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

[Fancychooklady]

The party was good. It was a shame it was so cold. The cake I made turned out really well.
No sign of rat activity. Tim built her a nursery box. Maybe the egg was rotten and exploded, will have to ask the neighbour tomorrow. No signs of anything not even shell.
The little chick is yellow wonder what she is going to be
Great news about Jess.

What eggs did you put under her? I love the way you are already saying ' she '.

 

[Karen Whitfield]

What eggs did you put under her? I love the way you are already saying ' she '.

Haha I thought you would pick up on that, wishful thinking.
2 were hers blg and 1 was gl and 1 was sl and the roo is blg

 

[satay]

I'm from yarra valley too!

 

[satay]

First - DeeBeeoz ....you are doing everything you can to make your chickens comfortable, healthy and well.    I have only 3 chickens now, and believe me, they beggar belief with their antics and odd behaviour.   Changes in weather can throw them way out of whack.   Especially sudden changes.   And especially very hot weather - that can jigger them up a  lot.   

Personally I wouldn't ask Coles for the offcuts of outer leaves of lettuce for your chickens.   First, those are the leaves that would have the most pesticide spray on them, from the farm where they are grown.  And believe me, lettuce, cabbage etc. ARE sprayed with insecticides / pesticides.    Second - only a little lettuce ( washed and more inner leaves ) is enough for them, as it is not at all high in nutrition.   Cabbage, broccoli, grass, a little cauliflower, mature cucumber - [ and cheese ( which they love ), for protein and calcium.]   Some cooked meat doesn't go unwanted either. 

They need a goodly amount of protein ... and that can be obtained from feeding them bran among other things.   I do a mix ( which they would kill for !! ) ... which is cooked rice with cooked
frozen mixed vegies in it, added to a handful of raw uncooked oats, a handful of bran, some finely cut up greens ( broccoli - flowerets, stalk and leaves  - or something similar ) .... plus a couple of handfuls of scratch mix ( seeds, shell, black sunflower seeds - all bought in the one bag usually ) ... and added to that occasionally, a couple of hard cooked mashed eggs.   They get that two or three times a week and demolish it in minutes.    It honestly does not take long to make.  

Previous comments about the  yellow poo, are all spot on.   It is the smelliest of the droppings, but natural and normal.  I hope hubby changes his mind about keeping chickens, but from my experience, they are THE most difficult of bird / animal to predict as to what they are going to do next, and why.      .    which of course, makes them so very interesting.   

You are doing well .... keep it up and your chickens ultimately will do all the right things  unless there is heat, broodiness, molting, thunderstorms, sudden cold, and anything else that could ( but not necessarily will  ) upset their little apple-carts.  !!    Even if there are adverse conditions from time to time, they will come back to the lay when they are ready, and over whatever it is that has upset them in some way in the first place.   They have such diverse personalities.   My little Araucana gets bent out of shape at the drop of a hat - my RIR and Welsumer .... pffft ... who cares Mum !!   They didn't even seem to mind the heat we had here ( Victoria ) early February.     I hated it - a lot  - it was gross !!  

Good luck with your chooks ... they are fascinating ... can drive you mad at times, but ultimately worth every moment.   

Cheers ......... AB

Some great info there Ab. I would not be to worried about giving them some lettuce leaves. Just give them a rinse under the tap to remove any residue. You could try some canned tuna or a small handful of cat biscuits. Not many cat biscuits at once as it is high in salt.

 

[satay]

Arrived home today to find 1 yellow chick out of 4 eggs. And only 2 eggs left! Don't know what's going on. Neighbour was looking after them, maybe 1 died. The other 2 should be here soon if they aren't rotten, can't smell anything. Just have to wait and see.

Congrats on your little chic. Hope the rest hatch for you too.

 

[satay]

Sounds like they have a good varied diet!
Where do I begin on recommending a particular breed ? You could try to access the notice board on backyard poultry in your state. Australorp, barnevelder , Orpington any of the Sussex breed.
It really just depends on what takes your fancy. ( pardon the pun )
@ bens hens is near Perth and has a few contacts, PM him , I'm sure he will be very helpful.
Have a look at the back of the feed bag for the protein level. At this time of the year you want it to be up around 20% or more.

It's hard to go past australorps for laying, They lay fantastic. Mine go broody a fair bit though but when they lay the are machines and nice natured girls too. My aussie roo's are real gentlemen too.

 

[satay]

Mum flys out of Tassie today gosh that ten days has gone fast. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the run down on how lovely it all was.

 

[Karen Whitfield]

Congrats on your little chic. Hope the rest hatch for you too.

Thanks Satay. Hope your mum enjoyed Tassie, it is beautiful, but I'm a bit bias. Haha Hope all is good with your flock

 

[Karen Whitfield]

It's hard to go past australorps for laying, They lay fantastic. Mine go broody a fair bit though but when they lay the are machines and nice natured girls too. My aussie roo's are real gentlemen too.

I love Australorps but I do love my Wyandottes. <3 <3 <3

 

[Fancychooklady]

I love Australorps but I do love my Wyandottes. <3 <3 <3

My favourite are the Wyandotte , with the coronation Sussex coming in at a close second . King George is of course my favourite chook, he's standing on the outdoor table looking in the window at me as I type. ' Wheres my breakfast woman '? I let the new Silkie babies out to have a dirt bath with momma yesterday and George came running to see them. He loves babies !