Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[ozexpat]

Its 615am on Sunday. The kids are up and marching in their cowboy boots. Mrs Oz had a bout of hay fever last night and is in a benadryl coma. The sun is up and the view of the volcano is disappearing as the clouds move love it.

The workers are off today. Bernie and I will make sewer pipe chicken feeders and mess with the water nipples. We will go through the medications I have accumulated so Bernie does not have to text me for instructions prior to treating a pen of birds.

The birds will get Newcastle and Fowl Pox vaccines tomorrow. In a week's time they will get a deworming agent.

 

[Tara Black]

So I've only joined BYC this summer, and I found this thread about a week ago and I am seriously impressed! For most of it I was on the edge of my seat! This has been an incredible journey that just keeps going

 

[ozexpat]

So I've only joined BYC this summer, and I found this thread about a week ago and I am seriously impressed! For most of it I was on the edge of my seat! This has been an incredible journey that just keeps going

Welcome.

There have been times I have been on the edge of my seat as well. Hatching across an ocean can be anxiety producing.

2 years ago we were waiting for the 24 hours to lapse so we could get the all clear for Lorenzo's release from hospital. It was quite a day.

 

[Bens-Hens]

It's Father's Day here in Oz, hope you get to celebrate with your family this trip

What ever you don on the chicken front, is in mammoth proportions! Go hard mate and best of luck.

 

[piglett]

Its 615am on Sunday. The kids are up and marching in their cowboy boots. Mrs Oz had a bout of hay fever last night and is in a benadryl coma. The sun is up and the view of the volcano is disappearing as the clouds move love it.

The workers are off today. Bernie and I will make sewer pipe chicken feeders and mess with the water nipples. We will go through the medications I have accumulated so Bernie does not have to text me for instructions prior to treating a pen of birds.

The birds will get Newcastle and Fowl Pox vaccines tomorrow. In a week's time they will get a deworming agent.

good to hear that you arrived safe OZ
i have been thinking about vaccines for my adult birds this winter
not sure what to start with & how in depth i should go.



piglett

 

[ozexpat]

Hi pig. Good to hear from you. If you do a search with my user name and vaccines you will find an article I wrote. Newcastle is cheap and is easy to use. Just add water.

Hey Ben. The beauty of carrying two passports is I get 2 fathers days. The merkan one was tough as I was on my own. This one was great. No nannies as they were off so I did not have to compete for the kids. Sheppard's pie for lunch.

We made 4 sewer pipe feeders and threaded 35 nipples onto 1 inch pipe then used some 3" pipe and some 80mm computer fans to draw down the air in a mid size cabinet bator we are building. I am trying to save on electricity running the big beast when I don't have a mega hatch.

The mid bator will have 3 auto turners and a mini dehumidifier. Only opening it once a week instead of 3 times a day should allow the air inside to really dry down.

It will allow Bernie to set 41 eggs every six days, moving eggs to the hatcher on day 18.

 

[Roxannemc]

HAHA you are totally right OZ!

Australia is probably pretty darn clean!! Thousands and thousands of acres of uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land so much of the country BEAUTIFUL and unbelievable land and where you are now also ...don't think you have tons of booming factory's a mile from you do you? but hey I could be wrong there
.
I'm just stating strictly in the USA.
Maybe I didnt make that clear....
Sadly there isn't probably any place here that doesnt have some pollution The WORLD is another matter.. or I surely hope so!!

I know Americans are super clean freaks compared to the world in general but we do have salmonella outbreaks pretty frequently here and other germ issues found in our commercially raised food.
Growing your own chickens here is becoming VERY big b/c of the fact you can help eliminated SOME of these germ issues by eating your own eggs or your own home raised chickens where you know what is put into their mouths.
Its the #ONE catalyst for the amount of ppl raising their own here now

So even if it doesn't kill the chickens the point is when spending the money to raise your own for better quality health reasons is it wise t o put down sand dirt etc that MAY have pollutants we are unaware of ?

There are so many that aren't discovered here ....officials paid off to look the other way, lack of inspectors due to goverrment lacking funds, leaks that arent discovered. or barrels etc carried away and broken from some storms floods or hurricane we have annually all over here Things dumped in the rivers...so much

My personal Examples;
Down the road from me in a relatively clean country setting there was a sewer stink for months on end ...The land dropped down from a small subdivision and across the road . Im sure somehow a drainage pipe had gotten sewage from some pipe leak up there or some not attached at all. and guess what? The little pretty low stream ppl love to fish and swim with there small kids in the summer here is 30 feet or less from that sewage smell. and I bet the rain drainage ditch it all flowed into runs into that river or stream just a skip away

Now if I gathered my sand from the area 1/4 mile below it .thinking it clean..what am I getting really ?
Not to mention the small businesses out here that are creating by products probably do the same. Who is really looking? maybe even a relative or good friend who works for the local gov turns a blind eye? Small towns

MOre frightening I worked for many years at a large factory closer in but still somewhat country at the end of a small town The Mississppi River just a mile or 2 away .
In fact it would flood up to the other side of the interstate the factory was on the far side of
The factory I worked in made and beer and soda cans and painted labels on them
There were lots of chemicals that were carcinogenic used for cleaning proposes and creating cans from sheet aluminum acids and other things oils lubricants we used but were warned to always wear gloves always when cleaning anything or reaching into washers .
.All washs down into a underground sewer area. Im sure supposedly contained
.PPL from the town sewer company when working on the town sewers once which was about 400 yards away from the factory said the stink of the chemical was very strong where they were working underground by the highway
.This town had 2 large factory that paid LOTS of taxes to the town to keep it running the rest were modest homes a couple gas stations and a tiny motel.

A young chem tec fell inside a small contained area outside where they did readings of some sort of the chemicals coming out of the place
.He was a VERY athletic healthy guy no healthy issues didnt smoke etc... He was found some hours later dead.
The first coroners report said he was asphyxiated with poison fumes after he slipped off a step fell knocking himself out.and lay there breathing it all in Later the report was changed to he hit his jaw on a rail and it swelled closing off his windpipe. Now wouldn't the coroner have SEEN a bruise big enough to do that early on ? Why did he think it was fumes straight off?
WE all knew this to be a lie. Money changed hands I imagine to clean it up

This company is world wide by the way not some dinky one,...so whole long point is there is stuff getting out everyplace HERE even seemingly more clean areas in America we don't know about and into the ground water at least and so into sand in the creeks rivers.

I went on too long I know always do but wanted to make it clear how it is here and the reason it might be a good idea to get sterile sand here in USA even if your chickens seem fine with river sand....But each to our own..... Im not the Sand Police.

 

[ozexpat]

Your area of the USA sounds like you need sterile sand.

Nuff sed.

The time change sees me waking between 3 and 4 each day. This is also the time that the internet is also fairly reliable albier slow.

At least I can get a page or two to load .

 

[piglett]

OZ what side pipe did you use for the feeders?

 

[ozexpat]

OZ what side pipe did you use for the feeders?

I use 4". I made 2 from a 10' section. Halved pipe then used 15 inches for horizontal and remainder for vertical.