Australians - Where are you all????

[Varooka]

Hi there, nice to hear from you, thank you. I understand what BYC is all about, it's just the computer part that is a bit of an issue.
When I come onto the sight I am a little bamboozled about how to navigate my way around, ie: find the link connecting to my comments or continuing a conversation etc if you know what I mean??? It's a great sight! I love that everyone has the one thing in common

I'm sure I will eventually get used to it.
When I pick my other Hen up I will find out how old all of them are hopefully and soon I will post some pictures of them, when I have experimented on how to attach them. Thanks again.

 

[MyHaven]

Hi there, nice to hear from you, thank you. I understand what BYC is all about, it's just the computer part that is a bit of an issue.
When I come onto the sight I am a little bamboozled about how to navigate my way around, ie: find the link connecting to my comments or continuing a conversation etc if you know what I mean??? It's a great sight! I love that everyone has the one thing in common      I'm sure I will eventually get used to it.
When I pick my other Hen up I will find out how old all of them are hopefully and soon I will post some pictures of them, when I have experimented on how to attach them.   Thanks again.  

I use mainly my phone to access. I find there is less to bamboosal me on the mobile site.

 

[Anniebee]

Hi Anniebee,

I would continue to try the hardboiled egg with Milly. Maybe she is wary of new foods.

The owner of my produce gave me a bag of Soy Meal. I didn’t take notice of the weight. It might have been 1 kilo or1½ kilos. It had $4-50 written on it. You sprinkle 1tsp over their laying mash for 6 hens and limit their greens. Make friends with your produce agent and you get good tips. (I guess that only applies if they are good agents.) Ask them about it and check in case the density/strength varies. I have hardly put a dint in my bag. It will last a long time. I have not been giving it out the last couple of days because the babies who are now about 12 weeks old are eating with the grownups and I don’t want them to get too much too soon. I understand it can cause them trouble later in life if they have too much protein too young. I’ll give them more when they are at POL.

There are numerous blends of laying mash around. My understanding is that generally they contain grain and added calcium and protein which is in my experience in pellet/crumble form. You should look at the nutrient information to check the protein and calcium level etc. as they vary between manufacturers. I believe most are around 16 to 18% - but can’t say for certain. Mine is 16%.

What I buy is called “Course Laying Mash for Poultry” and is made by a mob here in Queensland. It is sold as a complete food for laying birds from 20 to 80 weeks old. It contains wheat, cracked maize, Sorghum (some people call it milo), grey sunflower seeds, soybean oil, AGM Vitamin and Mineral Pre-Mix, Lime and Molasses. It lists different quantities for each bird depending on their stage.

I have had trouble with my mash of late. People who use automatic feeders complained that it was too wet and was getting caught in the feeders. When I say wet it is actually dust dry. So they changed the blend by reducing the molasses which is used to keep the crumble all together. I bought a bag and the crumble turned to dust. That’s when I found out about the change in the blend and got the freebees from the produce.

I haven’t heard of Barastock Layer Pellets, it is probably a brand local to you. I’d just check the Finisher to see its nutrient content. If it is high in protein it should be good for Milly in her condition but I’d really hate for you to rely on what I say without checking it with your produce or wherever you bought the product.

By the way I also use Ag Lime around my coop and run. It cuts down the flys and adds calcium.

My flock is made up of the “Old Girls”’ the “New Girls” and the “Babies”. My new girls will be approaching 10 months old as well.

I am so sorry about your Silkie. She was beautiful. You did the right thing by her even though I know it must have been difficult. I have a Silkie too as you would have read in my posts. I just went and put the girls to bed and she was damp . . . . . . . . Hold on, I know what you are thinking – yes I dried her off and made sure she was in a dry spot and there are no leaks in the coop. Did you give your girl haircuts around her eyes. I do or the poor thing crashes into things. Give her a “new do” and she’s running around the yard chasing moths that she couldn’t see before. She is my sons, but I love her too.

When I was trying to find a way to vaccinate my babies before they hatched, I found the Queensland Government had some good information on their website here is the link http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/27_2708.htm . No solutions to vaccinating backyard hatched chickens though.

