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

[Pinky Macgyver]

Just got up to check chickens because I had a bad feeling, heard a (n abnormal) noise in the coop and got really scared but it was just a mouse. Phew!

How do y'all keep nice out of your coop?

 

[appps]

I have no idea, they've moved into ours too.

I think I'm going to try the one from another thread where you cut a hole in a plastic storage box so they can fit inside and then put the mousetrap inside. Means you can set traps right inside their house and not worry the chooks will get caught.

I'm too wimpy for the water trap method lol

 

[appps]

Oh and you can't really keep them out. darn things can chew through concrete!

 

[satay]

Luke I have never used DE so can't really comment but I hope it works well for you. I use lime sprinkle it around every 3 months or so. I also use garlic in their water and acv, I boil up some water and a whole bulb of garlic. Let it simmer for 30 mins and then put it in a jar. I use maybe a teaspoon of this in each waterer.
I have a cat for rats. He loves the big bush rats and will go out into their fenced part of their area near their coop at night and kill rats. He will only go there at night as he is scared of the chickens lol.

 

[satay]

O.K, So the person with the pullet rooster replied back to my questions about, WHAT is her chicken!

she said

Hi Luke
Sorry I did mean Maran.
I meant to indicate his age with “pullet” but he is a young rooster.
can send photo of parents if you wish.



I have never seen anyone say the age of their Rooster is a "pullet"..what?

That's funny Luke. Reminds me of a time I had some give away roosters in the paper a lady rang all excited that her hubby was going to come pick the 4 up right away. She then says how many eggs are they laying? I said they are roosters. She said yes but how many eggs are they laying? I said none they are boys... The phone went dead lol. Did you ask for photos ?

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Bah humbug!
It's perfectly harmless!
When I was a lad we used to sprinkle it on our cornflakes,
along with asbestos and DDT!

Ash -

You tough Aussie!
ash, also recommended for bird bath.
Red - Sorry, It was yo not Ash. Yeah I have heard good things about it and the only bad things I have heard is that it didn't work, but it must have at least some basic benefit so I hope it works for me. I will be mixing it with Sulfur and lime.

Satay - I to use Lime but I sprinkle it around in the coop every week or so, Is this to often? I should start spreading it around the whole run though. Wow, That's a great way of doing the garlic. I find myself cleaning out the chickens waterier to often now that I haven't been using the ACV, Might try the garlic though. My cat is also scared, well timid of the chickens.lol.

Pinky - I had rats but I just sprayed 6 sprays of disinfectant every day or so and that just kept them out..not sure why. They were pooping all over the nest boxes so I sprinkled some lime about and sprayed the disinfectant and haven't seen droppings since. I did stop at one time and the droppings came back immediately.


Satay - Yeah it was quite...unusual.

That is hilarious satay , some people are just clueless....lol.

She said she could give me some pictures but I can't get him.. But I will still ask.

 

[satay]

I only do mine once every three months or so Luke. I do the coop and the area that it is enclosed in . I do it pretty thick. I use ag lime. Garlic wont stop your water going green I use it as a preventive to disease and bugs. Not sure of the actual proof that it works but mine seem to be going well. I use acv for the water.

 

[megacakes]

Luke, when you say disinfectant, do you mean dettol or pine-o-cleen or is there something special I have to get from the pet suppliers? I have a terrible rat problem, and see them dashing into the coop during the day to pick up any scraps. The cat caught an enormous one the other night, but I saw two pop their heads up and look at me yesterday! We live very near the river, so I'm not sure if they are native or regular pesky rats. The girls don't seem overly distressed by them, so maybe there's enough for them to eat so they don't get bitey at night with the ladies.

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

I read something recently about a spray that can be used as a spray n wipe type thing but also good for chicken coops as it disinfects and deters bugs. It's just made with *white* vinegar, not acv because that attracts flies, orange and lemon peel, cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans. It has to brew for a month but if it works, the coop would smell great I can't wait to try it.

 

[Spikes Chooks]

Hi Guys,
Just joined the site yesterday. I'm from Normanhurst near Hornsby in NSW. My husband and I are totally new to the chook thing. Our coop should be delivered tomorrow. Looking at building it this Easter Weekend. Need to think about building a run and then chicken proofing our big back garden so they can free range. We only want to get maybe three to start us off. We're after chooks that will be good with my baby son and ones that lay well. All advice on runs, free ranging, chook varieties etc very welcome.

Hi there, we are very close to you, Thornleigh. Welcome to BYC!!!

We built our coop and run last winter and got four pullets of different breeds. The Australorp lays very well, is friendly, and a beautiful big bird, she holds her own against cockatoos in the garden! The Rhode Island Red is an excellent layer too and she is very friendly and bold. She is the first to pant in the heat, though, so we watch that in the summer. (We have put a mister in the permanent run - they free range about 4-5 hours most afternoons.) Then we have a Barnevelder, lays about half the time and is a bit more timid than the others. Last, a Silver Campine, who is rather scatty, screeches to be let out, yet jumps into my lap whenever she wants to. I'd recommend the breeds in that order. We got them at 8 weeks old, feathered so not hard to look after, but young enough to become quite accustomed to us, and friendly if they want to be.
We added a permanent run to their coop, with small gauge wire right on the ground, and used sleepers to hold in about 10cm of coarse river sand. It's quick and easy to clean with a kitty litter scoop and drains really quickly when we have lengthy wet periods. We made sure it's high enough to walk in, that also helps with cleaning, as does raising the coop off the ground, too. Here's a photo - there are more in my photo gallery. If you'd like to pop over during easter and have a look, let me know and I can PM you our address.

Good luck with the great chicken adventure!!! I absolutely love it - and my chickens. Katrina