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

[Fizzybelle]

Have often spoken about Mindy Araucana, and a few people here said they'd like to see photos' of her.

Finally got around to taking them, so here are a couple : She's a feisty sweetheart.





Inspecting the garden - well away from the two big girls though..... I thought she had finished her moult at this point, but she seems to have begun again - or at least around her head and neck now. ???

So nice to see Mindy! What a gorgeous fluffy girl she is

 

[Fizzybelle]

Wow, I had a lot of posts to catch up on.

Myhaven, sorry for the loss of another chicken, but glad to hear there is improvement.

My group are doing well, Mabel has been a perfect fit really to the emptiness left by Iris' absence. She has a very calm and confident nature and is very sociable, getting on quite well with Agnes and Esme. Only problem is Beatrice, who understandably is determined to not be last in the pecking order again. She gets especially competitive over me at cuddle time, wanting to monopolize my attention, but generally they get along most of the time.

The other day I watched Beatrice chasing a turtledove that landed in the yard. She decided for whatever reason that she really hated it, and chased it relentlessly every time it landed. It was almost the same size as her, but that didn't stop her yelling at it, and running after it, as fast as her feathered little legs would let her. It finally took off, after Bea probably called it every name in the book.

Here's a pic of Agnes stuffing her face this arvo.




And here's baby Mabel, growing up very nicely, I think she's starting a mini moult. Almost three months old now, and still looking very feminine thankfully.

 

[Teila]

OMG What a day, between multiple software issues/failures and LuLu’s illness this is the first chance I have had to take a breath. Thank gawd I finish at 4!

OK, back through those posts I missed to catch up but before then, an update on LuLu .. she is still shaking/jerking her head and very occasionally falling over. Still no discharge of any kind and good colour etc but she did sneeze a couple of times. They all have a sneeze occasionally but just to be safe, I have her on antibiotics. Currently she is mooching around at the back of the garden digging holes but she has spent a lot of time resting today.

I still have no idea what I am dealing with. She is pooping and they look good and because I have not seen her drink, I droppered the antibiotic water into her beak. Definitely no lice and she is a good weight. She ate some mackerel, yoghurt and some meal worms and just managed a sprint across the yard with the rest of the flock when a cockatoo scared them.

potato chip One way to check if she is broody is to put an egg in front of her on the nest box, if she uses her beak to roll it under herself, you most likely have a broody

satay Wow! Wonderful save of Miss Frizz, I hope her improvement continues

Gees Fancy May is turning into the month from you know where! Sorry to hear that you have some fencing to repair but good news that your girl is OK.

Fizzybelle Agnes and Mabel are such little cuties!

 

[satay]

Happy to report miss frizz seems back to normal and happy to be back in her pen with her other pekin friends. I'll post some pics of her in a few days when my internet resets. I'll be keeping an eye on her for a few days still.

 

[Fizzybelle]

That's great news Satay!

Teila, I hope the antibiotics help LuLu, and she's back to her usual self soon

 

[User395221]

Yes, Agnes and Mabel are adorable.

Flossie's been sitting in the nest box again today. I hope there's nothing wrong with her that I'm not recognising. I'll try the "egg trick" to see what she does, thanks Teila

 

[MyHaven]

We can't get sugar cane mulch in perth because they say its contains stuff they don't want here. (not sure what that's just what Bunnings say)
They use to quarantine it but now they won't let in WA at all. I only use hemp I was told hay is not good for nesting boxes either.

Well that says a lot about mulch.

 

[MyHaven]

Thank you for asking and thank you for the heads up.

I will catch up with other posts later, when work quietens down but I wanted to share a thought I had with you.

Not pointing the blame  .. what biosecurity does the fox dude use, if any?  Does he go near the birds or coops?

I was thinking about your predicament and got to thinking that chicken keepers would be up there as one of a fox dude's more frequent customers?  What's to say when he has arrived at your place he has not just left another chicken keepers place, bringing nasties with him?

Just food for thought??

Absolutely good thought. One girl who had bite marks from the fox could have got desease as well (although not respiratory I'd say)

Finding out what it is will go a long way to finding out where its origins lay. It looks like it's going to cost a lot but I need to know. Someone pointed out that I could replace my flock for what it is costing me, but I wouldn't know if it was in the ground or if the risk is still there and new birds were likely to get infected.

I couldn't cull my One eyed Liz Taylor.

Or Nelly, Fraidy, the Dorathy's, Cagney and Lacey .......

Or the bubs

Without changing me. They are in my care.

 

[Teila]

I hope you do not mind, but I am updating on LuLu again .. this is not only for my benefit [keeping a record] but you never know, it may help others down the track.

Anyways, between 4pm and when they went to bed just now, there was no head jerking/rolling as such, but just the occasional shake of the head and scratch of the head. No balance loss. She walked up the ramp OK and jumped onto the low roost and then high roost without issue … I will check on her periodically through the evening to make sure she is still on it.

As I did not see her take a drink of the antibiotic water during this period, we droppered some more into her beak before bed.

MyHaven Yep, the fox is a possible source also. Again, so very sorry this is happening. I understand how hard it would be to cull your birds and I definitely would not be going down that path until I knew what it was.

Also, yes, you probably could replace your flock for what it is costing you but just so that the next batch might get it … yeah, not the smartest comment

I am guessing they are also not chickeneers? “replace your flock” is not something we would do on a whim.

 

[LuckysMum]

Fancy How’s the Apster doing, has he settled down after the move? I'm wishing for a quiet weekend.

satay I hope miss frizz stays out of the water now.

Teila I’m hope Lulu is on the mend. Good luck on the night watch.

Fizzybelle Agnes and Mabel look lovely.

MyHaven If you’re like me you won’t have peace of mind if you don’t find out, and like you say how you can get more birds if the problem is not in the birds. Who could cull such beautiful birds?