Re: Strict hygiene. On closing, having a food handling/processing background, I have formed the belief that one day a tiny little bug will knock us and our animals all flat if we are not careful and keep our immunities up.

I hope this helps,
All the best and
Cheers

Hello again MyHaven. More interesting info from you ... and I had a chat today also to my stock and produce agent ( Linda ) who breeds miniature horses, and has many chooks on her small farm near the Dandenong Ranges where I live. She has been dealing with poultry for many years, and is a very clued in lady. I mentioned my two who are moulting, and she gave me a few more tips. First, back off the greens and kitchen treats, except for a couple of times a week and then not much. No lettuce or white cabbage. Silver beet is great, which I will be growing in Spring to feed us and the chooks.

Wet mash is a real no-no ... as anything that is wet ( and this makes absolute sense ) over a day old, can become rancid and begin to spoil with bacteria - which can result in sick chickens. Having fed 'mash' to horses which is always moist - mostly from the thick liquid molasses in it ... I always thought of any mash as a 'wet' combination. Horses usually demolish the lot in one sitting. For poultry ( as you indicated above - pellet crumble form ) mash is a dry mix. Then there's the bags of variety seeds, dry grass, sunflower seeds, cracked corn etc. all mixed in together and is what I call scratch mix (my name for it !! LOL ). That's for free range chickens and only as a supplement. Their main food source is the properly combined layer pellets which has 16% protein and other goodies in them - including a goodly amount of calcium.

Barastoc is a 30 year Australia wide provider of goodies for poultry, horses, cattle, pigs and other kinds of commercial animal / bird. It's owned by a very big company (Ridley Corporation I think its called ) and I am sure their products would be available in Queensland. My provider has other brands of layer pellets ( plus grower / finisher etc. pellets for young uns ) ... in her store. The Barastoc website has a list of products for poultry, and here's a link to it if you are interested to have a squiz. http://www.ridley.com.au/newsletters/Brochures/Poultry/Poultry-Book.pdf It actually does not come up as a pdf, unless you want the poultry book I think. Under each product is the breakdown of nutrients, and advice as to what to and what not to, give as supplements. I have had a good look at that just now.

Linda gave me a tip - which she vowed the chooks would go nuts over. Cooked potatoes, skin and all - ( I always take the growth nodules from potatoes when cooking for us,
as there's a degree of toxicity underneath where new growth would form ) ... drained thoroughly and allowed to dry out a bit - or crumble. ... add good amount of bran to the potato and watch their reaction. I intend to try all that tomorrow. I will also persevere with hard boiled egg for Milly as per your suggestion.

I do hope some people are not moistening pellets for their chickens. ( your comment " too wet and getting caught in the feeders" ). That I would think would also be a big no-no.

Weather in Queensland at this time of year, is different from the cold south. Although I believe you had an overnight temp. of just 7°C just recently. I would think the moulting seasons might be a bit different. Hard to tell. Nature is weird to have chickens lose their warm feathers in the coldest part of the year ? My big girls did have a heavy moult during our horrid summer .... around February March this year. Little girl is having her major moult now - a hard moult by the looks of it too. Milly is probably in a soft moult, and her feathers are being eaten by the other two. They love eating feathers ? They apparently have heaps of protein in them !

Anyway, always nice to chat to you, and again thanks for your advice. Hope you find something here, that is of return help to you.

Cheers .... Anniebee.

 

[Teila]

Wow .. lots of catching up on posts with heaps of useful information; thank you!

Wouldn't you know it; it's the weekend and it's raining again! *Sigh* no playing with my girls and gardening today

Look out BYC .. I'm stuck in front of the computer for the day!!

 

[MyHaven]

Hello again MyHaven.    More interesting info from you ... and I had a chat today also to my stock and produce agent ( Linda ) who breeds miniature horses, and has many chooks on her small farm near the Dandenong Ranges where I live.   She has been dealing with poultry for many years, and is a very clued in lady.   I mentioned my two who are moulting, and she gave me a few more tips.   First, back off  the greens and kitchen treats, except for a couple of times a week and then not much.    No lettuce or white cabbage.   Silver beet is great, which I will be growing in Spring to feed us and the chooks. 

