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

[Anniebee]

,
I think you misread my comment .
If you go back just a week of posts you'll see I've just had to euthanise my favourite hen. I didn't say I wouldn't do it if an animal was suffering, I specifically said paying to have ROOSTERS euthanised sounded like a waste of money. A healthy animal that could go to some use either as a flock protector, breeder or as a meal, wasted.
I'm not saying you're wrong I just said I didn't realise people even did that. Then again where I grew up my dad wouldn't even take the dog to vet if it had to be put down, it went for a walk down the back and contracted lead poisoning.

Actually ChristieB .... I am not at all sure anyone would euthanise roosters - to be honest. Confronted with a rooster I had to get rid of, I think I would first look to the farmer I know of, and if that were not successful, there'd be a visit to the vet. Being half country myself, I do understand also the 'lead poisoning' (

) but that's what farmers did, and still do I would think.

And I am sorry to hear of the death of your favourite hen, but I think ( from memory ) I did reply to that post - somewhere on here - there are sooo many posts to get through at times.

Anyway, I seem to be getting all my wires crossed this evening !! .... .

Just came off Facebook where I made a boo-boo while certainly not meaning to - ( writing can so easily be mis-read / mis-understood ) ... and had to explain myself again !! Ah well - we live and learn.

Tomorrow is another day, and I hope a better one for my writing skills !!

Cheers -------

 

[satay]

I have heard putting the wrapped egg box inside a length of plastic sewer pipe works well,
with the added advantage that AusPost think it is a bottle of wine so show extra care as they dont 
want to clean up the mess if they break it.

xxxx   M

I have a mate on face book and he sells lots of eggs he tried this many times with never good results.

 

[Teila]

Good morning Friends ..

the weekend is upon us!

appps I am sorry to read about the not so well packaged and/or handled eggs and have everything crossed that you have success with the remainder

Hey locknest4 welcome .. nice to meet you.

Tee hee satay that box of little cutie-pie Belgians reminds me of a Crazy Chicken Lady Starter Kit . They are sooo cute!

My 5 cents worth on the current subjects:

I had a disastrous experience with posted eggs in that the seller posted some that were already 6-7 days old, they took a week to get here and out of the dozen 3 were broken, 4 did not make the cut as I made the decision they were too old; of the remaining 5 which I gave to my broody, 2 hatched and both were roosters.

Another batch of posted eggs was like a treasure hunt! When the box arrived I was thinking it contained an egg carton but nope it was packed tight with those little packing foam balls and strategically placed throughout the box were tissue and bubble wrapped eggs totally surrounded by packing … took me half an hour to find them all and not a crack on one of them!

I have let all my eggs, picked up or posted, sit for 12 hours prior to giving them to the broody.

More out of curiosity, I did a count back on the 5 hatches I have had here.

From eggs picked up locally:
6 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 3 roosters.
7 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 3 roosters.

From eggs posted:
9 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 4 roosters.
5 given to the broody. 2 hatched, 0 roosters.
5 given to the broody, 2 hatched, 2 roosters.

So out of the 19 chicks I have hatched here, 12 have been roosters.

On the subject of euthanizing a rooster or any chicken for that matter … I know that I am a sook but I can not do the deed and have had a sick chicken who obviously was not going to make it euthanized in the past by the vet. I do not remember what it cost me but it wasn’t much.

As I see it, the trouble with roosters in a residential area is not really having the time to find a home for them or someone to take them, even if for the dinner table. I believe while some people may take adult roosters for the dinner table, picking up a rooster chick and having to feed it until it is old enough to eat is may be not their preferred option especially if they can pick up an adult.

So, with rooster chicks, unless as appps mentioned, they are from a good breeder and bloodstock that may be attractive to others, it is tricky to find homes for little mutt roosters.

I have been lucky that I have found homes for the 12 little guys I have had here but I do not kid myself that they will not end up being dinner for either humans or their pets. If I have tried all options to find a rooster a home and the neighbours are starting to get restless, I would consider euthanizing him.

