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

[satay]

Sorry i haven't been on for a bit. My time has been taken up with Sarge our wonderful new little man. We have had him 4 weeks now and he is making amazing progress. He still gets quite nervous out on walks when we run into strangers and a few other things but he is doing so much better with most things now and i think he really feels at home here which is great. We had 20 people here for christmas day and lucky for us we have a huge green house. We had him in there and had our marquee set up right outside so he could see everyone but not feel so scared and it seemed to work a treat. We are lucky to have the longest rail trail in austrlaia out here so we take hime for walks on different parts of that which he seems to love.

 

[MaryJanet]

Sometimes with fussy chickens you may need to trial a few brands until you find one they like.

Thank you @satay ! I'll keep trying

 

[ClareDB]

Hi I'm a newbie! and also a newbie to forums in general SO any help or suggestions encouraged

 

[MaryJanet]

Hi I'm a newbie! and also a newbie to forums in general SO any help or suggestions encouraged

Hi Clare

Tell us about your chooks! How many, what type, do they have names, that kind of thing.

I've got two, an Australorp and a Barnevelder. They're both young and still figuring out hen-life. One of them went broody recently (her first time and mine too) and hasn't started laying again yet. The other one gives me 5-6 eggs a week.

I've had some trouble with unpalatable pellets lately, but I'm trying a new brand. One chook loves the new ones, the other chook says meh ...

Anyway, tellus what's going on with your birds

 

[ClareDB]

I have about 30 chooks at present of all different breeds. I have recently begun incubating some eggs with varied success. I don't really name my chooks but a couple that stand out have names, a Buff Sussex I call Buffy and an Isa Brown called One Eye and a Lavender Arucana called speckles. My chooks are off their wheat a bit and have only been giving me 2 eggs of late but I think its due to the severe heat we are experiencing ATM.

 

[MaryJanet]

I have about 30 chooks at present of all different breeds. I have recently begun incubating some eggs with varied success. I don't really name my chooks but a couple that stand out have names, a Buff Sussex I call Buffy and an Isa Brown called One Eye and a Lavender Arucana called speckles. My chooks are off their wheat a bit and have only been giving me 2 eggs of late but I think its due to the severe heat we are experiencing ATM.

30! So, I just realised when you said you were a newbie, you were referring to BYC and not chicken-keeping How long have you had your flock for?

 

[ClareDB]

30! So, I just realised when you said you were a newbie, you were referring to BYC and not chicken-keeping How long have you had your flock for?

I have kept chickens ever since moving to our farm 13 years ago, 3 fox attacks in that time the last being the worst where all of them were killed and just in the last couple of years I've gotten into heritage breeds as they are much nicer than the ISA Browns.

 

[MaryJanet]

I lost my first three in a fox raid. It's heart-breaking. The I got a fox-proof coop and added further fox-proofing to it. So far, so good (touch wood).

Do you have a favourite breed? I've had ISAs and leghorn crosses in the past. The Australorp is my favourite - she's a very funny chook with lots of personality.

 

[ClareDB]

 

[ClareDB]

I lost my first three in a fox raid. It's heart-breaking. The I got a fox-proof coop and added further fox-proofing to it. So far, so good (touch wood).

Do you have a favourite breed? I've had ISAs and leghorn crosses in the past. The Australorp is my favourite - she's a very funny chook with lots of personality.

Yes it is heartbreaking, I had a small drum of wheat next to their shed and the fox jumped onto the roof and into the coop that way as they can't dig under the mesh, then I had either a chicken hawk or Crows eating my chicks when I let them out of their tractor for some free ranging in the fruit trees! that was truly bad as i'd put so much effort into hatching them. So far I love the Lace Wyandottes for their beauty but the Buff Sussex are turning out to be such placid little birds as are the Rhode Island Reds.