Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[Fancychooklady]

You could always introduce a bit of lead into the turkeys and make a nice turkey dinner...

Lol, we were out on a country road hawthorn hedge down both sides , came round a bend and there , crossing the road, was a family of bush turkeys. I pulled up and waited but low and behold, the daddy turkey came up and challenged my bumper. Mean looking thing and a face that only his mother could love.

 

[vehve]

"He had a face for radio"

Those that make an acquaintance with the bumper can be annoying... My better half took out a deer couple Summers ago

 

[Fancychooklady]

There's a lot of ' road kill ' here. There is a local guy that rehabilitates birds of prey, he does a good job of cleaning up. I'm a little alarmed by the rising number of juvenile Tassie devils on the road though.

 

[vehve]

Wouldn't that be a sign of a growing population? They're a good protein source for chickens btw...

 

[satay]

No worries Ben. Can I make a suggestion? Dust Sal early in her broodiness to prevent her getting lice . My last broody got a bad case of the crawlies and it was too late in the piece for me to dust her. I usually dust them in the first week cause they don't spend much time in the dust bath and that in itself makes them vulnerable . Result is the chicks have lice from mum, so now I have to wait it out and dust them when they are about a month old.

I have read that putting herbs in the nesting area of broodies works well too. Lavender, rosemary or sage was the suggestions I read.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Tassie devils are under threat of a facial tumor disease and it's never good to see young healthy males on the road. They are one of our main predators here along with quolls.

 

[Wrightsx4]

I have read that putting herbs in the nesting area of broodies works well too. Lavender, rosemary or sage was the suggestions I read.

And any type of mint. I planted mint all around our coops. My chickens don't eat it so it actually grows where they freerange. Anything else doesn't stand a chance(like grass), it'll be eaten. Mint is invasive though so I don't recommend planting it near other vegetation...or where you prefer grass.

 

[K Spot]

Tassie devils are under threat of a facial tumor disease and it's never good to see young healthy males on the road. They are one of our main predators here along with quolls.

Yes, they are at a very real threat of going extinct, because unlike other cancers, this facial tumour cancer is contagious. It's so sad.

 

[Wrightsx4]

I had to Google both tassie devil and quoll. Many of the images it brought up showed the tumors - how awful.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I had to Google both tassie devil and quoll. Many of the images it brought up showed the tumors - how awful.

The problem is they eat road kill and all too often become victims themselves. I thought you guys would be familiar with ' Taz' from the Bugs Bunny cartoons.