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

[sjturner79]

I seperated out the chooks that are going to auction today. There are 19.
Tonight it looks like 2 of my layers have decided to go broody, and the ones that just had chicks, but lost them are pancake on the nests too, so I was thinking I need to build a broody breaker.
Just as I was putting them to bed tonight I spotted a shopping trolley that has been laying around the yard for a while. So I put the 4 Broodies in there with a pallet on top to stop them jumping out. We'll see how broody they all feeling tommorrow.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I seperated out the chooks that are going to auction today. There are 19.
Tonight it looks like 2 of my layers have decided to go broody, and the ones that just had chicks, but lost them are pancake on the nests too, so I was thinking I need to build a broody breaker.
Just as I was putting them to bed tonight I spotted a shopping trolley that has been laying around the yard for a while. So I put the 4 Broodies in there with a pallet on top to stop them jumping out. We'll see how broody they all feeling tommorrow.

Gee, hope you don't intend taking that trolley back to the shops. Wouldn't want my groceries in there.

 

[sjturner79]

Gee, hope you don't intend taking that trolley back to the shops. Wouldn't want my groceries in there.

It was already rusting in our yard when we moved in 2 years ago. I don't think the shops would have wanted it anyway.

 

[Fancychooklady]

It was already rusting in our yard when we moved in 2 years ago. I don't think the shops would have wanted it anyway.

Oh just as well, once when I was shopping in Sydney a lady had her poodle in the baby seat, she couldn't understand why the staff weren't impressed . From then on I took a bottle of eucalyptus in my bag and wiped down the seat before I would put my baby in it.

 

[mooandmcgee]

I seperated out the chooks that are going to auction today. There are 19.
Tonight it looks like 2 of my layers have decided to go broody, and the ones that just had chicks, but lost them are pancake on the nests too, so I was thinking I need to build a broody breaker.
Just as I was putting them to bed tonight I spotted a shopping trolley that has been laying around the yard for a while. So I put the 4 Broodies in there with a pallet on top to stop them jumping out. We'll see how broody they all feeling tommorrow.

Oh WOW! My goodness I am such a neieve chicken owner.

My chicks are only 4+wks so obviously have a lot to learn before they possibly get broodie. Fingers crossed it works.

 

[Anniebee]

Good morning friends

Deej211 that juvenile sea eagle is beautiful. I hope, as Fancy suggested, she is not a threat to your chickens.

MyHaven I am sorry to read about your cat getting attacked also. “She is chomped up a bit” does not sound like your average domestic cat fight and I wonder if you do not have a feral cat problem as well as a fox problem?

No real news of note but I will waffle just for fun

lol

The girls have been going to bed at 6pm for a couple of weeks now and as with everyone’s chooks, they have gradually gone earlier from the 7pm summer due to it getting dark earlier. However, last night they jumped from 6pm to 05:45pm, 15 minutes early! It was not overcast and I can only wonder and hope that they like their new digs so much they are going to bed early

Porter, the Koel [cuckoo] is still in residence and peeping up a storm. On Sunday I tried to offer him a meal worm but he did not know what to do with it. While he can fly pretty well, he still seems to be reliant on Mum feeding him. He appears to be used to us being around and does not fly away when we walk up and talk to him.

He landed on the lounge room window sill the other day and both cats were immediately on the other side of the window, sussing him out. He was asking them “Are you my mummy? Please feed me” and they replied “are you are lunch?”

I find myself checking up on the little guy every morning and happy to hear his call. The Miner birds were picking on him yesterday and I raced to his rescue

I hope that his trusting nature does not get him into trouble

Over the road’s cat is a worry!

Teila ... just a wee note here.

While you can enjoy hours of fun with your cuckoo, Porter - talking to him / her, getting close enough without young 'un not running away - it's best not to feed a wild bird. I learned that lesson in the hardest way.

Wild birds can and often will, reject a juvenile from their 'pack / flock' if they see they are getting hand fed from other quarters. And adult birds, rejecting a youngster, is not something you would want to witness. ... Believe me.

Magpies are in particular, horrid at that caper. And as Mum is a mud ( magpie ) lark, she could well beat the hell out of him / her, if she thinks it prefers you as "Mum".


Not so bad to sprinkle a few goodies here and there, walk away and let them figure it out for themselves. But close bonding with the young, hand feeding etc., is not good news for the young.

Birds are well known for 'imprinting' on what they think is a parent ( be it a dog, human, horse, other bird - whatever ). That's when trouble can start. Not always, but often enough.

Hope you don't mind my bibbing in here, with that.

Cheers .....

