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

[birdmandan]

Here is a pic of my week old quail at 48 grams!!!

 

[Anniebee]

Good to catch up with all the news from all who are here at the moment. Not getting notifications to my email addy, so I have to rely on the one I have kept ( plus a bookmark !! - which doesn't always work too well ) ... not much news from here, except it has been so darned cold, icy wind chills, .... and only one chooken is laying --- Madam Mindy Araucana who is producing about 5 eggs a week - all olive coloured. Her blue eggs ( 3 ) have all broken and she's eaten the yolk. Not laying soft shells ( balloon type ) ... rather occasional fragile (blue) eggs that break if she drops them from a great height. Have kept her off all 'treats' so's she is forced to eat her layer pellets when hungry, which contains the appropriate amount of calcium for her (she hates oyster shell grits ). But, brother, does she EAT !!

As mentioned before, my two old large girls ( Mandy Welsummer and Molly RIR ) I think have taken retirement from egg laying ( who could blame them ) ... but one might surprise one day ??? ... meantime, they are all healthy and happy, so that's the main thing. Hope to see many more Aussie peeps back here soon.

Have enjoyed all the pics posted - and your silkies are beautiful .. IamSamSam.

Cheers ~~~

 

[LuckysMum]

IamSamSam I love your silkies. The first pic is the exact same as our ginger. Silkies make such beautiful pets. We just finished helping my son build a fence across their back yard so now they have an area for chickens. The first thing my grand kids say is can we have the silkies. What am I going to say "No" I don't think so. So I guess I will say goodbye to 2 of my silkies, ginger and tiger.
I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[birdmandan]

Her blue eggs ( 3 ) have all broken and she's eaten the yolk. Not laying soft shells ( balloon type ) ... rather occasional fragile (blue) eggs that break if she drops them from a great height. Have kept her off all 'treats' so's she is forced to eat her layer pellets when hungry, which contains the appropriate amount of calcium for her (she hates oyster shell grits ). But, brother, does she EAT !!
Cheers ~~~

You should dry some eggshells, crush or blend it into powder and sprinkle it onto their food. I had a lot of issues with fart-eggs until i did this.

 

[Anniebee]

You should dry some eggshells, crush or blend it into powder and sprinkle it onto their food. I had a lot of issues with fart-eggs until i did this.

birdmandan ... ... I have not seen you here before, but note you are "chillin with your peeps" so I guess you have been contributing here, for a while. ... Nice to meet you.

Thank you for the advice. I have seen that many people 'bake' their eggshells in an oven, before grinding or breaking them down. I would have thought that just the eggshells dried out would be sufficient, as you have ( I think ) suggested, but have not done anything like that, because there is so much differing opinion. Bearing in mind that chookies eat dirt, wood shavings, leaves, garbage ( well, mine do ) ... and other horrors - - and are ground feeders, would have thought just crushing eggshells au-natural would be good enough. So - when you say 'dry' some eggshells, do you mean bake them in an oven, or just simply leave them to dry out completely and naturally. ??

Have a lot of crushed eggshells in a bowl - with inner skin removed first as they are much easier to crush that way .... to put around our vegies. Snails/slugs do NOT like crawling across sharp objects .... and it works.Don't want to start a verbal stouch, re : raw eggshells vs. baked eggshells. Would be interested to know many others' ideas here. Personally, I would tend to think that unbaked eggshells would be ok. But - - - am not at all sure.

Cheers and thanks ...

p.s. - have never had a fart egg. Just a few 'balloon' eggs last year.

 

[birdmandan]

I just leave piles of eggshells outside for a few weeks but oven drying is faster and easier. The shell becomes brittle and is easily powdered. You can then sprinkle it on the food. Unlike oyster shells, they cannot avoid ingesting the powder. I don't have room for chooks in my tiny backyard so my flock consists of quails. Planning to have 16 in total, half jumbo and half normal.

 

[IamSamSam]

Here is a pic of my week old quail at 48 grams!!!

Adorable !

 

[IamSamSam]

Good to catch up with all the news from all who are here at the moment. Not getting notifications to my email addy, so I have to rely on the one I have kept ( plus a bookmark !! - which doesn't always work too well ) ... not much news from here, except it has been so darned cold, icy wind chills, .... and only one chooken is laying --- Madam Mindy Araucana who is producing about 5 eggs a week - all olive coloured. Her blue eggs ( 3 ) have all broken and she's eaten the yolk. Not laying soft shells ( balloon type ) ... rather occasional fragile (blue) eggs that break if she drops them from a great height. Have kept her off all 'treats' so's she is forced to eat her layer pellets when hungry, which contains the appropriate amount of calcium for her (she hates oyster shell grits ). But, brother, does she EAT !!

As mentioned before, my two old large girls ( Mandy Welsummer and Molly RIR ) I think have taken retirement from egg laying ( who could blame them ) ... but one might surprise one day ??? ... meantime, they are all healthy and happy, so that's the main thing. Hope to see many more Aussie peeps back here soon.

Have enjoyed all the pics posted - and your silkies are beautiful .. IamSamSam.

Cheers ~~~

Thanks Anni.
They are so far well behaved. Have two roosters that I'm aware of. But have straight comb and walnut cons so .... it's a fun game to guess

 

[IamSamSam]

birdmandan ... ... I have not seen you here before, but note you are "chillin with your peeps" so I guess you have been contributing here, for a while. ... Nice to meet you.

Thank you for the advice. I have seen that many people 'bake' their eggshells in an oven, before grinding or breaking them down. I would have thought that just the eggshells dried out would be sufficient, as you have ( I think ) suggested, but have not done anything like that, because there is so much differing opinion. Bearing in mind that chookies eat dirt, wood shavings, leaves, garbage ( well, mine do ) ... and other horrors - - and are ground feeders, would have thought just crushing eggshells au-natural would be good enough. So - when you say 'dry' some eggshells, do you mean bake them in an oven, or just simply leave them to dry out completely and naturally. ??

Have a lot of crushed eggshells in a bowl - with inner skin removed first as they are much easier to crush that way .... to put around our vegies. Snails/slugs do NOT like crawling across sharp objects .... and it works.Don't want to start a verbal stouch, re : raw eggshells vs. baked eggshells. Would be interested to know many others' ideas here. Personally, I would tend to think that unbaked eggshells would be ok. But - - - am not at all sure.

Cheers and thanks ...

p.s. - have never had a fart egg. Just a few 'balloon' eggs last year.

I don't personally agree to powder as they can't regulate what amount they eat. But oven or sun dried is the same to me and crushed not powdered is best for self regulation

 

[Anniebee]

Thanks to birdmandan and IamSamSam ... for the information. I see both sides of the discussion ( powder or crushed ) ... and as Mindy is an enormous eater, ( except when it comes to shell grit or anything like a tiny bit of egg shell !! ) ... I think I would try grind up to powder and introduce only a teaspoonful every other day for her - in a very small rice and goodies mash. That's taking the best of both worlds, imo.

And your quail babies are adorable birdmandan ... have never had quail, but know friends who have ... they are so cute - even when fully mature.

Cheers and thanks again ~