Australians - Where are you all????

[lillychick]

Hi aussie friends i have a slight problem can anyone help. my girls free range in the yard and are very happy. i have 2 magpies that have been swooping them just recently in the back yard is there anything i can do to stop this

 

[Anniebee]

Hi We are in Cairns and am just needing some advice. We are new to the keeping chickens and have 2 Araucana's 14 weeks old, a light sussex and a Rhode Island Red. Recently one of our Araucana chicks has started making a quacking noise. She is healthy from what we can see in every other way and though we thought of the possibility of it turning into a crow it has remained as a quack. Has anybody experienced anything like this?

Thanks

Most definitely. My little Araucana makes some extraordinary noises, including quacking like a duck, and occasionally a croaky crow and the usual cackle that hens make - plus a moaning sound ?? - just to make things interesting. As she has laid olive/blueish eggs in recent months, I am not concerned about her vocal attributes. She is currently moulting like an eider-down that has been chewed by a puppy !! ... so is not presently laying or making much noise, nor is she eating as much as she was. But apparently that's all quite normal. Spring will bring back the unusual noises ( I hope ) and the eggs. She's a cutie but is not in with the big chooks - ( they tend to dislike her to extremes ) ... but she is happy with her two lace-necked doves and 1 blackbird for company. They like her food ! and she happily eats it with them. Good luck with your Araucanas - they are adorable.

 

[Anniebee]

Hi aussie friends i have a slight problem can anyone help. my girls free range in the yard and are very happy. i have 2 magpies that have been swooping them just recently in the back yard is there anything i can do to stop this

I don't think there's much you can do - and you haven't mentioned anything about your chickens being upset - in fact you say they are happy. The magpies would be starting to mate, or at least establishing territories, at this time of the year ( strange but true ) ... and will be somewhat aggressive for the next few months, until their hatchlings are out of the nest - which would be late Spring. If it doesn't upset your chooks, you might like to try a really old fashioned scare-crow type of arrangement - that might keep them at bay, or at least concentrate the maggies to attack that. Chooks usually don't bother about other birds ( I have noticed ) ... and as they are probably about 4 times the size of the magpies, I doubt the maggies would tangle with your flock too seriously. Good luck all the same. Cheers ..........

 

[Anniebee]

 

[kat79]

Just wondering anyone else has pullets that sound like their whinging/ complaining at you??? Not sure if their getting ready to lay or what but they won't stop!!!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

My sussex hens have 8 x nesting boxes, but all 7 hens choose to lay in the one box. You should hear the protests from those waiting in line. Much louder and more annoying than any roosters crow

 

[Teila]

I have decided I dislike winter ... I leave home at 06:00am for work and because it is still dark, I feed my girls before I go; they are not out of bed but they natter away to me from their roost. I normally get home at 04:00pm when my girls get to free range in the garden for 50mins or so before bed time. Yesterday I had a meeting and got home too late, it was dark and the girls had already gone to bed ... I haven't seen them since Tuesday afternoon!! Looking forward to getting home today and giving them a cuddle and a treat

 

[A Chicken Owner]

Are there many Aussies on BYC?

 

[tillyita]

Hi All,

I'm from a place called Wundowie - it is about an hours drive east of Perth - is there anyone else from the west on here?

 

[MyHaven]

I have decided I dislike winter ... I leave home at 06:00am for work and because it is still dark, I feed my girls before I go; they are not out of bed but they natter away to me from their roost. I normally get home at 04:00pm when my girls get to free range in the garden for 50mins or so before bed time. Yesterday I had a meeting and got home too late, it was dark and the girls had already gone to bed ... I haven't seen them since Tuesday afternoon!! Looking forward to getting home today and giving them a cuddle and a treat

Yep. Me too. You don't have daylight to check yards, pens, health etc let alone action anything. Then you get some people wanting daylight saving to make it worse. It does make weekends sweeter though.