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

[Teila]

Howdy folks

tandykins I am sorry to read of your injured gal; how awful and worrying for you. I hope you catch Mr Fox very soon.

Congrats on the beautiful eggs ChristieB; I like the circle in the grass. That is also a nice circle of eggs you have there Luke. Gunna be a while before I can make a circle, if ever!

Hey chooks01 that rooster to pullet ratio sounds about right for here also

They are very cute!

sjturner79 Zorrow is a cutie!

Hey Anniebee that thread you found is the one I read some time ago and mentioned. Of note was:

“The hen does not completely change into a rooster, however. This transition is limited to making the bird phenotypically male, meaning that although the hen will develop physical characteristics that will make her look male, she will remain genetically female. So while the hen will no longer lay eggs, she won't be fathering any offspring, either.”

MyHaven thank you so much for the update; sounds like Rosy picked her forever home but is maybe not as grateful as she should be

Thank you for asking, we survived the flood OK; just the normal flooded run and water coming in the front and back doors.

I have a ‘biter’ .. Blondie is actually a sweet gal but if you are trying to pick her up or do something that she does not approve of, she will bite you and draw blood! She has no fear, she never tries to run away.

Some may think that I should not tolerate that or get rid of her but as I said she is actually quite sweet and just demonstrates her disapproval.

That is good news 1340busa .. congrats!

OK, you can eye roll but I have to ask … does anyone else think that chickens play? I see Blondie and LuLu together in the garden and I swear that they are playing chasey or tag!

I have seen the dominant, pecking order displays on many many occasions and this is not like that at all. There is no malice; they really do look like they are playing/having fun. They chase each other, pretend to chest bump, then one runs away and the other chases her, pretend chest bump again. I have seen LuLu run up, peck Blondie and run away, Blondie chases her and when she catches up they either run around in a circle or start scratching/foraging together.

 

[Sidhe13]

@tandykins get hubby to pee around the perimeter...the foxes don't like it. If you chain the dogs up the foxes will walk around them.

It is raining and the chooks are out. They don't want to come in, even for their favorite seed. They want weeds. I figure they will go in when they are ready and will lay some hay in preparation.

 

[sjturner79]

Howdy folks 

tandykins I am sorry to read of your injured gal; how awful and worrying for you.  I hope you catch Mr Fox very soon.

Congrats on the beautiful eggs ChristieB; I like the circle in the grass.  That is also a nice circle of eggs you have there Luke. Gunna be a while before I can make a circle, if ever! 

Hey chooks01 that rooster to pullet ratio sounds about right for here also  They are very cute!

sjturner79 Zorrow is a cutie!

Hey Anniebee that thread you found is the one I read some time ago and mentioned.  Of note was:

[COLOR=666666]“The hen does not completely change into a rooster, however. This transition is limited to making the bird phenotypically male, meaning that although the hen will develop physical characteristics that will make her look male, she will remain genetically female. So while the [/COLOR][COLOR=0099CC]hen will no longer lay eggs[/COLOR][COLOR=666666], she won't be fathering any offspring, either.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=666666] [/COLOR]
MyHaven thank you so much for the update; sounds like Rosy picked her forever home but is maybe not as grateful as she should be   Thank you for asking, we survived the flood OK; just the normal flooded run and water coming in the front and back doors.

I have a ‘biter’ .. Blondie is actually a sweet gal but if you are trying to pick her up or do something that she does not approve of, she will bite you and draw blood!  She has no fear, she never tries to run away.

Some may think that I should not tolerate that or get rid of her but as I said she is actually quite sweet and just demonstrates her disapproval.

That is good news 1340busa .. congrats!

OK, you can eye roll but I have to ask … does anyone else think that chickens play?  I see Blondie and LuLu together in the garden and I swear that they are playing chasey or tag!

I have seen the dominant, pecking order displays on many many occasions and this is not like that at all.  There is no malice; they really do look like they are playing/having fun.  They chase each other, pretend to chest bump, then one runs away and the other chases her, pretend chest bump again.  I have seen LuLu run up, peck Blondie and run away, Blondie chases her and when she catches up they either run around in a circle or start scratching/foraging together.

Red and ck definitely play with each other. The silkies don't seem to.

 

[cwrite]

I have good news. Here in Paulding county Georgia as of April 28th, 2015, backyard chickens are now legal as follows:

1. Backyard chickens. The keeping of a female pullet or hen of the Gallus gallus domesticus (roosters prohibited) which may be used for the purpose of providing food or companionship as a pet, considering the following minimum conditions:
a. The backyard chickens shall not cause a nuisance, as defined by Animal Control Ordinance Sections 14-10 and 14-11.
b. Backyard chickens are prohibited from slaughter and/or breeding purposes
c. All backyard chickens must be housed in a coop no larger than 100 square feet in size that is enclosed on all sides including the top. (Tarps, plastic or similar covering are prohibited).
d. Backyard chicken coops must meet the following building setback requirements from front, rear and side property lines: Front: One-hundred (100) feet from a public right-of way, private drive or easement, and/or property line. (Includes properties with multiple road/street frontages). Side/Rear: Forty-five (45) feet from a property line.
e. The coop must be located in the back/rear yard and be a minimum distance of forty-five (45) feet from the owner’s residential dwelling.
f. Backyard chickens are not permitted to roam-at-large or to free-range.
g. There shall be a maximum of five (5) backyard chickens allowed.

I'm excited about this though I should have checked on this before I got my chickens. Thankfully I don't have to worry now. Just wanted to share the good news.

That is good news although those are quite large distances from boundaries. Here you can have 3 chickens if you have 300m2 which may be a small area, but if you have chickens instead of a dog or cat it should be fine. If you want a rooster without having to ask for a special permit you need 20,000m2!

 

[cwrite]

Mm, I'd be inclined to give her a dose of antibiotics just in case it is viral. I've only ever had one lash egg and I suspect it was from my old isa brown. She was ex battery and had her ups and downs , health wise, and unfortunately she died after displaying the classic symptoms that the chicken chick describes in her link. Still she was nearly 8 yrs old, not a bad innings I'd say.

That is a great innings for an ISA brown! I was telling my hubby the other day that if Stampy was a commercial hen she would be pet food already. It's hard to believe really. She's the one I worry about health wise the most, but hopefully she has a good 7 years ahead. : )

 

[cwrite]

I'm playing catch-up again.
Beautiful pics of your flock Teila - those stripes are fabulous!
Great collection of eggs Luke! You have some lovely dark browns there. : )

Tandykins, I hope someone gets hold of that fox soon. I can't help but think that more should be done about them seeing as they are not native. Hopefully your injured chook recovers nicely - sounds like you have all the meds covered.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Found an unexpected suprise when I got home from town today. Wasn't sure how long she had been sitting.

 

[sjturner79]

. My current project. I'm hoping to get some good fertile eggs from zorrow and Dorian and would love it if I can end up with hens of all 4 feather types as it should be a possibility. ( I think)
Tell me if I'm wrong but a frizzle cross silkie can end up 4 ways can't it?

 

[sjturner79]

hope these pics turn out better

 

[chooks01]

Found an unexpected suprise when I got home from town today. Wasn't sure how long she had been sitting.

So cute!!!!!