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

[locknest4]

Again - great posts and much information, thanks to all. Re : Ice for chickens. If one has no room left in freezer, half fill a zip lock bag which will flatten out - make sure zip is securely closed, and place carefully on top of something flat ( if there is room !! - a lot of shuffling to do that in my over stuffed freezer ). Freeze the water kind of flat, and it is then easily broken with a meat tenderiser / hammer ... to put in chicken water. I can't even fit a flat ice ball tray in ! Re : Corn .. it is very strange - not one of my 3 girls will eat it - when they get scratch mix. !! Do they know something ? The wild birds clean it up. My two big girls eat everything except the corn, but little Mindy - she avoids both corn and the tiny shells and shell grit. Flatly refuses to eat those. So I grind up their own eggs shells and mix it solidly with cheese .... for more calcium. She should get enough calcium in her layer pellets, but has laid a few soft shells over time, and in particular 3 of them now in the past 2 weeks. So I endeavour to 'make' her ingest more calcium with the cheese / egg shells, and NO scratch mix ( she pigs out on it, and it fills her up ) ... so - if she wants to eat - she has no choice but to eat her layer pellets and the little handful of cheese she gets, every other day. Then she lays nice firm eggs with the hardest shells you could possibly imagine. Has always taken several hard cracks with a knife to break the shell. ( perhaps she uses too much calcium in the good eggs ?? ). Here is little Mindy Araucana - a better look at her in this photo. And Mandy Welsummer .... announcing --- " EGG NOW LAID - Whew " Molly RIR was impossible --- all she wanted to do was fly up to peck and investigate the camera. I think she was trying for a selfie. !! So will get a new one of her very soon, I hope. ( when she's not looking ). Cheers folks -------

Gorgeous pics!

 

[locknest4]

The troops are finally home. A successful campaign , 8th at aus champs in the junior ring fourth overall at nationals and some beautiful clear rounds all round. The boys are happy to be home eating green grass again. Lucky me, I get the washing.

beautiful photos!

 

[Anniebee]

Calcium carbonate is more readily absorbed by the hen. Soft shells are the danger signs that hen is at risk of perosis and also a precursor for possible egg breakage in the chamber. It's only a couple of dollars for 150 200 g bag . Certainly one of the easiest problems to address in poultry.

http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/calcium-the-key-to-beautiful-eggs-and-healthy-hens/

Thank you so much for that information Fancychooklady ..... it has frankly worried me at times, particularly about a blockage / bursting of an egg in the chamber.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong whatsoever, with the way she walks, or her joints ( perosis ) .... but I will start the calcium carbonate asap.

The BIG problem will be how to get it into her ... I can only imagine grinding up a calcium carbonate tablet - using half only - and pressing it into a mess of cheese, re-chopped up ( she does love her cheese ).

She's one very very fussy chicken

--- would half a calcium carbonate tablet be enough - or too much ?... and how often per week ? Would appreciate your thoughts on that.

Otherwise, where would I get calcium carbonate in powder form ? I can't say I have ever seen it on offer - but then I have never had to look for it.

I have read the link, thank you - and ground up oyster shells were mentioned. Also - to allow the chicken to choose when she needs extra calcium. .... choosing ? therein lies a dilemma.

Knowing Madam Mindy - and the way she avoids shell grit ( including oyster ) and ignored the only time I sprinkled ground up egg shells for her, before jamming them into the cheese from then on --- she will NOT take kindly to ground up anything else. I once left some shell grit in a bowl --- phfft to that. It was not touched - and I know from the flat way I smoothed it all out - it had not been looked at.

Because she has trouble seeing through her copious feathers around the eyes ( typical Araucana ) ... it is always easy to see what she has been at, and what she hasn't. If she had EVER poked her beak into that shell grit, I'd have known - as she makes a real mess of her food and eating habits.

Seems some chickens know when to take extra calcium - and others simply don't.

Many thanks, and would be most grateful for an answer to my questions above.

Anniebee.

p.s. I have actually laboriously collected tiny sea-shells from where scratch mix was sprinkled for her, and saved them with a view to washing and drying, and grinding up to mash into cheese.

The things we do !!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thank you so much for that information Fancychooklady  ..... it has frankly worried me at times, particularly about a blockage / bursting  of an egg in the chamber.  

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong whatsoever,  with the way she walks, or her joints ( perosis ) .... but I will start the calcium carbonate asap.  

The BIG problem will be how to get it into her ... I can only imagine grinding up a calcium carbonate tablet - using half only - and pressing it into a mess of cheese, re-chopped up ( she does love her cheese ).  

She's one very very fussy chicken     ---  would half a calcium carbonate tablet be enough - or too much ?... and how often per week ?    Would appreciate your thoughts on that.  

Otherwise, where would I get calcium carbonate in powder form ?     I can't say I have ever seen it on offer - but then I have never had to look for it.

I have read the link, thank you - and ground up oyster shells were mentioned.   Also - to allow the chicken to choose when she needs extra calcium.   .... choosing ?   therein lies a dilemma.  

Knowing Madam Mindy - and the way she avoids shell grit ( including oyster ) and ignored the only time I sprinkled ground up egg shells for her, before jamming them into the cheese from then on --- she will NOT take kindly to ground up anything else.    I once left some shell grit in a bowl --- phfft to that.   It was not touched - and I know from the flat way I smoothed it all out - it had not been looked at.

