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

[Anniebee]

Many thanks to all who responded to my questions about worming medication ... much appreciated.

Will take it all on board. The Avitrol tablets sound good in bits of food, and the Panacur syringed into bread.

..........

Re - the WEIGHT OF CHICKENS.

Rather think that someones' scales are out of whack.

..... ( maybe both - being diplomatic here !!

)

According to my "Contented Chook" book ... put out by the ABC Gardening Australia programme, a normal Silkie should weigh 1.2 > 1.6 kg.
and the Pekin ( true bantam ) 790 gms > 910 gms.

D'Uccles are not mentioned, but according to a bit of research, the hens usually weigh between 700 and 790 gms.

To me, ( I have no bantams ) that all sounds so tiny. Yet Fizzybelle, yours are even smaller ?

When I lost my darling little Silkie Moppit, the vet weighed her at 320 gms, which he said was 'not at all a good sign' ... gave her anti-biotics for the respiratory infection, but she was too weak to go on, and passed away. She had reduced substantially in weight from about 800 gms to that lesser weight, through illness. ( 850 on my kitchen scales ).

I don't tell you this to frighten you, as you have mentioned that your Silkie in particular is a tiny little thing - so very small - so 500 gms might be quite normal for her. You mentioned for 3 of them dosage of 1/2 tablet for 250-500 gms. I cannot imagine a chicken 250 gms in weight, but I stand to be corrected on that.

I am not sure if the same thing applies to chickens, but I believe that 'over-worming' does not hurt most animals. Again, stand to be corrected on that one too.

What I call my 'big' girls are standard pure breds - RIR and Welsummer. My Welsummer would be at least near to 5 kgs in weight. But then, she is a bit of a freak. RIR is probably about 3 kg in weight which would be about right. Not sure about Mindy Araucana ( standard ), but she is not a light weight by any means. But she looks about right. I really must try to weigh them all very soon.

Anyway, that's my take on the subject ... I would try and get a hold of some new kitchen scales - flat board with led display are available.
https://www.target.com.au/p/target-kitchen-scale/56161717 .... $15 Target, but not available to buy on line.

Good luck with all that .....

Cheers ...

 

[Anniebee]

I am currently being bothered by our house Pekin "Silvery". Someone gave me this - and I quote - 5 week old female Pekun bantam. He has huge wattles lol, I'm pretty sure it's a boy and certainly not 5 weeks old.

He is very attached to me keeps trying to make a nest in my hair, and makes a great try to escape to get to me when he can see me in the house lol.

SilkieChickStar -

I probably shouldn't even bib in here, as I have only just made it to Grade 1 State School, as far as chickens are concerned.

The '5 week old' looks more like a fully grown chicken - bantam. It is a bit difficult to see the wattles there, but to me he looks like a she. There is no large comb there either. I hope for your sake that I am right !! ... I have seen some Pekin bantam roosters ( just now on line ) and they seem to have massive pendulous wattles, for their size. But apparently, so do many other breeds of rooster.

Lovely looking bird, no matter the gender. Such a cuddler

too.

Cheers ......

 

[Fancychooklady]

Scary to read after just worming, but I did worm them with a roundworm wormer not that long ago because it was the only one they would drink. Think it was the piperazine one actually. Wouldn't there be signs of worms in the poop etc though if they were that heavily infested killing the worms can kill them?

You won't necessarily see any evidence of worms in the poop. You need to worm with the piperazine then 10 days later use the levamisole . The piperazine will only kill the adult worms and the follow up wormer will kill any larvae that hatch there after.

 

[Fancychooklady]

We had a show jumping clinic today and on the way home , running down the middle of the road was a little Maltese dog. Took some doing to catch him, but he eventually went to my daughter. He is now sitting on my feet in front of the fire. Hopefully we will find his owner in the morning.

 

[SilkieChickStar]

SilkieChickStar - 

I probably shouldn't even bib in here, as I have only just made it to Grade 1 State School, as far as chickens are concerned.  

The '5 week old' looks more like a fully grown chicken - bantam.   It is a bit difficult to see the wattles there, but to me he looks like a she.  There is no large comb there either.  I hope for your sake that I am right !!  ... I have seen some Pekin bantam roosters ( just now on line ) and they seem to have massive pendulous wattles, for their size.  But apparently, so do many other breeds of rooster.  

Lovely looking bird, no matter the gender.   Such a cuddler     too. 

Cheers ...... 

Haha it's fine I know not full grown, as he or she is about half the size of my 24 week old Pekin. So definitely not full grown, but also not 5 weeks old. It would be great if it's not a boy, but if it is a girl, it is a very boisterous one! I have to keep him or her in the house atm as my older chickens dont want to know him or her. Could just be because it's a chick though

 

[SilkieChickStar]

Here are some other pics

 

[satay]

Here are some other pics

I must admit i agreed with anni at first it looked way to big for 5 weeks. Perhaps it was the photo we were looking at but in saying that if it is 5 weeks old and with a comb that big already you have a rooster.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Here are some other pics

Yep, the redness in those wattles is screaming cockerel.

