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

[Sidhe13]

I found it way too hard to keep the humidity stable and stressed bigtime about the aircells being too small. Bumping up to 70-75% meant no shrink wrapping. Everyone was fine.
99-100 farenheit works out to 37.2-37.5 so you are spot on! I got my numbers mixed up!

 

[Deej211]

Thank you for the link Fancy, interesting reading.

LuLu was probably my best layer up until March and yep, she did not experience a hard moult, just dropped a few feathers here and there over an extended period of time. 

Yep, I would not love her any less if she never laid another egg as long as all is well  .. she is not giving me any cause for real concern at the moment just a little that something may have been amiss.

I will see how she goes … she will probably lay an egg now that I have enquired 

I've heard they dont lay if overweight? Is it possible shes gotten too hefty?

 

[devinandfeather]

Well my Geese are being really mean towards the Plymouth Rock hen so I had to move her I made a little brooder pen for her and she is fine now she is sitting on 19 eggs is that to many eggs will keep updated

 

[ChristieB]

When I hatched eggs last month I ran it at roughly 40% humidity, I didn't actually measure humidity till over half way through incubation, 37.5-38c then bumped it up to 75% at lock down. I had to open it to turn the eggs, and I accidently broke one so was opening to candle it more often so the temp and humidity jumped a lot but from my reading I gather that it's the average over all figures that count. Call it beginners luck but All my eggs (except the one I broke) hatched. I did have to help one but I think it was just weak as it didn't do anything for over 24 hours after pipping, it didn't shrink wrap despite me taking it out constantly, after my assistance in starting a zip it finished hatching on it's own over night. All survived my inexperience, then my cat knocked the lid off the box and killed 2.


As for weight, I reckon Ginny my pure pekin would be less than a kilo, Cho I'm not sure is pure but I don't think she would be over a kilo either. 600g seems like such a small amount but all those feathers don't weigh much

 

[Deej211]

blue and black barred araucanas!!! yay!

 

[devinandfeather]

blue and black barred araucanas!!! yay!

They are so cute

good luck with them keep updated as well

 

[Anniebee]

Good morning friends

Hey Fancy .. I hear ya! If you remember, I was woken at 3am by hubby’s cat howling in the hallway when hubby was away. We should have a written rule that if you go away you take your obsessed pet with you!!

Congrats to your daughter, that is great news and I bet, being in her element, does not even feel like work. How nice to be getting paid for doing something you love so much; wish I could say the same for IT

Thanks everyone for the suggestions on the Bambrook Crow Invasion

The CD appears to have worked again and I am back to just the determined two, one of which woke me up this morning and is now sitting in the front tree cawing, interestingly it is not being answered.

I will continue to play the CD today.

I have thought about the plastic owls, hawks etc but with these guys I am not sure they will work. I have tried Chinese lanterns, windmills, CD’s hanging around the place but they get used to them within minutes; even the whirly wind with large eyes that I hung from their favourite branch only kept them away for 30mins or so.

Anniebee I do believe that it is the fish ponds (water source) and chance of stealing the gals’ feed that is keeping them here. I do not leave any food where they can easily steal it but they grab any opportunity they can, when the run door is open etc. It doesn’t help that the back neighbour throws honey covered bread to the Rosellas every afternoon and the Crows steal it. The other afternoon, one of the Crows was flapping against her kitchen window asking to be fed. But, I have not seen her feed them of late and she did mention that they are annoying her also so hopefully she has given up this habit.

I do not have a dog (now) and the cats and chickens would probably not be very happy if I thought about getting one. Also, with working, the existing pet demands etc I do not think it would be fair of me to get a dog as my time is pretty much taken up with existing demands and the dog would maybe not get the attention it deserves.

Anyways, I do appreciate all the help and advice and suggestions are definitely being given consideration.

Just wanted to share: there is a house just down the road from us that has two plastic owls on top of their TV antenna … it was funny to see two birds sitting on each of the owls head when I was walking past the other day

Hi Teila ...

Agree - if you haven't the time through work commitments, to have a dog, then that's a good decision - would not be good for you or any thought-about dog !

I rather think the honey and bread is a definite draw-card - and from their lofty position in your tree out front, they can see far more than we could ever realise. All birds do. If your back neighbour is also getting sick of the crows ( bring up the subject some time ) ... a gentle suggestion of no more honey on bread might be the go. ( anything is worth a try ). Not sure about the water ... although in Queensland I believe you have been having a drought in parts ... so that might be an attraction. Otherwise they find water in puddles etc. and rely on rain.

Stealing chicken pellets is a big thing for the wildies. .... Mynahs here love hopping in there to feed. I don't worry too much about that - and so far (

) my chickens have no lice. The rosellas tend to party a lot with my chickens - and all get along famously !!!