Because she has trouble seeing through her copious feathers around the eyes ( typical Araucana ) ... it is always easy to see what she has been at, and what she hasn't.   If she had EVER poked her beak into that shell grit, I'd have known - as she makes a real mess of her food and eating habits.     

Seems some chickens know when to take extra calcium - and others simply don't.    

Many thanks 

Anniebee.   

Calcium carbonate is oyster shell, you should be able to buy it from your pet supplies. It is best in a bowl , under cover in the coop on ' free take '. Hens are very good at knowing when they need it. Those that don't need it will pass.

http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/VPCC#.VhO2H0pXerU

 

[locknest4]

Hello all,
I actually did take some pics of Henny on the lounge, but I have to get on the computer to share them. No cats dont bother her...but she sure bothers them! My mum in law also has one that likes to come inside, and giving up is the only option, they like the game too much! She's much cleaner than Regina when she invades...Gina will even just jump in a car if you leave the door open.
Speaking of Regina, @RodneyRooster she is an egg stealer. Scovy duck, not chicken. She will move an egg from anywhere to claim it as her own

It's completely a personal choice as to how you keep your birds, but the risk of salmonella is real. Poultry should be housed in their own designated area. It can be a challenge to keep repeat offenders in the coop , but that's all part of responsible husbandry.
We have a strict ' shoes off ' rule here because King George often roams around the garden. Children under 5 should not even be handling poultry and if they are , strict hand washing should be observed. I'm not a prude, I live on a farm and animal manure is part of our life, but not in my house.

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2010/10/thinking-about-keeping-live-poultry/

Fancychooklady thanks for posting this info. This evening when we were getting the chicks back into the brooder from their grass area, I knelt in some of their poop and my son got some on his tee shirt from the chicks feet. Normally I would have rinsed them out straight away but got caught up on an important phone call. The poop has since dried into the clothes. I am thinking about putting them into a wash on their own with Cannestine rinse in the rinse cycle then washing them again with the next normal load of clothes. Will this be safe? Should I do them in a hot wash? Any advice is welcome

 

[Kleonaptra]

Fancychooklady thanks for posting this info. This evening when we were getting the chicks back into the brooder from their grass area, I knelt in some of their poop and my son got some on his tee shirt from the chicks feet. Normally I would have rinsed them out straight away but got caught up on an important phone call. The poop has since dried into the clothes. I am thinking about putting them into a wash on their own with Cannestine rinse in the rinse cycle then washing them again with the next normal load of clothes. Will this be safe? Should I do them in a hot wash? Any advice is welcome

I just use plain soap and water on skin, and normal wash with ordinary washing powder, but if clothes have been especially farm dirtied (me and both kids, birds horses, pigeons, mud) those clothes go in on their own with a bit of generic brand super soaker- cant remember the active ingredient in Vanish - you can get home brand version for $2.50 at woolies, on a heavy duty wash cycle. I don't even have hot water to my laundry. And my son really, really enjoys coprice lucky layer pellets.

 

[locknest4]

Fancychooklady thanks for posting this info. This evening when we were getting the chicks back into the brooder from their grass area, I knelt in some of their poop and my son got some on his tee shirt from the chicks feet. Normally I would have rinsed them out straight away but got caught up on an important phone call. The poop has since dried into the clothes. I am thinking about putting them into a wash on their own with Cannestine rinse in the rinse cycle then washing them again with the next normal load of clothes. Will this be safe? Should I do them in a hot wash? Any advice is welcome

I just use plain soap and water on skin, and normal wash with ordinary washing powder, but if clothes have been especially farm dirtied (me and both kids, birds horses, pigeons, mud) those clothes go in on their own with a bit of generic brand super soaker- cant remember the active ingredient in Vanish - you can get home brand version for $2.50 at woolies, on a heavy duty wash cycle. I don't even have hot water to my laundry. And my son really, really enjoys coprice lucky layer pellets.

Thanks! The joys of chicken and kid raising

 

[appps]

Okay last lockdown question I promise (unless I think of another one or I forget )

To maintain humidity I've been using four of those little measuring cups come on bottles of kids cough medicine and an egg cup rather than the channels because it was too high using the channel at 70% and then didn't last long before dropping down too low. The little containers maintained it steady at 45-50% for up to 36 hrs at a time.

But.....are they safe to leave in there? Do you think a chick would drown in one? Wondering if I'm just going to need to take them out and try and battle with the channels again.

 

[satay]

Okay last lockdown question I promise (unless I think of another one or I forget )

To maintain humidity I've been using four of those little measuring cups come on bottles of kids cough medicine and an egg cup rather than the channels because it was too high using the channel at 70% and then didn't last long before dropping down too low. The little containers maintained it steady at 45-50% for up to 36 hrs at a time.

But.....are they safe to leave in there? Do you think a chick would drown in one? Wondering if I'm just going to need to take them out and try and battle with the channels again.

I think they would be alright appps but if you are worried I have heard of people using wet sponges in the bottom.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Okay last lockdown question I promise (unless I think of another one or I forget )

To maintain humidity I've been using four of those little measuring cups come on bottles of kids cough medicine and an egg cup rather than the channels because it was too high using the channel at 70% and then didn't last long before dropping down too low. The little containers maintained it steady at 45-50% for up to 36 hrs at a time.

But.....are they safe to leave in there? Do you think a chick would drown in one? Wondering if I'm just going to need to take them out and try and battle with the channels again.

Yep , wet sponge works. I also lay the eggs in muffin cases at lockdown, keeps them a little restrained, less likely to bowl any other eggs over and makes clean up easier.