Australians - Where are you all????

[tillyita]

MyHaven, I live in the Dandenong Ranges, 1hr and a half east of Melbourne, in Victoria. The lovely hen in my avatar is my Buff Orpington Rosie. She is 2 years old now and the most adorable sweetie. Her sisters are Milly (who is broody with 8 eggs) and Lucy. Below is a photo of them scratching at my nana's garden a few months ago (they were babysat when I was on holidays):

My buff orpi is not very happy at the moment One of my roosters has managed to rip her back open. She is in solitary until it heals. She did give me and egg yesterday in spite of that.

 

[MyHaven]

MyHaven, I live in the Dandenong Ranges, 1hr and a half east of Melbourne, in Victoria. The lovely hen in my avatar is my Buff Orpington Rosie. She is 2 years old now and the most adorable sweetie. Her sisters are Milly (who is broody with 8 eggs) and Lucy. Below is a photo of them scratching at my nana's garden a few months ago (they were babysat when I was on holidays):

Beautiful. I have four Orpington chicks but not buff at the moment. I have sex them properly yet. I thought I had it sorted but the "girls" have been bumping chests. I hope they look as nice as Rosie. I might have to name one Lucy to fit in I thought I might have been able to put you onto a good new coop with attached run made of recycled hardwood. Perfect for hen and chicks but you're too far away. Cheers

 

[Happy Flock]

Beautiful. I have four Orpington chicks but not buff at the moment. I have sex them properly yet. I thought I had it sorted but the "girls" have been bumping chests. I hope they look as nice as Rosie. I might have to name one Lucy to fit in

I thought I might have been able to put you onto a good new coop with attached run made of recycled hardwood. Perfect for hen and chicks but you're too far away.

Cheers

I wish I lived in QLD so I could borrow your coop. Thanks for the offer. My partner got some pallets today, so we will try to make a run/coop for mums and babies. I have a lot of "love handles", so I love my fluffy Orpingtons, because they look like me. Chubby thighs, round body!

My buff orpi is not very happy at the moment

One of my roosters has managed to rip her back open. She is in solitary until it heals. She did give me and egg yesterday in spite of that.

I have seen how "bare" the Orpington hens look when they've been mating.

Can you make her a "cape" to cover her back when the rooster mounts her?

 

[Beulah89]

Won't stay still :cd :yiipchick

 

[qldchook]

Hi all, Regarding recycled coops: a friend made a fantatic coop from the fram of a swing set. She covered it completey in chicken wire, using one triangle side to covert to a door-that would be the complicated part. It can then be moved (with 2 people lifting) every few weeks.
Loving the photos!

 

[MyHaven]

Hi all,  Regarding recycled coops: a friend made a fantatic coop from the fram of a swing set. She covered it completey in chicken wire, using one triangle side to covert to a door-that would be the complicated part. It can then be moved (with 2 people lifting) every few weeks.
Loving the photos!

Good idea.

Friends of mine made one out of flexible poly pipe covered in net. They bent a few lengths over and made a dome shape and attached a door. A central support in the middle braced it and they attached perches to that. You could make a smaller one for hen and chicks but you'd have to use something to give them shelter at night. And from the elements.

I had an old huge dog box made from cold room panel that I put a hen on eggs in. When the chicks first hatched I put a mesh panel covered in small gauge trellis mesh across the front door. Within a couple of days they were big enough to come out. I made a run around the box made from a couple of old wire compost cages I bought from bunnings. They were useless for compost as the matter would dry out too much and not get hot. Works great for barriers around the garden though as you can configure the panels in many different ways. Including a square/rectangle around the front of a dog box with a panel across the top to protect the little ones from flying predictors and lay a tarp across for shade.

If you're not going to hatch chicks all the time you don't need anything fancy as they join the general population fairly quickly. Just safe and secure.

Cheers

 

[Happy Flock]

Great photo of Tilly and Lucy, Beulah89. The woodchip forest floor they are foraging on looks yummy!

 

[Happy Flock]

Good idea.

Friends of mine made one out of flexible poly pipe covered in net. They bent a few lengths over and made a dome shape and attached a door. A central support in the middle braced it and they attached perches to that. You could make a smaller one for hen and chicks but you'd have to use something to give them shelter at night. And from the elements.

I had an old huge dog box made from cold room panel that I put a hen on eggs in. When the chicks first hatched I put a mesh panel covered in small gauge trellis mesh across the front door. Within a couple of days they were big enough to come out. I made a run around the box made from a couple of old wire compost cages I bought from bunnings. They were useless for compost as the matter would dry out too much and not get hot. Works great for barriers around the garden though as you can configure the panels in many different ways. Including a square/rectangle around the front of a dog box with a panel across the top to protect the little ones from flying predictors and lay a tarp across for shade.

If you're not going to hatch chicks all the time you don't need anything fancy as they join the general population fairly quickly. Just safe and secure.

Cheers

Lots of good ideas on recycling! Thanks. I'm not planning on hatching chicks all the time, so I don't need anything fancy. My partner, though, wants to build a "TajMahal" so that's why it's taking so long to get things done for the chooks!

I will try to put something together tomorrow with small gauge wire and some wood. Perhaps an A-frame. Will try to post pics. I get lazy with the camera!

 

[Anniebee]

Good idea.

Friends of mine made one out of flexible poly pipe covered in net. They bent a few lengths over and made a dome shape and attached a door. A central support in the middle braced it and they attached perches to that. You could make a smaller one for hen and chicks but you'd have to use something to give them shelter at night. And from the elements.

I had an old huge dog box made from cold room panel that I put a hen on eggs in. When the chicks first hatched I put a mesh panel covered in small gauge trellis mesh across the front door. Within a couple of days they were big enough to come out. I made a run around the box made from a couple of old wire compost cages I bought from bunnings. They were useless for compost as the matter would dry out too much and not get hot. Works great for barriers around the garden though as you can configure the panels in many different ways. Including a square/rectangle around the front of a dog box with a panel across the top to protect the little ones from flying predictors and lay a tarp across for shade.

If you're not going to hatch chicks all the time you don't need anything fancy as they join the general population fairly quickly. Just safe and secure.

Cheers

Had to borrow a puppy pen some time back, when my dear girl Ruby was a little puppy, and was being introduced to out-doors, toileting etc. As she grew, she became bolder and bigger and the puppy pen no longer held her - she's a good hurdler. However, it did hold chooks - beautifully. It is so easy to move around the garden, in or out of shade. I am thinking definitely of investing in one for myself, as that one was borrowed. My chickens have clipped wings - I could not bear climbing trees to fetch roosting chooks in the evenings .... and they do not even consider jumping out of a puppy pen. Shade cloth on hot days can be used to partially cover the pen. It's movability is the best part of it, for me. Meantime, I keep Ruby indoors while my chickens roam the garden, doing all the weed digging. My little Araucana however, who cannot be with the big girls - ( one of them would do her fearful damage plus ) .... would benefit from the roaming puppy pen - and has in the past, in the borrowed one.

Cheers, ..... AB

 

[Beulah89]

Great photo of Tilly and Lucy, Beulah89. The woodchip forest floor they are foraging on looks yummy!

Thanks! I think your girls are absolutely beautiful!
Really worried about my girls tonight...
I'm pretty sure they have impacted crop. They both had very larg hard crops this morning. Been massaging them and they are softer now. Got them in chicken ICU (the bath tub) going to keep a close eye on them tonight! Only had chooks for 2 months, feeling like a pretty bad mum!