Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[satay]

Welcome : )  Another nice way to choose breeds is by egg colour if you are wanting them for eggs.  You might find this link useful for general guidelines on what we have here & how productive they are.  I've also heard that the larger birds suffer more in the heat & given that this is my first summer with chooks I have yet to find out how much the ones I have will struggle.
http://www.backyardpoultry.com/wiki/index.php/Chicken_Breeds_Chart

Some larger breeds do. Mine all seem to have made it thru so far today ok. Its finally dropped to 38c .. All the storms have missed us so now it's humid as...
i have marans, belgian duccles, pekins and aracuanas that i breed but i also have australorps, rirs, gold spangled hamburgs, 1 isa brown,a couple of buff cochins, a few sussex as well as ducks and turkeys.

 

[AussieChics]

It's usually labelled calcium carbonate.
We have ducklings hatching in every direction.

Rang the fodder today and he's never heard of it. Only has the shell grit :-(

 

[vehve]

Bleh, we have a heat wave here too, it's 10°C outside and we've been getting this misty rain since yesterday. It's making the coop super humid, I don't like it.

 

[Jellyballoo]

I want them for eggs. Entertainment/tameness would be nice too, but really eggs. They won't get eaten, but I'd like them to be more than decorative.

I was a bit torn on what would be best for a newbie, i.e. ones smart/scrappy enough to maybe forage a bit or keep an eye out for predators, or ones that are super soft and dopey but willing to let that strange lady pick them up. I could see pluses or minuses either way.


I was looking at Australorps for dopey, Sumatras for scrappy, and sex-links for being sure I had hens? But I could be easily convinced to go another way, except I don't really want a strictly show/pet breed like Silkies, as cute as they are. 

Hiya and welcome

I'm fairly new too

Our first two were purchased as sex linked point of lay pullets we picked out from a produce store
Henny Penny is an ISA brown and Speckles is an Austra White
They started laying after 3 weeks and have hardly missed a beat, we have had atleast one egg every say since, usually two
They are very friendly and follow us around like puppys, they also don't mind being petted and tolerate being picked up lol


A little over a week ago we picked up two silkies
They are so cute and currently have layed 2 eggs each
Though they are no where near as friendly as Penny and Speckes, not yet anyway and their eggs are a fair bit smaller

I would definitely get sex-linked again if I was after good layers and temperament (but I do also love my silkies

)


Edit: it's also pretty cool that Penny and Speckles lay different coloured eggs, Penny's are light brown and Speckles and white/ cream so we know who's laying what and when
Mia and Bella's eggs are exactly the same, the only way I know that they have each layed 2 is because they both layed on the same days lol

 

[K Spot]

Some larger breeds do. Mine all seem to have made it thru so far today ok. Its finally dropped to 38c .. All the storms have missed us so now it's humid as...
i have marans, belgian duccles, pekins and aracuanas that i breed but i also have australorps, rirs, gold spangled hamburgs, 1 isa brown,a couple of buff cochins, a few sussex as well as ducks and turkeys.

All my girls are ok after the heat too. Glad to hear your birds made it through as well Satay.

 

[AussieChics]

My 4th chicken has laid her first egg today! Yay!

 

[IamSamSam]

Glad the girls made it threw the heat today

 

[IamSamSam]

Grats Aussie

 

[Teila]

Howdy folks

K Spot I am so sorry to read about your little Bantam Rock; so sad

Satay ouch! That is hot! I think Brisbane made it to 34C.

appps your integration woes sound similar to mine. The older gals are not interested in the chicks much at all, just the lower on the pecking order mum.

Having said that, after leaving them supervised free ranging pretty much most of the weekend; she spent the day with the beans today but when I let all the adults out for a free range, Tina only copped a tiny bit of flack from the matriarch but not too bad, no pecking, just a ‘get out of my personal space’ warning. Otherwise, it went really well and I will continue with the baby-steps.

Nice to meet you striped socks. I am not going to be much help with ‘which breed’ advice; I tend to go for the dopey, minimal egg laying, broody inclined bantam garden ornaments who I love to bits; eggs are a bonus

Congrats on #4’s first egg AussieChics

Well, we definitely did not have it as hot as some today but working from home, I was able to damp down the run at lunch time and make sure everyone was coping OK. Also managed to give everyone a quick free range before the storm hit and then tucked away again without anyone getting wet; including me

We got a nice drop of rain and maybe enough to put a slight green tinge on the lawn but definitely need more. Doesn’t look like we will get any more today as the rain now appears to be going either side of us but more rain predicted tomorrow.

 

[satay]

Howdy folks 

K Spot I am so sorry to read about your little Bantam Rock; so sad 

Satay ouch!  That is hot!  I think Brisbane made it to 34C.

appps your integration woes sound similar to mine.  The older gals are not interested in the chicks much at all, just the lower on the pecking order mum. 

Having said that, after leaving them supervised free ranging pretty much most of the weekend; she spent the day with the beans today but when I let all the adults out for a free range, Tina only copped a tiny bit of flack from the matriarch but not too bad, no pecking, just a ‘get out of my personal space’ warning.  Otherwise, it went really well and I will continue with the baby-steps.

Nice to meet you striped socks.  I am not going to be much help with ‘which breed’ advice; I tend to go for the dopey, minimal egg laying, broody inclined bantam garden ornaments who I love to bits; eggs are a bonus 

Congrats on #4’s first egg AussieChics 
 
Well, we definitely did not have it as hot as some today but working from home, I was able to damp down the run at lunch time and make sure everyone was coping OK. Also managed to give everyone a quick free range before the storm hit and then tucked away again without anyone getting wet; including me 

We got a nice drop of rain and maybe enough to put a slight green tinge on the lawn but definitely need more.  Doesn’t look like we will get any more today as the rain now appears to be going either side of us but more rain predicted tomorrow.

Yeah sure was it's still 33c now.