Australians - Where are you all????

[h_palmer]

As we are very new to this I really dont know much about breeds, probably the bush variety....

I can post a pic and if you know you can tell me......

Here they are talking to the neighbours.... the hens, lulu and tiny are brown and white and robert the rooster is still growing mostly white but getting more colour each day.

Anyway great to see some Aussies on this site.

Heather

 

[Fierlin1182]

Hello Heather!
I am fairly new as well, and think this is a great site.
Your chickens look like sex-links to me: the females are red and the roosters are white. That's how they can be sexed at birth

I have sex-link hens, and my neighbours had a rooster before they had to give him away due to regulations.

 

[duckyfromoz]

to you both then!!! Heather they are gorgeous. I am more fond of web footed birds- but I do have some interest in chooks-but mainly just the " pretty " ones. Its so lovely that yours chooks also have neighbors.

 

[h_palmer]

Trying to figure out what sex-link chickens are, will google it in a minute....

My daughter's school got eggs just before the easter break, they incubated and hatched them for the kids to see what happens. Once hatched and about a week old, they offered the kids the chicks to take home otherwise they would be sent back to the company who provided them.

So we decided on one for her when I went pick her up from school I had my twin boys with me and of course they wanted one each as well. My daughter had picked out a cute little yellow one and the boys wanted a brown and white one each - we had no idea that Rosy would end up being Robert, he did grow faster and bigger than the other two - never having chickens before we just had to wait it out and see if he started to crow which he did - so Rosy then became Robert and my daughter was broken hearted. She doesnt want Robert anymore because he is too "Noisy" and she cant cuddle him like the boys do with Lulu and Tiny so we are contemplating removing him and getting her another Rosy.

Well that about all from me, have a few egg laying issues and Robert issues which I have posted in the appropriate areas so hopefully that will get sorted out soon.

Regards
Heather

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Quote:
Oh ok, I'll do that then. Apart from me wanting to see these super cute saddles some if my chickens are REALLY needing them. I have a Wyandotte bantam that just Finnished molting when I ordered the saddles and she looked sooo beautiful, better then she ever has. And now she has a completely bald back

I feel so bad because I'm the one that has the roosters in with her, so it's my fault. But untill I do some killing of roosters (

) I don't have any spare coops. it's crazy, I've got seven chicken coops and four of them are full of roosters that I don't need or want. And then even crazier, I KNOW I'll be able to replace the roosters with hens ( BLR and BLS Wyandottes are next in my list

) but I just keep putting off the rooster cull, cause I'm a softy.
Actually, putting this in writing has made things alot clearer. Roosters that attack me lunging at me when I open the door to feed/water them ( I have to fend them off with a stick ) VS blue laced red and blue laced silver hens.

guess who just won

*me, "roosters wheeere aaaaare yooooou. I've decided to have that battle you have been asking me for so much lately"*

 

[duckyfromoz]

Do you do it yourself GFG?? And do you allow them to be put in the freezer afterwards?? Just wondering since it is a bit more common on acreage than in the city. I know down there there is a guy who will willing take unwanted roosters, its as much a service for those who cant do the deed themselves- as a good way of getting a freezer full of meat. I couldnt ever do that myself... I guess thats why I dint breed chooks, at least with excess drakes you can give them away as a quiet backyard pet if there is too many- but with roosters crowing... theres not many that get to live a full life in the city.

 

[wooklet]

I've been naughty!

just bought myself a white show quality silkie,she is quite beautiful, and I don't regret it at all, I just won't tell hubby exactly how much she cost!!

She arrives here in about 10 days,so I'll post a pic when she is settled. Ducks hatching,silkie arriving,what an exciting month it's going to be!!

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Wahoo wooklet

I want some more silkies too. I'm looking at splash, blue, white, buff and another one I've found that's called lemon. How much DID she cost?

Ducky, no I couldn't do it. My DF says he can do it, yet everytime there's an opportunity he finds some excuse or just forgets

but then that makes me have to step up, take control and set a date and time to do the masacra. I'm fine with taking control, actually I'm excellent at it

but when it comes to making the decision to end something's life, it gets a little hard. And yes we do plan to eat them.
The rosters are definitely the worst part of breeding chickens. A very very small percentage of them are actually friendly, so they're nasty, do a ton of damage to the hens, do a ton of damage to each other, are super noisy and for chickens that don't DO anything they sure eat a lot of food.
And they INFURIATE me with their I'll have this and I'll have it now as well as their stupidness. I mean, what animal in their right mind would attack the person that feeds them. I have to change their waters at night because then they can't see and have a bad aim when they lunge. And when I feed them I have to have the container full of food, take a deep breath, open the door just enough for the container and my hand to fit through the at lightning speed shoot my hand through the door and tip the food on the ground. They go for me every time, but I've gotten fast and and they usually end up getting splattered on the door as I slam it. But one time I wasn't fast enough and, well, I don't know what happened, it was all too fast but the thick measuring cup that I had the food in ended up ripped into three pieces. I'm just glad it didn't get my hand. When one of the roosters turned on me ( my light Sussex breeder that I have to keep ) I wasn't focussing, turned around to see him lunging at me. His spurs hit me mid thigh and went straight through my jeans and about an inch into one leg and left me very bruised on the other leg. Needless to say he's been locked up ever since.
So yeah, I don't think theres any other option for the roosters.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Thats not naughty...we all need to indulge ourselves at times.

As long as it wasnt as much as the bill I paid for my car repairs today you havent paid too much for her... ( which was around the figure of that silkie you recently told me about too!! )

Exciting all round wooklet- I am of course very excited about whats in your incubator - and mine too. I candled and can confirm 3 goslings growing in mine. As well as 2 of the turkey eggs by the looks of it. I have a dozen eggs going up to NSW on Monday as well, so that makes a total of around 50 eggs from my ducks due to hatch over the next month over three states!!

 

[duckyfromoz]

GFG.. you bring back memories of so many injuries I have had handling poultry. Tonight on the other hand for me... I went into my bedroom and food the water container in a brooder empty I put my hand in to pick it up- and suddenly I had 7 little bills exploring my hand. I left it there for a few moments talking to them- making sure they were all having a chance to see my hand. I find it a good way of keeping the ducklings from running when I try to pick them up. Making sure they are not afraid of a hand is a great way to keep them tame and friendly and not afraid of being picked up. Of course even chickens at a few days old who do the same can grow up to be attack roosters.