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

[Anniebee]

Depends largely on the quality of hay. After being in werribee at Aus champs and having to purchase hay I would say that the oaten hay there is no better than straw. I throw a biscuit of Lucerne in to the runs and they love it. If you have mites or lice straw is the worst thing to have in your nesting boxes, unlike hay it is cylindrical and gives the nasties a perfect place to hide.
Tassie is usually very wet and cold during winter and spring and after 14 years of owning and raising silkies I've never had a problem with keeping them dry. Adequate shelter is the key, but I think that can be said of all breeds.
I use hay in my nest boxes and under the perches, it's easier to handle when raking out and once it's full of poop and nutrients , I pile it up around the trees in the garden. Don't get me wrong , I've used straw as well but I wouldn't say that one was better than the other. Just depends what is available to you and what is most cost effective .

Fancy .... not at all surprised at your experience in Werribee at the champs, with the 'hay' !! .... I have experienced the lack of quality and care by some people who run animal shows, and it is quite disgusting. Not all, but some.

I have used pea straw which the girls love to pick at. Haven't had any little 'pea plants' pop up either, or if they have they've been eaten immediately by the girls.

Hay and fresh lucerne is great when you have horses, and / or ruminants to munch on it - with some thrown to the chooks for nibbling on. But is mighty expensive here as it only comes in bales, which would ultimately not last the distance - even if kept inside ( I keep my wood shavings and huge bag of straw of whatever type ) in our storage room inside the house. The lucerne hay and hay from any other source, is expensive - so cost is a factor. I grab pea-straw whenever I can.

Have often looked longingly at rabbit and guinea pig dry foods, in smallish packets in the supermarket. Have never bought any, but always wonder if it would be ok for chickens. I have a sneaking suspicion the answer would be 'no' .... I will try to find some dried mealworms - have not had success with mealworm purchasing to date. Pet Barn may have them, but I think I would end up having to buy on line - something I prefer not to do.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Much as I would love to have silkies again one day - the same problem exists - that of housing. They could only go in with Mindy Araucana ( provided she didn't turn bully-girl ) ... and as she is the one who loves getting soaked, - even her soft underfeathers end up quite damp which is why she comes inside in the cat carrier, after towelling ... to dry off completely, I couldn't trust the silkies to have more sense to stay out of the rain in Mindys' leak proof, totally dry, coop. I imagine they would follow the rain-mad Mindy - out and about in the downpour. And as you said - adequate shelter is the key. Would have to have a new coop and run, completely covered and water proof for silkies - or as I've said before, house them inside and let them out only on sunny days. Not the best way to keep chickens though.

So far, have been very fortunate re mites and lice. I attribute much of this to the deep litter method I use for the coop - as those little microbes keep a whole heap of nasties away ( according to what I have read on-line ), and so far, so good.

As always, thanks for your helpful input.

Cheers .......

p.s. - your lupins are stunning, so pretty. Do you stake them or do they stand tall by themselves ?

 

[Chook Newby]

Thanks, it's a works in progress. The flowers are Lupins.

Thanks Fancy! I might have to look them up and see if they will grow in Wagga

 

[Chook Newby]

Good morning folks

Tee hee potato chip, you and me both, I am thinking that eating meal worms is not going to be on my bucket list any time soon and if by some very remote chance it was, I am not sure that Dusty would appreciate sharing

satay great pics and I see why you get excited at the sight of green grass

I wonder what happened to Rodney.

On the subject of chickens and rain .. the princesses do not do ‘get wet’ .. if it is raining, they are sheltering.

On the subject of treats .. the princesses have favourites. While the majority of the flock is not particularly fond of grasshoppers, Blondie loves them. Only Dusty and KiKi will eat earth worms but they do all love their meal worms.

On the subject of bedding .. I use straw in the nest boxes and as you know, bare timber slatted floor in the coop.

Chook Newby while I am going to say “do not feel bad, accidents happen and you meant well” I know that it is probably going to play on your mind for a while.

If it helps, we have probably all been there at some time. I still feel sick at the thought of how I nearly squashed Chimee [cat] when she was a baby. I was making the bed and she was ‘helping’ .. she jumped up onto the bed base as I was dropping the corner of the mattress; bad reflexes and one more second and she would be gone. While it still haunts me, she would not even have noticed.

We also feel bad any time we accidentally step on their tails etc .. again, we feel awful when they have probably forgotten about it.

