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

[Fancychooklady]

hey fancy.

Rose is showing no changes in behaviour at all at it was just once. I will keep an eye on her and worm all the chicken just in case. Can I still eat the eggs from my older girls if I worm them. ... or should I wait for the older girls go into molt and stop laying to worm? What do you do?

There is usually a withdrawal period but if she is ok, I'd wait till everyone slows down for the winter.

 

[mooandmcgee]

Hehe, nothing like a little guilt for incentive . you'll get a few years out of the coop, but I would use those cement pavers to elevate it up off the damp ground.

My idea exactly, it's actually normally a very dry cool part of the yard but is wet at the moment after cementing the posts in. Do want the coop raised a bit off the grown still though.

He does his best work when feeling guilty.

 

[MyHaven]

I feel the need to share. I found one of my chicks (hatched 20/2/16) dead yesterday. It looks like something got her through the wire (15mm). They are in a hutch, inside the run under thick tree cover.

What did I say about if we'd seen it all and knowing it all before hand. I didn't think they needed the double barrier anymore while I was about. I am so cranky with myself. I should have foreseen this possibility.

And if it had to happen, why to a girl and not a boy that I need to get rid of any way?

 

[satay]

I feel the need to share. I found one of my chicks (hatched 20/2/16) dead yesterday. It looks like something got her through the wire (15mm). They are in a hutch, inside the run under thick tree cover.

What did I say about if we'd seen it all and knowing it all before hand. I didn't think they needed the double barrier anymore while I was about. I am so cranky with myself. I should have foreseen this possibility.

And if it had to happen, why to a girl and not a boy that I need to get rid of any way?

Could it be a butcher bird. I have noticed alot of young ones around lately.? Keep an eye out for snakes too this time of year as they are feeding up now before winter. Unfortunately it is always the ones you want to keep that seem to get taken.

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

Fizzybelle it was with dread I read the words “This post has been hard to type, Beatrice my d’uccle …….” but dread turned to a big smile when I realised why it was hard to type. Dem beaks can pack a punch

Hey kat79 [and others] here is a link to another poop chart that I also use along with the one Fancy gave a link to:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

mooandmcgee the run progress is looking great! Good tip from Fancy with the cement pavers or elevation. I did not put anything ‘solid’ under the ‘Ranch’ coop and over the years, it gradually sunk. If the kit coop is covered from the weather, you should easily get 2-3 years out of it, I did.

MyHaven I am so very sorry to read of your loss

As I thought, we did not get the human door on the run yesterday, all a bit sore and tired after the concerted effort but the run wiring is all done. So, to finish we have the human door, their external roost and a small door and window [all ready, stained etc] to add.

We had a small amount of rain overnight and while the grass and surrounds are damp, the coop and run are perfectly dry … For the first time in years I am not having to keep one eye on the rain radar and be ready to rush out with the run covers .. pretty chuffed about that

I also realised yesterday, as I have said in the past, I have never minded having to look after the girls but having a set up which is easy to access etc has reduced the time taken for the morning routine significantly; no hard to reach places and no kneeling.

I have also been able to work out what is going on with KiKi and her noise .. Yesterday and today, I could hear her and I peeked out the bedroom window. Everyone was still in the coop and once they had all wandered down the ramp, she has been quiet as. I rechecked with the neighbours over the weekend also and no-one has heard her. With the positioning of the old coop and run, it was difficult to tell if they were in the coop or in the run but now I can easily see and it looks like she is just saying her good morning to the world when she wakes up and the world is probably not as disturbed by it as I thought they were

Granted, she still wakes up my son, but he just shuts his window and goes back to sleep. Yes, she gets a bit noisy during the day when she thinks it is time for free ranging but it is during the day and as others have mentioned, she is probably no noisier than the neighbourhood dogs, children and wild birds.

