Australians - Where are you all????

[rachmickmurphy]

Warning! Impending Cute Overload!! OK, so I may be just a little on the biased side .........

By special request .. fluffy butts!

too cute great pics

 

[ashlee clarke]

these are ny 2 baby bantam langshangs

 

[Teila]

these are ny 2 baby bantam langshangs

Aaaw adorable! I don't think I will every get tired of looking at pictures of bubbies .. they are gorgeous!

 

[Teila]

Cilla & Co are going well. One of them was in the chick-start today scratching with his/her tiny little feet .. so adorable! They also rub their tiny little beaks backwards and forwards after eating, just like Mum!

Hubby got home from work and asked "So, have you been chicken stalking?" "No" I said, "Not me!" .. Hhhhm, probably should have put back the chair I had strategically positioned at the end of the 'Ranch' .. lol

I am hoping to get some advice please? I tried doing some research last evening but didn't really come up with any definite answers. Cilla is perking up nicely and appears to have settled in the 'Ranch' quite well. Considering the rush-purchase, it is actually ideal! Lots of room for everyone and very safe. I picked Cilla up today and she is so light, which I know is a side effect of not eating much for the last 3 weeks or so. She is eating the chick-start (purchased from our local produce store) and I wonder if that is enough for her?
Plan A: As a treat I tried to give her a little bit of cheese (she loves that) but she took it from me and promptly and I think deliberately, dropped it in front of the babies, one of them gobbled it up so I wasn't game to try and give her more .. I have read that the chicks should only be eating chick-start.
Plan B: Try and give her some big-bird food (lay mash) but when I held the seed in front (up high so the bubs couldn't get to it; even though they were trying lol) she flicked at it with her beak causing it to fall in with the bubs .. again, I have read that they should not be eating it.
Plan C: Put her and the seed outside of the ranch so that she could eat it but she was not having a bar of that and wanted back in with the bubs.

Ran out of Plans! lol

So:
* Is Cilla OK on just chick-start and for how long?
* Is there something I can give her that it is OK for the chicks to eat if they happen to pinch some?
* When is a good time to start the little ones on something besides chick-start and any suggestions of what is a good thing to start them on?

Thanks in advance

 

[rachmickmurphy]

telia have you tried cooked rice mashed potato and pumpkin any cooked veg and tinned cat food mum and bubs can all have it. mum cant fling it

 

[rachmickmurphy]

Said ages ago that I would post some pics of my 3 girls .... finally got around to it.

This is Mindy - my little ( compared to the other two ) Araucana. Loves her daily
cuddle.



Mandy - my Welsummer - a very big girl and still strugglilng with a very slow moult.
Mandy doesn't do cuddles, and is not socially inclined at all.



Molly - my RIR - who is the greatest sticky beak .... gets underfoot, pecks at my
clothing, loves buttons, rings on my fingers, and my hair.

your white hen is so pretty what a colourful egg basket you must have.

 

[chooks4life]

Sorry, lol, but this thread moves too fast for me; I've gotten mixed up in threads before which were basically chat threads between a few individuals (nothing wrong with that, though) and I just don't have the time to wade through so many pages a day. So I'm unsubscribing. To the person I was talking with: feel free to continue the conversation via PM if you like.

Best wishes to all.

 

[rachmickmurphy]

Hi, have you asked about anconas on the Backyard Poultry site? I did a quick check and found a very old add for them in SA.

Thanks. I have seen that thread long enough ago to forget it existed. I'll have to go back and have another read.

An Aussie hatch along would be good - for me it would need to be under a clucky. Someone started an Ausie egg swap which I'd love to be in a position to participate in.

