Australorps breed Thread

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
Are your nesting boxes higher than your roosts ? they will prefer the nesting boxes ...what are your roosts ?

 

[Gramma Chick]

choose the Australorp as my first chickens.

The picture below is when I first brought them home from TSC and they are a bit flighty still I handle them a little bit every evening when I get home from work but so far they all but 2 still chirp their heads off whenever I pick them up. So what's else can I do to get them over being "screamers"?

Congrats ! and Welcome to the thread !
Some will never like being picked up ...that will be their personality ..
Talk to them ..try picking up 2 instead of one ...put them on your lap ...
Removing them from the flock can scare them ..chickens are a flock animal they want to all be together .
You should see how one lonely chick SCREAMS...when it has no others ..
..but let them know food comes from you .
That generally makes them more friendly .
When you get home remove their food ...in a few minutes ..Put some food on your hand ..see if they will eat from it ..

 

[DesertChic]

No corn ? corn is like crack to a chicken !
Treats can be overdone .
This time of year everything is under snow so I add chopped kale & grated carrots to the Bread .with some milk or sun flower seeds ..so they dont get off balance .protein wise .

I've spent over twenty years studying (human) nutrition. We essentially gave up eating corn several years ago and only consume maybe half a dozen times per year. I know chickens love the stuff, but even the old agricultural studies from the early 1900s show that corn does more harm than good overall. I know that like all things, "moderation is the key", but as much I LOVE the taste of corn, I just won't eat it and I won't feed it to my chickens. It's just a personal choice.

 

[ronott1]

No corn ? corn is like crack to a chicken !
Treats can be overdone .
This time of year everything is under snow so I add chopped kale & grated carrots to the Bread .with some milk or sun flower seeds ..so they dont get off balance .protein wise .

We had a discussion about protein content of treats that can throw off protein. It does not take too much of lower protein food to throw off the protein content.

I was more concerned about vitamins like phosphorous, D and A stuff that is also needed to make an egg shell hard.

Definitely no corn! Kale is very good for them but still wait a couple of weeks and when the egg shells are hard, begin adding Kale, Black oil sunflower seeds and etc. Make sure that they are only getting about 10% of their daily food from the healthy treats. Too much of a good thing can sometimes.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I've spent over twenty years studying (human) nutrition. We essentially gave up eating corn several years ago and only consume maybe half a dozen times per year. I know chickens love the stuff, but even the old agricultural studies from the early 1900s show that corn does more harm than good overall. I know that like all things, "moderation is the key", but as much I LOVE the taste of corn, I just won't eat it and I won't feed it to my chickens. It's just a personal choice. 

Yes. To all of this.

Corn is a grain and produces anti-nutrients in the digestive system.

So does wheat (in the human system).

Do. Not. Want.

MrsB

 

[DesertChic]

We had a discussion about protein content of treats that can throw off protein. It does not take too much of lower protein food to throw off the protein content.

I was more concerned about vitamins like phosphorous, D and A stuff that is also needed to make an egg shell hard.

Definitely no corn! Kale is very good for them but still wait a couple of weeks and when the egg shells are hard, begin adding Kale, Black oil sunflower seeds and etc. Make sure that they are only getting about 10% of their daily food from the healthy treats. Too much of a good thing can sometimes.

They probably get even less than 10% of their calories from treats, with Kale probably being their primary treat during the week. I honestly didn't expect Kale to be a problem since it's pretty rich in calcium, but even at that each of my ten birds probably gets the equivalent of 3 or 4 leaves each. Do you think that's too much?

 

[ronott1]

They probably get even less than 10% of their calories from treats, with Kale probably being their primary treat during the week. I honestly didn't expect Kale to be a problem since it's pretty rich in calcium, but even at that each of my ten birds probably gets the equivalent of 3 or 4 leaves each. Do you think that's too much?

It is probably fine--It just helps to get the back in balance to remove all but the feed when the eggs are soft shelled. When they are back in balance then start the treats again.

Kale is very good for them.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Some of the Rattlesnake Ridge BBS Australorp breeders for this year.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

How about some baby pics?

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

Misc. batch of BBS Australorps from the Ridge.