The New Zealand Thread

[TheFatBlueCat]

Hi, I thought it might be time us kiwis had our own thread to discuss our unique frustrations and joys , everyone welcome even if you're not from here!

I thought it would be handy to share our knowledge on where to get chicken related things like feed, equipment, great breeders we have had good experiences with etc. Or to bemoan how expensive everything is!

I am in Motueka, top of the South Island.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Please tag anyone who might be interested in this thread, I know there are quite a few of us here. Apologies if I've tagged anyone below by mistake.

@Lizzy733 @buttersbrood @Mugento @KaitlinGrace

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Hi, I thought it might be time us kiwis had our own thread to discuss our unique frustrations and joys , everyone welcome even if you're not from here!

I thought it would be handy to share our knowledge on where to get chicken related things like feed, equipment, great breeders we have had good experiences with etc. Or to bemoan how expensive everything is!

I am in Motueka, top of the South Island.

Following! Even though I'm in the U.S.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

For our not-kiwi friends, I'll tell you a little about the chicken keeping landscape here.
A lot of people keep back yard chickens here. In terms of land-mass the country is very rural. We have one 'real' city, Auckland, and one mini-real city, Wellington. We have many other places we call cities, but they're not really populated by 'city people' they are more like concentrated population areas that serve a larger rural landscape. This is of course my perspective and other may disagree with my description.

We don't have any hatcheries like you find in the US or UK. Hatcheries exist for commercial producers but not for the backyard enthusiast. You can't order a range of breeds and have them delivered as day old chicks. If people want heritage breeds it is most common to purchase pullets from a local breeder, or hatching eggs from the same breeder. If you want breeds not found in your local area your best option is shipped hatching eggs. There are pet transporters for adult birds but they don't travel everywhere.

We have had a closed gene pool here for heritage breeds since the 1950s. What we have is all we've got! Some very talented breeders have recreated some breeds, such as the croad langshan, by reverse breeding from breeds we do have with that in their ancestry. It's pretty cool!

I'll continue this infomentary later, please feel free to chime in!

 

[Mugento]

I love the idea of a local thread. We are down in the east side of Christchurch. There are a few chicken households on the block so the neighbors are very accommodating with our ladies. Right now we have a flock of 7: one retired, pet chicken, 2 layers, and 4 chicks.

We love Motueka!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Yay, welcome to the thread!
My dad and his partner live down between Rangiora and Amberly, I'm stealthily sussing out the breeders down that way so next time I drive to visit I can bring back some hens. Stealthy because I'm sure my husband and daughter would say we don't need any more chickens .

I've got a flock of 10 plus 5 chicks and some more chicks on the way soon (eggs are under a broody now).

It's actually a flock of 7 in my mind because one of them is my rooster and two of them are retired. So obviously I need more.

 

[Lizzy733]

We're up in Northland near Waipu and have a flock of 11 chickens, 5 turkeys and 4 quail. (Half cali; half coturnix)

Hoping to add to that once my boys get up to breeding age and start producing for meat with a bit of novelty and genetic play on the side.
We have a few golden campine(which I'm very keen to keep going as the genepool is so tiny here), silkies, slw, frizzle, orpington, and one from an ayam cemani breeding project. We've just moved rural, so still in the process of shifting from urban novelty flock to selective breeding, hence the scattering of breeds. Of the 11, 3 are boys (2 campine, 1 slw) brought up together and in a bachelor pen currently, just now getting to that juvenile stage and hopefully fertilizing some eggs soon.

 

[Lizzy733]

Yay, welcome to the thread!
My dad and his partner live down between Rangiora and Amberly, I'm stealthily sussing out the breeders down that way so next time I drive to visit I can bring back some hens. Stealthy because I'm sure my husband and daughter would say we don't need any more chickens .

I've got a flock of 10 plus 5 chicks and some more chicks on the way soon (eggs are under a broody now).

It's actually a flock of 7 in my mind because one of them is my rooster and two of them are retired. So obviously I need more.

Sounds like accurate chicken math to me!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

We're up in Northland near Waipu and have a flock of 11 chickens, 5 turkeys and 4 quail. (Half cali; half coturnix)

Hoping to add to that once my boys get up to breeding age and start producing for meat with a bit of novelty and genetic play on the side.
We have a few golden campine(which I'm very keen to keep going as the genepool is so tiny here), silkies, slw, frizzle, orpington, and one from an ayam cemani breeding project. We've just moved rural, so still in the process of shifting from urban novelty flock to selective breeding, hence the scattering of breeds. Of the 11, 3 are boys (2 campine, 1 slw) brought up together and in a bachelor pen currently, just now getting to that juvenile stage and hopefully fertilizing some eggs soon.

Welcome to the thread

I would love some golden campines. No idea where I'd get them in South Island, and not sure if I could cope with another hard to sex breed, the araucanas and their crosses are tricky enough! Your breeds sound very interesting, especially the Ayam cemani. The most exotic I can boast of is hopefully I'm hatching out some partridge plymouth rocks in this next batch. Need some brown in the flock, too much black, white and grey right now.

 

[Lizzy733]

Welcome to the thread

I would love some golden campines. No idea where I'd get them in South Island, and not sure if I could cope with another hard to sex breed, the araucanas and their crosses are tricky enough! Your breeds sound very interesting, especially the Ayam cemani. The most exotic I can boast of is hopefully I'm hatching out some partridge plymouth rocks in this next batch. Need some brown in the flock, too much black, white and grey right now.

In nelson, appletons - chooks.co.nz - has them listed on their website. I found mine through trademe and they came from a north island breeder, got them as hatching eggs.

They are 'very' easy to sex. Boys show at 3 weeks and start crowing shortly after. Lovely, clever little birds and very flight capable.