The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[ronott1]

Ok, I'm off to Google Images to look up most of those! That's interesting about the Reeves. How much space do pheasant chicks need and are they quite flighty? I'd love some Mongolians but they are very rare here so very expensive - I've only seen the odd adult for sale. I think the Goldens are a good place to start except one child likes the Reds and one likes the Yellows (they are going with what their favourite colours are of course).



They are so gorgeous! Are they the Lionhead Rabbits? There's someone in NZ trying to bring them in.

It's a rainy day here - I'm putting off going out to feed the chickens but I don't think it's getting any better anytime soon. Waddles now has two chicks (and yes, I did put her eggs in the incubator after swearing to myself I wouldn't) and there's one more egg looking hopeful so she'll probably get a third. I got a fright before I'd seen them out and about as in the shavings there was something that looked like a dead chick. I though, oh, no, it's wandered off in the dark and not been able to find her again. When I picked it up it wasn't a dead chick - just an enormous pile of broody poop! The other hen has hatched all but one of her eggs and I added one more that's a different colour. I'll try and get some photos but it's such a dark, rainy day that the light is not ideal. Looks like we are in for a few days of this weather too.

I bet it is hard to get rabbits into your Country!

 

[JaeG]

You picked up a enormous broody poop !!!!! Jae please tell me you had long gloves on

Nope - bare hands! She'd also managed to poop on one of her eggs and I put my nice, clean fingers right on that too! I have to say I'd rather get poop on my hands than in my hair (thanks to cheeky little finches in the aviary).

I bet it is hard to get rabbits into your Country!

You'd think so but I don't think it's that bad (just extremely expensive for the quarantine periods in the country of origin then again here - not quite sure how that works). They just keep releasing worse and worse strains of the calicivirus to keep wild numbers in check which means you need to vaccinate your pet rabbits to protect them.

 

[ronott1]

Nope - bare hands! She'd also managed to poop on one of her eggs and I put my nice, clean fingers right on that too! I have to say I'd rather get poop on my hands than in my hair (thanks to cheeky little finches in the aviary).



You'd think so but I don't think it's that bad (just extremely expensive for the quarantine periods in the country of origin then again here - not quite sure how that works). They just keep releasing worse and worse strains of the calicivirus to keep wild numbers in check which means you need to vaccinate your pet rabbits to protect them.

Someone tried to get new chicken breeds into Australia a couple of years ago. A sample came back with something so they destroyed all of the chickens. If I remember correctly, there were thousands of them and they would not test them more than the one negative. Likley some of them were clean

Tough country for import! NZ might be better

 

[JaeG]

Someone tried to get new chicken breeds into Australia a couple of years ago. A sample came back with something so they destroyed all of the chickens. If I remember correctly, there were thousands of them and they would not test them more than the one negative. Likley some of them were clean

Tough country for import! NZ might be better

I remember reading about that too. Birds would be a lot harder to get into NZ as we have so many critically endangered native birds, and we don't have a lot of the bird diseases that are overseas. We only have two native land mammals, both tiny species of bats. Other than that it's insects, lizards and the birds. Which is why the introduced predators (such as rats) and the stoats that were introduced to try and keep the exploding rabbit population in check (dumbest idea ever ) have been so devastating. There are a lot of native birds that can only be maintained on predator free offshore islands now and they have been saved from the brink of extinction, including my favourite, the Kakapo.

The egg industry does import eggs from certified facilities overseas but I doubt we'll ever have any other kinds of birds coming in. Pork/Pigs are another one that is never imported in any way, shape or form, dead or alive because of diseases we are free of here. Recently there's been Mycoplasma bovis discovered here for the first time in cattle. It's most likely come in in imported semen. They are still trying to contain that one!

 

[ronott1]

I remember reading about that too. Birds would be a lot harder to get into NZ as we have so many critically endangered native birds, and we don't have a lot of the bird diseases that are overseas. We only have two native land mammals, both tiny species of bats. Other than that it's insects, lizards and the birds. Which is why the introduced predators (such as rats) and the stoats that were introduced to try and keep the exploding rabbit population in check (dumbest idea ever ) have been so devastating. There are a lot of native birds that can only be maintained on predator free offshore islands now and they have been saved from the brink of extinction, including my favourite, the Kakapo.

The egg industry does import eggs from certified facilities overseas but I doubt we'll ever have any other kinds of birds coming in. Pork/Pigs are another one that is never imported in any way, shape or form, dead or alive because of diseases we are free of here. Recently there's been Mycoplasma bovis discovered here for the first time in cattle. It's most likely come in in imported semen. They are still trying to contain that one!

It is worth the effort!

What breeds of chickens do you have there?

 

[JaeG]

It is worth the effort!

What breeds of chickens do you have there?

Not as many as you guys, that's for sure! I'd love some Porcelaine d'Uccle, or even the Mille Fleur ones.

This page lists the ones we have here, and some of them are in such small numbers to start with that they may be lost:
https://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/chooks.html

 

[ronott1]

Not as many as you guys, that's for sure! I'd love some Porcelaine d'Uccle, or even the Mille Fleur ones.

This page lists the ones we have here, and some of them are in such small numbers to start with that they may be lost:
https://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/chooks.html

You have some good ones! We need more Penedesencas here

 

[CapricornFarm]

Ok, I'm off to Google Images to look up most of those! That's interesting about the Reeves. How much space do pheasant chicks need and are they quite flighty? I'd love some Mongolians but they are very rare here so very expensive - I've only seen the odd adult for sale. I think the Goldens are a good place to start except one child likes the Reds and one likes the Yellows (they are going with what their favourite colours are of course).



They are so gorgeous! Are they the Lionhead Rabbits? There's someone in NZ trying to bring them in.

It's a rainy day here - I'm putting off going out to feed the chickens but I don't think it's getting any better anytime soon. Waddles now has two chicks (and yes, I did put her eggs in the incubator after swearing to myself I wouldn't) and there's one more egg looking hopeful so she'll probably get a third. I got a fright before I'd seen them out and about as in the shavings there was something that looked like a dead chick. I though, oh, no, it's wandered off in the dark and not been able to find her again. When I picked it up it wasn't a dead chick - just an enormous pile of broody poop! The other hen has hatched all but one of her eggs and I added one more that's a different colour. I'll try and get some photos but it's such a dark, rainy day that the light is not ideal. Looks like we are in for a few days of this weather too.

Yes my new bunnies are Lionheads!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Today i have been working on a 3 compartment brooder.
My new table top is painted green now, i got saw horses at Harbor freight. So much easier to work on things at this level! Love it!

 

[ronott1]

saw horses are great!

I need some new ones since mine are old plastic ones