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

[Deej211]

Googy pic so you all can remember what they look like

also some pretty chookies
this is my araucana x rooster given the lacing thats come out on his chest since moult and his overall colour i am now assuming hes a silverlaced wyandotte x

very pretty araucana x pullet

Silver laced wyandotte bantam hen

Sparkles The giant Australorp and Archie the polish rooster

pepper the half hearted broody Australorp

phoenix the gold spangled hamburg pullet

Sparkles the Giant Australorp you can see in this pic where her name came from, the sheen on this bird is ridiculous

my eldest with Sparrow my Fave araucana hen

Archie the super handsome Polish Rooster

have a nice day chicken folk

 

[Anniebee]

Anniebee mine seem to quite like the fennel tea I've given mine to aid crop digestion. I have since read that it can encourage them to drink as well.

Fennel tea ? .... Would never have thought of it ... I figure I spoil my chooks with their minutely cut up goodies ( to assist with their digestion process

) ... thanks for the hint.

*sigh* ... will now go buy some fennel tea to add to their increasingly super-duper mash x 4 per week.

As long as it doesn't hurt them - digestion / metabolism wise, it could not hurt - nothing could actually. There are some items that I don't add however e.g. mushrooms and onions.

Finely chopped kale was a big wonder - at first ... but now they tend to ignore it. And there's nothing in preference to it - except maybe cabbage.
( This is the 'in-betweens' during the week ... when they don't have the mash.)

All seem healthy and happy, to date. ... however, I have another question ... which I will separately post.

Cheers ......Anniebee.

 

[Anniebee]

Mine love garlic . Whilst the sulphur is undesirable there is no science to support the idea that it will kill worms. Anthemintics are the only sure fire way to kill intestinal parasites.
Wormers settle in the bottom of the dish and are less effective after 8 hours. It is best to remove water in the evening and replace with fresh made up the next morning.
It is difficult to overdose with fenbendazole , albendazole and levamisole but it is also impossible to judge how much any individual bird might be getting. In small flocks it is far more accurate to dose birds individually than in the water.
Chickens have no heat receptions in their beaks so they can eat the hottest of chillis and curries.
I am not against ' natural ' remedies, but if I see evidence of parasites I reach for the product I know will work . I've seen birds die from worm overload because the owner was led to believe that sprinkling cayenne pepper on the feed would kill roundworm.
In the end it's ' each to their own ' .

We all strive for healthy birds.

Fancychooklady .... thank you so much for your response. ...

It answers a great deal for me. Particularly in removing and replacing wormer in water after 8 hours .... means they should get 'fresh' worming mix in water every day for 3 days ?

Now THAT makes sens to me ... even though it results in being expensive ( who cares - they are our beloved chooks ).

If the chooks do not have a taste response to hot chillies etc., then I guess the recipe on that website I posted could do no harm. Might just have the effect of carrying them over, or being like a kind of maintenance to their de-worming. ( much the same as Seretide is for people with asthma, who daily rely mainly on Ventolin ... etc.) .... a maintenance programme ?

Am prepared to try it - not for stopping infestation, but for a 'back-up' for want of a better description. ... Not that I think my girls are infested - they are however, due now for their next
de-worming in water. .... which means getting the measuring tape out to see what the little beggars have done - or not done. ....

Thanks again

Anniebee....

 

[Anniebee]

Googy pic so you all can remember what they look like

also some pretty chookies
this is my araucana x rooster given the lacing thats come out on his chest since moult and his overall colour i am now assuming hes a silverlaced wyandotte x

very pretty araucana x pullet

Silver laced wyandotte bantam hen

Sparkles The giant Australorp and Archie the polish rooster

pepper the half hearted broody Australorp

phoenix the gold spangled hamburg pullet

Sparkles the Giant Australorp you can see in this pic where her name came from, the sheen on this bird is ridiculous

my eldest with Sparrow my Fave araucana hen

Archie the super handsome Polish Rooster

have a nice day chicken folk

Beautiful photographs - beautiful birds. ....

 

[Deej211]

Beautiful photographs - beautiful birds.  .... 

thank you!!

 

[Anniebee]

While I have tried to research this question, nothing comes up that adequately answers it..

My girls have gone through / are going through, moults - two of them are producing pin feathers now ( they look ruddy awful ) ... and the 3rd is still casting a few downy feathers, although is a large chicken with plenty of normal feathery cover .. .. as though she is almost finished with the moult business.

I also suspect a couple of 'suspended' moults have happened, over the past months.

None are laying ( not a problem - I understand the moulting situation and its effects metabolically on the girls ).

My little Araucana is impossible to assess as to her rose comb ... is it, or is it not -coming back to colour. ... it seems the normal size.

...............

My two big girls ( Welsummer and RIR ) have combs that are pinkish ( understandable ) but are vastly reduced in size ??? - right down to about 1/3 of an inch. When laying, their combs are so very much larger - and red.

Their bodies are adult ( Molly RIR is looking the worst at present ) .... but their heads look like under pullet sized. .... Such very small combs.

Is this normal ? .... please - anyone.

Anniebee....

 

[Fancychooklady]

Fancychooklady .... thank you so much for your response.   ... 

