Free ranging on Martin Farm ~ Our journey from bust to breeding.

[CB and CG]

Definitely not tut-tutting, you are doing an eggcellent job!
I have subscribed so you know that I'll be here lurking and reading to keep up to date with the progress of the Australorps
Looking forward to reading about your future chicken related adventures

 

[Veer67]

Definitely not tut-tutting, you are doing an eggcellent job!
I have subscribed so you know that I'll be here lurking and reading to keep up to date with the progress of the Australorps
Looking forward to reading about your future chicken related adventures

x2, great story too!

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

Thankyou xx

We love our chickies

I think they might love us too

Studying poultry genetics, with my little study buddy...

(That's mash behind her, not poo.)

I put a tray of sand in the brooder a couple days ago and the chicks absolutely love it!

They were in there all afternoon, playing, scratching around and dust bathing in the sand.
I had to move the tray closer to the heat lamp when I went to bed, because they simply refused to get out and went to sleep in there.


Falling asleep in a lovely warm bath...
(I'm surprised how relaxed chickens are in a bath!!)



Today I started playing around with the idea of building a mini roost for the chicks to play on and practise roosting. It's still a work in progress and I expect to make a few more changes, before the chicks and I are completely happy with it.


This one was built by recycling the kids' broken wooden xylophone that was destined to be rubbish if not recycled and a few wooden coat hangers cut in half.

They're STILL loving the sand tray.

 

[CB and CG]

Awww they are gorgeous. Looks like they are having LOTS of fun in the sand tray and on the perch. It's definitely a good idea introducing them to a perch at a young age. It's evident that they are very spoiled and very loved
I hope more people find this thread because I can see that it's going to be very informative and very interesting to read.

 

[Free Feather]

Why would someone want to kill all of your birds? I believe someone would do it, I have had my fair share of animal stealing and killing from mystery night-time lurkers. I hope you have better luck in the future. How many birds do you plan on keeping?

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

Why would someone want to kill all of your birds? I believe someone would do it, I have had my fair share of animal stealing and killing from mystery night-time lurkers. I hope you have better luck in the future. How many birds do you plan on keeping?

I used to have a problem with an ex, who killed 30 of my rabbits and guinea pigs many years ago over the course of a month or so. He cut hutches open with pliers, let animals out and put the dogs in the rabbit shed, I assume to make it look like the dogs had busted in to kill them.
There are some weird people out there with sick sick minds. To be honest, when my chickens were dropping and all the weird stuff was going on, I was scared he had found us again.

So, progress so far..... Things aren't going as well as I hoped for.
We have lost three chicks in the last week. One to an accident and two to (what is so far) a mystery illness. Another is in quarantine at the moment.
All the losses have been my beautiful Australorp babies, with my Barnevelder so far not affected.
I'm asking around on BYC and FB, in the hopes somebody can give me an idea of what I'm doing wrong.

I joined the New Years HAL and hatched out 6 new Barnevelder babies on the 30th and 31st December.
The incubator didn't get a rest. As soon as the other eggs were confirmed to be quitters, it was washed, sterlilised and put straight into action on the 1st January with some more beautiful Australorp eggs, for the January HAL.

I'm hoping to get whatever is the current issue under control before they hatch.

I'll post the most recent happenings photo's from my computer next chance I get. I just thought I'd post in here while I was on BYC asking questions,
For now, I'm currently chick fretting and coaxing my chickie to drink water often and cuddling him for warmth and comfort.

 

[N F C]

Good morning and thanks for sharing your story so far. It's been very interesting to read and the pictures are adorable. So sorry to hear you lost some of your chicks. I hope you have better luck with your new ones and have no further problems with intruders. Looking forward to updates!

 

[enola]

What are their symptoms?

 

[FreeRanging Hen]

White runny diarrhoea, fluffed up feathers, sulking in a corner, lowered appetite, lameness in one side followed at the end with gasping breaths and then death

 

[Free Feather]

I used to have a problem with an ex, who killed 30 of my rabbits and guinea pigs many years ago over the course of a month or so. He cut hutches open with pliers, let animals out and put the dogs in the rabbit shed, I assume to make it look like the dogs had busted in to kill them.
There are some weird people out there with sick sick minds. To be honest, when my chickens were dropping and all the weird stuff was going on, I was scared he had found us again.

So, progress so far..... Things aren't going as well as I hoped for.
We have lost three chicks in the last week. One to an accident and two to (what is so far) a mystery illness. Another is in quarantine at the moment.
All the losses have been my beautiful Australorp babies, with my Barnevelder so far not affected.
I'm asking around on BYC and FB, in the hopes somebody can give me an idea of what I'm doing wrong.

I joined the New Years HAL and hatched out 6 new Barnevelder babies on the 30th and 31st December.
The incubator didn't get a rest. As soon as the other eggs were confirmed to be quitters, it was washed, sterlilised and put straight into action on the 1st January with some more beautiful Australorp eggs, for the January HAL.

I'm hoping to get whatever is the current issue under control before they hatch.

I'll post the most recent happenings photo's from my computer next chance I get. I just thought I'd post in here while I was on BYC asking questions,
For now, I'm currently chick fretting and coaxing my chickie to drink water often and cuddling him for warmth and comfort.

Ooh, that is creepy. He sounds just plain sick. If he does not like you, what do your animals have to do with it?
What was the accident? It could have been no worse than some of the stupid things I have done that killed my babies. This list includes but is not limited to: drowning (ducklings in water bowl because I thought they would want a swim, an australorp chick in a water bowl, and a silkie chick I let free range by the creek), the road, the neighbor's dog, my dog, not closing the cage door, eaten by my pigs, not providing correct heat, and pecked to death by bigger chickens. And many mystery illnesses along the way...
How many Australorp chicks are left?