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

[AussieChics]

I don't know why my partner keeps trying to do exactly this...he digs them a big muddy pile then races over to do the tree and they run along behind him! Cracks me up to no end! He chases and swears and stomps and yells...and they just run around him to dig on the other side of the tree!

if they dig deep enough it will be fine lol but if they do it wrong well the water will be on the path again lol

 

[Fancychooklady]

Missed getting to do my day 7 candle cuz I'm stuck in stupid hospital. Man i am soooo ready to be discharged! Bring on Wednesday and fingers crossed!
Hospital is all good when you are sick but when you are at the "monitoring you just in case" stage....gets real old, real quick.
Will it matter too much if i miss Day 7 candle?

No, it's only used as a guideline, I wouldn't worry about it. Hope everything is ok.

 

[Ashburnham]

Missed getting to do my day 7 candle cuz I'm stuck in stupid hospital. Man i am soooo ready to be discharged! Bring on Wednesday and fingers crossed!
Hospital is all good when you are sick but when you are at the "monitoring you just in case" stage....gets real old, real quick.
Will it matter too much if i miss Day 7 candle?

I never bother to candle before about two weeks - then you can tell even with the darkest or thickest
shells whether something is developing.


xxxx M

 

[cwrite]

I don't know why my partner keeps trying to do exactly this...he digs them a big muddy pile then races over to do the tree and they run along behind him! Cracks me up to no end! He chases and swears and stomps and yells...and they just run around him to dig on the other side of the tree!

I have often thought that there would be money to be made if only a chickens prowess at digging could be harnessed.

My garden reflects this only too well.

Fancy, if I could only pay $2 for a bale I would be using it too, or if my coop was just a little further away from my patio. It sure looks a lot prettier and softer than straw.

Snowy has lost her last tail feathers & my daughter, who has seen moulting pics on here is eagerly waiting for a nekkid chook. Poor thing - the chicken that is.

 

[Nu2chooks15]

Hi everyone,

Still waiting for my chooks to start laying but not sure if they're moulting as I'm finding quite a few feathers around both inside and out. Perhaps someone would kindly advise if this is or could be the case

Hoping to find an egg every day but not sure if this will happen until the weather cools down a bit.

The girls all come flocking to me now when they see me so I usually try to have a little treat for them but not always.

Like others here I'm finding my girls are getting quite good at turning the earth and re-arranging the layout.

 

[satay]

No, it's only used as a guideline, I wouldn't worry about it. Hope everything is ok.

Like the others have said I agree I candle if and when I remember. it's not that big a deal.

 

[birdman55]

oh my lans birds are hatching...thought they were gunna hatch tomorrow but guess not

 

[Steampunked]

My rooster has just started crowing, heh. He sounds strangled.

The poor spraddle legged chickens are pretty sad, if it's not heat or slick surfaces it's probably genetics, I guess

 

[Kooka]

My 'front yard' has 37 very tall gums covering it most are 30m +. During the drought they were constantly dropping bark and leaves due to stress. My soil is sandy clay around the house end of the property and it was impossible to feed the trees. Read a very old gardening book where it was suggested that trenches be dug and backfilled with broken pottery, must have been freely available then. So I dug the trenches about 500mm deep along what i imagined to be natural contour lines. Instead of terracotta or rock I used Bark chips from some trees that had to be brought down. The theory is that the clay is slow to absorb water, the trench arrests flow and allows it to seep in. Once the clay starts to hold water it is like a sponge, and holds water well for use ongoing through the dry months, my theory was that the bark chips would hold water and mulch at the same time, That was some ten years ago. Initially I had to use our bore water to start things going. I am lucky in that our bore gives us mineral water quality. Still, within months the trees responded and after the first rains we got there was NO run off lost and since then the entire area remains moist year around. I feel that the backfilling is the icing on the cake. During winter I sprinkle tree food pellets along the trenches where it breaks down and does its job. In other places I made a hole with a 150mm post hole auger, cut the bottom of coke or similar plastic bottles, filled them with good mature compost and buried them level with the surface. Periodic water keeps up a steady flow of nutrients that I top up from time to time. Has the effect of slow watering deeper down..

Last night added three new hens to the flock, they have done their quarantine time. This morning I went out to find the older ladies still in their roost house and the three newbies at the far end of the run. Everyone was in alarm mode. Filled two feeder trays with fermented seed and put them down close enough to allow a 'polite' mixing of the tribes. That broke it down, can't keep a chook from food and it gave them an opportunity to mix and let the games begin. I expected the younger newbies to be ultra cautious..........Hrumph! No way!........they will get sorted in the next while.

Tree through my shed, Insurance Assesor says demolish and rebuild.......Oh my! Council Permits, Inspectors, chook pens/ housed Gawd! Ho Hum! had to happen eventually with all the tall Gums I have.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[appps]

Don't worry too much Andrew, I find inspectors only care about their own area of inspection. We had one inspect us because the neighbour complained that we were keeping chickens (idiots) and he said nothing about the fact we had an illegal lean to on the side of the house and had never had a final house inspection.