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

[satay]

My sweet bubs

I can't wait to see how their colours develop.

So pretty

 

[satay]

Exactly my point sjturner79 .... they take a bit of looking after if they are prone to 'loving the rain'.  !! 

It would be allowing them to go to bed wet, or having them wet overnight when they are docile and sleepy - and unable to help themselves  ( as was the case with my dear little Moppit ) ....  that could be disastrous.   I don't think they CAN help themselves, if wet through - which is why I see here you sometimes have to dry them off before bedtime.  

I so wish I knew back then, what I know now - about Silkies.  

BUT - they are beautiful birds, and if housed in perfect conditions for them, with appropriate shelter from being wet  - they should live long and happy lives.

Cheers ........  

I would think they would be a great bird for out here. We have had the driest summer in 9 years and seen very little rain. My poor girls love the rain probably cause they hardly ever see it.

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

Tee hee potato chip, you and me both, I am thinking that eating meal worms is not going to be on my bucket list any time soon and if by some very remote chance it was, I am not sure that Dusty would appreciate sharing

satay great pics and I see why you get excited at the sight of green grass

I wonder what happened to Rodney.

On the subject of chickens and rain .. the princesses do not do ‘get wet’ .. if it is raining, they are sheltering.

On the subject of treats .. the princesses have favourites. While the majority of the flock is not particularly fond of grasshoppers, Blondie loves them. Only Dusty and KiKi will eat earth worms but they do all love their meal worms.

On the subject of bedding .. I use straw in the nest boxes and as you know, bare timber slatted floor in the coop.

Chook Newby while I am going to say “do not feel bad, accidents happen and you meant well” I know that it is probably going to play on your mind for a while.

If it helps, we have probably all been there at some time. I still feel sick at the thought of how I nearly squashed Chimee [cat] when she was a baby. I was making the bed and she was ‘helping’ .. she jumped up onto the bed base as I was dropping the corner of the mattress; bad reflexes and one more second and she would be gone. While it still haunts me, she would not even have noticed.

We also feel bad any time we accidentally step on their tails etc .. again, we feel awful when they have probably forgotten about it.

Don’t beat yourself up, I am sure your girl has forgotten also

mooandmcgee that is great news about your littlies putting themselves to bed. Hey, if you have “serious issues” trust me when I say "we all do"

MyHaven your bubs are beautiful!

 

[Fancychooklady]

mooandmcgee ... 

I don't use hay for a variety of reasons.    Some would agree, others not.  It is pretty much 50/50 upon research.  

Hay however, can become mouldy, and that is something you don't want.   Chicken droppings on hay will make it 'wet' ( sort of ) ... and that is not good. 

I only use normal every-day straw in my coops, and when used up or getting a bit 'thick' looking I  throw it out as part of compost or with chicken manure for gardens ( mine and others ).  There is enough in and on straw for the chickens to pick at, if they so desire - to keep them amused.   Hay can have a little dietary benefit, but imho, has more against it than for it.   Grass, if available, is probably more beneficial. 

Some however, would disagree.   ....

To each his / her own.  

Cheers .....   

Depends largely on the quality of hay. After being in werribee at Aus champs and having to purchase hay I would say that the oaten hay there is no better than straw. I throw a biscuit of Lucerne in to the runs and they love it. If you have mites or lice straw is the worst thing to have in your nesting boxes, unlike hay it is cylindrical and gives the nasties a perfect place to hide.
Tassie is usually very wet and cold during winter and spring and after 14 years of owning and raising silkies I've never had a problem with keeping them dry. Adequate shelter is the key, but I think that can be said of all breeds.
I use hay in my nest boxes and under the perches, it's easier to handle when raking out and once it's full of poop and nutrients , I pile it up around the trees in the garden. Don't get me wrong , I've used straw as well but I wouldn't say that one was better than the other. Just depends what is available to you and what is most cost effective .

 

[satay]

Good morning folks 

T
satay great pics and I see why you get excited at the sight of green grass  I wonder what happened to Rodney.

Or grass of any kind. What little i have now is crunchy brown. I go to my mums in Brissy and love to walk out back on her real grass Yes she thinks I'm a nut
I think i would be in seventh heaven if i ever made it down to Tassie and Fancys place, all that beautiful green grass and those stunning gardens.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Ok well in your mind should I spay the chicks just in case? And what would I do with the coop incase it is mites on the birds?

Inspect the coop during the day, but believe me I almost missed detecting them in mine. They are so minuscule that unless there are vast numbers of them you won't see them. When you run your hand over them you will see a blood smear. Detecting them on the birds is even more difficult , if you handle your birds a lot chances are you will feel the creepy crawleys on you.
There are several products on the market but I use the generic surface spray , it contains permethrin and is most cost effective for my circumstances.
Spot on treatments like ivomectin are used but they are ' off label ' in that the science hasn't been done on poultry and there is no way of knowing what kind of impact or residual effect it might have on the birds organs or eggs.
All that being said , personally I wouldn't spray the birds ' direct ' unless they had parasites. On the other hand spraying the coop and nesting boxes may help as a preventative .

 

[Fancychooklady]

Or grass of any kind. What little i have now is crunchy brown. I go to my mums in Brissy and love to walk out back on her real grass Yes she thinks I'm a nut
I think i would be in seventh heaven if i ever made it down to Tassie and Fancys place, all that beautiful green grass and those stunning gardens.

Our daughter is back from Perth , she said she missed the smell of fresh cut grass and the Arctic showers we get here. The garden is struggling in this dry spell we have been having and the horse paddocks desperately need rain.

 

[CluckerFeet]

It's raining quite a bit where I am right now... This is the one time the moonscrape in the chooks run has a purpose: worms! They all come up from the ground there (as there's no grass). It keeps the chooks under the cover (even chooks that won't eat the worms get distracted by them). :7

Luckily the chicken with the thickest feathers is the lowest in the pecking order, so none of the others try following her out into the rain when she wanders.

 

[CluckerFeet]

These little guys are purebred brahmas. There is a mix of colours (I'm not sure what all the colours are called) - partridge, splash, coronation, pencilled/laced in blue and buff and who know what else.

I don't normally incubate but these guys are smartest I have ever hatched without a clucky hen. They just jumped straight in and ate and drank without being shown. The first hatched on day 19 and it seems to teach the others. It comes out and gets the food first and the others follow.

Sounds like a nice variation of colours, although it looks like mostly partridge to me (I think?).

That's amazing that the first chick shows them around! Future top of the pecking order in your brahmas maybe? :7

 

[CluckerFeet]

Thought I'd show you all Ebony's lovely tail feathers!

Except she doesn't have any at the moment... (besides the ones scattered around the yard from the moult) :7



None of the chooks know where the camera is... :7