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

[Anniebee]

Anniebee Not much fun having needles everyday.


I have been offered araucana, Sussex and leghorn eggs to hatch. Are these chooks easy enough to keep in a backyard? I heard araucana are a bit flighty. I am looking to forward to a variety of chooks.

LuckysMum .... I would imagine they would be flighty --- but I clip my girls wings, in order to save me from climbing trees in search and rescue mode !!! I ain't built for that.

Flighty - most likely .... Fiesty - absolutely YES. Mindy ( when not moulting ) has been an extraordinary layer. Giving min. 6 eggs per week, a couple of which were soft-shells, and others broke as they fell from her standing position for the final push, from her last laying effort. She ate the yolks only of those

She was ( hopefully still is ) by far the best layer of the 3 hens. Beautiful blue ( mainly ) to greenish to an occasional dusky green / olive ... eggs. Huge yolks. So some might call her an Easter Egger ??

I don't think she is quite pure Araucana, but she certainly has absolutely all the looks of an Araucana, according to images for "Australian Araucanas". And according to those images, the range of egg colour does go from blue to olive-y ?? There's a bit of something else in her maybe ( not sure ) as they can come in a variety of colours. I will never know. She was a gift from a friend who hatches eggs in an incubator.

I think I would be inclined to go with Araucana and Sussex. While the leghorns ( white ) are excellent layers, they also can be aggressive, or so I have been told by a few people and on looking them up on the internet. There is a thread on BYC about aggressive leghorns. Apparently they need plenty of space ??? .... I honestly don't know much more about them. Apologies to leghorn lovers ...

Good luck with increasing your flock.

Cheers .......

 

[User395221]

potato chip I think it was dog poop .. I did Google Fox poop images but there were so many different types, I could not be sure. Does anyone know if fox poop looks like dog poop? It was definitely larger than my cat’s poop and he does some beauties and I think it was probably larger than what you would expect from a fox also

There appeared to have been no effort to bury it.

According to this, fox poo looks like small dog poo, but stinks.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/09/26/2044094.htm

Cats can do whoppers, and they can leave it out in the open if they are "being territorial". Otherwise, possums perhaps?

Quote:
Thanks, that's a relief. Every time they sit there a bit long, I think of the chooks I've read about on here.

The good thing about my "silly chooks" being in the big house, is that they use the roost. Because they use the roost, their poo is in a nice line instead of all over the place like with my big girls. AND there's no poo in the nest boxes. Yay!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Teila Love the photos

Fancy Snow! That's cold. Poor things. I hope it doesn't flood now. What a country we live in.

It's not so bad, I'm sitting in front of the fire with the cats.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks, that's a relief.  Every time they sit there  a bit long, I think of the chooks I've read about on here.  

The good thing about my "silly chooks" being in the big house, is that they use the roost.  Because they use the roost, their poo is in a nice line instead of all over the place like with my big girls. AND there's no poo in the nest boxes.  Yay!  

Fox scat has a real pungent smell , you can smell it a mile away.

 

[Anniebee]

Mm, dark days , but sometimes it's good to remember , if only to count your lucky stars.

My hubby would give mine morning and night, but he was also in charge of my TPN . At the time I had a feeding tube in my tummy and a gastric tube so it didn't take long to run out of places to jab. Thank god those days are behind me.

Fancy and MyHaven ....

You certainly have both been in the wars in the past years haven't you. We all have our problems - large and small .... you are right Fancy - we should count our lucky stars every day of our lives, to be able to live a healthy life, onwards.

It must have been an unimaginable trying time for both of you.

 

[Anniebee]

Howdy folks

I really think I need a critter cam in the back yard .. Monday morning I found fresh dog poop in the chicken’s garden, we do not have a dog

potato chip that could be the “other critter” you mentioned

lol at “crazy chook lady paranoid” .. if you build it, they will come [broodies that is

]

Eeew Sam that is early!! Great pics of the Harbour!

Phew LuckysMum I am glad you found Lucky!

