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

[Deej211]

I would love to see some photos of the cuckoo araucanas that sounds amazing!

heres my best girl so far

 

[Henriettasmum]

I have a question for anyone who has had sneezing chickens. My beautiful pekin rooster Rusty died last week. He had been sneezing, then became lethargic which is when we noticed he didn't look well. He was one of 14 in quite a big pen and run. We immediately brought him to the house and put him in a pen on the verandah, excluded all drafts, gave him lots of cuddles and fed him water melon and paw paw which he enjoyed, he drank a lot - didn't notice blood around the nostrils or anything like that, but after four days he died peacefully in his sleep one night. Since then another rooster (Billy) has come down sick - sneezing occasionally, fluffed up, lethargic, not eating much either. We have put him on clean bedding on the verandah and same thing - keeping him warm, giving him supplements in his feed (I am currently giving them chick starter - hope this is the right way to go but figured it had vitamins etc.) and apple cider vinegar and worming solution (just in case) in his water. He's not looking any better but not, so far, any worse. This morning my alpha roo (Ralph) sneezed so he is in the chook tractor away from the pens. Now, my two favourite roos (Chickadee and Freckles) have started sneezing and I have another "hospital" house set up in the courtyard outside my kitchen doors where it's warm and I can keep a close eye on them. Freckles has decided he will live upstairs, and Chickadee down - each with medicated food and the treated water. Both they and Ralph have plenty of energy and are eating like it's going out of style. Chickadee, especially, hasn't changed in his demeanour. Still chatty with me. We have lots of long drawn out conversations and that hasn't changed. He seems happy. But I don't want him to go the way of Rusty. Any suggestions, please. I will be taking Billy to the vet on Monday, but in the meantime ...? Photo is of Chickadee in his hospital pen. BTW all the girls seem fine, so far!! Not one sneeze. So far it's only hit the boys.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I have a question for anyone who has had sneezing chickens. My beautiful pekin rooster Rusty died last week. He had been sneezing, then became lethargic which is when we noticed he didn't look well. He was one of 14 in quite a big pen and run. We immediately brought him to the house and put him in a pen on the verandah, excluded all drafts, gave him lots of cuddles and fed him water melon and paw paw which he enjoyed, he drank a lot - didn't notice blood around the nostrils or anything like that, but after four days he died peacefully in his sleep one night. Since then another rooster (Billy) has come down sick - sneezing occasionally, fluffed up, lethargic, not eating much either. We have put him on clean bedding on the verandah and same thing - keeping him warm, giving him supplements in his feed (I am currently giving them chick starter - hope this is the right way to go but figured it had vitamins etc.) and apple cider vinegar and worming solution (just in case) in his water. He's not looking any better but not, so far, any worse. This morning my alpha roo (Ralph) sneezed so he is in the chook tractor away from the pens. Now, my two favourite roos (Chickadee and Freckles) have started sneezing and I have another "hospital" house set up in the courtyard outside my kitchen doors where it's warm and I can keep a close eye on them. Freckles has decided he will live upstairs, and Chickadee down - each with medicated food and the treated water. Both they and Ralph have plenty of energy and are eating like it's going out of style. Chickadee, especially, hasn't changed in his demeanour. Still chatty with me. We have lots of long drawn out conversations and that hasn't changed. He seems happy. But I don't want him to go the way of Rusty. Any suggestions, please. I will be taking Billy to the vet on Monday, but in the meantime ...? Photo is of Chickadee in his hospital pen. BTW all the girls seem fine, so far!! Not one sneeze. So far it's only hit the boys. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]

Sounds like an upper respiratory disease. Have you introduced any new birds of late ? I'd start them all on a course of antibiotics. You can buy broad spectrum antibiotics on line or in most pet shops. http://www.tassiebirdandpoultrysupplies.com/Oxymav_B_Powder_100g/p2684740_13294448.aspx

 

[SilkieChickStar]

heres my best girl so far

Oh how gorgeous is she! Wow!

