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

[SilkieChickStar]

@satay I am so sorry about Mr Frizz Always sad when one of our beloved pets passes on.

I can't remember who mentioned the Hensafe automatic door to me, but mine arrived today. What a marvellous invention. It was really easy to set up, and it just worked.

I hope it lasts!

Slightly off topic, does anyone else have parrots?

 

[Anniebee]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

Half way through your beautiful but sad story, I was thinking of some way out ( loony probably ) way to help Miss Frizz over her loss.

Didn't have to - nobody had to.

It is quite extraordinary, how animals look after one another, and that is a really beautiful end to a sad story.

I wonder if she will wander around with your turkeys, now that Mr. Frizz has gone. He was a great age. Will be interesting in the next few days, to see just who she 'goes' with, or not.

RIP - dear Mr. Frizz, and so sorry for your loss.

........ AB

 

[Anniebee]

Our winter weather has gone a little mad. Yesterday overnight temp -1C and a top of 14c. Last night overnight temp 9c and today is only meant to get to 12c. .

I remind everyone that i really hate winter.

..... and remind everyone that you live in Queensland.

That is quite extraordinary for those parts of Australia - MINUS temps ????????

Living in Upwey, Victoria - we expect really cold chilly-wind stuff during winter, and the last few days have been between 0°C to about 6. But that is to be expected.

Up so far north - no way. ? Climate change ? - real or not. I am erring on the side of real .... ( without political implications ).

Where Craig is ( Mawson - Antarctica ) they experienced over the weekend, temps well over / under ( ??? ) MINUS 33°c. .... I don't know how it goes once it gets to minus - when it is up or down - over or under ?? .

Cheers folks ... .soon will be Spring, although if the currawongs have any say in it, it ain't over yet here.

.........

 

[Anniebee]

Thank you so much to Fancychooklady and sjturner79, for your advice about feather eating / picking, and what to do about it.

Will be at the stock and produce store tomorrow, so will find some flaxseed. Would canola oil be as good as canola meal Fancy ? I know sardines, fish food have a lot of omegas in them too.

As I only have 3 chickens, and only one is embarassed with nakedness !! at present ( Molly RIR ) ... I think I will stick with cooked minced steak for protein, and some cottage cheese, a sprinkle of hard cheese, rice, oats, chopped greens, a small amount of scratch mix, and pulverised meal worms. ........ To begin with. .... Protein and calcium. Being careful of the amounts fed.

The meat / duck finisher sounds good, and I could put some in a dog bowl ( so's they don't kick it over ) ... for them to take when and if they want. That includes Mandy Welsummer, who is largely over her moult. BUT, I would also give Mindy Araucana some of the protein / calcium / omegas "Mum" tucker ... as ( heaven help us ) she seems to have returned to another moult ?

..............

So - my next question is .... is it normal or common for a chicken to have 2 or 3 moults in one season, virtually back to back ? She moulted heavily, regrew her feathers, then moulted her head and hackle feathers ( ok - fair enough ) .... but I now find some hefty loss of long feathers from wherever, again. Not quite like the first lot, but very noticable.

She is as feisty as normal, eats well etc., but has taken to remaining in her coop because ( I believe ) of the heavily cold weather. Her woopsies are still a chicken owners dream ( pardon me for that observation !! ).

Cheers - and thanks again ........

 

[LuckysMum]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

Sorry to hear about Mr Frizz

Isn't it amazing how animals surprise us constantly. They must have notice her need. I would be very proud of your gobblers too.

 

[sjturner79]

Thank you so much to Fancychooklady and sjturner79, for your advice about feather eating / picking, and what to do about it.  

Will be at the stock and produce store tomorrow, so will find some flaxseed.   Would canola oil be as good as canola meal Fancy ?    I know sardines, fish food have a lot of omegas in them too.   

As I only have 3 chickens, and only one is embarassed with nakedness !! at present ( Molly RIR ) ... I think I will stick with cooked minced steak for protein, and some cottage cheese, a sprinkle of hard cheese, rice, oats, chopped greens, a small amount of scratch mix,  and pulverised meal worms.   ........ To begin with.  .... Protein and calcium.   Being careful of the amounts fed.

The meat / duck finisher sounds good, and I could put some in a dog bowl ( so's they don't kick it over ) ... for them to take when and if they want.   That includes Mandy Welsummer, who is largely over her moult.   BUT, I would also give Mindy Araucana some of the protein / calcium / omegas "Mum"  tucker ... as ( heaven help us ) she seems to have returned to another moult ? 

..............

So - my next question is .... is it normal or common for a chicken to have 2 or 3 moults in one season, virtually back to back ?   She moulted heavily, regrew her feathers, then moulted her head and hackle feathers ( ok - fair enough ) .... but I now find some hefty loss of long feathers from wherever, again.   Not quite like the first lot, but very noticable.  

