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

[wooklet]

Quote:
It will be lovely to see you here,Ducky,and I will keep in mind what you say about bringing me eggs or chickens - you may regret that when you have a trailer full of Malay Roosters crowing all the way over on the ferry!! If Victoria is anything like Tassie in the winter it does not exactly encourage egg laying! More of a Queensland thing I'd say,but one never knows!

 

[70%cocoa]

Thanks for your thoughts on the water issue guys. We do try to save water in the house..I only have a shower every second day. LOL, the ducks are much cleaner than I am.

We have about 12 000 L of tank water - it is only used for the ducks.

Ducky, I am thoroughly enjoying having the ducklings. Sometime soon I am going to have to make a decision about which to keep and which to sell. Gulp!

I had a duck on antibiotics not too long ago (she had a puncture wound in the leg from a spiral leg band). She had an injection at the vet and then was on daily antibiotic tablets for three weeks. The vet said not to eat the eggs for two weeks after the antibiotics had finished. We did eat the eggs anyway (the main issue is allergic reactions to the drugs and neither of us here have antibiotic allergies) but we did not give the eggs away to anyone during that time. Her leg healed well, by the way.

 

[duckyfromoz]

lol.70%cocoa... I wasnt going to mention the shower thing...But Tuesday is usually my "second day of the work week- I need to sleep in so I wont have a shower this morning day " Since moving in to work in the office rather than the warehouse I never get dirty like I used to. If I give up a shower the saved water can fill a clam shell pool and 15 ducks can be clean instead of one me.

Yes- choosing can be so hard, and even though I do it so often I really feel bad choosing them because they look better. Its usually the way that those are are not closest to the standards are the ones that have the best character.

Wooklet- Lucky I have a ute with a canopy and can fit 6 large crates and at least ten smaller ones in. PLENTY of room.. How many roosters did you say you wanted me to bring down

I havent posted a pic of my latest hatch yet.. So here they are.

 

[wooklet]

Aw,Ducky,that is SO gorgeous! How do you come up with these things? What a gorgeous "Bon Voyage" card that would be!
We have had a major drama here this morning. Hubby came through to say that one of the Silkie chickens was dead and another looking shaky. They are only just out of the brooder,and they all live in a childs cubby house with shavings on the floor. I went in and immediately spotted little pools of blood in their droppings - coccidiosis. I have Sulpha quin here,but for an outbreak like this felt that only Baycox would do. Frantic phone around to all the vets in the area,and finally found one that had it a fair distance from here. Hubby was dispatched in the car to get it,whilst I caught and removed all the chickens(about 30 of them)to a wire cage. Then it was clean out all the sawdust,scrape the floors,sweep them,then a big bucket of hot soapy water with a liberal amount of bleach in it. I tossed it all on the floor and scrubbed like mad! In the meantime chickens were dropping like flies,we lost 4 one after the other! It really is a vile disease once it gets a hold. We haven't had it here for a good 3 years,but it's been so wet lately it had to happen sooner or later. Hubby came back with the Baycox and we dosed each one individually before putting them back in the cubby house,which now has nice clean shavings on the floor,plus I put a liberal amount of hydrated lime in with the shavings. A few of them are still looking as though they could go one way or the other,but we have done what we can,now it is in the lap of the gods!
I figured that we had walked the cocci into the cubby house on our shoes,so now we have a new rule! "No shoes in cubby house" - that is funny because we don't even take our shoes off to come into the house! So now all we can do is

 

[Chickenmumma]

OMG that sound HORRENDOUS!! Wooklet, most of what you wrote was double-dutch to me but I got the bit about 'dropping like flies' and I know that's B-A-D. Is there a way to prevent this 'coccidiosis' you speak of?? I've got everything crossed for you, keep us updated of the progress of your flock.

Ducky the pic is gorgeous btw. Oh and in response to the water issue, a t-shirt I own sums up my attitude: "Save water: Get dirty"

 

[wooklet]

Quote:
Thank you for your hugs and everything crossed! Sadly we have lost 5 beautiful little silky chickens today,3 whites,1 blue and a buff. Most of the others are looking a lot better,and actually eating, but there are still a couple sitting there hunched up with their eyes closed. I'm afraid that we will loose those too. Sorry to talk Double Dutch! I didn't mean to. Cocci is a nasty little disease that mainly affects young chickens,they get immunity as they get older. Wet ground,or wet litter is a good breeding ground for it,and tht is the reason that most chicken grower pellets,and chicken starter crumbles have anti biotics added,to give the chickens a chance to develop an immunity. It causes bloody poos,mine were actually squirting bright red blood this morning. Most of the chicken forums will have a section on coccidiosis and how to prevent,treat and cure it! I'll keep you posted.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

wooklet I'm so sorry, that's just awful.

I hope all the others make a full recovery.

Ducky that pic is adorable! Soooo much fuzzy duckling cuteness.

 

[duckyfromoz]

RareBreedFancier- do you ever go to the small rural shows on around Victoria?? Kyneton was last weekend- I went for a look and got talked into going to Daylesford this weekend. I dont have many girls with enough feathers left on their necks- and this late in the year- all my boys have started molting, but I will be taking three for the show and doing a display and giving some talks on keeping ducks.


Oh Wooklet... That is just so awlful. It really has been a roller coaster for you lately- loosing your beautiful girl- hatching the special baby and now this. So sad that you lost so many. It does kind of make me glad I dont keep chooks, I would be a nervous wreck worrying about them.

Chickenmumma - I have also seen one that says Save water- shower with a friend. All it made me think about was how I could bath with my ducks

I certainly would come out dirtier than I went in if I did that.

 

[Ma Noob]

firstly

re the funny little island, that made me giggle

Second, only just noticed that i have a message and found this!!

Well incubator is on lockdown, and i dont know how im going to survive!! have been checking every 5 minutes it seems LOL. I have them lined up in what day they were laid. Should hopefully be seeing something from tomorrow. although im supposed to get getting things done around the house, an i can see myself staring at an incubator all day if im not careful!

Have had a couple of temp spikes, but that was when we had the 41 degree day here, im hoping they are ok though, i thin they were only for a short time.

Broody hen is going well too. I noticed one egg has either been pushed out or its been caught in the bedding as she has been wiggling and ended up out. But she has been eating and drinking and doing a lovely job sitting on the eggs. Just need to make a nursery in the chook house for when they hatch, which im guessing will be about the first weekend in december, which is nice as we dont have many christmas engagements so we can be on baby watch.

So hopefully in a few days i will have chicky pics for you all!

 

[Chickenmumma]

Morning all

Ooh good luck Ma Noob with your hatching!

Wooklet, how are they this morning? I really hope they survived the night

Ducky, I just had a mental image of you in the shower with ducks... I don't even know what you look like... Is that a little wierd?