Maybe the new, higher run has helped in that she feels less confined but she is definitely improved and she gets to stay

 

[Fancychooklady]

Good morning folks 

Fizzybelle it was with dread I read the words “This post has been hard to type, Beatrice my d’uccle …….” but dread turned to a big smile when I realised why it was hard to type.  Dem beaks can pack a punch 

Hey kat79 [and others] here is a link to another poop chart that I also use along with the one Fancy gave a link to:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

mooandmcgee the run progress is looking great! Good tip from Fancy with the cement pavers or elevation.  I did not put anything ‘solid’ under the ‘Ranch’ coop and over the years, it gradually sunk.  If the kit coop is covered from the weather, you should easily get 2-3 years out of it, I did.

MyHaven I am so very sorry to read of your loss 

As I thought, we did not get the human door on the run yesterday, all a bit sore and tired after the concerted effort but the run wiring is all done.  So, to finish we have the human door, their external roost and a small door and window [all ready, stained etc] to add.

We had a small amount of rain overnight and while the grass and surrounds are damp, the coop and run are perfectly dry … For the first time in years I am not having to keep one eye on the rain radar and be ready to rush out with the run covers .. pretty chuffed about that 

I also realised yesterday, as I have said in the past, I have never minded having to look after the girls but having a set up which is easy to access etc has reduced the time taken for the morning routine significantly; no hard to reach places and no kneeling.

I have also been able to work out what is going on with KiKi and her noise ..  Yesterday and today, I could hear her and I peeked out the bedroom window.  Everyone was still in the coop and once they had all wandered down the ramp, she has been quiet as.  I rechecked with the neighbours over the weekend also and no-one has heard her.  With the positioning of the old coop and run, it was difficult to tell if they were in the coop or in the run but now I can easily see and it looks like she is just saying her good morning to the world when she wakes up and the world is probably not as disturbed by it as I thought they were    Granted, she still wakes up my son, but he just shuts his window and goes back to sleep.  Yes, she gets a bit noisy during the day when she thinks it is time for free ranging but it is during the day and as others have mentioned, she is probably no noisier than the neighbourhood dogs, children and wild birds.

Maybe the new, higher run has helped in that she feels less confined but she is definitely improved and she gets to stay   

A great sense of achievement , well deserved. At some time we all realise that they we could have done some slightly better and that it is why it is always nice to have feedback . So glad that Kiki now has a ' stay of execution ' ,

 

[Fancychooklady]

I feel the need to share. I found one of my chicks (hatched 20/2/16) dead yesterday. It looks like something got her through the wire (15mm). They are in a hutch, inside the run under thick tree cover.

What did I say about if we'd seen it all and knowing it all before hand. I didn't think they needed the double barrier anymore while I was about. I am so cranky with myself. I should have foreseen this possibility.

And if it had to happen, why to a girl and not a boy that I need to get rid of any way?

Oh so sorry to hear, rats are also very active at this time of year. I'm also quite convinced that the hawk can sex my chicks, always takes the girls
Pick yourself up and learn from the experience, nature is sometimes very brutal, so don't beat yourself up.

 

[mooandmcgee]

I feel the need to share. I found one of my chicks (hatched 20/2/16) dead yesterday. It looks like something got her through the wire (15mm). They are in a hutch, inside the run under thick tree cover.

What did I say about if we'd seen it all and knowing it all before hand. I didn't think they needed the double barrier anymore while I was about. I am so cranky with myself. I should have foreseen this possibility.

And if it had to happen, why to a girl and not a boy that I need to get rid of any way?

OMG Really??? That's insane, what could have gotten them? I let my chicks out ALL the time because they love it. We are in the city though so my thinking is that's it's a little safer with less around. What would have gotten it?

 

[Teila]

Oh so sorry to hear, rats are also very active at this time of year. I'm also quite convinced that the hawk can sex my chicks, always takes the girls

Pick yourself up and learn from the experience, nature is sometimes very brutal, so don't beat yourself up.

I was wracking my brain trying to think of what might have got MyHaven's chick and did not think of rats ... good one!

I was thinking along the lines of snake or small monitor lizard, bobtail etc.

 

[Ashburnham]

I was wracking my brain trying to think of what might have got MyHaven's chick and did not think of rats ... good one!

I was thinking along the lines of snake or small monitor lizard, bobtail etc.

I have had ferrets attack my chickens on two occasions.
They can fit through tiny holes. usually attack them around the head and neck.