Wet mash is a real no-no ... as anything that is wet ( and this makes absolute sense )  over a day old, can become rancid and begin to spoil with bacteria - which can  result in sick chickens.   Having fed  'mash' to horses which is always moist - mostly from the thick liquid molasses in it ... I always thought of any mash as a 'wet' combination.   Horses usually demolish the lot in one sitting.     For poultry ( as you indicated above - pellet crumble form ) mash is a dry mix.    Then there's the bags of  variety seeds, dry grass, sunflower seeds, cracked corn etc. all mixed in together and is what I call scratch mix (my name for it !! LOL ).   That's for free range chickens and only as a supplement.   Their main food source is the properly combined layer pellets which has 16% protein and other goodies in them - including a goodly amount of calcium.        

Barastoc is a 30 year Australia wide provider of goodies for poultry, horses, cattle, pigs and  other kinds of commercial animal / bird.   It's owned by a very big company (Ridley Corporation I think its called )  and I am sure their products would be available in Queensland.    My provider has other brands of layer pellets ( plus grower / finisher etc. pellets for young uns ) ... in her store.   The Barastoc website has a list of products for poultry, and here's a link to it if you are interested to have a squiz. http://www.ridley.com.au/newsletters/Brochures/Poultry/Poultry-Book.pdf   It actually does not come up as a pdf, unless you want the poultry book I think.    Under each product is the breakdown of nutrients, and advice as to what to and what not to, give as supplements.  I have had a good look at that just now. 

Linda gave me a tip - which she vowed the chooks would go nuts over.    Cooked potatoes, skin and all - ( I always take the growth nodules from potatoes when cooking for us,
as there's a degree of toxicity underneath where new growth would form ) ... drained thoroughly and allowed to dry out a bit - or crumble.   ... add good amount of bran to the potato and watch their reaction.   I intend to try all that tomorrow.   I will also persevere with hard boiled egg for Milly as per your suggestion.  

I do hope some people are not moistening pellets for their chickens.  ( your comment " too wet and getting caught in the feeders" ).  That I would think would also be a big no-no.  

Weather in Queensland at this time of year, is different from the cold south.   Although I believe you had an overnight temp. of just 7°C just recently.   I would think the moulting seasons might be a bit different.   Hard to tell.   Nature is weird to have chickens lose their warm feathers in the coldest part of the year ?    My big girls did have a heavy moult during our horrid summer .... around February March this year.   Little girl is having her major moult now - a hard moult by the looks of it too.    Milly is probably in a soft moult, and her feathers are being eaten by the other two.   They love eating feathers ?   They apparently have heaps of protein in them !

Anyway, always nice to chat to you, and again thanks for your advice.   Hope you find something here, that is of return help to you.

Cheers  .... Anniebee.

Hi, I'm glad you have a good produce. They know about their specific products.

Apart from going nuts for it, what benefits do the potatoes and bran provide? Very interesting.

Limiting the greens is consistent advice I've had to. All things in balance.

I grow things specifically for the chooks as well. I grow Chia, it is supposed to increase the nutrient value of the eggs.

I am so used to mash that I didn't realise people not familiar with it might think it's wet. People don't moisten it. The molasses in it is a fine spray during processing to hold the crumble together otherwise it would be dust. And I think that is only in the crumble/pellet part. It actually looks dry as dust. But apparently auto feeders find it doesn't fall through without sticking because of the small amount of moisture in it. I was quite amazed when they told me that it's too moist when it's dusty. It's not like the horse feed.

I haven't seen Barastoc in any of our stores but of course I haven't looked for it either. I'll check out the Barastoc website. Thanks for the link.

I have a friend who used to work in an egg farm. He swears by pellets but I like the mash.

Weather in Queensland is back to front. It's a wet winter. We have had a couple of cool mornings but it's been too wet to get real cold. Yes our birds moult this time of year here too. Only my mother hen moulted this year. A very quick moult. The others are too young.

Cheers for now

 

[Anniebee]

Hi, I'm glad you have a good produce. They know about their specific products.

