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

[Anniebee]

Yeah come back and whine about being eggless after 8 weeks- that the usual break for most but mount gamier most of us are 10-14 weeks egg free

sjturner79

Nah ... wouldn't return to ' whine ' about it ... was in no doubt about my pin-feathered Mindy Araucana who lives alone ( she'd be killed by my Welsummer ) - she moults heavily and continually - gets it over and done with, in about 2 months .... but I have had an answer here, quite timely too, about my other two big girls from :

K Spot ( thank you )

who mentioned ' suspended moult' .... I didn't know such a thing happened - I did know of a long moult ( 4 feathers a day ?? LOL

) which Mandy Welsummer has done before. Odd thing is they began to shed weeks ago, but they continued laying until ( now ) 8 days ago. I can't complain about that, but honestly thought with new long wing feathers, that they had completed their moult - hence my puzzling at it all. Today there are gorgeous downy red feathers all over the coop, so Molly is truly in moult again. Perhaps that was a suspended moult for her ?

Frankly, I now think they will begin to lay again in about 2 + months time, when their moults ( hopefully ) are completely concluded. Mindy Araucana will probably ( as she usually does ) complete her moult - get clucky - get locked out of the coop for 3 days or brought inside ( which she loves ), and then begin laying. She's a feisty and very busy little chook. She seems to adore her little rat mates

( there's been a real plague of the field rats here in Victoria ) .... and if I jam up their entry holes with mud, she works at digging it out again. So the bottom of the fence now has bricks and wood jammed against it - but they still get in, I think by climbing the fence from next doors who also have chooks, and she tours the fence - looking for them. They are not too scared of us either, including Miss Ruby dog !! hmmm. Pet rats ?

 

[cwrite]

Pet rats ?

So funny! Pet or treats though?

sjturner - nice looking coop!

I had a cuddle with Steve (head hen) on my lap yesterday for the first time ever and I spotted two spots on her comb. It looks like she has a mild case of fowl pox & tolerated the cuddle because she isn't feeling that great. Anyway, the others seem fine so the kids got to help me dab the small spots with betadine & I'll see how things progress. I'm hoping it stays a mild case, but it looks like I'll have to vaccinate next year.

 

[Teila]

K Spot Oh dear at Tinkerbelle, but I totally understand that if you are a 3 year old, that is a very cool name. Maybe she could have a nickname, T-Belle.

Congrats on the new ‘incubator’, looking forward to her pictures.

Good luck at the show also.

Talking mercury, I heard on the ABC today that we are in for a cold-snap .. A cold-snap? It ain’t exactly toasty warm at the present!

Pass on the pet rats Anniebee

Cwrite I thought one of my gals had fowl pox but turns out she had been pecked.

So, Dusty is no longer hoarse and is showing no signs of any illness. Apparently chickens do have a larynx but that is not what produces the ‘voice’. The voice is produced by the syrinx and air pressure on a valve, modified by muscle tension .. Dusty must have had syrinxitis or maybe she just overworked the muscle and couldn't get tension

 

[Fancychooklady]

So funny!  Pet or treats though? 

sjturner - nice looking coop! 

I had a cuddle with Steve (head hen) on my lap yesterday for the first time ever and I spotted two spots on her comb.  It looks like she has a mild case of fowl pox & tolerated the cuddle because she isn't feeling that great.  Anyway, the others seem fine so the kids got to help me dab the small spots with betadine & I'll see how things progress.  I'm hoping it stays a mild case, but it looks like I'll have to vaccinate next year.

Too late to vaccinate. 6-10 weeks is the optimum time . Are there any upper respiratory symptoms, pus in eyes or nares? I thought King george had pox but it turned out to be blood spots from fighting with the other roo. I always quarantine , just to be safe. I lost 3 hens to wet pox last year and if you have a lot of mosquito about it will go through the flock like wild fire. The dry pox isn't so bad and once it has run its course the birds aren't carriers.

 

[Deej211]

Well we have just broken the drought ! My little australorp pepper ( who is now by far the biggest bird in our flock) has just started to lay! She and Carl had managed to get by my barriers and down to the compost and there was a nice warm egg on the ground when I went to bring them back up to the lawn. As I doubt it would be Carl and was a darker colour than normal that means our baby is finally laying .