Don’t beat yourself up, I am sure your girl has forgotten also

mooandmcgee that is great news about your littlies putting themselves to bed. Hey, if you have “serious issues” trust me when I say "we all do"

MyHaven your bubs are beautiful!

Awww thanks Teila. Your words have helped. After I got home from work yesterday I raced out the back to check on the girls and Sybil (the one I nearly killed) was alert as ever. So hopefully you're right and she has forgotten what I did to her haha.

I have had little mishaps with my dogs too and I always feel awful afterwards. I guess we just love them too much

 

[Anniebee]

I would think they would be a great bird for out here. We have had the driest summer in 9 years and seen very little rain. My poor girls love the rain probably cause they hardly ever see it.

Had to laugh ... your girls loving the phenomenon of 'rain' !! .... bad that it's been so dry.

The big ranging lake not far from you, must be way way down by now. ( looked it up on Google maps ).

Cheers ....

 

[Chook Newby]

Don't let that stop you. Silkies are cold tolerant birds, the walnut comb is the best indication of that, they don't do so well in the extreme heat though.

Thats interesting because I read that they didnt cope well in the cold and the wet. But never the less, we have just recently had 3 consecutive weeks of around 40 degree heat here and I was expecting to come home from work each day and find one of my girls 'gone'. So im not sure how Silkies would cope in that case.....

 

[sjturner79]

Fancy .... not at all surprised at your experience in Werribee at the champs, with the 'hay' !!  .... I have experienced the lack of quality and care by some people who run animal shows,  and it is quite disgusting.   Not all, but some.   

I have used pea straw which the girls love to pick at.    Haven't had any little 'pea plants' pop up either, or if they have they've been eaten immediately by the girls.  

Hay and fresh lucerne is great when you have horses, and / or ruminants to munch on it - with some thrown to the chooks for nibbling on.   But is mighty expensive here as it only comes in bales, which would ultimately not last the distance - even if kept inside ( I keep my wood shavings and huge bag of straw of whatever type ) in our storage room inside the house.   The lucerne hay and hay from any other source, is expensive - so cost is a factor.   I grab pea-straw whenever I can.    

Have often looked longingly at rabbit and guinea pig dry foods, in smallish packets in the supermarket.   Have never bought any, but always wonder if it would be ok for chickens.   I have a sneaking suspicion the answer would be 'no' .... I will try to find some dried mealworms - have not had success with mealworm purchasing to date.  Pet Barn may have them, but I think I would end up having to buy on line - something I prefer not to do.   

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Much as I would love to have silkies again one day - the same problem exists - that of housing.   They could only go in with Mindy Araucana ( provided she didn't turn bully-girl ) ... and as she is the one who loves getting soaked, - even her soft underfeathers end up quite damp which is why she comes inside in the cat carrier, after towelling ... to dry off completely, I couldn't trust the silkies to have more sense to stay out of the rain in  Mindys' leak proof, totally dry, coop.  I imagine they would follow the rain-mad Mindy - out and about in the downpour.   And as you said - adequate shelter is the key.    Would have to have a new coop and run, completely covered and water proof for silkies - or as I've said before, house them inside and let them out only on sunny days.   Not the best way to keep chickens though. 

So far, have been very fortunate re mites and lice.   I attribute much of this to the deep litter method I use for the coop - as those little microbes keep a whole heap of nasties away ( according to what I have read on-line ), and so far, so good. 

As always, thanks for your helpful input. 

Cheers ....... 

p.s. - your lupins are stunning, so pretty.   Do you stake them or do they stand tall by themselves ?   

I would be surprised if rabbit and Guinea pig food has anything that is bad for a chicken in it, but I've never throughly read the ingredient list. It would not be a complete feed for them though as I suspect it would not have much protien. There are people who let thier chooks have cat food, but you need to be really careful of that because the high salt content can easily lead to hardened arteries and heart failure.

 

[Anniebee]

Awww thanks Teila. Your words have helped. After I got home from work yesterday I raced out the back to check on the girls and Sybil (the one I nearly killed) was alert as ever. So hopefully you're right and she has forgotten what I did to her haha.

I have had little mishaps with my dogs too and I always feel awful afterwards. I guess we just love them too much

They are resilient and forgetful I would think - and so glad to hear no harm was done to Sybil.

Dogs however, I don't think ever forget. When Miss Ruby ( Golden Retriever ) was about 3 months old, and in toilet training, she had just squatted to begin a pee, when we had a weather 'microburst' in the back yard ( probably several back yards around ) .... an astonishing downward burst of cyclone type wind which bent almost to the ground, every tree in the garden, frightened helll out of me, and in the resultant updraft ( comes down and bursts outwards and up ) ... had the chickens all high in the air, flapping their wings and shrieking. They can last a few seconds to a minute or so. This was just a second or two.

