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

[User395221]

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 !!

...........

I am, I love snow and ice. When I went to Tassie, there was snow. I love snow. I hate the heat.

 

[Anniebee]

Well, the eggs seem to occur in the same nest box. What I didn't realise is that they are in there at the same time. I opened to door to find Grace sitting on Flossie's head. Her egg was warm. And Flossie was sitting there.... She did do an egg, but she seemed to just be sitting when I saw her, just like yesterday. If they get up and go outside, is it ok for them so sit on the eggs for a little while? Is is only when they stay there and don't do anything else that they are "broody"?

Some girls get straight up off the nest ( they stand to push out the final result egg usually ), and go walk-about. Others like the warmth of where they are at, and stay there.

It's perfectly ok to let them do that. A broody will not lay eggs, - they just remain in a position, with gritty attitude plus ( often ) .... and don't eat or drink a lot. Whatever they are sitting on - bricks, straw, dirt, someone elses' egg - is good enough for them. They would try to hatch the lot !!

3 > 4 days of lock out from a favourite nesting area, is enough to break a broody of her hormonal tendencies at that time. Depending of course, on weather, and other situations in terms of nesting boxes, other hens, and coop structure etc.

A hen can lay an egg however, and then turn broody, almost overnight, in which case she will remain unmoveable over that egg. Just remove the egg from under her ( preferably with thick gloves on ). .

I am sure many others here have 1000 stories to tell about broodies and their odd behaviour, and various preferences.

Meanwhile, don't worry too much about your hen sitting for a little while on her egg.

Cheers .....

 

[Anniebee]

potatochip Straight Araucana I think they have curly feathers around their face.

Anniebee Mindy is beautiful not at all like I thought she would be. She looks big.

I have 7 ISA's at the moment and these are the eggs I'm getting (who needs easter eggers) The bottom left is quite speckled.

Was surprised that your ISA's have laid pale, whitish eggs, but on googling images, found they can do that ?

That's my 'learn something new every day' thing, for today.

Mindy is bigger than a bantam. But nowhere near the size of say a Rhode Island Red. ( for comparison ). And Mandy Welsummer is twice her size.

She lays good sized eggs when in 'go' mode, some as large as Molly RIRs', with bigger yolks than the two big girls. Everyone loves Mindys' eggs. It's the colour that gets them ...

 

[Anniebee]

Originally Posted by LuckysMum

Straight Araucana I think they have curly feathers around their face.

......

This is the interesting part LuckysMum .... There has been so much kerfoof about Araucanas and Ameraucanas over the years, to the degree that I left the thread for 'Araucanas / Ameraucanas', as so many told me we have inferior birds, and that Australian and UK breeds were not the real thing ( pffft !! ) .... and that only the Ameraucana was 'it and a bit' and the proper and true breed. Well - pickled wing clippings to them. !!

Here is a little notation about it - sums it up beautifully :

"The Ameraucana is an American breed of domestic chicken developed in the United States in the 1970s. It derives from Araucana chickens brought from Chile and was bred to retain the blue-egg gene but eliminate the lethal alleles of the parent breed."

So - it is 'developed' and 'derived from' .... hmmmm.

The Ameraucana is rumpless and needs ( apparently ) to have major feather growth on both sides of the face. Some of them are quite extraordinary and beautiful. ALL Araucanas however, originated from South America ( no matter who calls them what ) ....

Straight Araucanas' as you mentioned, are more like the British and Australian breeds of the bird, but can / do have those prominent side face tufts as well, but are probably not rumpless. Even little Mindy has a tiny tuft of stand-out feathers beside her face ( hard to see in the photos of her ). She has a beautiful beard though !!

and is certainly not rumpless. The following photo states it as an "Araucana" ( go figure ) but most likely would meet the needs of people showing them as Amercaucanas in America .... it is both rumpless and has prominent side face feathers ( tufts ). What is and is not a true Araucana remains a matter of much contention.





I will say nothing about what I think of pompous attitudes by certain northern hemisphere chicken breeders of South American originals.

Enough said.

 

[satay]

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 ....... 

She looks just like my pure araucanas. I have white and lavender. It is very hard to get "blue egg laying" aras in Australia, you can get them but they mostly lay a minty green.

 

[MyHaven]

We've gone from one extreme to another. Now on flood watch, just saved momma and her 6 chicks from the rising waters.

Oh no, I hope all are ok. (Humans and animals)

 

[MyHaven]

potatochip Straight Araucana I think they have curly feathers around their face. Anniebee Mindy is beautiful not at all like I thought she would be. She looks big. I have 7 ISA's at the moment and these are the eggs I'm getting (who needs easter eggers) The bottom left is quite speckled.

I love a multi colour and designed egg baskets.

 

[satay]

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

The weather people have been predicting above average temps for this winter. I guess Tassie didn't get that message. BRR. You can keep your snow

 

[MyHaven]

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.   

The support we get is what gets us through. I was semiconscious and drugged for a long time, I think it was harder on those around me - I wasn't all that aware. I did give up smoking, again because I was semiconscious through withdrawal. I may end up living longer as a result. Scars, yes there are a lot.

Can I just say, if you are in the regions and you get sick - get to a major centre for treatment. The regions do not get the resources or training needed to keep people alive. Thank god for the Flying Drs who literally saved my life getting me to the city.

 

[Fancychooklady]

The support we get is what gets us through. I was semiconscious and drugged for a long time, I think it was harder on those around me - I wasn't all that aware. I did give up smoking, again because I was semiconscious through withdrawal. I may end up living longer as a result. Scars, yes there are a lot.

Can I just say, if you are in the regions and you get sick - get to a major centre for treatment. The regions do not get the resources or training needed to keep people alive. Thank god for the Flying Drs who literally saved my life getting me to the city.

Agreed. It's not until you are really sick that you realise how isolated you are. Knowing your legal rights is also very important. After spending 12 months in Hobart hospital they paid for myself and my husband to fly to Melbourne , they then paid for accomodation for 3 months before I was admitted to the Austin centre for a further 6 months.this was all possible because my state health system was unable to provide me with the help that I needed and tassie has an agreement with the organ transplant organisation in Victoria. I was on palliative care at that stage and without my husband none of this would have eventuated.
Having said that , the care that I received at the Royal Hobart hospital was second to none. They just didn't know what to do with me.
It rained all night here , I didn't sleep through worry about the goats and cows down the back. This morning the mountains are covered in snow and the sun is shining . Wouldn't be dead for quids.