Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Teila]

Thank you satay and Fancy unfortunately, covering the coop is not really an option.

Yeah, trying to keep KiKi quiet is on par with trying to hide the fact that you have a rooster.

You are right in that I am an early riser, regardless of whether I am woken by the girls or neighbourhood birds or not, I am always up around the 5 to 5:30am mark. First thing I do, before coffee etc and when still half asleep, is feed the girls and they have some lettuce, corn and leftover fish from dinner as a treat along with their lay mix.

KiKi does not really bother me and hubby tries to tell me to not worry about it but I have this guilt that she is bothering my son.

As I type, she is honking, as I mentioned, not a problem because it is a weekday, not so good on the weekend though.

*Sigh*

 

[appps]

Cooked rice should be fine, anything that traps up in crop will eventually ferment and turn to sour crop. Grains tend to sit in crop especially sunflower seeds. The rice on its own doesn't contain much nutrition, but if you add some soft boiled egg or even raw egg and Greek yogurt it will make the consistency softer and give you something to mix the poly aid plus into. I make the poly aid plus up to a thicker consistency and slowly syringe it into the beak, this at least ensures that she is getting probiotics and all the vits and minerals that she needs. I've also found that the poly aid plus restores their appetite for food. You could also wet down some layer pellets until you have a mash.

I actually meant to ask about that. She seems to be avoiding the poly aid in food so I'd wondered about stringing but wasn't sure if into the beak would work or if it needed more drastic tube feeding to avoid airways which I'm honestly not up for. Know my limitations lol. Good to know syringing into the beak is safe, will do that when the kids get home to hold her for me.

Normally they love warm crumble mash but after the second day she refused to eat that too.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I actually meant to ask about that. She seems to be avoiding the poly aid in food so I'd wondered about stringing but wasn't sure if into the beak would work or if it needed more drastic tube feeding to avoid airways which I'm honestly not up for. Know my limitations lol. Good to know syringing into the beak is safe, will do that when the kids get home to hold her for me.

Normally they love warm crumble mash but after the second day she refused to eat that too.

It can be quite time consuming , be careful not to aspirate her. I sit down with the chook under my left arm ( I'm right handed ) have the syringe loaded in my right hand and while holding her close to my body with my elbow I use my left hand to gently pull down on her wattle. This will give you access to her mouth, but only dribble a drop at a time and allow her plenty of time to swallow between applications. Usually once they regain their appetite they are literally trying to drag it out of the syringe themselves . Try adding some puréed apple or baby banana custard to the layer mash.

 

[User395221]

when it comes to issues with four legged neighbours wandering.

I was just reading on another forum that you can get motion-detecting sprinklers to deter them. Like this, but there are others apparently http://www.sureguard.com.au/Contech-ScareCrow

As satay suggested, I had also read that keeping them in the dark can help with them making a racket early in the morning. Blackout box, or something..?

 

[cwrite]

Satay, apparently red bellied snakes eat brown snakes so that would make me think twice about moving it along if I had acerage. They are also not as aggresive as brown snakes so the chance of living peacefully with her is much higher - unless you disturb her by accident.

Teila, I really feel for you with the early morning noise issues. We went through hell with that and have mostly resolved it. My two cents for our situation was that I learned to NEVER feed them in the morning. All their treats, grazing time and anything else has to happen late afternoon. Week-ends are more problematic because I'm more conscious of them waking others up and they know that - if I'm home alone they know shoutiing doesn't help. If the kids or hubby are home, they try their luck & someone is more likely to give in. When they do complain, it doesn't last as long though. It took me ages to move them to afternoon stuff and it was very painful for everyone. I still can't believe my neighbours never complained to the council.

 

[Teila]

Hey cwrite thank you.

Sadly, it is not just early morning, she has just spent 10-15mins honking/crowing at 10:20 in the morning. It is many hours before free range time and they do know when that it as they all start up anytime after 3pm

I may just have to face the fact that KiKi is not going to be happy unless she is getting attention or free ranging which is not safe if not supervised. I happily spend 3-4 hours every afternoon outside in the garden with them during the week and one or both of us spend the majority of the weekend outside with them from about 10:00am onwards but I can not be sitting out there all day with them starting at 06:00 or so in the morning, I would never get anything done.

She has got worse with time and is obviously not happy in the run during the day as the others appear to be. I am dreading tomorrow morning, I have no idea how I am going to keep her quiet until free range time.

It has got to the point that during the last 15min bout, I have drafted a Gumtree ad

She is quiet at the moment but it is probably only a matter of time before she starts again .. I so hope I do not need to post that ad.

 

[User395221]

She is quiet at the moment but it is probably only a matter of time before she starts again .. I so hope I do not need to post that ad.

She'd be better suited to a rural setting or somewhere where she'd be less close to people. It's causing you stress and she'd be happy where she could yell all day and not cause stress. I'm sure you could find some accommodation where she can be herself without annoying people. I know it's hard....

 

[Fancychooklady]

Hey cwrite thank you.

Sadly, it is not just early morning, she has just spent 10-15mins honking/crowing at 10:20 in the morning.  It is many hours before free range time and they do know when that it as they all start up anytime after 3pm 

I may just have to face the fact that KiKi is not going to be happy unless she is getting attention or free ranging which is not safe if not supervised.  I happily spend 3-4 hours every afternoon outside in the garden with them during the week and one or both of us spend the majority of the weekend outside with them from about 10:00am onwards but I can not be sitting out there all day with them starting at 06:00 or so in the morning, I would never get anything done.

She has got worse with time and is obviously not happy in the run during the day as the others appear to be.  I am dreading tomorrow morning, I have no idea how I am going to keep her quiet until free range time.

It has got to the point that during the last 15min bout, I have drafted a Gumtree ad 

She is quiet at the moment but it is probably only a matter of time before she starts again .. I so hope I do not need to post that ad.

Is there any way you can extend the run ?
She probably isn't annoying your neighbor as much as you fear.

 

[Teila]

Is there any way you can extend the run ?
She probably isn't annoying your neighbor as much as you fear.

Hey Fancy thank you for that ... I was just doing some Google research as I really do not want to part with her and tear up just thinking about it. One suggestion was a radio in the coop. I haven't have time to research it yet but apparently, a radio on a timer can be entertainment for them. Not sure if anyone else has heard of that?

But yep, I am thinking that I could construct a chunnel leading to an alternative/secure part of the garden where she might feel that she has more space/exploring area ... either that or I am thinking I need to make our entire yard more secure [not sure if that is possible] and narrow the risk down to aerial predators only.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Hey Fancy thank you for that ... I was just doing some Google research as I really do not want to part with her and tear up just thinking about it.  One suggestion was a radio in the coop.  I haven't have time to research it yet but apparently, a radio on a timer can be entertainment for them.  Not sure if anyone else has heard of that?

But yep, I am thinking that I could construct a chunnel leading to an alternative/secure part of the garden where she might feel that she has more space/exploring area ... either that or I am thinking I need to make our entire yard more secure [not sure if that is possible] and narrow the risk down to aerial predators only.

Yeah I think that you should try a few other options before you do anything drastic. I can't imagine you would be very happy with yourself and you might always wonder what if. ........... Never heard of the radio but it's worth a try. Have a good look on gumtree under the ' garden section ' and think outside the square, there are many things that could be used to extend the run. An old swing set frame with bird netting over it, collect some old farm gates and support them with star pickets once again cover the top with netting. Old packing pallets are also quite useful and with your flair of arranging pot plants you could disguise it to blend into your garden.