Hubby then tells me he had noticed a couple other eggs down there on Sunday. So she is laying but is just dropping them as she walks. Never had one not just work out the nesting box before?? I'll keep her locked in the yard for the next few days I guess?

well. My australorp pepper laid her 1st egg today!! Coincidence! I knew she was close when the roo started in on her. Its about the size of a bantam egg. Hoping they get alot bigger. Shes the biggest chicken ive ever seen apart from a couple of roosters. i had an egg drought too but between her 1st egg and my araucana who lays at the very least every second day at the moment (normally daily, that bird is a machine) and the 3 new bantams that ive had an egg each from ive had 7 eggs in 5 fays...not too shabby at all.

 

[appps]

well. My australorp pepper laid her 1st egg today!! Coincidence! I knew she was close when the roo started in on her. Its about the size of a bantam egg. Hoping they get alot bigger. Shes the biggest chicken ive ever seen apart from a couple of roosters. i had an egg drought too but between her 1st egg and my araucana who lays at the very least every second day at the moment (normally daily, that bird is a machine) and the 3 new bantams that ive had an egg each from ive had 7 eggs in 5 fays...not too shabby at all.

How funny

I'm trying to convince the kids to change ours spelling to peppa as she is also huge and the name peppa pig would suit her well

 

[Deej211]

How funny

I'm trying to convince the kids to change ours spelling to peppa as she is also huge and the name peppa pig would suit her well

ha ha. Indeed. They really are huge.

 

[satay]

Well we have just broken the drought ! My little australorp pepper ( who is now by far the biggest bird in our flock) has just started to lay! She and Carl had managed to get by my barriers and down to the compost and there was a nice warm egg on the ground when I went to bring them back up to the lawn. As I doubt it would be Carl and was a darker colour than normal that means our baby is finally laying .

Hubby then tells me he had noticed a couple other eggs down there on Sunday. So she is laying but is just dropping them as she walks. Never had one not just work out the nesting box before?? I'll keep her locked in the yard for the next few days I guess?

Gratz on breaking the egg drought appps.

 

[satay]

Egg drought? I'm getting 2 eggs a day; one from Squeak the Dorking and one from Sunny the Welsummer.  Everyone else is in a suspended moult, even my speckled sussex grower my niece has called Elsa from Frozen.  Little 3 year old girls and Frozen, blimey!   She called the Pekin I bought her Tinkerbelle.


No real news to report in my flock of 15, although a new addition will be arriving on Sunday in the form of a black silkie.  Purely for broody purposes    She and Tinkerbelle will be my sitters from now on. 

Yahtzee is going well, he has his first show at Blackbutt on Saturday, so fingers crossed he wins his class.  He is going up against his sister, so it can be anyone's game. 

Mercury is definitely dropping, we are getting some lovely mornings with low fog on the ground over the paddocks. 

For Yahtzee I'm sure he'll do well.

 

[satay]

K Spot Oh dear at Tinkerbelle, but I totally understand that if you are a 3 year old, that is a very cool name.  Maybe she could have a nickname, T-Belle.

Congrats on the new ‘incubator’, looking forward to her pictures.

Good luck at the show also. 

Talking mercury, I heard on the ABC today that we are in for a cold-snap .. A cold-snap?  It ain’t exactly toasty warm at the present!

Pass on the pet rats Anniebee 

Cwrite I thought one of my gals had fowl pox but turns out she had been pecked.

So, Dusty is no longer hoarse and is showing no signs of any illness.  Apparently chickens do have a larynx but that is not what produces the ‘voice’.  The voice is produced by the syrinx and air pressure on a valve, modified by muscle tension .. Dusty must have had syrinxitis or maybe she just overworked the muscle and couldn't get tension 

Our weather sure is mad. I went to brissy yesterday to my mums . I got there about 6am and it was so nice I didn't even need a jumper.. This morning back here I am again freezing with the current temp only 3c. Who would think that it can be so much warmer just a short distance away. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest morning thus far this year.