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

[Anniebee]

Well done LuLu! Beatrice sounded a similar alarm yesterday, she stood up straight and clucked at the bushes whilst I was giving them breakfast, then everyone stood to attention and clucked. I saw what was upsetting her, a big rat - it looked at me, then ran across the yard and into the jungle at the back. Sadly rat catching was the one thing our recently departed cat Lucy was really, really good at. The rat was likely a bit big for the larger girls to try and chase after though, I think. Hopefully he's bothering the neighbours now, as I don't leave food out at night and the wire on their coop is very heavy duty vermin proof stuff. Congrats also on the 15 minute sleep in today, I had to get up at 4:30 lol, though surprizingly Beatrice was not screaming as usual before I got to the pen. When she saw me though, well off she went.

Is anyone else having a problem with ants in and around the house now its gotten warmer? This is our first summer in our new place, and gah, they're everywhere!

No ants yet. But have had success with a tip I read somewhere.

Find where they are getting in .... ( following their trail will tell you ) ... and then sprinkle liberally, ordinary talcum powder on where they enter, and around about nearby .... they disappear pretty quickly - don't like having to wade through all that thick ( to them ) white stuff, apparently.

Has always worked for me.

Cheers .......

 

[Fizzybelle]

Talcum powder eh? worth a shot.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Talcum powder eh? worth a shot.

We had them in the horse truck , they were chewing their way through the light fitting. Ant rid now comes in a syringe to get into those hard to get places. Haven't had any since.

 

[Fizzybelle]

Light fittings? God they get into some terrible places. I've sprayed so far, but I'll try some of the suggestions to see how they go. Surface sprays never last the promised 6 months.

Well we had some rain this morning. My three bantams decided to stay outside and get wet, despite me trying to round them up under cover. As they were standing under the tree in their dirt spot, Beatrice decided to have a dirt bath....in the rain. The others thought that was such a fantastic idea that they joined in too. The dirt was dry under the top layer. It was at that point I gave up and left them to it. They now have muddy spots on their feathers. Chicken logic

 

[Anniebee]

Light fittings? God they get into some terrible places. I've sprayed so far, but I'll try some of the suggestions to see how they go. Surface sprays never last the promised 6 months.

Well we had some rain this morning. My three bantams decided to stay outside and get wet, despite me trying to round them up under cover. As they were standing under the tree in their dirt spot, Beatrice decided to have a dirt bath....in the rain. The others thought that was such a fantastic idea that they joined in too. The dirt was dry under the top layer. It was at that point I gave up and left them to it. They now have muddy spots on their feathers. Chicken logic

Chookies can be crazy critters. .... My 2 big girls are sensible ... they dirt / sun bathe when it's dry.

Mindy Araucana however, is a nut. !! She will dust bathe after rain, and when inspecting under-feathers, I find big clumps of drying mud stuck there. Freaked out first time I saw it ... fluffed her up and spent ages getting rid of the clumps.

Now-a-days I leave her to it, as by the morning after one of her ridiculous ventures, I find she's managed to get rid of most of the mud mess in her feathers.

She must pull a night shift to do it !! ...

.....

 

[Anniebee]

We had them in the horse truck , they were chewing their way through the light fitting. Ant rid now comes in a syringe to get into those hard to get places. Haven't had any since.

Fancy ... Ant-rid, I believe, is a good product - would be especially in syringe form. ... But will persevere with the talcum powder, and side-step cost. The powder does work ( so far ). ...

Hope I don't ever have to resort to the Ant-Rid stuff, although it is shown as non-hazard, but with a few precautions. .... I try to avoid chemicals when and if I can.

What on earth kind of ants do you have down there in Tassie, that chew through light fittings ????? .... I know ants can be destructive, but thank heavens we don't have light-fitting chewing-ants here ( that I know of ) !!

That would be just awful.

Glad to know you are rid of them.

........

 

[Fizzybelle]

Chookies can be crazy critters. .... My 2 big girls are sensible ... they dirt / sun bathe when it's dry.

