Australorps breed Thread

[CarolynF]

These are my two australorps ( cant really see they second one lol hiding under a wyandotte ) but they are with their 3 best friends the wyandottes lol

Hi Chickadoodoo, I've seen you on the Washington thread, too. Cute little Aussie, I really love mine she's SO sweet and a very reliable layer.

 

[DeesHens]

Hi Dee,
welcome to the thread. The vitamin advice seems sound. A very experienced commercial poultryman mate of mine advised me to 'put a slurp of Pentavite in their drinking water and don't use chemically treated water to do it!" Not sure whether you have Pentavite there, but it's just a common liquid multivitamin for kids - human ones! He also recommended adding powdered milk to the mash "if you can get them to eat it. If not, get milk into them any way you can." There is a woman here who does all the markets with her "Laying Spice Blend." It's just a 'secret' blend of common food spices such as cummin, chillie etc. She told me that it raises the body temp. and encourages laying, especially in cold climates. She advised me not to use it in summer or hot weather. Perhaps someone can give more accurate spice info. My older Aussie girls go more into graceful decline rather than all stop laying at once. This is my experience with Isa type 'breeds' that basically have planned obsolescence built in so you have to buy more every 3 years. If yours are feedstore 'Aussies', rather than purebred, they may have this tendency too. Good luck!
Geoff from Aus

Thank you. I found a Penta-vite infant multi with vit D at a website listed in NZ. I wanted to compare the ingredients. Wondering if this is the one?
Product Description
Penta-vite may help maintain a healthy intake of vitamins in instances of fussy eating habits, appetite loss or during illness.

This Pleasant-tasting, pineapple-flavoured liquid formula comes with an easy-to-use syringe.
-Sugar free
-Free from artificial colours
-Preservative free
Additional Information
Main Ingredients Each 0.45ml contains:
Retinyl palmitate (Vitamin A) 490ug RE
Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1) 540ug
Riboflavine (Vitamin B2) 1.1mg
Nicotinamide (Vitamin B3) 7.1mg
Pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6) 135ug
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 42.8mg
Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) 10.1ug

Contains saccharin sodium. Vitamin supplements should not replace a balanced diet.
Also contains flavouring, glycerol, Polysorbate and water.
Also am curious how old your oldest hens are now? Thanks for all you contribute to this thread. Your information overall has been fascinating. ~Dee~

 

[Chickadoodoo]

Hi Chickadoodoo, I've seen you on the Washington thread, too.  Cute little Aussie, I really love mine she's SO sweet and a very reliable layer. 

Hi CarolynF,
It's good to know your Australorps a dependable layers because mine hasn't started yet

 

[groche]

Hi Dee,
I've only been back into breeding in the last couple of years so my oldest hen is 3. I have kept Aussies off and on over the years so my comment was based on past experience with the breed. My Pentavite has the identical ingredients as your post.
Cheers Geoff from Aus

 

[DeesHens]

Hi Dee,
I've only been back into breeding in the last couple of years so my oldest hen is 3. I have kept Aussies off and on over the years so my comment was based on past experience with the breed. My Pentavite has the identical ingredients as your post.
Cheers Geoff from Aus

Thanks so much Geoff for getting back to me on that. It will give me a framework to decide what I will use to supplement.
It will be very interesting to watch your progress with your flock. Your latest pics are amazing. I've looked at them several times as well as Aveca's pics. Beautiful birds! I really appreciate your dedication and willingness to share with everyone.
All my best,
~Dee~

 

[groche]

Aveca,
your young boy does seem to be nice and full-bodied. Can't really comment on his head as the blurred pic is obviously part of keeping your "project" secret. Just kiddin'! I'll be interested to see how he develops. I'm glad my first serious cull is coming up, as I'm starting to overflow with chicks. Problem is, I can't just cull the boys, as I need a backup for my Derrick and, of course, I'm looking for the 'perfect' roo to get a serous line going with. As you can't tell, apart from basic faults, the real quality till about 20 weeks, I'm stuck with lots of boys for a while. Even more difficult because I'm trialling girls from 3 different lines to see who 'clicks' with Derrick. So far, I can't tell the difference! They all seem pretty good so far, so I've got to keep most of the girls for a while longer too. Not a bad problem to have. More pens though! Bloody difficult to sort out who belongs to who! I think I've asked before, but maybe someone's had a brainwave! Any reliable methods for id'ing young Aussies. Some folk here use different coloured cattle marking crayons, but Aussies are too dark and the light bits on them don't last long. Same issue with colored textas. Number 2 son suggested short, split lengths of colored drinking straws. Gonna try it, but not sure they'll stay on. Anyone tried this? Getting some pigeon bands to try when they're a bit older. I haven't hatched from my third line yet. She's a nice bird but slightly hairy in the face - a no-no here for exhibition birds. Derrick is very clean-faced so I'm not too fussed, as feathering should come more from his side. You haven't seen this bird. I'll post some pics for comment.
Cheers Geoff from Aus Thanks for the nice comment, Dee!

 

[groche]

Methods other than toe-punching please, as I'm not keen on it. Ta!

 

[galanie]

Around here they have brightly colored plastic rings for leg bands. But plain old velcro from the fabric store makes great leg bands and it won't harm the birds like zip ties and the like might, plus easy to adjust.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

As my little girls are feathering out, they're all looking alike so I'm trying to find something to distinguish them apart, may use Marks-a-Lot on a specific toenail (8 girls, 8 toenails, perfect), not sure it won't wear off in the sand. The runt is still a runt but she's turning out to be the bully of the coop. Nobody ever picked on her so what's gotten into her?

Like the thought of a colored soda straw. Imagining using small fingernail scissors to cut the straw in a long spiral cut and threading it on a leg.

Not liking the sound of toe-punching? What is that?!!?

Does anyone have a photo of the velcro banding? Not sure how it sticks to itself since it takes two different strips. Maybe I'm just being thick this morning.

 

[aveca]

Im not keen on toe punch either..dont know why, I just dont like it..For some reason I can tell them apart. Just subtle things but then I never have that many of them..

Geoff these really are a work in progress here..

hes sun basking, I go out to take a pic and they all dissappear up into the orchard. It was just for my own personal taste , but I was trying to move toward the australian look..l used some english orp , didnt dwell on it.. liked the look of the tail,rounder body .. then back into the thicker hackle feather australorps but its just the way I wanted to play with it..sadly had a weasale attack earlier this year, ..lost some real good birds..One of my freinds added clean legged langshan and the results were very interesting..few if any leg feathering they were smaller culls with might be a cross there in the future..we were just trying to kind of follow the route australia used best as we knew it..




one of the SOP hens..




he literally wore feathers off trying to be under mom all of the time.



and there he goes



the bigger ones are baby black orps, the little ones are baby aussies , you can see some of those babies are pretty rotund..they are australorp. My freind is thrilled with these, so he is going to play with them as I have other irons in the fire right now.. We have been plugging away with these for quite a few years..hes very dedicated..he also plays with an american breed..so we will be kind of working together, but Like I said, I have other things going on.. the tails are really looking lot like your avatar..for a couple years the hackles were little thin, but now shorter thicker .. right now this cockeral and some of the others are at his house , so next time I go over I will get some pics ..