Australorps breed Thread

[DesertChic]

Are these your 1st chickens? As older hens teach younger ones where to lay .
Put some fake eggs in the nesting box ..( Monkey see monkey do ...)you can buy them at a craft store or ebay ,
or take some brown masking tape & cover a few Plastic Easter eggs .
Some Newbies need some direction as what to do with those eggs

other than just let them pop out ..wherever ...LOL

Yep! They're all part of my first flock. I have fake eggs in each nesting box. On of my Barred Rocks started laying 2 weeks ago at 18 weeks of age and has laid in the nesting box from the start. I'm hoping she will teach the other girls to do the same.

So far my Aussies still seem to think that nesting boxes are for cramming themselves into at night. It's amazing how three of those big girls can somehow manage to fit into one little box at the same time.

 

[SilverWolff]

Hello everyone, I've got my first chicks and choose the Australorp as my first chickens. I've got a few questions:

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"?

2nd: Is there an age that I will be able to know if they are all girls? I know commercial sexing is only around 90-95% accurate so just was curious is there a way to know before one just starts crowing?

 

[ronott1]

Hello everyone, I've got my first chicks and choose the Australorp as my first chickens. I've got a few questions:

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"?

2nd: Is there an age that I will be able to know if they are all girls? I know commercial sexing is only around 90-95% accurate so just was curious is there a way to know before one just starts crowing?

You can usually tell gender by 4 to 6 weeks.

They are very cute!

 

[SilverWolff]

Thanks Ron and that's good to know that it will be sooner rather then later on knowing what gender they are...lol.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks Ron and that's good to know that it will be sooner rather then later on knowing what gender they are...lol.

It is usually easy with straight combed breeds. You look for combs turning red and getting bigger along with wattles growing and getting pink.

The wattles will be pink and bigger by 6 weeks.

 

[hellbender]

Thanks Ron and that's good to know that it will be sooner rather then later on knowing what gender they are...lol.

If I might make a suggestion, with regard to them screaming their heads off...when you have a few minutes, just sit by their brooder and talk to them, without scooping them up. That scares hell out of some of them. They will gradually get to know who carries the goodies to them.

 

[JennysHens]

Hello everyone, I've got my first chicks and choose the Australorp as my first chickens. I've got a few questions:

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"?

2nd: Is there an age that I will be able to know if they are all girls? I know commercial sexing is only around 90-95% accurate so just was curious is there a way to know before one just starts crowing?

My girls are a little over 5 weeks. They are the same way - if you pick them up, they get very upset. For mine, rather than pick up (especially when they were that small and new to being handled) I would just pet their backs and put my hand in the brooder palm up, they'll hop in your hand and snuggle up, especially if you lure them with a little food in your hand!

Basically, mine learned to 'step up;' if I rub on their bellies, they'll step onto my hand and I could carry them from point A to B, usually a temp box so I could clean or to the floor of the room so they can roam a bit and snuggle up on my lap and get some back and tummy scratches! I'm sure the system will need to be tweaked as they get full grown, but for now they're just fine with being moved around as long as they have support under their feet Hope that helps, they are super cute!

 

[SilverWolff]

If I might make a suggestion, with regard to them screaming their heads off...when you have a few minutes, just sit by their brooder and talk to them, without scooping them up. That scares hell out of some of them. They will gradually get to know who carries the goodies to them.

Ok I'll try that most times I'm picking them up is to clean their box or let them roam around the room a bit but I have some that as soon as I pick them up they squawk until I put my hand down where they can get down again. The quiet ones I hold for just a bit longer as they generally won't step out of my hand once I have them where I need them to be...lol.

JennysHens, thanks I'll try that next time and see if it works.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

My chicks will come up to my hand and will get petted and stuff and I have taught them to step up if I rub the front of their legs. But not all of them like to be picked up

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: 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 .