 

[Henriettasmum]

Sounds like an upper respiratory disease. Have you introduced any new birds of late ?
I'd start them all on a course of antibiotics.
You can buy broad spectrum antibiotics on line or in most pet shops.

http://www.tassiebirdandpoultrysupplies.com/Oxymav_B_Powder_100g/p2684740_13294448.aspx

No new birds recently. I don't want to wait for any online purchases so will take Billy to the vet on Monday (hopefully he will be at the local feed store then - the vet didn't have time to see him on Friday). Otherwise, I might have to drive the 75 kms to the surgery. Unfortunately, it has turned quite cold here on the Tablelands but I am trying to keep them warm. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Henriettasmum]

Sounds like an upper respiratory disease. Have you introduced any new birds of late ?
I'd start them all on a course of antibiotics.
You can buy broad spectrum antibiotics on line or in most pet shops.

http://www.tassiebirdandpoultrysupplies.com/Oxymav_B_Powder_100g/p2684740_13294448.aspx

I checked out the site you recommended and that looks good. I'll see if I can pick some up on Monday. Thanks again.

 

[Anniebee]

LG isn't going anywhere, he is the chick that I saved in the egg cup , he's a special boy. That's the beauty of selecting one of the cockerels to help protect the flock, there is a much better chance of them integrating than if I was to simply get another grown roo and throw it in with them.

Totally understandable that LG is going nowhere. To save him in an egg cup ? I think that approaches something miraculous.

I have a somewhat hazy recollection of that story - was quite a while back now.

Guess one would never know what they might get with a grown roo, who just might be a bit of a monster with hens that are well established.

I am guessing the full sized photograph of your lovely rooster ( posted a couple of days back - with other pix ) .... is in fact LG ?

Hope the weather is being kind to you all down there.

Cheers ........

 

[Anniebee]

From Coram .......

Thanks Anniebee. It has been down to -3 some mornings in the Valley. The blues cope fine with the weather, he free ranges. He pretty much stays in the backyard and is fully flighted! I am penning him with a pied hen later in the year to breed some pieds and whites. I am in the process of building two large pens. One for the chickens and one for the peafowl. I am getting two brothers to free range, a blue and a pied. Your blue eggs look fantastic!

._______________________________

The blue eggs you refer to are in fact not mine .... I think you are looking at blues from Deej211, or from SilkieChickStar.

No matter, I have one white and coffee coloured arauacana ( Mindy ) .... who has not laid an egg for several months now ( long staggered moulting ) But when she does, they are mostly a lovely blue, a few greenish blue and a couple have been olive green. Everyone who sees them, wants them. !!! It is always exciting to pick up a blue egg, and she lays good sized eggs, with huge yolks - - when in the mood and mode.

I think many here have hens that are on strike at the moment .... mine all are now, and I have had to purchase 1 dozen eggs in the past couple of weeks. !! I had a few remaining from the last lot laid by Molly ( or Mandy ? ) .... up to about 6 weeks ago. After that it was

I think it would be very exciting to breed peafowl .... especially crossing the colours as I believe you are going to do ?? Will be most interested to see the chicks, and ultimately what colours they express.

Cheers .......

 

[SilkieChickStar]

Installed my hensafe automatic door on Sunday. Worked great till this morning when it didn't open and won't open even using the manual instead of automatic settings.

Just lucky it died closed not open! Will be interesting what customer service says. So much for peace of mind when we go away overnight in a few weeks.

I've been playing with my Hensae door. To fully recharge the battery today I had to disconnect the motor from the timer. Left it for the day, reconnected and all working again. While the motor is connected to the timer it didn't seem to recharge too well.

 

[Henriettasmum]

I've been playing with my Hensae door. To fully recharge the battery today I had to disconnect the motor from the timer. Left it for the day, reconnected and all working again. While the motor is connected to the timer it didn't seem to recharge too well.

I am assuming you are running on solar power. Having lived on the water for almost 30 years we are used to its idiosyncrasies. Just check that the batteries are actually fully charged because solar charging itself will not always charge up to full capacity. Especially at this time of year when most of the sun is in the northern hemisphere. Also we have found that it's not always as effective as people think it is, particularly if there are trees or clouds. You generally get four hours maximum productivity out of solar a day and we were using multiple large panels despite all the talk from the retailers, most of whom haven't actually lived with it. If it is a solar problem, you might find a second solar panel just sitting around at someone's place, not being used and you could add that in to give more solar power. But you need to check that the amperage and wattage is correct. But if you are going on holidays and you are using a big battery perhaps you could hook a cheap battery charger up to it while you are away, just to be on the safe side. It's worked for us. Living on boats we had to live on solar, wind and fuel generators. Unfortunately, that's the truth of the matter. Good luck. Keep us all up to date on your progress. (This info came from Henrietta's DAD)