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    Official BYC Poll: How Long Have You Been Raising Chickens?

    Well, i beat that by 55 years. I've kept 'chooks' (as we Aussies call them) for 70 years almost straight. But I've never 'raised chickens' if this means hatching baby chickens. Always bought 'point of lay' and always free range. I've done exchanges with the eggs - for lifts to book groups and...
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    Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

    thanks for contacting me. I know I've been very quiet, though i have belonged to, and read the correspondence for about 30 years (how long has the site existed?). I do have a question as it happens. Does a wrinkled shell mean the hen is getting old? I've had a couple of very odd ones, then...
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    How do you get water out to your coop?

    The chook run is against the house, and the outside tap close by. We just fill the chooks' three water containers with the hose. Incidentally, the shed where they sleep is in a covered area, fox proof. But their run isn't - just open wiht a fairly high fence. To get from the run to the coverd...
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    Official BYC Poll: How Long Have You Been Keeping Chickens?

    40 years approximately. I first took some from someone burn out in mountians close by, by a bush fire. There was an unused chook house at work, and i kept them there for some time, but gardeners kept taking the eggs, so got some myself not long after and kept them in back yard, as have ever...
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    Official BYC Poll: Why Do You Have Chickens?

    We are mainly vegetarian, so eggs are our main protein. I hate the way battery hens are treeated, and even 'free range'. The government regulator allows something like 10,000 per herctare, which is nearly as bad. So we don't feel guilty about our protein, and probably save a bit (never worked it...
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    Comment by 'VirginiaLowe' in article 'Herbs, Flowers, and Weeds for Chickens'

    In Australia the weed Wandering Jew or Trad is great ground cover for urban forests (e.g. our unkempt yard with lots of trees). It's a succulent and our seven chooks can't get enough of it. I've kept chooks for about 40 years, and they've all loved it. Also the berries on what we call 'deadly...
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    Help! My wife is mad at me for feeding the chickens pizza!

    I've kept chooks for about 40 years. i feed them all our left overs (no waste - they turn them into eggs) even spoiled stuff and dairy and their own egg shells. I assume they won't eat what isn't good for them - they've got brains. And they all die eventually, but as far as i can tell, of old...
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    Comment by 'VirginiaLowe' in article 'Top 8 "Special" Chicken Treats'

    And they love yogurt, cheese and milk which is out of date - and cream too, so i think dairy is fine. I've found some out of date almond milk on a shelf and out of date No-egg (must have originated with our vegan son) anyway they're really enjoying that as a mixture at the moment. There's an...
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    Comment by 'VirginiaLowe' in article 'Top 8 "Special" Chicken Treats'

    I disagree about not giving out-of-date food to chickens (which we call 'chooks" in Australia). I've kept chooks for about forty years, and they do die, but only of old age (it's a retirement village for chooks i think). They know what to eat and what not to, our soil is sandy and not very good...
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    Official BYC Poll: Why Do You Have Chickens?

    Eggs, fertiliser, what-names-to-give-them (when the kids were little forty years ago), entertainment, what-will-i- find-hidden-in-the-ivy? occasional poetry inspiration (see below - sorry i tried to put the file as an attachment but i couldn't). The Morning after the Death Virginia Lowe As...
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    Rooster Saved My Whole Flock

    Trouble is, you can't have a rooster in the city (coucil won't let you. Neighbours don't like the wake up call). But i've always found having a dog around is the answer to foxes, anyway. Just the dog-smell seems to keep them away. And i've never had one who wasn't very relieible with the chooks...
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    Devastated... Lost 7 of 13 chicks last night.

    Oh, and i forget to say our daughter is a permaculture farmer. She has wall to wall chooks on her property, and usually 3 or 4 dogs. She takes the two of her sons' dogs from our place sometiemes, and always has a couple more. She's never had any of them attack the poultry - she's got ducks too...
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    Devastated... Lost 7 of 13 chicks last night.

    YOu poor thing - how horrible for you, especially as you'd spent some time and effort nursing them. But don't assume your dog will be a problem with the poultry all the time. We have had a grandson living with us for about 8 years (he's 24 now - moving out next week). Anyay he has two dogs - a...
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    If feed stores closed and you can’t free range...

    My seven absolutely go mad for trad or wandering Jew - little triangular white flower, glossy green juicy leaves. The front garden is full of it - useful ground-cover. But i think if i free ran them there they'd eat it down in a couple of days - not enough to keep them going i don't think. They...
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    Official BYC Poll: How Long Have You Been Raising Chickens?

    I first got hens (or chooks as we Aussies call them) when there were fires in the Dandenong Ranges just behind Melbourne, and there were some burnt out ones that needed a home. My children were only young - it must have been about 35 years ago or more. I put them in the chicken coop at work (i...
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    4 AM: A problem or totally normal?

    Replying to whether chooks (as Aussies call them) recognise you or not, and whether they are intelligent. I've done no tests, but mine start talking as soon as they hear us say anything in the bedroom which is right by their gate. They know food could be on the way. I don't know that they...
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