Good luck with the ancona search.
Cheers

yes theres lots of conflicting info on that forum satay linked a thread neither member returned my email old thread i guess. we travel to alot of auctions in vic sa and lower nsw never seen these ducks. yes saw egg swap some of the lines we have their breeders charge top dollar for their birds we pay what we have to to improve our gene pool they would be disappointed to say the least if i joined a swap. there was there nothing i could use here . i rarely hatch travelled eggs for myself preferring to bring home live birds i get varied results hatching auction eggs and its hard to blame transport when you dont know what pens are like how old the birds are if the birds are in good health or if the birds have been fed a quality diet. i work with pairs trios and sometimes quads never more although during autumn and winter i dropped 7 hens in with my pekin pauly and got a 100% hatch. i dont have the best luck with cluckys but i still try when they decide they want to i set them and just dont bank on chicks. i found a chick in my sussex pen couple of days ago i took it from mum she didnt bring it out for food and drink cause she still has eggs (it was 48hrs after i found it i took it) i found another clucky sussex in that pen tried to seperate her and her eggs to a private cage she changed her mind wont sit on the eggs anymore spewn too cause i got a nearly a doz now of porcelein araucana and speckled suss eggs i was goin to set. i have had a black silkie and bantam australorp start sitting in the last couple of days but i have had silkies give up on eggs before and the australorps are newest breed i havent had them a year so there no track record. at the moment the muscovies are in full swing every girl has babies or is sitting. they are my free rangers they are super mums of the duck world. they run their own show and dictate when i shut the bator off each year.

 

[rachmickmurphy]

these are ny 2 baby bantam langshangs

cute little buttons

 

[MyHaven]

[COLOR=333333]Cilla & Co are going well.  One of them was in the chick-start today scratching with his/her tiny little feet .. so adorable!  They also rub their tiny little beaks backwards and forwards after eating, just like Mum![/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Hubby got home from work and asked "So, have you been chicken stalking?"  "No" I said, "Not me!"  .. Hhhhm, probably should have put back the chair I had strategically positioned at the end of the 'Ranch' .. lol[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I am hoping to get some advice please?  I tried doing some research last evening but didn't really come up with any definite answers.  Cilla is perking up nicely and appears to have settled in the 'Ranch' quite well.  Considering the rush-purchase, it is actually ideal!  Lots of room for everyone and very safe.  I picked Cilla up today and she is so light, which I know is a side effect of not eating much for the last 3 weeks or so.  She is eating the chick-start (purchased from our local produce store) and I wonder if that is enough for her?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Plan A: As a treat I tried to give her a little bit of cheese (she loves that) but she took it from me and promptly and I think deliberately, dropped it in front of the babies, one of them gobbled it up so I wasn't game to try and give her more .. I have read that the chicks should only be eating chick-start.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Plan B: Try and give her some big-bird food (lay mash) but when I held the seed in front (up high so the bubs couldn't get to it; even though they were trying lol) she flicked at it with her beak causing it to fall in with the bubs .. again, I have read that they should not be eating it.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Plan C: Put her and the seed outside of the ranch so that she could eat it but she was not having a bar of that and wanted back in with the bubs.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Ran out of Plans! lol[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]So:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]* Is Cilla OK on just chick-start and for how long?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]* Is there something I can give her that it is OK for the chicks to eat if they happen to pinch some?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]* When is a good time to start the little ones on something besides chick-start and any suggestions of what is a good thing to start them on?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Thanks in advance  [/COLOR]

Hi, I know it's distressing seeing how much condition they lose when hatching chicks. But she will come back. Don't be surprised if she moults after this.

Yes, she is taking the food and deliberately dropping it to teach the chicks what they can eat and how to forage. They need to learn all that from her. Poor battery hens never learn it.

I would not give them anything additional that is high in protein unless it's natural like earth worms or grasshoppers. Just the quantity they would find on their own if in the garden. I think cat food has too much protien for babies.

You can't really do much to make Mum eat more or anything else. She is prioritising the babies diets and lessons.

Chick starter is meant for new mums too. We give it to them before the eggs hatch so they get used to it and to keep them going. The laying mash has the calcium and protein she would need if she was producing eggs and she won't be doing that again for weeks when the hormones kick in.

I would just make sure that the mum and bubs have ample chick starter and supplement it with fresh scraps and fruit such as watermelon or anything mum particularly likes. Do you have them on grass? She might like the greens. My mums prefer a forage where they can scratch under mulch and leaf matter but still like a good to at the grass. You can start supplements/treats straight away. The chick starter from Northside Produce is designed for chicks of up to 8 weeks from memory. Laying mash should not be given to them until they are point of lay.

They will grow very quickly and will be more independent each day allowing mum to forage more for herself.

That's my two bobs worth anyway. I hope it helps.