I'm hoping against hope that the three Barnies who all look similar to each other will all turn out to be pullets.

 

We did have to cull one Australorp already - his legs didn't work properly, and we tried a few things but they didn't get better. All the current ones, however, look hale and hearty, if only they can survive this stinking heatwave.

 

Any other tips on helping them with their heat resilience? I add bird multivitamins to their water a couple times a week already.

 

 

Finally I have my Silkie.  Have settled her in for the night, she seems quite happy.  She is white, 4 1/2 months old and a darling and that's exactly what I called her Shatzy i.e.the German name Schatz meaning darling.  I could have called her Darrell as well like my hubby as his name also means darling.  I say to his friends "watch out fellows when you call his name".  However that was not fitting for my sweet Silkie who is adorable as well.     I won't go any further or I'll be in trouble     Oli is getting on nicely with her, I took her round the back for Oli to meet not inside the house.  He sniffled her, barked at her a couple times, then it was - come play with me.  Shatzy was having no part in it and just stood her ground - smart chicken.  Anyway she is all cosy now in a new chicken coop lying on a bed of fresh cane sugar mulch which actually smells quite sweet.  It's an interesting smell but not off putting.

 

Enough excitement for a day    more rain is coming and heading our way    If I see the chicken coop floating by our window, I know we're in trouble. 

 

 

Chrissy   

 

PS  I will take some pictures shortly of her and my parrot and show all

Aww  She sounds beautiful. I absolutely love her name. If I could describe a silkies personality in one word then it would probably be darling. 

I'm glad she and Oli are getting on well.  Thats always handy, one of our dogs is a chicken killer. He just gets possessed and there's no snapping him out of it, All his training goes out the window. Luckily he has never actually killed a chicken but he has tried so many times it's almost normal now. 

And just a question about Oli, Does he shed much? and does he smell? 

We are now thinking about getting a small/tiny dog meanwhile thinking a bit more about the big dog. We were thinking Moodle/shoodle/bichoodle/yorkie-oodle etc. The poodles/shih tzus/maltese/bicheon frise don't shed (which we're looking for with an inside dog) but I can't find whether they smell or not. The pomeranians are supposed to shed all the time but not smell  I'm confused! 

 

Can't wait for pics of Shatzy. 

 

Here are the photos of Fredo and Shatzy as promised.  I don't think they need any explanation except for Shatzy.  When I got her home, I let her settle in first and because she had been with other chickens I decided to give her a good wash - with wool wash (at least I thought she won't shrink that way ).....     So she looked like a drenched rat to begin with but fluffed up quite nicely.  I was praying that she wouldn't go outside in the garden and have a dust bath straight away.  She absolutely loved the dryer and just took it in her stride - she almost fell asleep on me - what a gal.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't she gorgeous????

 

 

Here's a close up

 

 

 

 

This is Shatzy settling into her coop

 

 

 

ALL FLUFFED UP

 

And of course we can't forget Fredo!!!!

 

 

He absolutely loves it on my head - one weird bird.....

 

 

 

He's cute too!!

 

He starts his climb up via thong........

 

 

 

Hope you like the pictures - I'll post these now and talk about Oli in my next post

 

Chrissy  

She's beautiful 

She fits in very well in your kitchen with her blue earlobes   Fredo is gorgeous too. He seems like a character!