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

[RodneyRooster]

I know its not the best photo but its my first pic of their new yard. Only had to reinforce 50m worth of fencing with some tactical planning so their perimeter would prob be about 120m

 

[Anniebee]

I started early with the camera; I planned to take some pics tomorrow but the Blonde girls gave me reason to take a few fun shots this afternoon which I hope you do not mind me sharing ......

PS. If you are a member of some Grasshopper Protection Society or Save the Grasshopper Fund etc .. do not read on!

"Ah .. Grasshopper!"


So KiKi (above) found herself a rather large grasshopper .. sadly Blondie also had grasshopper cravings and KiKi lost her find ....


Blonde fuzzy butts!


Shake, shake, shake ... shake, shake, shake ...


Crystal and KiKi are just shy of 6 months old so I thought it was time for some posing shots .... can you see Crystal's blue feathers? If you remember they both have 5 toes, so thinking Silkie X but no idea with what!

Crystal:


KiKi:

Is it just me ? ... adoring the fluffy butts ... on all chickens.

Nah - it's all of us love those waddly little botts. Makes them seem so - - - vulnerable - to be protected at all costs ( which we all do ). .

Love the pix here Teila ... especially of the fluffy backsides, and of your gorgeous Kiki.

All the pix are just beautiful.

Don't think my girls have ever seen a grasshopper ( that I know of ) .... they pounce on things and I have no way of knowing what it is, good, bad or indifferent for them. So far, so good.

From memory, my dear departed Silkie pure bred, did not have 5 toes. .... Are they supposed to have that many ?

Cheers to all - have a good weekend.

 

[Anniebee]

Gooood morning friends

TGIF!

ChristieB I have read the marking of territory thing also; some people swear by it and others believe it has no affect whatsoever.

Our American friends are quite adept at dealing with foxes and coyotes and some of their methods mentioned on multiple threads may be helpful.

So, I thought I would give you all a quick update on the Crow situation … I do believe I have won! Not once this week have I been woken by cawing Crows; even those stubborn two have moved on.

Now, I do not know if they just moved on because they wanted to or the CD actually did the trick. I know the back neighbour stopped feeding them also … anyways, peace reigns and I am one very happy Vegemite

They have come back a couple of times but only briefly; I just have to walk out into the garden and they leave. Crazy lady with long pole and water pistol appears to help also

I was woken at 05:45am this morning by the girls raising the alarm and because of all the fox-chatter of late, went flying out the door, still getting dressed on the way .. good job I did; I do believe they were being stalked by a goldfish!!

Yep, because of the warmer weather the goldfish have been getting a little frisky and jumping out of the water.

I was watching the girls yesterday afternoon and KiKi was freaking out every time a goldfish broke the surface of the pond .. so funny

So laughed at this post. You and your crows !! ---- glad you believe you've won - over those canny birds. .... Good onya. Hope it continues to be a win/win situation. Methinks, the back neighbour stop on feeding them, would have helped a lot too. No more honey goodies ?

As for the stalking goldfish ........

Have seen on many threads / sites, that male human urine is a definite deterrent to foxes. Whether it works or not ??? I don't know, and never will as when suggested by me, hubby's mouth dropped open, black look crossed face, and mouth said "You've gotta be bluddy kidding - I am not going to piddle all over our property, not for you, not for the chooks " .... End of.

So I sprayed the appropriate areas with ammonia ( my idea as next to best ??

) .... only when we had an iffy coop situation that a fox might have managed to raid. Not a problem now.

But foxes are a big problem in the Dandenongs - even more than feral cats, and way more than bands of raiding dogs. Dogs killed a couple of young sheep - just past lamb stage a while back up here ... why don't people lock up their animals / birds at night ? Beats me. If they can do it in Scandinavia and other parts of the world, why not here ?

Best leave that subject, as have heard too many stories about horrid outcomes for animals - because of inappropriate attention, especially overnight and in storms etc.

