Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ribh]

I have some questions to put to the brains trust. Firstly broodies; when your broody stops being broody, do they stay off the lay for a while?

The short answer is yes. Of 9 hens 3 have gone broody recently & are all off the lay. Tuppence has been sick & not laying & Lottie rarely lays so my egg production has plummeted. It will be a few weeks before egg production comes back up ~ & that's assuming no~one else wants a go @ being broody.

Secondly, thoughts on vaccination.

There are 2 schools of thought out here on vaccination. I'm not a scientist so most of the arguments go over my head but roughly:
1. If you vaccinate your flock can still be disease carriers & increase risk by the germy things mutating & becoming harder to eradicate ~ nope, not very scientific of me.
2. Don't vaccinate & let natural immunity work for you but you risk wiping out an entire flock if disease breaks out. This is why the strict quarantine rule with new birds.
If you have a FB page look up Johnry Ramos, specialises in Pekin Bantams, & has some excellent articles on anti vax.

Having said that my birds are vaccinated because that's what my breeder does & it meant I could take a reasonable risk with no quarantine with my last buy. If I ever buy elsewhere that simply doesn't become an option. They will have to be quarantined!

 

[Ribh]

I also just wanted to say to my new(ish) chook friends; thank you for being here. I’m feeling quite sad at the thought of losing yet another of my lovely girls, not to mention all the climate and bushfire stuff we are going through at the moment. It’s good to know I’ve got a little community I can talk to when I need help and if I’m feeling sad/low. This is for everyone who regularly (and intermittently) posts to this thread.

We all get where you're coming from with your girls. It's the hardest part of keeping any animal. We almost always outlive them Are you in the midst of the bushfire crisis? I thought most of the Aussies I knew on here were safe.

 

[LozzyR]

We all get where you're coming from with your girls. It's the hardest part of keeping any animal. We almost always outlive them Are you in the midst of the bushfire crisis? I thought most of the Aussies I knew on here were safe.

We’re not in any danger but it’s just depressing to know that so much prep should have been done and wasn’t. We were in Sydney yesterday and the smoke haze was incredible!

 

[Ribh]

We’re not in any danger but it’s just depressing to know that so much prep should have been done and wasn’t. We were in Sydney yesterday and the smoke haze was incredible!

Glad you are safe! We still have haze too. Haven't really seen the sun & blue skies in weeks. It is just devastating how much land has been lost. The farmers don't need this on top of the drought.

 

[LozzyR]

When my dear Daisy, the greatest hen ever, passed, I withdrew from BYC. Frankly I almost gave up the flock altogether I was so devastated. If I had not just built that amazing coop, well who knows.... At the time I had no anchor to the community here. When I returned to BYC I found @Dona Worry thread on Nardole and then The Chickens of the Sunshine Motel. She inspired me to start my own thread.

Doing so brought me this amazing community of chicken friends. When Patsy passed this year I was broken hearted again but this time I had a support group to hold me up. And then Maleficent got sick shortly thereafter. I would not have gotten through all of that without everyone here. I am so blessed with all of you.

@LozzyR please let me pay it back to you. I am so happy that you have joined our little group. Whatever you need, just ask. I feel very safe in saying we are all here for you.

Thanks Bob. Even though I have not met anyone on this thread IRL, I feel like I know you all and can share stuff with you.

 

[BlueBaby]

To those of you Aussies down under, I hope that you will be able to get some rain over there soon to help you with that drought. Take care of any lower laying underbrush that takes away the water from the bigger thing's that need it. The west coast here in the states goes through the same thing during our summer's.

 

[LozzyR]

When the hens here go broody I let them sit for up to four days before I confiscate any eggs. This means their egg laying cycle switches off. For some this can be a week or so, for others considerably longer.
I do this mainly to give the hen the maximum possible rest from laying eggs throughout the year.
There is an interesting view here with the local chicken enthusiasts. There are only so many eggs in a hen. You can have them all quickly and a hen with a short life, or you can spread them out and have the hen live longer.

Thank Shad, that is very interesting. As I want my girls to live as long as possible, I will keep this in mind.

 

[LozzyR]

If these were hatchery chickens I would go fro vaccination, particularly for Mareks.
It seems possible from what you've written that you are thinking of adult birds (?).
Here if I was to get adult birds, which would be my preferred way of increasing flock size, then quarantine is very important and vaccinations, not really.
Your breeder has given you correct information imo.

I think I would have to agree with @BY Bob and @Ribh and prefer my birds to be vaccinated, but I may not have a choice if I’m going for a particular breed. I have a quarantine cage and will definitely quarantine new birds, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

 

[Ribh]

I think I would have to agree with @BY Bob and @Ribh and prefer my birds to be vaccinated, but I may not have a choice if I’m going for a particular breed. I have a quarantine cage and will definitely quarantine new birds, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

I had a most interesting conversation with my man yesterday so your concerns are also uppermost in my mind just now.

The chickens have always been my thing but we have had some really gorgeous girls & the man is now interested. It should be lovely but he has a tendency to be rather... grandiose.... in his thinking so my little flock looks like becoming something all together different if he meddles. I was showing him some different breeds & explaining, in my limited understanding, which dual purpose birds might suit & why not certain meat birds yadda, yadda but he seems to be going for more dominant breeds... What I am not doing is mixing in something like Wyandottes with this present mix. The BRs are bad enough.

However he has always insisted I buy from the same breeder, which has worked for me, but she doesn't carry a wide range of breeds so for the 1st time the man has suggested looking elsewhere ~ which is a whole 'nother can of worms. I would much prefer my birds come vaccinated.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank Shad, that is very interesting. As I want my girls to live as long as possible, I will keep this in mind.

This is why I buy eggs at the store in the winter. I will not provide supplemental light in order to keep them laying. I feel they need the break. Let them lay as nature intended.