Recent content by OrangeGrove

  1. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    Thanks Hedz82 :) in that pic the chick was nibbling the bone that the dog had. He loves small animals...we have a ground squirrel aswell, his best mate! He lies down and the squirrel 'grooms' him..jumps on his back scratching him. I think it was rats that got in, I lost 2 chicks and the third...
  2. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    @Hedz82 no def no Hylines for me. The laying flock are New Hampshire x Golden Buff, a lovely big breed...so tame too. Those Hylines look like zombies...I have one that I swear has the personality of a plank. I keep saying I'm gonna eat her as she lays about twice a week but I don't have the...
  3. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    Hi @hedz82 thanks for confirming my suspicions...rats don't bother older chickens do they? They're pretty hard to get rid of. I do have Boschvelders, well not really Boschvelders but chickens from my gardener. I do have plenty space for them to go outside and I also grow a lot of spinach and...
  4. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    The only small incubator I've seen is here http://www.importitall.co.za/Brinsea-Mini-Advance-Hatching-Egg-Incubator-ap-B008HVM5SY.html for 5 grand which is crazy. I would rather get a 48 egg incubator that's around 3 grand. Don't get a polystyrene one...the hatch rate is not good.
  5. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    @Gwyllm Cochins are lovely, I'm looking to get some of those aswell. I thought the option was nipple system or waters attached to a line that feeds auto from pipes. I have a water reservoir nearby so just need to see which. @ 12 per m that's just over a thousand chickens ...I was thinking 500...
  6. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    Good luck with the hatch Gwyllm, I have a broody hen hatching today. 2 eggs are from the new rooster I got (Partridge Brahma)...but a monitor lizard ate some eggs and I'm just hoping it wasn't those! It's been a tough month. 1st battling the monitor lizards ...thought the coop was 100% secure...
  7. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    It's not a human as all my coops are locked with a padlock. Im spending the day checking all the other coops and putting on fine mesh...funny that I've had no problem with the coops that don't have fine mesh. Whatever it is must only target young chicks. Also putting roosts up to get them off...
  8. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    Thanks, good idea I will do that. Nothing can "pull" the legs off, the coop has concrete walls. So it must get in to eat the stuff
  9. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    I tend to think it's rats too. Hard to put out poison or traps as I have free range chickens and many other animals.
  10. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    It is really bad! Out of all of them only 2 were so tame that they always run to me when I open the coop. Then in the evenings those two come out and sit on the table before dinner. It was one of those two that was injured. It seems to get around fine hopping on one leg ... I just hope it can...
  11. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    There's literally nothing I've moved across as they're now on regular self feeders and waterers. The first time it happened I thought it got it's leg stuck in a crate that was in the first coop. But now there's no crate. Anyway it would be more like an injury and the leg would be broken or lying...
  12. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    The most puzzling thing is that this is the 3rd chick it's happened to. After the first two I moved them all to a more secure coop. This coop has concrete walls on all sides and fine mesh on the roof! It's such a mystery I just wish I knew what happened. :(
  13. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    I live in South Africa and we don't have raccoons. There was a hole of 2cm that I closed up....the only thing I could think of was a mongoose but even that wouldn't fit through the hole. I have a meerkat sanctuary so caring for animals is second nature...I def won't cull it because otherwise...
  14. OrangeGrove

    Something eating my chicks legs

    I have 40 chicks in a 25 square metre coop, 6 weeks old. The coop is secure so I'm really at my wits end...something has completely severed one of the chicks legs. The leg is just missing. Could it be the chicks doing this? I so,bed the situation of them pecking each other and they haven't done...
  15. OrangeGrove

    Chicken breeders or Folks in South Africa?

    Hi Teachnkids, Carin breeds Partridge Brahmas, on this forum. They're a lovely docile big breed, especially nice for kids as they like to be held. Found this chap in my coop today, he munched all 14 eggs my hen was sitting on! :he
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