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

Been AWOL for a while but still lurking .. busy, busy, busy .. so much to do, so little time!

Catching up on 4 days of posts ….

Coram great to read that your flock is on the improve [or probably improved by now]. Thank you for the congrats on the drought breaking egg from Dusty; she has laid another one since but is still the only layer in the flock currently. I do not think that Cilla and Crystal are going to be far behind her though.

Fancy love the snow pic! Congrats on the bubs! I hope you are able to find your little guest’s mum and dad.

SilkieChickStar nice eggs! For what it is worth, my guess at this stage on your Pekin is rooster

Fizzybelle Esme is a cutie! Congrats on the normal egg.

satay Great to read that your hatch is doing well. Not so good to read about your neighbours’ Dad; kudos to you for helping them through what must be very difficult.

appps Wonderful news about Carl .. she is a tough little cookie!

On worming: I have mentioned this before and I am a bit late to the party but I use Kilverm Pig and Poultry Wormer [active constituent: Levamisole] which treats Large Roundworms, Caecal Worms and Hairworms. No withholding on the eggs. Granted, it is added to their water and the little buggers try hard not to drink it but we get there eventually

Also, as mentioned before, I use ACV for a couple of reasons but one being it apparently maintains a good pH balance in their digestive system and makes it a little uncomfortable for worms to live in. So while not an actual wormer, it can be a deterrent between wormings and hopefully avoid a build up.

I am a little concerned that all is not OK at Martyn’s Mealworms! I ordered and paid for some meal worms last weekend. I got the usual e.mail notification on Monday that the order has been processed. Usually there is a follow up e.mail that they have been posted and they arrive the next day.

I have not got the ‘they have been posted’ e.mail and the worms have not arrived. I e.mailed them on Friday to ask if there has been a delay and so far, no response. Nothing on their website or Facebook Page about a delay

Definitely not their usual prompt service.

Anyways, because we are totally out and I do not want Dusty leaving home

we ducked down to Northside Produce who sometimes have live mealworms. They are tiny compared to the ones we get from Martyns and also expensive, but they are handy in an emergency.

Anyways, while we were there, picking up mealworms, of course I had to check out the chickens .. good thing getting one chicken to introduce without a buddy is not ideal and I have 5 chickens already with a maximum of 6 allowed.

There was this gorgeous, tiny, multi-coloured Pekin who I could have quite easily bought home. There was also an adorable little Frizzle!

Besides the whole quarantine dilemma and how to manage it .. the fact that I can not introduce 1 and 2 would put me over my limit is the only reason I left with just meal worms! That and the fact they wanted $55 each

They have a turkey and he was wandering around the place .. anyways, he spotted his reflection in the newly washed car next to us and was all puffed up and head butting the car [reflection] .. so funny! The owner calls out to her son “Come get Marvyn, he is being a dick” cracked us up!

Now we have the perfect excuse for not cleaning our car .. we do not want it to be attacked by a Turkey!

Also, I just worked out that Crystal is laying! The first pointy egg that was definitely Dusty's was followed up by another pointy egg which I assumed was also Dusty's. Well, Crystal was doing the 'going to lay an egg' routine .. went quiet for while and then started up on the egg song and in the nest box is a pointy egg! So, it looks like Crystal is laying pointy eggs which are slightly darker than Dusty's!

 

[Anniebee]

Here are some other pics

SilkieChickStar ~

Now that the chicken can be seen in relation to your hand, it's more easily seen that it is quite young. ... and if it is indeed only 5 or so weeks old ??. hmmm. All fluffed up beside your face gave a very different perspective.

A better view of the wattles and comb, makes me rethink about it being a hen. Very red wattles and that tall comb. ( from Fancy and Satay ).

Bearing in mind I know almost zero about roosters, I do enjoy reading so much information on BYC about the subject. Still in pre-kinder play group, as far as roosters go.

, and I intend to stay there. Have enough trouble raising a puppy-dog ( 17 kg now and almost the size of a kelpie ) without roaring out the back door to stop punch-ups, not to mention trying to raise wee chicks in my current set-up. ! Candidate for a psych. rest home.

Can hens in fact grow combs very quickly at times, which would make for that much more difficulty in sexing them. ? ...

One of my 5 hens ( original number ) purchased at 14 weeks old [ from memory ]... Milly Barnevelder, had a very pronounced comb at that age, and knowing zilch / nada, about chooks, I took no notice. She laid some beautiful eggs, after she reached POL.

The comb stopped growing somewhere between, but it was much larger than the other standards. She died of an unknown illness, after an extremely rapid decline and very few symptoms, except finally sitting on ground mostly, then rolling over and departing this earth - at around 18 months of age. She had been eating and drinking normally up to within a couple of hours of her death. Have often wondered if a toxic rat bite might have caused it.

Anyway, good luck with whatever your chicken turns out to be .... would you keep 'him' ? He's surely too gorgeous and cuddly to give away.

Cheers .......