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

[Bens-Hens]

Thanks anyway ash but I already have too many not to standard here, my kids seem to always choose the ones I don't want to keep. but they have come in handy for my cross breeds. and plus you could play rugby with them they are so docile.... I really want to get a pen set up with good quality to standard Araucanas, I had some really good ones a while back but I thought I had to move and sold them. Plus my rooster from that lot was a bit of a #&^%! Now we just have our pets. I'm going to try to get a couple of different strains of fertile eggs (hopefully localish so I don't have to deal with the post).

Is that 'our' standard you are thinking of? Seems to be a bit of a sore point with the purest's that we have a tailed Araucana. The US folk seem to get on the "It's just an EE it has a tail" bandwagon lol We have 5 Lav's, 2 roo's that (in my none expert way) seem closer to tick the standard boxes. Our pullets seem to be good in some ways, but out in others lol. One has a fluffy head, but light legs, the other has slate legs but no fluff.

Here is a shot of 'Steal' (he's steel blue, and seems to like to steal food) 12 weeks.


'Baby' has the fluff, but is very light with yellow legs.


We are not in it for standard, just egg colour. Keen to breed for an egg tray like the Chook Patch! A bit to go before we get that though. Need to hatch a couple of Maran's to go for olive!

 

[TheChookPatch]

Is that 'our' standard you are thinking of? Seems to be a bit of a sore point with the purest's that we have a tailed Araucana. The US folk seem to get on the "It's just an EE it has a tail" bandwagon lol We have 5 Lav's, 2 roo's that (in my none expert way) seem closer to tick the standard boxes. Our pullets seem to be good in some ways, but out in others lol. One has a fluffy head, but light legs, the other has slate legs but no fluff.

Here is a shot of 'Steal' (he's steel blue, and seems to like to steal food) 12 weeks.


'Baby' has the fluff, but is very light with yellow legs.


We are not in it for standard, just egg colour. Keen to breed for an egg tray like the Chook Patch! A bit to go before we get that though. Need to hatch a couple of Maran's to go for olive!

Steal looks very good for a young bloke doesn't he! I have heard there are some rumpless now in Australia (I wonder how they got here or if they were bred here by fluke?) So I'd be interested to see how long before they come into the mainstream. I try to go by standards with my Marans but even then I find (excluding my original girls) it's the girls whos feathering is less than the standard are the ones that lay the darkest eggs.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I didn't know rumpless were available here. As much as I like them though, it seems like such a waste breeding them to teh US Standard. So many have to be culled or die from conflicting genes. I love the tails, they are different to the other birds I have. Can't wait for these to lay.

I see so many breeds on this forum that I like, then when I try find them in WA I get stone walled lol, and I am reluctant to buy via post at the moment which is also really restricting.

Hat tip to your profile pic too....My goal a year or so from now! What cross is used for your Olives?

 

[satay]

My eggs from Julie just arrived in Brissy now to get the bator ready for when they come home tonight.

 

[IamSamSam]

My eggs from Julie just arrived in Brissy now to get the bator ready for when they come home tonight.

Cool cant wait for the photo's Satay !

LOL ok so im a photo pheind LOL

I cant do what you guys are so I love to see what you can do !

One Day I Dream of having my own little farm. ............. Then Hubby will need to watch out LOL

 

[IamSamSam]

for ChookPatch.....








I was worried he would attack my chooks so I got 2 old battery hens to see how he would go...

I am so Alpha that he licked the girl I showed him I put her down in front of him and said NO and he has never harmed them.

He helps heard them back to their pen at in the arvo of before i go out but he was fantastic....

His dad use to sleep in the chook coop on the farm we got him from to protect them.

 

[TheChookPatch]

for ChookPatch.....








I was worried he would attack my chooks so I got 2 old battery hens to see how he would go...

I am so Alpha that he licked the girl I showed him I put her down in front of him and said NO and he has never harmed them.

He helps heard them back to their pen at in the arvo of before i go out but he was fantastic....

His dad use to sleep in the chook coop on the farm we got him from to protect them.

What a legend! I love the one of them all drinking out of the same bowl.. Sam is just goregeous IamSamSam, Makes me want another pup....

 

[TheChookPatch]

I didn't know rumpless were available here. As much as I like them though, it seems like such a waste breeding them to teh US Standard. So many have to be culled or die from conflicting genes. I love the tails, they are different to the other birds I have. Can't wait for these to lay.

I see so many breeds on this forum that I like, then when I try find them in WA I get stone walled lol, and I am reluctant to buy via post at the moment which is also really restricting.

Hat tip to your profile pic too....My goal a year or so from now! What cross is used for your Olives?

Thanks Bens Hens, this years carton should be pretty special too... I've been working on the olive eggers for years waiting to get ones like the first pullet that has started laying this season. I have done zillions of combinations of araucana x marans. I am finally getting consistent feathering in the chicks like my Baby who laid the dark green one. Her little sis should start laying in a month and a few up at my sisters farm, then I can check if the egg colour is consistent too. Posting eggs sucks, there should be a FRAGILE service but they just don't seem to care. Then again, this last lot in my incubator was sent from SA, almost the worst/least amount of protection/packaging (Which I paid $20 extra for interstate travel for a tiny bit of toilet paper not even wrapped around each egg properly and a news paper wrapped around the cartons and a bit of bubble wrap into an express bag) I was so worried when I was opening it only to find one cracked egg that was a hair line crack and may have been missed when packing them and most of the air cells seemed to be intact.... So touch wood in a week when I candle them I see lots of babies but they must have had a fairly safe trip

Then other times they have the best packaging and protection and still come out of the package as an omlette!

 

[satay]

Getting posted eggs really is a gamble. I got quail eggs once and they were all smashed bar a few and they didn't hatch bar 1. Mind you packing was shocking. Had eggs come from Nsw to here for me to hatch in my bator for my cousin. I was out the day they arrived at the p.o in town( they give parcels to your neighbours out here if one is at the po ) so one of my elderly neighbours picked them up at the p.o the put them on my outside table. (lucky the dogs didn't eat them) They were on the table for 5 hours til I got home. All 12 hatched. So I have had really good and really bad and everything in between.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Haha true! I didn't think of that.

They shed - a LOT, all year round. They have hereditary deafness, they need a specialised diet limited in purine or they can form stones in the bladder/kidneys which can be fatal.

Just this past week, an acquaintance I know had to rush her Dalmatian to the vets with stones. Poor boy ended up having to have a scrotal urethrostomy, which basically means they re-routed where he pees from to more like a girl dog.

Wow, that seems like a lot of maintenance. Nothing like this was said when I watched 101 Dalmatians

!!!
Ouch! That sounds awfully painful...I know I wouldn't like that, not at all!!

Hi everyone! I have to take back my whining, whinging words about Ray Coombs. His partner, Linda, did a trip up to Armidale and went a little further to pick up my chicks before driving all the way here to deliver them to my door (then helped me pop the flighty buggers in the quarantine aviary).

That is great news Colourful, it is great what some people do...sometimes.LOL.
Can't wait to see some pictures!!

Do y'all think I should get this ara for $40 or wait until closer to spring to see what else comes up? I don't know too much about them to know if this one is good quality.

Personally Pinky, I wouldn't go for it. $40 for 1 Ara is a bit much. She does seem like a nice bird but the crest isn't that great.

Your Cattle dog is so cute. He is great. Love the photo's!!!