She is as feisty as normal, eats well etc., but has taken to remaining in her coop because ( I believe ) of the heavily cold weather.   Her woopsies are still a chicken owners dream ( pardon me for that observation  !! ).  

Cheers - and thanks again ........ 

Sounds odd to me, but i guess it's possible. I have been lucky enough to have not had a noticeable molt yet.

 

[sjturner79]

Sorry to hear of the loss of mr frizz, but well done to the turkeys. All of KC's bubs survived being left, they are all hatched and back with her tonight. Hopefully all goes well out there for them all tomorrow. I will have to see who's Still got how many at bed time tomorrow.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thank you so much to Fancychooklady and sjturner79, for your advice about feather eating / picking, and what to do about it.  

Will be at the stock and produce store tomorrow, so will find some flaxseed.   Would canola oil be as good as canola meal Fancy ?    I know sardines, fish food have a lot of omegas in them too.   

As I only have 3 chickens, and only one is embarassed with nakedness !! at present ( Molly RIR ) ... I think I will stick with cooked minced steak for protein, and some cottage cheese, a sprinkle of hard cheese, rice, oats, chopped greens, a small amount of scratch mix,  and pulverised meal worms.   ........ To begin with.  .... Protein and calcium.   Being careful of the amounts fed.

The meat / duck finisher sounds good, and I could put some in a dog bowl ( so's they don't kick it over ) ... for them to take when and if they want.   That includes Mandy Welsummer, who is largely over her moult.   BUT, I would also give Mindy Araucana some of the protein / calcium / omegas "Mum"  tucker ... as ( heaven help us ) she seems to have returned to another moult ? 

..............

So - my next question is .... is it normal or common for a chicken to have 2 or 3 moults in one season, virtually back to back ?   She moulted heavily, regrew her feathers, then moulted her head and hackle feathers ( ok - fair enough ) .... but I now find some hefty loss of long feathers from wherever, again.   Not quite like the first lot, but very noticable.  

She is as feisty as normal, eats well etc., but has taken to remaining in her coop because ( I believe ) of the heavily cold weather.   Her woopsies are still a chicken owners dream ( pardon me for that observation  !! ).  

Cheers - and thanks again ........ 

Mackerel in oil is a better choice than sardines. Best to keep it simple Annie, I would only add one or the other, flaxseed or canola. I don't feed mince meat it's not cost effective and contains too many preservatives. Many people try to come up with home made recipes, but in all honesty you would need a science degree to get it right, premium mixes should have all that they need. With only 3 birds , I would seriously consider trying a bag of game bird finisher and limit the treats, especially the ones containing dairy, fluctuating calcium can be dangerous to your birds health. My birds have experienced more moults this season than any other, so anything is possible.

But feather loss and feather picking or eating are two different things , so you need to determine which of the 2 is going on. Amino acids are crucial for healthy feathers.

 

[satay]

..... and remind everyone that you live in Queensland. 


That is quite extraordinary for those parts of Australia - MINUS temps ????????    

Living in Upwey, Victoria - we expect really cold chilly-wind stuff during winter, and the last few days have been between 0°C to about 6.   But that is to be expected.  

Up so far north - no way. ?   Climate change ?  - real or not.    I am erring on the side of real ....  ( without political implications ). 

Where Craig is ( Mawson - Antarctica ) they experienced over the weekend, temps well over / under ( ??? ) MINUS 33°c.   .... I don't know how it goes once it gets to minus - when it is up or down - over or under ?? .

Cheers folks ... .soon will be Spring, although if the currawongs have any say in it, it ain't over yet here.  

......... 

Yeah i do live in qld but we do get into the minuses in winter but it is normally July or august. This morning is better at 4.8c but the westerly winds are howling down the hill which is never pleasant. It's funny how people think qld doesn't get cold in winter.( we sure don't get Tassie cold) Up north sure doesn't and Brissy is generally much more pleasant in winter. We don't see snow often and when we do it is close to the border of qld and nsw. I have been married for 20 years in August and the year i got married we went to the Bunya mountains in qld for our honey moon. It was as cold as hell for the entire week with one day only getting to 5c max temp.
Main reason it doesn't snow in qld no matter how cold we get is you need elevation and moisture to get snow. Being we are the state that rain forgot most of the time that is just one of the reasons we don't get snow. Want to experience cold in qld go to Toowoomba. That place is hell in winter the winds are feral and it is not a pleasant place to be. I avoid that place in winter. Teila you might find there in shorts and a t shirt though

 

[satay]

Sorry to hear of the loss of mr frizz, but well done to the turkeys. All of KC's bubs survived being left, they are all hatched and back with her tonight. Hopefully all goes well out there for them all tomorrow. I will have to see who's Still got how many at bed time tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your kind messages Miss Frizz was bunkered down with her boys again last night. She stayed in the pen yesterday no ranging but i hope in a few days time she will be back out ranging again.

Gratz on your hatch sj. I had 3 millies due to hatch yesterday and nothing happened . I finally have one pipping this morning.