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

[Teila]

Hey there littlechicks02 .. Welcome!

I lived in NT for 3 years .. loved the locale, loved the friendly people; hated the weather .. except for mother natures afternoon light show .. breathtaking!

The first thing I noticed when I got there was that no-one seems to walk much … air conditioned home to air conditioned car to air conditioned office or shopping centre etc

I did not have chickens while I was there and cannot imagine trying to keep them cool .. air conditioned coop? lol

Anyways, nice to meet you and I look forward to hearing more about your flock and coop etc.

Yep, fingers crossed for no cyclones

 

[Fancychooklady]

Wow so much has happened
To those integrating chicks. I asked a couple months ago and was told that laying hens should not be eating medicated feed, if they do you cannot eat the eggs. Plus they will waste a lot and the chicks could miss out on the essential nutrients they need, If you can make it so the chicks can get out but the hens can't get in that would be much better for all.
My chicks are having their second free range with the flock today, all is well, having had them side by side means that the mummas don't have to worry about pecking order, and the chicks just stay out of the way for the most part.
Broody hens; ginny broke with just 3 nights in quarantine. I let them out on day 2 to see what would happen and they made their way back to the nest, another night and day broke ginny but Cho is determined, she walks around eats drinks and roosts but the second I let her out she's straight back to the nests, even if I've got the door closed she somehow gets into the coop and nest and immediately goes to evil eyes screaming broody (I've found a small gap under the house that I think she's getting through) I've even dunked her in cool water twice! The second time I held her bum in there for a good minute before putting her on the roost in quarantine. Just waiting it out now

Sadly the heat wave has claimed its first victim, I was out all day yesterday only getting home at midnight so I didn't check them, I found Hedwig this morning dead beside the water bottle, she had been fine yesterday morning before I left, she has no injury so I have to assume heat stroke. All guilt over wanting to keep all the chicks is now gone,

Oh that's sad. Sorry.
Depends on the medication. Amprolium has no withholding period, but most of the newer chick starters contain antibiotics and do have. I don't use medicated anymore. I just feed a natural one and treat with amprolium if there is an outbreak. For most momma hens it is fine foe them to consume medicated because whilst they are raising their chicks they cease laying.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Only thing worries me with the home made one is the salt. You read so much about how fertilisers can cause salt build up in soils I hesitate to spray it around. Mind you the size of the area I'm killing I wouldn't use one of those touch ones either lol

Glyphosate is isopropylamine salt, so it works on a similar principle. I have a friend that uses a blow torch to burn the weeds in her driveway. Another ' greenie ' friend boils water and scalds them. There are many ways to skin a cat.

 

[RodneyRooster]

Wow so much has happened
To those integrating chicks. I asked a couple months ago and was told that laying hens should not be eating medicated feed, if they do you cannot eat the eggs. Plus they will waste a lot and the chicks could miss out on the essential nutrients they need, If you can make it so the chicks can get out but the hens can't get in that would be much better for all.
My chicks are having their second free range with the flock today, all is well, having had them side by side means that the mummas don't have to worry about pecking order, and the chicks just stay out of the way for the most part.
Broody hens; ginny broke with just 3 nights in quarantine. I let them out on day 2 to see what would happen and they made their way back to the nest, another night and day broke ginny but Cho is determined, she walks around eats drinks and roosts but the second I let her out she's straight back to the nests, even if I've got the door closed she somehow gets into the coop and nest and immediately goes to evil eyes screaming broody (I've found a small gap under the house that I think she's getting through) I've even dunked her in cool water twice! The second time I held her bum in there for a good minute before putting her on the roost in quarantine. Just waiting it out now

Sadly the heat wave has claimed its first victim, I was out all day yesterday only getting home at midnight so I didn't check them, I found Hedwig this morning dead beside the water bottle, she had been fine yesterday morning before I left, she has no injury so I have to assume heat stroke. All guilt over wanting to keep all the chicks is now gone,

Poor hedwig, condolences.

Well tonight the little fluff balls are roosting on their own, so cute!