This dilemma is definitely one of the reasons I will think long and hard before giving into a broody again. The hatches I have had were to attain my goal of a mixed, happy little flock of 6, so hopefully I will not need to think about numbers or stress over my decision to hatch and the inevitable roosters for a very long time

 

[Ashburnham]

Good morning Friends ..

the weekend is upon us!

appps I am sorry to read about the not so well packaged and/or handled eggs and have everything crossed that you have success with the remainder

Hey locknest4 welcome .. nice to meet you.

Tee hee satay that box of little cutie-pie Belgians reminds me of a Crazy Chicken Lady Starter Kit . They are sooo cute!

My 5 cents worth on the current subjects:

I had a disastrous experience with posted eggs in that the seller posted some that were already 6-7 days old, they took a week to get here and out of the dozen 3 were broken, 4 did not make the cut as I made the decision they were too old; of the remaining 5 which I gave to my broody, 2 hatched and both were roosters.

Another batch of posted eggs was like a treasure hunt! When the box arrived I was thinking it contained an egg carton but nope it was packed tight with those little packing foam balls and strategically placed throughout the box were tissue and bubble wrapped eggs totally surrounded by packing … took me half an hour to find them all and not a crack on one of them!

I have let all my eggs, picked up or posted, sit for 12 hours prior to giving them to the broody.

More out of curiosity, I did a count back on the 5 hatches I have had here.

From eggs picked up locally:
6 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 3 roosters.
7 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 3 roosters.

From eggs posted:
9 given to the broody, 5 hatched, 4 roosters.
5 given to the broody. 2 hatched, 0 roosters.
5 given to the broody, 2 hatched, 2 roosters.

So out of the 19 chicks I have hatched here, 12 have been roosters.

On the subject of euthanizing a rooster or any chicken for that matter … I know that I am a sook but I can not do the deed and have had a sick chicken who obviously was not going to make it euthanized in the past by the vet. I do not remember what it cost me but it wasn’t much.

As I see it, the trouble with roosters in a residential area is not really having the time to find a home for them or someone to take them, even if for the dinner table. I believe while some people may take adult roosters for the dinner table, picking up a rooster chick and having to feed it until it is old enough to eat is may be not their preferred option especially if they can pick up an adult.

So, with rooster chicks, unless as appps mentioned, they are from a good breeder and bloodstock that may be attractive to others, it is tricky to find homes for little mutt roosters.

I have been lucky that I have found homes for the 12 little guys I have had here but I do not kid myself that they will not end up being dinner for either humans or their pets. If I have tried all options to find a rooster a home and the neighbours are starting to get restless, I would consider euthanizing him.

This dilemma is definitely one of the reasons I will think long and hard before giving into a broody again. The hatches I have had were to attain my goal of a mixed, happy little flock of 6, so hopefully I will not need to think about numbers or stress over my decision to hatch and the inevitable roosters for a very long time

Some breeds where the roosters are good eating, I will grow out the surplus roosters.
Most others I will give the chop as soon as I can sex them - a purely economic decision when you are
raising as many chickens as I do.

xxxx M

 

[Ashburnham]

Lots of Araucanas hatching today.

 

[devinandfeather]

Hi I am so excited right now I went to my grandparent to find three baby goslings they are so cute will keep updated

 

[appps]

Spring is definatly in the air judging by all those incubators and fluffy ones above

 

[Ashburnham]

More than 30 hatched now.

 

[ChristieB]

It's spring alright, all my girls are taking it in turn playing broody, none of them have stuck with it more than a couple days though, won't be long though, latest one was Fleur who's only laid maybe a dozen eggs in her life, she flirted with the idea for 4 days!

A friend has asked me to hatch some duck eggs for her, can't wait for her to drop them off, a mix of Indian runner and Muscovy. Am I right in thinking the Muscovy should be set a week before the runners if I want them to hatch the same time? Anything else I should know about hatching ducks?

 

[Ashburnham]

It's spring alright, all my girls are taking it in turn playing broody, none of them have stuck with it more than a couple days though, won't be long though, latest one was Fleur who's only laid maybe a dozen eggs in her life, she flirted with the idea for 4 days!

A friend has asked me to hatch some duck eggs for her, can't wait for her to drop them off, a mix of Indian runner and Muscovy. Am I right in thinking the Muscovy should be set a week before the runners if I want them to hatch the same time? Anything else I should know about hatching ducks?

Ordinary ducks take 28 days and Muscovies take 35 days.