Catch you later ........ AB

 

[Anniebee]

LOL non taken. Rodney was just being cheeky. This is fred.

Fred is beautiful - handsome. .... and with such clean TOES. He's on concrete so that explains that I guess. .... my girls muddle around in mud !! - part of the time. Love the dog in the background too ... is he/she contemplating a run at Fred ?

I doubt it.

Lovely boy you have there.

Cheers ......

 

[Anniebee]

Thanks everyone for your kindness over the fox attack and advice. I will be going more steel - I like the electric fence idea too and will also drop some dog Doo in the hole where it dug under and through the run.

I have a friend that rescues roosters, battery hens, abandoned ducks etc etc etc when she has space. I've known her for ages but only just found out she does that. If you get desperate PM me and I will check for you if she has space ATM. Alternately I know someone who despatches them humanely and with respect.

AB that was my Rosie and Silkie lost.

Cheers

So sorry to hear of your loss - a double loss is double the pain. RIP to Rosie and Silkie. ..... and condolences to you.

I still can't find your original post, but no matter - you have updated the sad information.

Foxes are wily and intelligent. I do believe, as long as they can smell dog droppings - they will not venture too far into the area. Depends on the scope of area one has I guess.

A fox would have to scale the line of least resistance here, which is two side gates. Not difficult for a fox, but I do believe Miss Ruby's daily offerings, put them off. It needs to be fresh dog droppings remaining, for best scent.

I have to say I have never found any fox droppings anywhere on our property - yet the area abounds with foxes.

Regards ---

 

[Anniebee]

The giant fox thing is possible. We have a monster who patrols the front of us on the street, I've seen him more than once. I don't know how they get that big, but yes, nearly the size of a German shepherd and mote orange than red. The one out the back - who I think must be his lady friend? - is a classic story book fox, red, dainty, black points, white face, no bigger than a cat.

Thank you for the reply Kleonpatra...

That amazes me - I always thought foxes were smallish to medium dog size.

Do you ever hear them 'bark' at night ? .... we don't, not ever - but perhaps its only the red fox that is vocal. We have greys up here.

Cheers .......

 

[Kleonaptra]

Thank you for the reply Kleonpatra... 

That amazes me - I always thought foxes were smallish to medium dog size.   

Do you ever hear them 'bark' at night ? .... we don't, not ever - but perhaps its only the red fox that is vocal.   We have greys up here. 

Cheers ....... 

The adults are silent, only making small squeaky murmers we wouldn't hear and that they only make to each other. The - pups? Cubs? Kittens? Make a very creepy bark/yowl which freaks everyone out. Combine it with male peacock call in a dark moonless night and you've got every creepy bunyip story there is. The young ones will bawl when even slightly surprised, so at least I always know where they are.
And yeah, big fox surprised me too. Id seen lady vixen a couple of times and so had hubby, first time I saw big guy my mum had come to visit and left the gate open. My flock free ranges over the quater acre house block and I didn't hurry to shut the gate. When I did head down that way there he was, in the misty drizzle, bold as brass, standing in the middle of the driveway watching my birds. Terrifying! I had never thought to guard the street front, as I knew little fox was out the back.
As for the pee? Don't think it works. Hubby has often relieved himself along the fence lines from sheer laziness while out working, and it didn't deter them...and when I tried it for a week it actually seemed to attract them!

 

[sjturner79]

 

[sjturner79]

 

[Slagasse]

Hey Guy,

We had to take Mr Rooster to Hertiage Hen to drop him off today. We had gotten a complaint about his crowing which we new was possible. We still have speckles. They seemed really great, knowledge all their chickens were healthy looking and I felt much better about how honest he was about what would happen to him. Apparently they work with farms all over and hell be checked out and then if he's breeding they will begin looking for a home.

My wife was just as upset about the prospect because we got the birds as chicks and we didn't want to make them someone else's problem and MR rooster was her baby while speckles was mine. It was sad but I came home and got to give all my girls a pat.