Fancy I am with you .. while I hate killing them, I prefer the trap to do it, rather than catch them and do it myself.

Anniebee Mindy is adorable! I love her colouring!

I could not let this year’s moult season go by without sharing embarrassing photos of Dusty. Good job we have a substantial supply of meal worms because she is not going to be impressed with me after I told her last year that I would not do it again

While I had the camera out, I took the opportunity to take some up-to-date snaps of the whole flock.

Last night when she went to bed, Dusty had a tail, this afternoon she has half a tail …



Crystal is also moulting but rather than the bald-look, she has gone more for the unloved-waif-look …




LuLu was happy to show off all her new feathers and pleased that she has been there and done that without photos being taken .....




Blondie reckons that no moult is going to stop her looking like a Princess!




Cilla does not do moult, she just gets the underlings to do it for her

Love the pics. And so enjoy the commentary with them.

You sure have some really beautiful chickens.

I so feel for them all, when they are moulting. The last photograph of Cilla ... is she an Australorp ?

Mindy is white and light coffee coloured. I should call her "Cappucino". or perhaps 'Caffe Latte" .... more appropriate ? Nah - Mindy she is.

Cheers ......

 

[User395221]

Mindy is white and light coffee coloured. I should call her "Cappucino". or perhaps 'Caffe Latte" .... more appropriate ? Nah - Mindy she is.

Mindy Mochaucana?

 

[Anniebee]

Are they straight araucana, or crosses? My girls Grace and Marcy are araucana crosses (so-called "easter eggers"). They are lovely. My Marcy is Light Sussex cross. She's lovely. It's hard to say what qualities you have in a purebred as opposed to my little "mongrels", but as far as I know, they are easy to keep. Leghorns I don't have.
She's so pretty, no wonder she's a "diva" What colour is she? She looks pink....

potato chip .... re Mindy. She is white with a light coffee colour sprinkled through her feathers. In certain lights she does look pinkish. But close up - it's milk coffee-ish and white. Her shed feathers seem to be all white ???

She is a little darling.

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You don't have mongrels, you have cross breds --- and they are charming and beautiful. Often cross breds are a darned sight nicer and healthier than the pure breds. ( did I just say that ? ) .... well, when it comes to my Welsummer girl, it is true. She's a potential murderess, and while healthy enough, 'sinks' at the first sign of trouble, be it weather that doesn't suit, or the run that doesn't suit - or the visit of a stray cockatoo ( murder time ), or even food that doesn't suit ??. .... I just let her get on with her own paranoia, and give her and the others what I think they should have - and be done with it. Will not bow to a diva chicken.

She is getting on in age now, but I think has begun to lay again - small eggs with big sprays of terra cotta colour on the eggs ( 2 ) this past few days ... and she has fiinished her moult. I doubted she would ever lay again. ??

Who knows with chooks.

,,,,,,,,,,

 

[User395221]

You don't have mongrels, you have cross breds --- and they are charming and beautiful.

I know, I couldn't care less about their parentage, I've just read a bit about chook breeding in the "easter egger" thread and how they have to have this and that and if they don't they're mutts. I love my mutts, I think they are pretty. Useless at egg production (so far), but pretty.

 

[Anniebee]

Mine are regretting their decision to go into moult, being as there is snow forecast for the mountain tonight. One of my BLRW looks like she just escaped the cooking pot.

I think there is some nasty weather headed your way Fancy .... coming up from the Antarctic. ( reminder - must speak to son about organising the weather a little better down there for us up here !!! ).

We've had ultra wild damaging winds and cold wet stuff today .... tomorrow might be a tad milder, but another front straight off the Antarctic is headed up for Mothers Day - so batten down the hatches. "Spirit of Tasmania" is in for a very rough ride tonight, and I am horrified to think how the animals being transported will fare. I wonder if they allow owners into the holds, to placate their pets, during a very bad passage ???
Aren't all you Queenslanders on here, green with envy, that we have such freezing conditions, snow and sleet at odd times - and winter has not even yet started. ??

Yeah ... I'LL BET !!

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