 

[tandykins]

OMG. I was informed by a neighbour day before yesterday that my little GSH hen Grendel is breaking into his yard and tearing up the garden he's worked so hard to build up. He didn't out and out threaten to kick her, but he did say that he wanted to have a chat with me about it before giving her a kick up the bum. I felt it was implied. Grendel, however, is exceptionally smart and persistent. She would pretend to go around one side the house, wait until she saw me move in that direction around our vegetable garden, and then bolt to the other side of the house and fly over the fence. Brat.

She's doing it because for some reason or another, she's decided that she should lay under his house and while she's over there has a snack in his garden.

Yesterday I successfully blocked her attempts to get to his yard - just, and only by watching her. I know that if I can get her over it and laying elsewhere, she'll move on and forget about it - but first I have to get her laying elsewhere. I put her in our nesting boxes when she was complaining for somewhere to lay. She hopped out and bolted for his yard. Rinse. Repeat. Ad nauseum.

In between I had to break up fights between my birds because - despite the presence of no fewer than 11 nesting boxes for `16 hens, we have to fight over the one Sophie is in because I don't know, it's made of gold or spits out chocolate or something. Everyone MUST HAVE THAT BOX and was making a -racket- over it. So I'm bouncing between chasing Grendel and assigning chickens nesting boxes time-out style.

It was like babysitting a group of loudly complaining and PMSing dinosaur toddlers.

I gave Tetra's eggs another gentle candling yesterday. I was worried that my husband had put them too close to the light and we'd have the same problem with death from overheating that we had from our last lot of eggs in the incubator because we overfilled it and the light was too close to one set (we are working on a method to reduce the radiant heat while keeping the temperature in the incubator stable). The air cells seem to have largely reattached but one has a notable saddle air cell. Just to be on the safe side I've decided to keep them in the incubator. Right now I've got them alongside a hatch about 5 days behind them but I've got another hatch in progress right now (I woke up to babies pipping through!) and once that hatch is done and the incubator is clean - I'll put Tetra's damaged eggs in there and let them finish out their incubation in an incubator. Once they're hatched, maybe I'll pop them under her overnight with the ones she hatched herself so they can all be together. Poor Tetra, Kissy is so rude jumping all over her nest.

 

[tandykins]

Wow so much has happened
To those integrating chicks. I asked a couple months ago and was told that laying hens should not be eating medicated feed, if they do you cannot eat the eggs. Plus they will waste a lot and the chicks could miss out on the essential nutrients they need, If you can make it so the chicks can get out but the hens can't get in that would be much better for all.
My chicks are having their second free range with the flock today, all is well, having had them side by side means that the mummas don't have to worry about pecking order, and the chicks just stay out of the way for the most part.
Broody hens; ginny broke with just 3 nights in quarantine. I let them out on day 2 to see what would happen and they made their way back to the nest, another night and day broke ginny but Cho is determined, she walks around eats drinks and roosts but the second I let her out she's straight back to the nests, even if I've got the door closed she somehow gets into the coop and nest and immediately goes to evil eyes screaming broody (I've found a small gap under the house that I think she's getting through) I've even dunked her in cool water twice! The second time I held her bum in there for a good minute before putting her on the roost in quarantine. Just waiting it out now

Sadly the heat wave has claimed its first victim, I was out all day yesterday only getting home at midnight so I didn't check them, I found Hedwig this morning dead beside the water bottle, she had been fine yesterday morning before I left, she has no injury so I have to assume heat stroke. All guilt over wanting to keep all the chicks is now gone,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I thought I was being paranoid over the heat and my panting chickens..maybe I wasn't. I was thinking of putting a misting fan in my garage on hot days pointing at the nesting boxes so the girls trying to lay eggs can feel a bit cooler while they do so - ridiculous? I'm not sure..

Right now I have the chicks and Queenie in a brooder with a side-opening door that I keep propped open during the day just enough for the chicks to run inside and get at their crumble. I do use a chick starter with Amprolium in it (but only amprolium) - but I think I'm going to switch to unmedicated feed like Fancychooklady. I'm trying to avoid dosing my chickens unless I need to.

But believe it or not - we don't eat any of our eggs during the spring/summer. No one does. We hatch (or sell for hatching every last one of them) - though I'd be interested to know how Amprolium affects hatching eggs. That is something I certainly hadn't considered and will have to do more research.