I did so laugh at your comment about the plastic owls being perches for other birds. I have one plastic owl - on top of one of the coops. Doesn't worry any birds at all, but I think the rats are very very wary of it. I move it slightly - to face different directions, or on another spot every few days. Rats seem to have disappeared, but no doubt will be back when the weather warms up ( if it ever does that is ).

Crows and shiny things ? ... Like chickens, they are curious / treacle beaks. Will peck at anything to see if it might taste ok. A few days back, Mandy Welsummer was 'rattling' something she'd picked up. Went to retrieve it, and found 4 tiny long lost keys on a ring - ( used originally on nest box locks ) ... which had somehow become dug into the earth ( probably by the chickens ) when I had dropped them. I remember trying to find where they'd gone - searched for ages. Anyway, they must have gone deep, and the recent rains which washed sooo much surface away, exposed them again. Mandy thought they were a wonderful toy !! - but not for long.

.... the rains brought a lot of juvenile worms - pale in colour to the surface, and my girls thought Christmas had arrived early.

Good luck with your further experiments at crow shoo-ing.

Cheers .......

 

[Anniebee]

Aaaw ChristieB, they are adorable!

OK, I think I might have a problem ... LuLu weighs 1.3kg! All my research indicates that Pekin hens should weigh approximately 600-700gms.

Does the 600-700gms sound right to you guys n' gals? Is 1.3kg definitely too much for a bantam? If it sounds like she is overweight I am going to have to try and get some weight off her before the heat of summer hits along with rethinking their diet. However, no-one else in the flock appears to be overweight but seen as it was my lunch 30 minutes, I did not have time to weigh them all. However, as I mentioned, LuLu has always been solid and heavy and is not particularly greedy.

If she is carrying excess weight, could this actually be a side effect of something else going on and the reason she is not laying?

My "chicken book" says Pekin bantams weigh between 790 > 910 gms ( very precise book LOL

) ... so I would think your girl is somewhat overweight. And that could put her off laying. The chicken book also specifies that Pekins are prone to broodiness, and therefore are excellent broody hens for hatching chicks - AND they are "poor layers". Well - that's what it says !!!

My Mandy Welsummer, is a big girl - she moults in fits and starts for a lot longer time than the other two, and is always the last to resume laying. I doubt though that she is very much overweight. They weigh in apparently at 2.5 Kg or a bit more. Once she gets going, which takes a while, she lays at the same rate as the other 2 - about 5-6 eggs per week. Not that this information helps you.

I have no idea how you would get weight off an overweight bird ... you'd have far more idea of that. Guess you'd have to separate her from the rest. Or hope she becomes broody ??

Cheers ......

p.s. .... have just read your post, that the pinch test gave a good result, so that's a big plus. She will get around to laying when she's good and ready !!

 

[IamSamSam]

A picture tells a thousand words. Makes clean up easier. Just pick the bag up from the corners carry it to a garden bed and ' voilà ' mulch.

I remember those ! I Love the smell !

Okay, question for the incubator experts amongst us

I just got the incubator I borrowed last time again and am trying to get it all up and running consistently by the end of next week when my eggs arrive.

I've read about wet and dry incubating and a lot of info is in F not C. Can I just get the temp and humidity that you use and that is working well?

99-100 farenheit works out to 37.2-37.5 so you are spot on! I got my numbers mixed up!

Apps I have an rcom suro so humidity is automated. But Sidhe has the temp correct 37.5 c or 100 f is what your aiming for. And those Janoel ? Bator a are hard with humidity having said that. You only need 45-50 % ( Thanks Satay for recently confirming !) till lock down then bump it to 65-75 % though I'll add * Do Not add Cold Water* it will drag your lovely temperature down use warm water ( use a cooled of boiled water this way it's clean)

 

[satay]

Thanks appps … LuLu passed the pinch test with flying colours; I was able to feel her keel with no cleavage and while she is definitely heavier than Blondie and Cilla who I definitely know are Pekins and lighter than her, she appears to just be my chunky little monkey that she always was; even when she was laying she was always heavier and fondly referred to as ‘my little brick’ .. also, watching her today, she is a bit bigger than Cilla and Blondie.  KiKi is actually a little chunky also; could just be a Frizzle thing 

Anyways, while I was there, I pinch tested everyone else and they were all good; except maybe Cilla who could be on the light-side but she is probably still getting some condition from the last hatch and as you know, has decided that she wants to be a mum, yet again!

I wish I was able to help with your incubator question but sadly I have no experience whatsoever and will leave you in the hands of those who do.

Shame you do not live closer, you could slip those precious eggs under GodCilla 

I will try to weigh one of my pekins in the next few days They are not fussed on being picked up but I will do my best to weigh my biggest one to give you an idea.