It answers a great deal for me.   Particularly in removing and replacing wormer in water after 8 hours .... means they should get 'fresh' worming mix in water every day for 3 days ? 

Now THAT makes sens to me ... even though it results in being expensive ( who cares - they are our beloved chooks ). 

If the chooks do not have a taste response to hot chillies etc., then I guess the recipe on that website I posted could do no harm.   Might just have the effect of carrying them over, or being like a kind of maintenance to their de-worming.  ( much the same as Seretide is for people with asthma, who daily rely mainly on Ventolin ... etc.)  .... a maintenance programme ? 

Am prepared to try it - not for stopping infestation, but for a 'back-up' for want of a better description.   ... Not that I think my girls are infested - they are however, due now for their next
de-worming in water. .... which means getting the measuring tape out to see what the little beggars have done - or not done.  .... 

Thanks again 

Anniebee.... 

I find 2 days ample.Twice a year I steep 3-4 full heads of garlic in water over night after bringing it to the boil . Fill the water dishes and let them at it. (As a preventative measure )
Another way is to put a whole garlic in the leg of an old stocking , smack it with a hammer and tie it off to the wire and leave it hanging in the water dish.
If you decide to add paprika or cayenne pepper , try sourcing it from your local Asian grocery store. They sell it in bulk. I grow my own purple garlic.

 

[Fancychooklady]

While I have tried to research this question, nothing comes up that adequately answers it.. 

My girls have gone through / are going through,  moults - two of them are producing pin feathers now ( they look ruddy awful ) ... and the 3rd is still casting a few  downy feathers, although is a large chicken with plenty of normal feathery cover ..  .. as though she is almost finished with the moult business. 

I also suspect a couple of 'suspended' moults have happened, over the past months.  

None are laying ( not a problem - I understand the moulting situation and its effects metabolically on the girls ).

My little Araucana is impossible to assess as to her rose comb ... is it, or is it not -coming back to colour.  ... it seems the normal size. 

...............

My two big girls ( Welsummer and RIR )  have combs that are pinkish ( understandable ) but are vastly reduced in size ??? - right down to about 1/3 of an inch.   When laying, their combs are so very much larger  - and red.  

Their bodies are adult ( Molly RIR is looking the worst at present ) .... but their heads look like under pullet sized.   .... Such very small combs. 

Is this normal ? .... please - anyone. 

Anniebee.... 

Generally speaking, insignificant pale combs are a sign of ill thrift. I would worm them , up their protein content and add a good poultry multi vitamin to their water whilst they recover from their molt. With our weather patterns of late, birds are having to endure multiple or repeat moults and that is very taxing on their systems.

http://msucares.com/poultry/management/culling.html

 

[Anniebee]

I find 2 days ample.Twice a year I steep 3-4 full heads of garlic in water over night after bringing it to the boil . Fill the water dishes and let them at it. (As a preventative measure )
Another way is to put a whole garlic in the leg of an old stocking , smack it with a hammer and tie it off to the wire and leave it hanging in the water dish.

If you decide to add paprika or cayenne pepper , try sourcing it from your local Asian grocery store. They sell it in bulk. I grow my own purple garlic.

Again - thank you Fancy ...

Will pulverise full heads of purple garlic, boil it in shallow water, and use it in their drinking water. ( the all white, cheap garlic is totally suspect - produced in China - under the most unsavoury of conditions !! ).

Good idea with the stocking too ... Can do that with the new water container I have.

----------

Also - thanks for the advice that has just now come up, about insignificant small combs. ... as I said, they are due to be wormed again, so that will ( hopefully ) help, and they get a lot of protein at this time, because I know that assists with regrowth of new feathers, and generally throughout a moult. ...

Ill thrift ? not sure of that ! - pasture fed animals often show signs of it - and I have no doubt chickens do too ... although body wise ( even taking into consideration the moulting ) ... they seem hale and hearty. .... They are eating, sleeping well but only occasionally roosting - huddle together for warmth in a nesting box mainly, drinking normal water well, and generally doing their normal 'thing' except when it comes to weather - high winds ( they don't like that I realised after someone's kind post here about chickens and wind ) and very wet weather. ....They remain in their coop at those times.

The weather has not helped at all !!! ... freezing temps. ... yet they are very interested in what might be happening ... especially food wise. ... They demolish their layer feed at the rate of knots. and attack me for their mash.

Cheers ---

Anniebee.

 

[appps]

Fennel tea ? .... Would never have thought of it ... I figure I spoil my chooks with their minutely cut up goodies ( to assist with their digestion process   ) ... thanks for the hint.  

*sigh* ... will now go buy some fennel tea to add to their increasingly super-duper mash x 4 per week.   

As long as it doesn't hurt them - digestion / metabolism wise, it could not hurt - nothing could actually.   There are some items that I don't add however e.g. mushrooms and onions.     

Finely chopped kale was a big wonder - at first  ... but now they tend to ignore it.   And there's nothing in preference to it - except maybe cabbage. 
( This is the 'in-betweens' during the week ... when they don't have the mash.)

All seem healthy and happy, to date.  ... however, I have another question ... which I will separately post.

Cheers ......Anniebee.  

There are quite a few references to it on avian sites. First found it on an avian vet site quoting some renowned avian expert.