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

[Teila]

Howdy Friends

Wow, I never realised how much like a well oiled machine our household ran until one of the cogs was removed for a while. Hubby and I must take it in turns with the cat cuddles and racing out to see why the girls are raising the alarm etc because I sure have noticed the increased demand on my time while he is away.

It is funny how we get used to things … For 10 years I was a single parent; just 6 years back into a relationship and one week on my own, I am exhausted

Lots of interesting discussions while I was awol … rats, roos, randiness etc

Good luck with the second hatch Ashburnham and congrats on the littlies. Your IG’s are beautiful!!

Good luck with your hatch also ChristieB. Sorry to hear you lost the little cracked one.

Beautiful snow pic Fancy.

Congrats on the eggs from your new gals devinandfeather.

Tee hee Kleonaptra loved the “Do you need a cuddle roo?” and ‘Tale of the Roo and the Mysterious Boot’ story and the pics of your new feathered friends.

Love the chicks and chooks pic sjturner79.

Tee hee satay many thanks for agreeing with me even though I have not posted for 3 days

. Thank you for sharing the story about your brother … someone mentioned Lotto; nah, forget that … get him to predict which eggs are roosters and which are hens, you would make way more money than a Lotto win! lol

K Spot I hope you mom recovers quickly and that she gets to go home on the weekend also. Sending positive thoughts yours and Casanova’s way

Adorable bubbies CallMeQuackers. I hope your little one with eye problems is OK and if they are permanent, he manages to cope/adjust.

Sidhle13 Kudos to you for making up your own poultry feed, I am way too slack for that and too inexperienced to provide input or comments.

So, now I am all caught up, I got nothing to add! Lol
Everyone is well, getting along fine and laying between 3 or 4 eggs a day. KiKi has decided that rather than sound like a hen, she wants to be different and is kind of crowing, not a normal hen sound but something between hen and rooster.

Syba, the husband obsessed cat, is driving me insane with his ‘I miss my Dad’ 4am howling sessions!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Howdy Friends 

Wow, I never realised how much like a well oiled machine our household ran until one of the cogs was removed for a while.  Hubby and I must take it in turns with the cat cuddles and racing out to see why the girls are raising the alarm etc because I sure have noticed the increased demand on my time while he is away.

It is funny how we get used to things … For 10 years I was a single parent; just 6 years back into a relationship and one week on my own, I am exhausted 

Lots of interesting discussions while I was awol … rats, roos, randiness etc

Good luck with the second hatch Ashburnham and congrats on the littlies.  Your IG’s are beautiful!!

Good luck with your hatch also ChristieB.  Sorry to hear you lost the little cracked one.

Beautiful snow pic Fancy.           

Congrats on the eggs from your new gals devinandfeather.

Tee hee Kleonaptra loved the “Do you need a cuddle roo?” and ‘Tale of the Roo and the Mysterious Boot’ story and the pics of your new feathered friends.

Love the chicks and chooks pic sjturner79.

Tee hee satay many thanks for agreeing with me even though I have not posted for 3 days .  Thank you for sharing the story about your brother … someone mentioned Lotto; nah, forget that … get him to predict which eggs are roosters and which are hens, you would make way more money than a Lotto win! lol

K Spot I hope you mom recovers quickly and that she gets to go home on the weekend also.  Sending positive thoughts yours and Casanova’s way 

Adorable bubbies CallMeQuackers. I hope your little one with eye problems is OK and if they are permanent, he manages to cope/adjust.

Sidhle13 Kudos to you for making up your own poultry feed, I am way too slack for that and too inexperienced to provide input or comments.

So, now I am all caught up, I got nothing to add! Lol
Everyone is well, getting along fine and laying between 3 or 4 eggs a day.  KiKi has decided that rather than sound like a hen, she wants to be different and is kind of crowing, not a normal hen sound but something between hen and rooster.

Syba, the husband obsessed cat, is driving me insane with his ‘I miss my Dad’ 4am howling sessions!!

