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

[smhoekzema]

How

Here is a photo of Coco today, she's starting vocalizing more and waking in and out of the nesting boxes, I'm hoping she is close to lay!!!

How exciting!! I could hardly hold in my excitement when my girls got close to laying. Checked the next boxes 10,000 times a day. Is she squatting yet? All sounds like good signs My girls only checked out best boxes for a day or two before laying. Fingers crossed!!

 

[ChristieB]

Hi all! Not check in for a couple days and I have 3 pages of catching up to do!
I haven't been gone really, I was reading "bens hens" saga and my phone won't let me skip to a specific page so couldn't leave. Well worth the read though.
So I was sitting I the front steps watching the girls like every afternoon and think hmm how old is Luna? Well she's 18 weeks on Tuesday! How did that happen? She's getting a bit pinker around the face so we might be seeing some little blue eggs next month. I've noticed since the now 13 week old girls moved in with them cho has got quite red in the face too but I can't see how a hen that small could ever lay an egg bigger than a pigeons so not expecting anything from her.

I tell you what, I didn't have to worry about my little bantams with the big girls! They are complete cows, the only time they tolerate the younger (but bigger) girls is at night when they all pile into the nest box, I don't know why, the younger ones roosted every night in quarantine but now the bantams bad habits seem to have rubbed off on them. Any tips? I'm so night blind but I try putting them all on the perches after dark and they just jump off again, if they can't get into the nest they just pile up on the floor

 

[Fancychooklady]

From my understanding Marek's vaccination does not guarantee they will not get Marek's.  Basically if you get a chicken that carries Marek's, your whole flock can get it.  Vaccinated or not.  The vaccine is said to lessen the chance that it is contracted. 

That is correct. Vaccinated birds can still be carriers but they are less impacted by the disease . With vaccinations it's best to have an ' all or none ' policy.

 

[satay]

That only applies to ex battery hens and birds that have been vaccinated . I'm assuming they were referring to marecks disease. It's not recommended that you mix vaccinated birds with unvaccinated birds. My old isa brown died when she was 7 . She stopped laying regularly at 3 years , so you wouldn't call them ' cost effective '. The heritage breeds take longer to come into lay than the hybrids but they are stayers.
I have gold laced Wyandotte that are coming up to 5 and still lay daily and right through winter.

I Agree with Fancy. I have miracle the isa brown. She still lays but not every day now. I have my black aussies that will be 7 next month, still lay almost every day and still go broody quite often.

 

[Nu2chooks15]

That is correct. Vaccinated birds can still be carriers but they are less impacted by the disease . With vaccinations it's best to have an ' all or none ' policy.

Thanks, all ours will be vaccinated. I appreciate everyone's help with my questions/queries and hope that I don't ask too many that have been answered before.

I Agree with Fancy. I have miracle the isa brown. She still lays but not every day now. I have my black aussies that will be 7 next month, still lay almost every day and still go broody quite often.

Wow, that's great. As I said before I'm going to be happy with initial egg laying but not fussed if/when they stop or slow down production, it's the hens themselves I'm most interested in/fascinated with.

 

[satay]

Thanks, all ours will be vaccinated.  I appreciate everyone's help with my questions/queries and hope that I don't ask too many that have been answered before.

Wow, that's great.  As I said before I'm going to be happy with initial egg laying but not fussed if/when they stop or slow down production, it's the hens themselves I'm most interested in/fascinated with.

I agree with you on that one. I love miracle my isa brown and it wont matter to me at all if she stops laying all together, she'll live out her days here.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks, all ours will be vaccinated.  I appreciate everyone's help with my questions/queries and hope that I don't ask too many that have been answered before.

Wow, that's great.  As I said before I'm going to be happy with initial egg laying but not fussed if/when they stop or slow down production, it's the hens themselves I'm most interested in/fascinated with.

We are happy to answer any questions we can. I loved my isa browns, unfortunately I lost 3 of them to egg impaction, which is something that production hens are more susceptible to.

 

[tandykins]

Another thing I've been told tonight is the Isa's carry some disease which can affect other birds in a really not nice way, is this fact, fiction or happens from time to time?

While I don't really know anything about this personally - yes. Fiction happens - even among people who have been keeping chickens for years - more often than you care to think. -_-

From my understanding Marek's vaccination does not guarantee they will not get Marek's. Basically if you get a chicken that carries Marek's, your whole flock can get it. Vaccinated or not. The vaccine is said to lessen the chance that it is contracted.

Not to mention, Marek's is only one of many chicken illnesses which are not vaccinated against. One of the biggest flock killers is mycoplasma gallisepticum which is not vaccinated against and can take weeks to show any symptoms. Vaccinated chickens is not a reason not to quarantine them. I did not know this until I had problems myself.

I tell you what, I didn't have to worry about my little bantams with the big girls! They are complete cows, the only time they tolerate the younger (but bigger) girls is at night when they all pile into the nest box, I don't know why, the younger ones roosted every night in quarantine but now the bantams bad habits seem to have rubbed off on them. Any tips? I'm so night blind but I try putting them all on the perches after dark and they just jump off again, if they can't get into the nest they just pile up on the floor
My single mutt bantam is a total hog and has Little Chicken Syndrome. She's the bully of the flock, very grumpy. She inserts herself forcibly on the perch and butts up underneath another chicken for warmth whether they like it or not. Incredibly devoted brooder though. Very fierce mumma.

----------------

We had a lovely morning. I have a habit of "Having Breakfast With My Peeps" mornings where I make up a breakfast far too large for me to eat (I have a gastric band) and share it with my chickens - spoilt brats.



Cheese omelette, banana and multigrain toast with cream cheese (because they really are that spoilt).



I am surrounded by eager faces.



This is Queenie, the little bully to which I referred. She just finished brooding eggs and is looking a little pale. I eventually had to just take them away from her because her comb was actually turning white. So these eggs are particularly good for her.



We all love some banana! Poor Buttface, my Silver Laced Wyandotte, is moulting and looking quite shabby - not her normal beautiful self.



I warned my son that chickens will steal food. He didn't listen very well...



Thankfully mummy is generous and got him another muesli bar (this was his morning tea, I'm a slow poke)



And now we have learned. XD

 

[appps]

The chickens at work go crazy for cicada shells. There's usually heaps of them on the trees in the playground, so it becomes a great collection activity for the kids with an added bonus for the hens.

I know what you mean, hubby pulled a cicada shell off the wire the other day and Al went crazy grabbing it and running off. Never seen that before who woulda thunk they were that yummy.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks, all ours will be vaccinated.  I appreciate everyone's help with my questions/queries and hope that I don't ask too many that have been answered before.

Wow, that's great.  As I said before I'm going to be happy with initial egg laying but not fussed if/when they stop or slow down production, it's the hens themselves I'm most interested in/fascinated with.

I found this vets explanation on vaccinations quite easy to understand.

http://www.swpoultry.com/CindySite/vaccination.html