Glyphosate is isopropylamine salt, so it works on a similar principle. I have a friend that uses a blow torch to burn the weeds in her driveway. Another ' greenie ' friend boils water and scalds them. There are many ways to skin a cat.

I use vinegar - or if my kitchen vinegar doesn't work - I buy more concentrated acetic acid. > I find that even diluted white vinegar is great on mallows - but I need something a bit stronger for the nettles growing all over my backyard. Maybe I'll just pick them and make vegetable rennet. That'll show 'em. Then I can make some brie. Nnngh. Brie.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Teila

The first thing I noticed when I got there was that no-one seems to walk much … air conditioned home to air conditioned car to air conditioned office or shopping centre etc

I do this even in the Canberra area. I'm an Oregon girl so it's only been the last couple of years I've really adjusted to the heat (more the brutality of the sun, really - the temps aren't significantly seasonally different - but your son is like bloody lava knives on this pale girl's skin). All through spring though - even if I'm used to the heat - I'm STILL jumping from air conditioner to air conditioner. It's not the heat - it's the allergens. Privet is blooming everywhere and my headface is exploding in a shower of slimy rage over it. I end up using the air conditioners around me because their filters seem to block most of the allergens causing the reaction. XD

 

[Meeka3]

Meeka3 .... I was wondering if you could cut their wings a little, or would that not be good for what is tantamount to a wild bird. ?   ... Just cut enough to let them roost in trees, but not fly away.
My hens all have their wings clipped but still manage to 'jump / fly" upwards - onto roosting rails, the wire fence etc., but could never make it into more than the lower branches of a tree ( not that they've ever tried ).   A neighbour used to have a peacock who periodically went missing, and could be heard calling from wherever it was enjoying the day.   So the neighbours would be out trying to suss out the sound, to catch the dear boy.    He had his wings clipped ( I did it actually ) ... while the neighbour held him.   That was a fun day !!  :/  

20 kms ???   that's one far and wide range they can travel.  Seems sad you have to lock them up, but it's for their own safety - so good luck with all that.

And our weather is reasonably kindly at the moment, with coolish nights.   So madam-bare-bum, is comfortable enough, for now.   !!  

Cheers........    

I did think of that but I don't think it would work here, my 8 acres are surrounded by trees around the inside of my perimeter and they could just keep go higher up the tree and over the fence, then they wouldn't be able to get back in. The pen they are in is a good size, and they have a high perch so it's not too bad for a short time, I'm just a sook and like to see them running around free.

 

[LanaDucky]

So my chicken math is all wrong. The lady who sold me my last lot of chicks is having a downsizing sale. She is selling her next lot of chicks for $5 each! Silver laced wyandottes and silver sussex sound like they should be in my flock. But as i cant free range for more than a few hours daily and there is the possibility of moving, more chooks may not be wise, somebody hold me back.

 

[tandykins]

So my chicken math is all wrong. The lady who sold me my last lot of chicks is having a downsizing sale. She is selling her next lot of chicks for $5 each! Silver laced wyandottes and silver sussex sound like they should be in my flock. But as i cant free range for more than a few hours daily and there is the possibility of moving, more chooks may not be wise, somebody hold me back.

Oh. No. Stop.

I can't say anything. I have eggs hatching today, chicks I'm picking up on Wednesday and I already spent 3 hours yesterday chasing chickens who wouldn't lay in the right place.

Honestly my first reaction was jealousy. XD

 

[ChristieB]

So my chicken math is all wrong. The lady who sold me my last lot of chicks is having a downsizing sale. She is selling her next lot of chicks for $5 each! Silver laced wyandottes and silver sussex sound like they should be in my flock. But as i cant free range for more than a few hours daily and there is the possibility of moving, more chooks may not be wise, somebody hold me back.

Haha I'm no help after insisting that there would be no more chicks this year i now have agreed to take in 9 Belgian d'uccle chicks!! The guy was advertising his whole flock for sale so I contacted him as I know how much he loves them, and in the end he said if he can just give the chicks away he can work something out for his original 4 so I'm getting them for free!!!
If anyone in my area is interested in d'uccles let me know as I can't keep them all, the father and 3 mothers are porcelain and one mother is blue so chicks will be a mix, currently 5 weeks old. Will get pics when they arrive this afternoon.