5 new chicks for easter.yay! but I think they might have mites.not cool.hadn't even thought about mites when I put our broody in the hutch with her eggs.cleaned it out but didnt spray or anything.what can I do.anyone!.we are organic but if there is nothing organic I will try anything.the chicks are soooo cute and little.dont want them dying on me now.
jules.,
Apr 13, 4:18pm
argh! son was upset this morning, his chick 'peggy' started crowing this morning. had 3 chicks, 1 died with mareks, 1s a rooster, just leaves 1 now, will have to wait and hope 'cleo' is a girl!
maryteatowel1,
Apr 13, 6:52pm
ops.sounds a bit like our one 'penny' we now have 4 very strong healthy chicks.the smallest one died but the others are now fine.mum's doing a great job.sure is easier having a broody hen than having them inside
jules.,
Apr 13, 11:52pm
hehe, kids had the french doors open on the deck into the lounge on the weekend and mama hen and her 2 teenagers decided it was a good idea to come and find us inside and let us know it was past breakfast time and i hadnt hauld my lazy behind out of bed yet. they keep it interesting and keep us busy!
maryteatowel1,
Apr 14, 12:25am
oh jules.I'm always in trouble for 'letting' the chooks inside.like I really want to have to wash the floors again.and they have just found the cat biscuits as well so will have to do something about it.I really like them free ranging but not through the house or my seedlings
jules.,
Apr 14, 3:44am
out of 10 girls i have 1 laying, 2 broody, 4 maulting, doesnt leave much left.blimen winter!
purplegoanna,
Apr 14, 5:37pm
i just got my last!! chicken a wee mottle bantam hen who fell asleep in my arms, so now ive got a brown shaver-henny penny, my nasty light sussex-drucilla, my light sussex x-tikka and her wee white bantam roo mate-masala.ive never seen the wee roo show any interest in sex at all, i put the wee mottle in and he was on her within seconds! i couldnt believe it, shes now penned off in her own bit of the coop until he can show some manners.im going to call her naahn!.
jules.,
Apr 16, 8:14pm
oh my goodness :) i have got to STOP taking the kids in to the pet shop with me when i get the animals food. we went to get rabbit food today and walked out with rabbit food and another hen. oh, but shes so lovely, shes 5mths old and on her way to laying. shes a shaver cross, shes white with custardy yellow/brown flecks all over. so we have called her custard. she will go in with the layers (haha, only 1/5 is laying at the moment, the others look grotty with their molt) tonight, hopefully wont be too much fuss with the others. my helpfull pet store lady said she will be a big hen and lay good sized eggs. shes lovely! oh im such a sucker!
jules.,
Apr 17, 4:12am
we waited till the others had put themselves to bed and let custard out into the fenced area, she looked around for a minute and had a bit of a scratch then lept the fence to freedom. we had to catch her at the neighbours place. we put her in the coup and closed the door for the night, so will try letting her out in the morning and see how she goes.
jules.,
Apr 17, 8:03pm
well we let custard out this morning, the others have pecked her a bit as usual, but shes doing well.
purplegoanna,
Apr 22, 6:31pm
and 10 days latter wonders neva cease to amaze me, after keeping her separate for 3 days and then her breaking free into the run with the other chickens, she is now bestest eva buddys with the older 'boss' hen! so the wee roo and the other nasty SLW dont have a chance in hell of being mean to her.the way she struts around the food bowl anyone would think shes been here for years.
purplegoanna,
Apr 22, 10:20pm
and i put a door on their hen house to lock the buggas out so they HAD to get some exercise and live a little.ive upset the applecart cause i just went to give their dinner and no-one wants to come anywhere near me!
jules.,
Apr 23, 2:14am
how long in general, does the average hen live please!
nicski,
Apr 23, 2:16am
from memeory I think 4 - 5 years but I'm sure there will be cases of much older hens.
erae,
Apr 24, 5:19am
chooks in town! I'm thinking of getting some chooks but we live in town, although we have a big section, just wondering what considerations need to be made before having chooks in town, I know we cant have a rooster, but that is about all, what about other animals! (cats and dogs etc) should I keep them in a pen! will they disturb the neighbours! and will they wander! or fly over fences!
jules.,
Apr 25, 2:41am
we live in town in town and have. .(at last count), 11 chooks. i think it differs in different regions, but the rule of thumb is 12-15 max and no roosters. you may want to consult the neighbours, as they make a bit of noise when they lay. we have our fenced rather than in a hutch. some of them get out and free range around the section till we put them away at night again. it really depends what your preferance is. cats dont worry them, they will peck them before the cats get a chance. dogs dont mix well though.
jules.,
Apr 25, 2:43am
we clip our chooks wings, not that it makes much difference, they get out when they want to. but we dont mind so much, except they have decided when they want food they come up on the deck, we have loads of poo everywhere now :( they are really fun and the eggs are SO much better than shop eggs.
gdnshack,
Apr 25, 5:32am
Cats can be a pain I have bantams that wander around my section and the cat next door (burmese) can just wander among them with no worries, but there is another cat that chases them. The last time it happened they took off in all directions!
gdnshack,
Apr 25, 5:37am
Answer to 235 I think it depends on the breed of chook how long they will live for. I've had three that lived for 8-9 years, but they were Leghorns crossed with an unknown breed.I think bantams are long lived too.
jules.,
Apr 25, 11:46pm
interesting gdnshack, thats a good long life for a chook! we have a mix, the kids like the different colours. we have a brown shaver, white shaver, some black orpingtons, a new custard coloured shaver x, and we have a few chicks that are a mix of silky x somethings, and a silverlaced wyandotte chick.
jules.,
Apr 26, 3:21am
they make you made sometimes, worse than kids/husband!
gdnshack,
Apr 26, 5:29pm
Jules - it's good to have a mix of different breeds. The worst ones I ever had were black minorcas.Had them from pullets, but they were highly strung and scatty - never again! Got bantams now, pekin and silky mix.
jules.,
Apr 27, 5:13am
hubby was home today finishing the last of the new kitchen before the bench tops get measured tomorrow (YAY), and when he turned the saw off he could hear a noise, thinking there was something horribly wrong with his new $900 + toy, he looked up and he had 2 of the bigger chicks in the lounge and the brown shaver in the kitchen. dont think he was too impressed, he didnt know who to chase out first, hehe.
tinac,
Apr 27, 9:44pm
we have 5 hyline girls we started off with 6 but unfortunately one of my cats took too much of a liking to one of them :( Said cat is locked inside when the girls are out now. They are about 24 weeks now but we only have one laying, hopefully the otherswill get the idea soon lol
purplegoanna,
Apr 28, 4:17pm
i now have happy foraging chooks who spend there days outside the house mucking around instead of inside it snoozing.i noticed by locking them out on nice days the inside is staying alot cleaner too.
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