Mindy Araucana however, is a nut. !! She will dust bathe after rain, and when inspecting under-feathers, I find big clumps of drying mud stuck there. Freaked out first time I saw it ... fluffed her up and spent ages getting rid of the clumps.

Now-a-days I leave her to it, as by the morning after one of her ridiculous ventures, I find she's managed to get rid of most of the mud mess in her feathers.

She must pull a night shift to do it !! ...

.....

Yes! When Esme jumped on my lap before bedtime, I felt a lump on her crop. Lifted up some feathers to find a big clump of damp dirt. Removed a bit of it, but I'll leave the rest of it to her. I'm sure otherwise I'm fighting a losing battle, if they want to play in the wet dirt, then that's what they'll go out of their way to do.

 

[LuckysMum]

It's been ages since I got on here, heaps of reading.

sjturner I haven’t had a chance to take a photo of Lucky’s wings. But she doesn’t seem to being going over the fence much lately. Wow 100 chickens I thought 80 were too many. Going to the market again on Sunday hopefully I can sell a few more. Beautiful babies you have there.

Teila If your girls find a rhino beetle too big how do they go with mice. I think the time it takes to do chookie chores is relax time. I find it relaxing pottering around my chooks and talking to them. I don’t do all the chores every day, but watering and feeding is done twice a day. Watering more often on hot days and cleaning every weekend. I’d rather do that than house work, at least I get to talk to the girls while I clean. Go Lulu for raising the alarm.

Anniebee WOW an egg congratulations Mandy. I can’t believe the weather you’re having; asthma has been bad here too, though not as bad as you guys. We are having a lot a prescribed burning and its playing havoc with breathing here.

Fancy how many chickens have hatched

jessbonnitcha It will be nice to have your chickens at home.

emelie

your babies are gorgeous
kat79 my lot pinch every egg they can pull under themselves when they are clucky.

Fizzybelle Clever Beatrice what good watch chickens you guys have. Ants can be a real problem. When we first moved in here our back patio paving was collapsing because of the sand the ants were moving, we had someone come in they used coopex . That’s what I use now it keeps them at bay. I mix it up in 2litre milk bottles, Paul put a hole in the lid so I can squirt into hard to get to places.

We’re having a few hot days again I hope the rest of the week cools down. I can’t believe the differences in the weather we seem to have, it’s crazy.
I hope every ones egg hatching is going well. I can’t wait for the photos.

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

[MyHaven]

I had a terrible night. Had let the girls out in the yard just before dark for a quick range. It started to rain heavily. Everyone went for cover. Where I had the male quails I'd been sexing was getting wet. So I got them out caged them and brought the drenched little things inside to dry. I sat down and watched a little TV while I waited for the rain to stop so I could lock the coops. I have the big girls separate to the little ones. The silkies are just outside my back door in an aviary.

The rain stopped so went out - here's two big huskies in the coop. My darlings already dead as they tore them apart. The dogs had a go at me when I yelled at them to get out. I was stunned. Then thought "they're not getting away". I noticed they had shut themselves in so I locked them in and called the council.

I never heard a thing over the rain and I was only 5m away.

Illness is one thing but I am finding this hard to take.

 

[satay]

Well done LuLu! Beatrice sounded a similar alarm yesterday, she stood up straight and clucked at the bushes whilst I was giving them breakfast, then everyone stood to attention and clucked. I saw what was upsetting her, a big rat - it looked at me, then ran across the yard and into the jungle at the back. Sadly rat catching was the one thing our recently departed cat Lucy was really, really good at. The rat was likely a bit big for the larger girls to try and chase after though, I think. Hopefully he's bothering the neighbours now, as I don't leave food out at night and the wire on their coop is very heavy duty vermin proof stuff.  Congrats also on the 15 minute sleep in today, I had to get up at 4:30 lol, though surprizingly Beatrice was not screaming as usual before I got to the pen. When she saw me though, well off she went. 

Is anyone else having a problem with ants in and around the house now its gotten warmer? This is our first summer in our new place, and gah, they're everywhere!

Yes ants everywhere. I think i have most of the ants in qld in my property and house right now.