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

[LuckysMum]

Am thinking his lack of company ( after the sad loss of your Shadow ) has a lot to do with it. ... Perhaps you could get yourself another dog - providing their introduction to one another goes well, and the new dog is safe with children - and with chickens.

He doesn't seem to tolerate other dogs when he's out walking and generally there's someone home most of the time so he's not alone a lot. He seems to enjoy just laying their watching the chickens now there are 4 runs he just wonders from babies to teens to pre adults to adults, he tells them off if they fight and snaps at the fences if they don't listen it's quite entertaining.


This was our first eclectic run he couldn't open with one. Haha

Yes, that's right. "One flew into the chicken coop" "What cock-a-doodle-doo? I hear nothing, you must be imagining things"

Thanks potato chip I'll have to remember that when my chicks start crowing hopefully not too many of them my Mia and Piper say I can't get rid of any. It will be noisy here with 10 ISA's, 5 silkies, 9 australorps and we only have the old 1/4 acre.
I'll have to supply the neighbours with ear plugs or turn the stereo up loud.

 

[Anniebee]

Goood morning folks

While I have been lucky to date [touch wood] another reason for the new coop and run is to ensure that if that luck does change and a fox visits, we are ready. I am not too far away from MyHaven so I am definitely taking heed of her warnings.

Hey MyHaven, no, I do not think I have visited Feedmania, but I will keep it in mind, thank you.

Belated birthday wishes to you .. those are beautiful presents!

LuckysMum I am thoroughly enjoying the Bear stories, he sounds like a great big softie and Bear is a good name for him [teddy bear].

I had a border collie x cavalier king charles spaniel named Charlie-Bear who I lost on Christmas Day 5 years ago; still have not got over that one.

Anyways, she was a sweetheart .. she tired to befriend a pet rat that was in our park one day; he had either escaped or someone had dumped him but either way, she wanted to make friends.

On her morning walks, we used to see a big ginger Tom cat most mornings; after a couple of months, he used to hide in the drain when he saw us coming and then jump out and play with her .. they were the best of friends and she got quite upset on the mornings she did not see him.

One afternoon I was watching her out the kitchen window and she kept gently picking something up, moving a few steps and then putting it down again. Having no idea what she had, I went outside to check it out. It was a baby bird and she had not harmed it in any way. She may have been trying to find somewhere safe to put it or just ‘mothering’ it .. so so sweet.

satay they are quail right? Sooooo cute!

Teila .... so loved your story about your much loved departed Charlie-Bear. And I so understand you not getting over the loss of her. You probably never will - I am sad to say.
But I do know that sense of deep loss of a loved pet ... it never leaves. I believe your lovely dog was 'mothering' the baby.

Your story ( tearfully ) reminded me of my dear sweet little Oscar cat. The gentlest cat soul in the world.

Heard a terrible ruckus in the back garden one day - all cats ( 4 of them ) were outside playing. And on the ground, a very young just out of the nest, baby black bird.
The parents were going off their heads, and dive bombing the cats - which kept my two Burmese busy trying to catch them ( with absolutely NO success thank heaven ). Black cat Felix had retired to quieter regions. Oscar was under the magnolia tree. The little darling bird staggered towards him, and he picked up the bird in his mouth. (

) ....

Now - I had NEVER taught those 4 cats to retrieve or return ( had taught just one previously ) .... but I called Oscar over to me with some sixth sense that he might come, and he did - and he simply deposited that young fledgling into my hand so willingly and gently - it had not a mark of injury on it.

A cat ??? doing that ??? I was amazed and very tearful as I received the little soul, transported him back to his frantic parents into the front garden, away from my two nutty leaping Burmese. The baby bird would have stood no chance with them.

The parents took over - away from danger and I herded up the cats indoors. But I will never forget that.

Here is a photo of my darling Oscar - who passed away at the age of 16 years, from cancer.



And an image I did up in Paint Shop Pro 8, to be framed - after he passed away - it is sooo much 'him' :

 

[LuckysMum]

Teila and
Anniebee what beautiful memories of beloved pets we sometimes under estimate our fur and feather friends in their ability to show compassion and mothering to other than their own. Sometimes its not hard to understand why some people prefer animals to humans. Though I think some humans can be under estimated in their abilities to show compassion and love to animal and human alike. Just reading these pages have shown me how much you all love and cherish you beautiful feathered companions. Were others would think of them as just egg layers and never take the time to see there individual traits and charms that make us fall in love with them.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Well it's been an early one for me, yesterday whilst cleaning out the slw pen I found red fowl mites.
So after drenching the coops , up before light to spray the birds. Can't say anyone was very impressed with their early morning shower.
Wanted to share a little story about ' show ' people. I have found dog and horse people to be a little , let's say ' precious ' about their animals, but chicken people are a breed to themselves. Over the weekend we had our local small farms expo. As we were walking around with a local beer and some food cooked by none other than ' the gourmet farmer ' , I saved our lovely organic grown scraps for the chooks I could see up ahead in a cage. When my lovely Hungarian friend offered them to the ' experts ' for their birds as a treat, he was told unceremoniously to put them in the bin. Pffff
I got a coat of paint on the new coop yesterday and will finish up today, pics later.