Yes life is much more hectic without your partner to share the load. Mine are setting off to the mainland for 6 weeks next week. I'm madly getting the truck stocked, medical supplies for horse and rider, literally spent the best part of the day with the farrier here trimming everyone's toes and getting studs fitted on the show jumpers shoes. One more squad training this weekend then it will be up to the mainland coaches to ' oil the machine '.
I'll be glad when the spring grass comes in , at least then I can cut down on the chores, by the time I've hot fed and hayed everyone morning and night , I've had a good cardio work out. 3 pm everyday the cows stand at the back gate and bellow for their hay. People in the Main Street of town can hear them. They love nothing more than seeing me slipping around in my pink gumboots.

 

[Kleonaptra]

Roo seems to like the routine too....Stayed out of my way mostly until today, he doesnt like me hanging washing on the line? *Shuffle, shuffle* "Do you need a cuddle roo?" *Shuffle, wing down, shuffle* "DO you need a cuddle roo?" "Shuffle "Growl" Shuffle* "Oh I see you really do" *Swoop* "Whos a pretty roo, oh, handsome handsome roo boy"

He doesnt even struggle once hes picked up. I think hes trying to figure out how to roll over and have his belly rubbed while maintaining his dignity.

The indomitable Trude was mated yesterday, and I found a dozen chook eggs in the lilys.

Regina and Lelouche








Dont worry guys, I didnt let this go on more than a few minutes. But Gina has never, ever shown any interest in other ducks before. She hardly knows she is a duck. So this was massive. I was laughing so hard I could barely take the pics. Especially after I had just seenm Lelouche do this to all my other ducks.

Lelouche is named for this guy

Lelouch Lamprouge.....Emperor of the world. I like names to fit. When I got the little fella, I thought, whose black and white, cute, with a massively inflated ego and just a monster to everyone? Bingo. And little Nonnalie got her name because in the anime she is the only one Lelouch is ever nice to, and hes an ANGEL when she's around.

Regina is named for


Regina the evil queen. For obvious reasons!

(A little note to BYC. I believe these celebrity images are public domain and are in liberal use on fan sites. However if I am in error feel free to delete or I can do so immediately if requested. )

 

[appps]

@Teila. Lol at the poor crying cat .


I let my girls out for their first wander since the hawk attack while I sat and watched. I've decided I really must come up with a solution that lets them on the grass. Thinking maybe something like those poly tunnels but with plastic mesh rather than the plastic they normally use. I've got a heap of the 19mm black poly we discovered buried in the garden when we took out the trees I thought might work for the bones of the thing. Wondering if anyone has made anything similar? I don't want anything too heavy like a chicken tractor so thought this might be an alternative.

@Kleonaptra. Our Winry is named after an anime character apparently, and our frizzle bantam Al (alfonse I think) was after one of the guys in full metal alchemist

 

[Anniebee]

I agree 100% with you on that one Teila. I think it must be a universal thing. On the dominance thing too the sheep do it a lot. Bel mounts patsy quite often. Much better I guess than Tyson does. He head slams them in the chest to put them back in place.

I have decided that sheep must have the toughest ribs ever.

I have been looking for Teila's comment, which you mentioned in this reply to me. Only because I am always interested in everything said about a particular subject, and cannot find a comment from Teila anywhere -

sooo ... I am presuming you meant me, and not Teila ?

..... no worries at all, btw.

Cows do it too, ( bulling ) but there's apparently a purpose to it - not sure whether it is the one that is mounted, or the mountee who is coming into season or most probably both - and that behaviour let's the bull know.

Nice helpful cows !! ... LOL. ... the strange antics of animals.

Cheers .....

 

[Fancychooklady]

@Teila. Lol at the poor crying cat .


I let my girls out for their first wander since the hawk attack while I sat and watched. I've decided I really must come up with a solution that lets them on the grass. Thinking maybe something like those poly tunnels but with plastic mesh rather than the plastic they normally use. I've got a heap of the 19mm black poly we discovered buried in the garden when we took out the trees I thought might work for the bones of the thing. Wondering if anyone has made anything similar? I don't want anything too heavy like a chicken tractor so thought this might be an alternative.