This of course interfered with Ruby's toilet training, and frightened her no end at the time. To this day ( she will be 4 in October ) ... she will go out by herself, and toilet in rain, storms, thunder, boiling hot sun etc., but if there is a goodly wind, she won't move from my side. She will however, do her toilet provided I go with her to her designated spot and stand close by. She has never forgotten.

I can't feel bad about that, having no control over weather

but have many times had the guilts over little things to do with cats, dogs, horses and chickens.
That's us - not them, they mostly forget ( except for dogs and horses ). Cats decide

and I think chickens, likewise.

Cheers ......

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thats interesting because I read that they didnt cope well in the cold and the wet.  But never the less, we have just recently had 3 consecutive weeks of around 40 degree heat here and I was expecting to come home from work each day and find one of my girls 'gone'.  So im not sure how Silkies would cope in that case.....

We've had our fair share of 40 degrees here too, haven't lost any silkies to it but I did lose a silver laced Wyandotte , rose comb doesn't allow them to regulate their body temp as well as straight combed birds.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Fancy .... not at all surprised at your experience in Werribee at the champs, with the 'hay' !!  .... I have experienced the lack of quality and care by some people who run animal shows,  and it is quite disgusting.   Not all, but some.   

I have used pea straw which the girls love to pick at.    Haven't had any little 'pea plants' pop up either, or if they have they've been eaten immediately by the girls.  

Hay and fresh lucerne is great when you have horses, and / or ruminants to munch on it - with some thrown to the chooks for nibbling on.   But is mighty expensive here as it only comes in bales, which would ultimately not last the distance - even if kept inside ( I keep my wood shavings and huge bag of straw of whatever type ) in our storage room inside the house.   The lucerne hay and hay from any other source, is expensive - so cost is a factor.   I grab pea-straw whenever I can.    

Have often looked longingly at rabbit and guinea pig dry foods, in smallish packets in the supermarket.   Have never bought any, but always wonder if it would be ok for chickens.   I have a sneaking suspicion the answer would be 'no' .... I will try to find some dried mealworms - have not had success with mealworm purchasing to date.  Pet Barn may have them, but I think I would end up having to buy on line - something I prefer not to do.   

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Much as I would love to have silkies again one day - the same problem exists - that of housing.   They could only go in with Mindy Araucana ( provided she didn't turn bully-girl ) ... and as she is the one who loves getting soaked, - even her soft underfeathers end up quite damp which is why she comes inside in the cat carrier, after towelling ... to dry off completely, I couldn't trust the silkies to have more sense to stay out of the rain in  Mindys' leak proof, totally dry, coop.  I imagine they would follow the rain-mad Mindy - out and about in the downpour.   And as you said - adequate shelter is the key.    Would have to have a new coop and run, completely covered and water proof for silkies - or as I've said before, house them inside and let them out only on sunny days.   Not the best way to keep chickens though. 

So far, have been very fortunate re mites and lice.   I attribute much of this to the deep litter method I use for the coop - as those little microbes keep a whole heap of nasties away ( according to what I have read on-line ), and so far, so good. 

As always, thanks for your helpful input. 

Cheers ....... 

p.s. - your lupins are stunning, so pretty.   Do you stake them or do they stand tall by themselves ?   

Thanks Annie, no staking required. The bumble bees love them.
Unfortunately so do the snails.

 

[Chook Newby]

Oh don't feel bad, I took our little Carla to the Vet today to get the stitch out of her bum after a friends dog had a go at her. Luckily she didn't get eaten.

I am seriously so jealous you got to take a coarse. I would have totally been into that but sadly nothing like that here. I do have the breeders I bought our chicks from helping out via email. Which is a great help. A friend just asked me for a little help as her neighbour is looking at chicks and I was able to give her a full on fact sheet, with breeder contacts about 20 different websites and pointers. I amaze myself sometimes.

Oh poor little Carla! She doesnt seem to have any luck! But it sounds like she is doing well now. And lots of TLC will be good for her

See, all your research is paying off. You will be an expert within not time. I amaze myself with what I know too and Im really starting to pick up the lingo of chicken keeping too. When I did the course the lady kept talking about when your hen goes Broody, I had no idea what she was talking about and was too scared to ask cause I didnt want to seem like an idiot. But google is great for that type of stuff