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

What the? 3 Pages! Might have to top up the coffee mug

MyHaven I look forward to the fox proofing design, thank you in advance for doing that.
LuckysMum I was already a Bear fan and with each post about him, I am becoming a bigger fan … beautiful boy!

potato chip congratulations on the new layer.

Aaaw Anniebee Oscar was beautiful .. I feel your loss

I have shared before, but for those newbies, this is my beautiful Charlie-Bear; I do miss her.

This is my favourite baby photo of her, I still have all her toys:



At the beach, she had just been clipped for summer:



Fancy eeeek at mites!

Were the scraps meat? May be they were some of those ‘Vegetarian fed’ chickens that have always intrigued me … are they fed vegetarians or fed by vegetarians

[Kidding .. no offence intended to vegetarians]

So, opened BYC and on the home page ‘Chicken coop pic of the week’ is very similar to what hubby has planned for our girls .. I hope it turns out as nice.

Our roof is going to be timber and the wire is definitely going to be smaller holes so ‘things’ can not get through.

The nest box is also not going to be ‘external’ .. while I have an external nest box at the moment, I really can not see the difference between lifting a lid to get eggs or opening a door on the side of the coop. As long as it is accessible from the outside of the run, I am happy.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Good morning folks What the? 3 Pages! Might have to top up the coffee mug MyHaven I look forward to the fox proofing design, thank you in advance for doing that. LuckysMum I was already a Bear fan and with each post about him, I am becoming a bigger fan … beautiful boy! potato chip congratulations on the new layer. Aaaw Anniebee Oscar was beautiful .. I feel your loss I have shared before, but for those newbies, this is my beautiful Charlie-Bear; I do miss her. This is my favourite baby photo of her, I still have all her toys: At the beach, she had just been clipped for summer: Fancy eeeek at mites! Were the scraps meat? May be they were some of those ‘Vegetarian fed’ chickens that have always intrigued me … are they fed vegetarians or fed by vegetarians [Kidding .. no offence intended to vegetarians] So, opened BYC and on the home page ‘Chicken coop pic of the week’ is very similar to what hubby has planned for our girls .. I hope it turns out as nice. Our roof is going to be timber and the wire is definitely going to be smaller holes so ‘things’ can not get through. The nest box is also not going to be ‘external’ .. while I have an external nest box at the moment, I really can not see the difference between lifting a lid to get eggs or opening a door on the side of the coop. As long as it is accessible from the outside of the run, I am happy.

Oh our dearest friends leave paw prints on our heart.

The food scraps were little organic tomatoes , halved.

 

[Teila]

Oh our dearest friends leave paw prints on our heart.

The food scraps were little organic tomatoes , halved.

Organic tomatoes

How could you? lol .. yep, precious

 

[MyHaven]

Your dog is bigger than I am....   

EDIT:  I'm so excited.  I just found a teeny-weeny egg with the big girls' eggs.  I think one of my little girls (the little girls who are in with the big girls, not the tiny new imaginary girls in the other yard) has laid an egg.  Woohoo! (it's brown, not blue, so I don't know whether that makes her not an "easter egger"?)  I wonder which it was?  

Congratulations! Is it dark brown?

 

[MyHaven]

Gosh, I wish my chook woopsies on the cement bricks floor of the coop was crumbly.      ..... It is fairly  easily lifted in big clumps, if I use the right tool - small shovel, knife, hard spatula or whatever.    But once I move one lot - the rest follows relatively easily.   Still makes whopping great globs of manure goodies though.  

Might be just because my chooks ......... are my chooks !!     .... or maybe the microbes are kinda lazy. ??

 

Might be the floor beneath that makes the difference.

 

[MyHaven]

I've been offer a D'uccle roo not sure if they make alot noise or not and then I will have to get females. Should I take him or not. Please help me. 

If it were me I'd be very mindful of what I want to do with him, would I actively look for a roo like him. Yes they do make noise, probably not as deep as a standard but they do have volume for the size of them. I also understand they are hard to fit collars to.

If you do decide you want a d'uccle roo, the other thing to consider is that there are always different roos offered for free. You can afford to be selective and another opportunity will come along if you need time to consider.