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

[satay]

You are so right aussie lady we are a friendly bunch us aussies and always welcome someone new to chat to no matter where you are from in the world. Chickmate you have a lovely coop and your puppies are really cute. I love Februrary as it's usually the best chance of rain for us with gives us a small break from the hot humid summers.

 

[guinea fowl galore]

How is everyone going?

We get our little Maltese boy tomorrow he stars his journey today though as he's flying to Auckland and staying there for the night to get his health clearance before flying to Brisbane.
I can't wait.

 

[wooklet]

Hi Chickmate,I also have a Chinese Crested! They are gorgeous dogs aren't they? I will post a picture later.

 

[Chickmate]

Thank you all for the warm welcome to the Aussie Thread! I will try not to overstay my welcome, like relatives you wish would go home already!

Let me apologize right now if I unknowingly say anything to offend anyone. You know, the 'language' thing. If I had the opportunity to move to Australia I would do it in a heartbeat. I don't know how beehiveginger came to your beautiful country, but I do envy her. I know you'll all probably roll your eyes but I fell in love with the country when I read The Thornbirds many years ago. I know, that was set in New Zealand, but parts of it were in Australia. I also watched a wonderful documentary on The Land Down Under and of course I had to see the movie Australia which I also loved. It is such a beautiful and interesting country with fabulous flora and fauna that we don't have here in the States. OK, I'm gonna say it: and I love how you talk!

Aussie Lady - I had wanted a Chinese Crested for many years as well and finally decided to adopt one through a Chinese Crested rescue group. I adopted Sachi (who is a retired show dog) in April, I bought Jimmy Choo on Craigslist (do you guys have Craigslist there?) in June and adopted Vera through another rescue group in July. Bam! Bam! Bam! One right after the other and they get along so well and really love each other. My brothers and sister, like your hubby, think they are ugly. I think they are beautiful. And even though they were bred for ratting and go after any small animal, they guard my chickens from hawks and the fox, even the tiny chicks! Gotta love'em. Yes, I do live in a rural area on five acres. Just me and the dogs and chickens, three cats and one macaw. I love the country and don't have to worry about neighbors cursing my roosters at 5:00 in the morning! OK, I'm going to take a guess. Are "drop bears" koalas? And I'll be Rosella jam isn't something I can make over here, is it? So you have kangaroos IN the cities with the cars and traffic, kind of like we have raccoons all over the place? I have the feeling your "you can trust us" is a little joke, yes? Naughty girl!

satay - Thanks for the welcome! The difference in seasons would probably be the hardest for me to get used to over there. February is one of our harshest winter months usually, but this year the temperatures have not gone below freezing more than a few times. It has been the fifth warmest winter on record for Michigan. We get our rain in April and May.

guinea fowl - Congrats on your new little Maltese! A friend of mine has one and it is the best little dog, not to mention very handsome, but lots of grooming!

wooklet - I would love to see your Crestie! Is it hairless or powder puff? Oooo, I see you are in Tazmania. I have a funny little story to tell you. My three Cresties play very rough and hard in the late afternoon, every afternoon and they are very vocal, especially Vera. She has a very throaty and vicious sounding but also very 'girly' gowl that I just love. One afternoon when they were going at it I had the TV on the National Geographic channel. I suddenly started hearing Vera's snarl coming from the TV! I ran into the room to see that there was a documentary on about the Tasmanian Devil. She sounds just like one! Just made me think, do you have to worry about them with your chickens?

Well, I've babbled on for long enough. Thank you again for you kind welcome. I'll stop by again later. Just a few more pictures to leave you with!

My little house


My pond and George and Sara Swan


Color coded nest boxes!


Brrrrrrrr!

 

[satay]

I love the Thorn birds too. Colleen Mculloch who wrote the book lives on Russell island off the coast of brissy. We don't generally have kangaroos in the city areas too much. Mostly in zoos there but we do get them on our property out here. They are very timid normally and don't like to be to be to close to strangers. We also have koalas on our place too. They are not friendly like you see in the zoos but we love having them about the place. Yes drop bears are Koalas it is a joke most used on new Kiwis when they first move over here. The snakes are out and about at the moment so need to keep an eye on the new puppy when he is out. Zeus knows to stay away from snakes but Thor has not learnt that one yet.( we have 6 0f the 10 ten most deadly snakes in the world out this way) Mostly the snakes take the bolt when they hear my noisy animals coming. Still would rather see a snake out here than a goanna those thing freak me out with their body size and claws lol.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Hi chickmate. Welcome to the thread! The more the merrier!
I love those swans you've got. Most of the swans down here are black, I've missed the good old white ones the few years I've been here. :yiipchick And very beautiful with the snow in the background!

 

[Ashburnham]

A nice set up there chickmate.

Well, I "chickened out" of letting my duck hatch the araucana eggs - i took the eggs away on the 20th day and put them under a broody chook!

4 or 5 little chicks hatched so far.


xxx

Michael

 

[satay]

Glad you got a good hatch Michael. Were they the ones you were going to cross with something else to get a bigger olive layer? I will be interested to see how you go with that . 3 baby turkeys this morning so pleased as between the crows and the darn goannas have had very little luck with turkey hatches this year.

 

[beehiveginger]

Hi Chickmate, great photos! I love your nesting boxes. Do they have a favorite color? My cousin is moving to Detroit next week. I really love your photo with chooks on the fencepost with the sun and the snow, beautiful!
Tara

 

[Chickmate]

G'day everyone! I just left the Michigan thread after reading 79 posts since this morning when I checked it. We are a VERY chatty group over there. If you miss a day you're looking at well over 100 posts to read through, if you care to keep up to that extent.

I'm wondering about the challenges you face in Australia in regard to raising fowl with predators and parasites in abundance. Here in Michigan we have coyotes, fox, hawks, owls, crows (we like crows because they chase the hawks away!), eagles, raccoons, rats, skunks, and oppossum, not to mention the occasional stray domestic dog that will attack a flock. We only have one venomous snake, the massasauga rattlesnake, and after living here for 55 years, I have never seen one. We have no other reptiles that would endanger fowl like you do. Satay mentioned that there are many venomous snakes as well as goanna that you have to watch out for. Do goanna take chickens or just the eggs? Do you have a method of keeping reptiles out of your coops and runs? Does not seem there is a wire that could accomplish that as they also can crawl up and over, no? I do not fear snakes and actually have a soft spot for them, but the snakes around here can't KILL me, either. Not only reptiles, but you also have something I am terrified of and that you probably have to watch out for as well with the chooks . . .

I hate spiders and will never forget the article I read about the Sydney funnel web. I had nightmares for a week! Do you have a problem with spiders, ticks, mites? At least here in MI we have a good long freeze that usually kills most parasites and insects or renders them dormant till Spring. Anyone ever reach into a nest box and find something other than an egg?

Fierlin - Aaahhh, black swans. How I would love a pair of them. Are you from the southern US?

Michael - Did you chicken out because you were afraid mama or babies would be confused, being different species? Seems like it would work, until she tried to take them swimming . . . .
beehiveginger - Thanks! Actually, they don't seem to care what color they nest in. I'm so sorry to hear about your cousin moving to Detroit (

). I live 50 miles from there and used to drive an hour and a half each way to work downtown for General Motors. Then I retired and really started to live!

Well, I'll leave you all and make my way back to Michigan. I would truly love to hear stories of the predators you have to deal with, if any of you wish to share.

Take care!