Recent content by Rachael Ellen

  1. Rachael Ellen

    Excessively Noisy Hen + Introducing 2 Chickens

    I've kept 2 chickens for about a year and a half now. Leni was on the top of the pecking order and could be a little loud. Squawked to get out of the run a lot. Squawked when there was nothing yummy to eat. Squawked when the magpies swooped. All okay. Birds make noise. She was usually okay when...
  2. Rachael Ellen

    Lost Leeloo today :(

    I don't really come on here too often but I feel like I need to post something somewhere where people's responses aren't just, "well it was only a chicken" because that really isn't helpful. I've had 2 chickens for almost a year and a half now. I'm not sure exactly what they are - Brahma x...
  3. Rachael Ellen

    Noisy Chicken

    I'm a parrot owner so well aware of learned bad behaviours. I will only let her out when she's being quiet for a while to reinforce that good things come to patient chooks. I made my observation based more on the fact that when she's out she never squawks. I realise I should have mentioned that.
  4. Rachael Ellen

    Noisy Chicken

    I've no idea what breed they are. They're a cross between 2 breeds and neither breed was a road island red though they look similar. They're both the same. Do they just get louder in the summer maybe? I'd hate to rehome her so I hope it doesn't come to that :(
  5. Rachael Ellen

    Noisy Chicken

    I know chooks make noise and it's inevitable and sometimes over nothing but a plastic bag blowing across the lawn but I have 1 chicken getting waaaaay out of hand with her noise making. I keep 2 chickens in the suburbs. They are in a large coop and have access to fresh water and pellets and...
  6. Rachael Ellen

    How to help chickens take confinement?

    I think it might be. http://www.maxipets.com.au/images/large/premium-chicken-coop_LRG.jpg This is all they sold where I bought my chooks from, and in every other fodder store close to where I live. The only other design was a little smaller and a tractor sort of thing that could be wheeled...
  7. Rachael Ellen

    How to help chickens take confinement?

    My dad told me today that he wants to move their coop and make them a larger run, so yeah, this is what we'll end up doing. For the time being I'm trying to make their coop a happy place by feeding them their treats in there. It's a pity they gobble them up so fast!
  8. Rachael Ellen

    How to help chickens take confinement?

    Their coop is sort of outdoor-sy. They have a little space up the top where they sleep but when they go down the ramp, they're outside and can see what's going on. I'm going to have to think of ideas. Hmm.
  9. Rachael Ellen

    How to help chickens take confinement?

    What gets me is that sometimes, after I let them out, they'll venture back to their coop to sit in the sand anyway after only a short time. They've already terrorised the magpies and scared off the noisy miners in my area, but we have some pretty nasty cats and a fox that sometimes comes down...
  10. Rachael Ellen

    How to help chickens take confinement?

    The past few weeks my 2 chickens have learnt how to jump over/slide under the fence that keeps them off the paving/out of the plants so we've sort of given up and have let them roam the backyard as they please during the day. I think this has somewhat spoilt them as now, they can't stand being...
  11. Rachael Ellen

    The Private Life of Chickens

    Ah, that was wonderful and touching. I cried. I really feel for chickens.
  12. Rachael Ellen

    What did you do in the garden today?

    Today I planted seedlings for some carrots, lemonbalm, and peas, planted in my passionfruit vines for my parrot, and then some more seedlings for my chickens to pick at (comfrey, nasturtiums, and "clucker tucker mix"). I'm crap at gardening in that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, hate...
  13. Rachael Ellen

    New Member from Australia :)

    Thanks for the welcomes and the advice, guys :) I have heard getting one wing clipped is better at keeping birds on the ground. I was a bit unsure about that at first as I know with parrots, it's bad to do that in case they try to fly and can't then easily control where they land and might break...
  14. Rachael Ellen

    New Member from Australia :)

    Indeed I have :D I was looking around here before I purchased my girls :)
  15. Rachael Ellen

    New Member from Australia :)

    Hey! I've wanted chickens for a while now as my grandma used to own some silkie bantams and I used to love them... and I finally got 2 girls of my own. They're both a New Hampshire x. I think only one of them has started laying. She's slightly larger than the other. I haven't decided on names...
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