Recent content by BonDEEroo

Yes I think that's the best i can do for her, she seems pretty healthy and active

I got 3 Australian Langshan pullets a couple of months ago. They are great little birds - calm, friendly and lay about 5 eggs each per week, even now in late winter. One seems to have problems seeing things close up. She always pecks a few millimetres short of treats offered to her. She's worked...

A friend taught his rooster Kevin to roost on the highest perch in the coop, so close to the roof that Kevin couldn’t raise his head and arch his neck to crow. That was generally effective to stop night-time and early morning crowing, but it depended on Kevin cooperating with the arrangement.

Thank you! Her mother is a lavender araucana and I’m not sure who the father is - possibly Pekin cross. There was no discharge from her nostrils and the skin wasn’t puffing out. Whatever it was, I think she’s over it.

A few days ago I noticed one of our pullets was breathing noisily (inhaling and exhaling). She was hungry but the other chickens were pecking her to keep her away. Thankfully I had some leftover Enrotril syrup that was only a month old, prescribed for a bird that died of a staph infection (as...

Regular applications of olive oil mixed with a bit of tea tree oil, painted on the legs with a small paintbrush, works for us. I hold the bird under the left arm holding the legs with the left hand, and paint with the right hand. This method avoids too much kicking and flapping, spilt oil etc.

Agree with Chelsa’sChicks...Glue traps work really well but can be a death trap for anything small that gets caught in them. We lived in a rental property one time on the northern beaches of Sydney, over one of the wettest summers on record, and there were lots of roaches (the big flying ones...

http://www.telelib.com/authors/L/LawsonHenry/prose/onthetrack/billventriloquial.html Or google “Bill the Ventriloquial Rooster”

My son has been set Henry Lawson in his high school matriculation English course. I'd never read any Henry Lawson but as a rooster admirer I had to read this sketch - a gem of a tall story, though with a sad ending!

I don't know about Polish, though some of my Araucanas have produced cross-bred chicks that grew up to look like Polish - with the disadvantage of a bouffant hairdo that keeps them at the bottom of the pecking order because the feathers partially block their vision. Silkies usually have great...

It’s been 5 weeks and she’s just fine - a bit resentful though at the treats stopping!

Were they eating and behaving normally up to the time they died? Have you found any dead rats lately? Maybe a neighbor is poisoning the rats and the silkies got a bit of rat poison brought into the run by the rats. There wouldn't have been any symptoms apart from weakness, lethargy or loss of...

Broodies for me because of the excellent hatch rate and the chicks being low maintenance. The dust from a brooder is incredible. I bribe my broody hens with hand-fed treats while they are sitting so they look forward to me sticking my hand into the nesting box. The chicks learn to be friendlier...

Thank you Bonnie Stomper, DwayneNLiz and Folly’s Place for your helpful informative comments! The Silkie is loving the attention and treats. She seems fine, good appetite and no signs of weakness, lethargy or unusual behavior.