Recent content by yankiwi

I'm a long term American expat living in New Zealand. I'd never give up my American citizenship but almost feel like a Kiwi!

Today I found one of my year and a half old New Hampshires had a prolapse. She had yucky poop all over her backside so (after checking on backyard chicken with a local expert) my husband caught her and we washed her off in warm soapy water and trimmed some of her feathers. Then we noticed a big...

I didn't need to resort to marking the broody one with food coloring. I borrowed a possum trap from some friends--I didn't measure it but it seemed about 30" x 12" x 12", maybe a little bigger. Before putting her in the cage my husband dunked her belly in cold water for a few seconds then we put...

Thanks for all the good tips in this thread. I have three New Hampshires, about 14 months old and no rooster. This is our first venture with poultry and we love having them but want to nip this in the bud. They have a very nice coop about four feet cubed with a nest box that hangs off the side...

We also grow beets but don't get around to harvesting or cooking them. I like growing them because they germinate so easily and look nice in the garden when other things get eaten alive by slugs or caterpillars. I'll try them with cauliflower leaves, good idea. Ours go into the compost bin but...

Most people with a vegetable garden and chickens know that chickens love Swiss chard. In New Zealand Swiss chard is called silverbeet. I found out it is in the beet family but doesn't grow an edible bulbous root. (Kiwis call beets beetroot.) I needed to clear out some of last year's beets to...

That's one of the cutest coop I have ever seen! Ours is very plain but when locals see it they say it is flash. Not compared to some I've seen on BackYardChickens and yours will go straight to the top!

Imagine if you lived in a really bad neighborhood with lots of marauding drug addicts. Every night before you went upstairs to bed you had to leave your front door wide open and hope the night watchman came around to lock you in safe and sound until morning. When I'm a little late going out to...

I wonder how many words or terms in common English usage are poultry related? Pecking order, raising hackles, flying the coop, cooped up--there must be lots more.

The breeder came by and saw the rooster. A few days later he exchanged the roo for a pullet. The girls are a lot more mellow now, it's funny how their group personality changed.

Thanks, I did find it on TradeMe and a slightly cheaper place--healthy online which sells 300gm bottles for NZ$14.90. Prices in New Zealand seem really expensive compared with the US and about double the price in Canada. I only have a small coop with three chickens so I bought the 300gms, just...

That is really cute, I love the white trim. Your chickens will love it.

Thanks, if no one else knows I might call around feed stores in Christchurch and I'll post the answer if I get one.

Hi to all Kiwis I've been reading of the supersonic benefits of Diatomaceous Earth which seems to sell for around $25 per 50 pounds in the US while the only stuff I can find here is from online health food sellers and costs about $15 per 300 grams. As much as I'd like to try it, that's way too...

These girls (at least we think they are girls) are two of three NH Reds that are about nine weeks old. They get along fine most of the time, they snuggle up in the coop either on the floor or on their perch but when we let them out into the run they run around chasing each other and sometimes...