 

[Anniebee]

Thanks everyone for your support. I knew I could count on you all. I don't know what could have happened to the chick. It was in the early afternoon while I was home. There were no foreign tracks in the dirt but any there could have been scratched out by the time I found her. It was a little too early to let the big chooks out for free range which is why I hadn't found her sooner. The way she was lying looked like she had been attacked from the other side of the wire.

On the night before last, I left a side door opened on my house and a cat got in and attacked my cat. I was at the vet first thing yesterday morning. She is chomped up a bit. She has lots of puncture wounds. I disturbed the intruder.

When I let the chooks out yesterday, I found scratching/digging attempts under the coop door. Not all the way through. Yes Mr Fox is giving it ago. The council only removed the trap two weeks ago. I haven't yet been able to try the climbing deterant that I learned. That will have to be prioritised. I'll also do a seperate post with details of that.

Maybe it was a fox that chomped my cat? Inside the house would be a stretch. But fox or cat could have followed her in if she'd taken advantage of an open door.

I don't think it was a fox that got the chick.

Ferrets - sorry, I hate anything ferrel running in our bush.

Beautiful eagle shots. Magnificent birds.

MyHaven .... have to agree with Teila that you might have double trouble around there - foxes - - - and feral cats, which can grow mighty large.

I doubt a fox would ever enter a house to beat up a cat, with all those human smells around in the house. A large male feral tom cat might though.

I hope anti-biotics will fix all the bacteria that can occur in puncture wounds on a cat ( or anything ). And I trust your lovely cat recovers well. I am sure she will, with the vet. intervention you immediately sought.

Abcesses can form quickly from puncture wounds ( teeth in particular ) .... in cat attacks. And maybe your little girl cat was too overwhelmed to fight back, or did not have the size or 'feral' instinct, to do so.

My only advice ( which doesn't sit well with a lot of people ) ... is - - - lock all your precious animals / birds up at night, with no exception. Manually let them out to toilet or scratch around, in the a.m. but ( if possible ) not too early. Foxes don't mind the dawning of a new day, and will continue a hunt if they are hungry enough - into the daytime. Mentioned a while back, of a friend who lost her Siamese cat to a fox, at midday - which she saw happen. Grief stricken she was, and in shock.

We can't be held to ransom by foxes though, so we can only all do the best we can for our furry and feathered loved ones.

And as you have said again, that you have snakes as well, it's still my bet it was possibly a small snake that bit your chick, injecting its' poison. Rats also dig like crazy - large holes to get into wherever they want ... and they also chew chunks away on wooden doors ( I discovered ) to gain entry to chook food. A large rat might also kill a small chicken, but how through small wire, I cannot imagine.

Cheers .........

 

[mooandmcgee]

This morning HRH Ruby (the cat) was walking slowly but normally and the swelling on her back has gone down. I have to watch the wound and her poos to ensure her anus and bowel weren't punctured.

I raked around the run last night and this morning there was no digging or tracks. Yay.

I'm sorry to say but I am in suburbia and I still have foxes and snakes, although I haven't seen the later for awhile.

Nuts, seriously? You'd be the only one on this site considered nuts!

Oh and btw I'm thinking my d'uccle pol/rooster is back to being a pol. He's showing a lot of interest in the nest. He looks very different to the other pol - same hatch,same rooster. I couldn't tell them apart when I first got them. I'll try and post a pic of them both. Feeling silly.

Aw your poor kitty that's so terrible!!! Hope she is back to 100% soon.

My goodness; foxes, snakes, rats, eagles, cats, other birds this is all so intense.

This is going to sound totally stupid but I never knew there were foxes in Aus. Hahahaha!!!

Building our chicken run bullet proof to hopefully keep our girls as safe as possible. It's amazing just how much we love them already.

 

[IamSamSam]

Oh just as well, once when I was shopping in Sydney a lady had her poodle in the baby seat, she couldn't understand why the staff weren't impressed . From then on I took a bottle of eucalyptus in my bag and wiped down the seat before I would put my baby in it.

Our local Woolworths have antibacterial wipes freely available at the trolley point now

 

[MyHaven]

I seperated out the chooks that are going to auction today. There are 19.
Tonight it looks like 2 of my layers have decided to go broody, and the ones that just had chicks, but lost them are pancake on the nests too, so I was thinking I need to build a broody breaker.
Just as I was putting them to bed tonight I spotted a shopping trolley that has been laying around the yard for a while. So I put the 4 Broodies in there with a pallet on top to stop them jumping out. We'll see how broody they all feeling tommorrow.

I've had trouble before locking multiple cluckies up together. They're so hormonal they beat each other up.

I trust your girls are more restrained. Good use for a trolly. I wish I had one.