Apart from going nuts for it, what benefits do the potatoes and bran provide? Very interesting.

Limiting the greens is consistent advice I've had to. All things in balance.

I grow things specifically for the chooks as well. I grow Chia, it is supposed to increase the nutrient value of the eggs.

I am so used to mash that I didn't realise people not familiar with it might think it's wet. People don't moisten it. The molasses in it is a fine spray during processing to hold the crumble together otherwise it would be dust. And I think that is only in the crumble/pellet part. It actually looks dry as dust. But apparently auto feeders find it doesn't fall through without sticking because of the small amount of moisture in it. I was quite amazed when they told me that it's too moist when it's dusty. It's not like the horse feed.

I haven't seen Barastoc in any of our stores but of course I haven't looked for it either. I'll check out the Barastoc website. Thanks for the link.

I have a friend who used to work in an egg farm. He swears by pellets but I like the mash.

Weather in Queensland is back to front. It's a wet winter. We have had a couple of cool mornings but it's been too wet to get real cold. Yes our birds moult this time of year here too. Only my mother hen moulted this year. A very quick moult. The others are too young.

Cheers for now

Hello again ..... a smallish reply this time !! The potato ( cooked skins she preferred ) I would think would put a little carbohydrate / starch into their systems. The bran is a good source of protein. Again that should be given only a couple of times a week. Over-protein - ( over-done anything ) is as you know, not so good for chooks. I gave them a small introduction yesterday, using the whole potato, including the skins. They hopped into the potato in particular, which ended up small chunks, and was covered with the bran. What was left of the bran they picked at and finished. I am yet to see the results ! It is very cold this morning, so they can stay in their coops until the sun gets through.

Bran of course is helpful for 'bowels' ... and when a puppy or cat has been scouring, the absolute go is a little chicken with a goodly amount of rice ( or potato ) to help them over the scours - binds them up a bit. I guess the same applies to chickens ... potato helping stop any over effects of the bran. That's my thought anyway. Must ask Linda next time, if she agrees with that theory.

Have auto feeders myself and the pellets ( and the smaller crumbled pellets ) get through well. Only when the bag is almost gone, do I find the dust that has settled on the bottom from the pellets. That gets thrown out.

Meantime - have a nice remainder of the weekend.

Cheers ... Anniebee.

 

[MyHaven]

Hello again .....  a smallish reply this time !!    The potato ( cooked skins she preferred ) I would think would put a little carbohydrate / starch into their systems.   The bran is a good source of protein.   Again that should be given only a couple of times a week.   Over-protein - ( over-done  anything ) is as you know, not so good for chooks.    I gave them a small introduction yesterday, using the whole potato, including the skins.   They hopped into the potato in particular, which ended up small chunks, and was covered with the bran.   What was left of the bran they picked at and finished.  I am yet to see the results !   It is very cold this morning, so they can stay in their coops until the sun gets through.  

Bran of course is helpful for 'bowels' ... and when a puppy or cat has been scouring, the absolute go is a little chicken with a goodly amount of  rice ( or potato ) to help them over the scours - binds them up a bit.  I guess the same applies to chickens ... potato helping stop any over effects of the bran.   That's my thought anyway.   Must ask Linda next time, if she agrees with that theory.

Have auto feeders myself and the pellets ( and the smaller crumbled pellets ) get through well.   Only when the bag is almost gone, do I find the dust that has settled on the bottom from the pellets.   That gets thrown out.  

Meantime - have a nice remainder of the weekend.

Cheers ... Anniebee.     

Good morning, I'll be interested to hear the results from your girls and what Linda says.

It's raining here still. Keep yourself warm.
Cheers

 

[TheChookPatch]

https://www.change.org/petitions/au...ction-of-rare-breed-poultry-on-16th-july-2013
Hi fellow Aussies, I don't know if you have heard but this urgently needs your support xxxx

 

[MyHaven]

https://www.change.org/petitions/au...ction-of-rare-breed-poultry-on-16th-july-2013
Hi fellow Aussies, I don't know if you have heard but this urgently needs your support xxxx

Hi, Where can I get more information?

 

[TheChookPatch]

http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8024236