@Kleonaptra. Our Winry is named after an anime character apparently, and our frizzle bantam Al (alfonse I think) was after one of the guys in full metal alchemist

I have had a similar idea. We are going to use star pickets in the ground then slip the poly pipe lengths across and fitted over another star picket, forming the tunnel and cover the entire thing with bird netting. Lucky for us our neighbor has a cherry farm and is about to replace his nets. I've seen this used for vege gardens. The net would have to be weighted down, or stapled to a wooden ground frame , old pallets perhaps. Thinking aloud. :/

 

[Fancychooklady]

I have been looking for Teila's comment, which you mentioned in this reply to me.   Only because I am always interested in everything said about a particular subject, and cannot find a comment from Teila anywhere - 

sooo ... I am presuming you meant me, and not Teila ?     ..... no worries at all, btw.    

Cows do it too, ( bulling ) but there's apparently a purpose to it - not sure whether it is the one that is mounted, or the mountee who is coming into season or most probably both  - and that behaviour  let's the bull know.

Nice helpful cows !!  ...  LOL.   ... the strange antics of animals.  

Cheers .....  

Haha, I don't have a bull but my heifers mount each other. Must be a Tasmanian thing.

 

[satay]

I have been looking for Teila's comment, which you mentioned in this reply to me.   Only because I am always interested in everything said about a particular subject, and cannot find a comment from Teila anywhere - 

sooo ... I am presuming you meant me, and not Teila ?     ..... no worries at all, btw.    

Cows do it too, ( bulling ) but there's apparently a purpose to it - not sure whether it is the one that is mounted, or the mountee who is coming into season or most probably both  - and that behaviour  let's the bull know.

Nice helpful cows !!  ...  LOL.   ... the strange antics of animals.  

Cheers .....  

oops.. Yes wrong person.

 

[Anniebee]

I have been playing with the idea of making up my own poultry feed. After some investigation into different ingredients and their nutritional value I have come up with a recipe with 17.8% protein. Free feed grits and calcium will be provided and I will also look at adding some high-grade mineral salts to the mix. I am working on a free range garden area in the new enclosure and run we are building in the next couple months.

Any comments or input are more than welcome! The kg/g is based on a standard 20kg bag.

Alfalfa Pellets: 10% 2kg
Brewer's Yeast: 1.5% 300g
Corn: 30% 6kg
Flax Seeds: 4% 800g
Kelp Meal: 0.5% 100g
Lentils: 6% 1.2kg
Mealworms: 10% 2kg
Oats: 8% 1.6kg
Wheat: 30% 6kg

The crude fat is sitting at 7% which I understand is rather high. Most of that number comes from the mealworms and the flaxseeds. The flaxseeds provide Omega-3 oils but I am questioning whether they are necessary. They are beginning to seem like more trouble than they are worth.
If I remove the flaxseed and replace the extra 4% with lentils, I end up with 5.5% fat and 17.7% protein.

You are very inventive and courageous to attempt your own feed. .... Just wondering ( probably needless to say though ) ... are you grinding up the flaxseeds with mortar and pestle ? Would make a bit of a mess, but make them all smaller and the oils would be released. Not even sure if that is desirable.

I can make no further helpful contributions !! ... as I don't know enough about quantities and requirements for good feed, but I know Fancy knows that she's talking about for sure. My girls disregard the corn altogether ( in scratch mix ) ... and the wild birds end up eating it.

From my late Mum's memories - a little wheat goes a loooong way for chooks. Only a little. I think she managed to kill off many of her fathers chickens one day, by feeding them big cupfulls of purely wheat - and allowing them at the water afterwards --- according to her they turned up their toes skywards, forever. At least my grandfather blamed her for interfering with the bird tucker !!

Cheers .........

 

[satay]

Haha, I don't have a bull but my heifers mount each other. Must be a Tasmanian thing.

I'd love to say yes but the cows on the dairy we used to work on did that too and no bulls there either but I do like the Tassie thing idea better