Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

[Colin Fow]

Hi @Cracked SA , I must admit I was so dumbstruck I clean forgot about taking photos, but I have a new mission, considering i only have 1 mature black austrolorp hen and plenty koekoek roosters, I have a new project for my incubator lol, but I will be back there on the 1st for my hatching so I will see what I can organise or I'll see if he will do me a favour and take a pic of it and send it too me. think i'll call it the austrakoek lol

 

[Cracked SA]

It sounds very exciting!

 

[Carin]

and in turn a big THUMBS down to the battery hen industry.
Heck I only want 4 or 5 birds and already I have a queue wanting eggs. My mom has first place though as shes saved all her egg shells for me (ive been drying and crushing them to feed back to the girls once i get them.... maybe in 2050!) but the deal is she will give me egg shells so long as she gets refilled ones.

I ask at my local Maxis/ Wimpy restaurant that they keep me the shells of their eggs from one mornings breakfasts. It lasts me a good few weeks. I usually put the shells in the oven after I switched the oven off. Crush the shells and good to go.
My kids do not want to eat eggs from the shops anymore as according to them the eggs taste "funny"

 

[Carin]

Well after a chat with a fellow member here who I now know lives a whole km from me (haha go figure).... I have decided on one thing. My gardener offered me a couple of his pullets from his flock (aka couldn't get a more local Zulu a chicken!) He only wants R20 each. So I am going to get 3 to see how they are. If any are roosters he can take it back. Then at least I have something for my coop to start with. Then when a rhode island red becomes available I will add one (try to keep ages the same roughly) and then maybe swop one or 2 out. Sound like a good plan?

Macksy
When you receive the gardener hens make sure you deworm and delice them.
I use Deadline 1ml on the skin between the wings for a hen. In KZN and our weather I use Deadline every 3-4 months. DO NOT USE ON Chicks younger than 4 months!!
Deworming can be done by giving the generic of Vermox. It is ususally 6 tablets in a pack. I give one tab to a grown hen to swallow. The other thing I use is Ivermectin from Merial to prevent all sorts of other nasties. I alternate the ivermectin and the Vermox generic every 3-4 months.

I do show chickens and I do vaccinate as on shows chickens are exposed to all sorts of other things and stress. Those R300 and R700 chickens ....need some prevention against nasties

 

[Carin]

When you add a new hen try and do not one at a time. The hens may gang up against the new one and some bullying might happen. It is also a good idea to let them see each other for a day or two but not be able to make physical contact. Then at dusk just before bedtime or after dark put the newcomers in the coop. Will prevent problems most of the time

 

[whoop whoop]

Macksy
When you receive the gardener hens make sure you deworm and delice them.
I use Deadline 1ml on the skin between the wings for a hen. In KZN and our weather I use Deadline every 3-4 months. DO NOT USE ON Chicks younger than 4 months!!
Deworming can be done by giving the generic of Vermox. It is ususally 6 tablets in a pack. I give one tab to a grown hen to swallow. The other thing I use is Ivermectin from Merial to prevent all sorts of other nasties. I alternate the ivermectin and the Vermox generic every 3-4 months.

I do show chickens and I do vaccinate as on shows chickens are exposed to all sorts of other things and stress. Those R300 and R700 chickens ....need some prevention against nasties

Well I never knew you could give vermox, my vet said that they do not have the best worm medicine here for chooks but maybe he meant for a small amount of chickens. He said if I was going to the Uk I must get from there because it is the best. Am I wrong? also where do you get deadline because I just use the powder for nasties and sprinkle it thru the hay.. By the way saw your chicken he is beautfiul..

 

[whoop whoop]

Sorry, also wanted to ask about the egg shells, surely they are battery egg shells, are they OK to give? I just use the oyster shells are they good enough? - Doesn't seem right to feed chooks eggs,maybe I am too fussy

 

[hedz82]

@Colin Fow Yay!! Please send us some pics!!!!

 

[hedz82]

I ask at my local Maxis/ Wimpy restaurant that they keep me the shells of their eggs from one mornings breakfasts. It lasts me a good few weeks. I usually put the shells in the oven after I switched the oven off. Crush the shells and good to go.
My kids do not want to eat eggs from the shops anymore as according to them the eggs taste "funny"

Well done for your kids Carin!!!
..I would bake them a bit if I were you.. worried about pathogens from the battery if they're still raw. those places are cesspits of disease.. but besides that calcium is calcium if you want to save money on oyster shell..

 

[Colin Fow]

@Colin Fow Yay!! Please send us some pics!!!!

Hi @hedz82 , so far i have not recieved any photo's , would love to show him off was so good looking, you get a dewormer for chooks from immuno vet, not sure who would distribute it in kzn tho, sure you could phone them and find out.