I bought one of those ones that they peck to activate.I think it might have worked if I could fix it to something so that it didn't swing round madly every time they pecked at it (I attached a bit of bacon rind to the bottom to encourage them).They're a bit flighty and didn't appreciate that, and I'm too much of a sook to starve them till they get used to it.
tinart,
Aug 26, 10:45pm
. hi!i started this thread and im blown away by everyone!you guys are so great!I had no chooks at the start ( note i now call them chooks not chicken after being told this was townie talk LOL) and now i have 4 little rippers! they all lay an egg nearly every day! i love going to see them and feeding and collecting the eggs. they are pets as well as egg layers to us :o)keep up all the good advice!
cheylitz,
Aug 27, 4:11am
I am willing to bet it won't be long and you will have more.They are very very addictive. I have a little Silkie hatching out some Pekin eggs today, had a sneak preview and one little one out and dry and three more eggs with shells cracking.Can't wait til morning to peek again.
jules.,
Aug 27, 5:34am
oh, how exciting! theres nothing more thrilling than seeing those chicks peek out for the first time. keep us posted!
jules.,
Aug 28, 12:31am
only 2 days till the babies hatch! Due Monday, maybe they will come a day early :)
jules.,
Aug 30, 12:29am
Its D day! No babies yet, but can hear them peeping in their shells when I pick them up! Hopefully in the morning :)
tinart,
Aug 30, 8:07pm
ah. sadly no chicks for me - I have no rooster!
cheylitz,
Aug 31, 2:23am
and no rooster for me as well but I have Silkies and an incubator and buy in my fertile eggs.I think I have the best deal because I can try different breeds, where if you had a rooster you would be limited to his genes.I pop some eggs under the Silkie and the rest in the incubator, when they hatch slide the extras from the incubator under her and she brings them all up.
jules.,
Aug 31, 2:35am
YAY we had 9 eggs and 7 have hatched, 5 SLW and 2 BR. They are so tiny and cute! The kids were very excited, almost as much as me ahahahahhaaa
tjc30,
Aug 31, 2:42am
I bought 6 chooks today and went to check on them tonight. They are all huddled up together and one egg was on the ground.Yay.then I picked it up and it was think and brittle and broke and mishappen.boo! lol
quazy,
Aug 31, 2:45am
hi there chooky people ,i got 8 lovely ladies on saturday and so far they are doing well ,once an extra fence goes up i will free range them a bit at the mo they are in a largechook run /house
shiyo,
Aug 31, 4:35am
I searched so lomg for this thread today but was looking in Pets and animals. I posted there but you guys may be more help. I have red shavers, they are laying now, but the problem is they dig such deep holes in the orchard. Is there a breed that doesnt dig so much. I had heard some dont but cant find if that is true or not. And google didnt help me today. They have a huge area to hang out in, so not confined to a small space. Any one help please. Thanks.
janet31,
Aug 31, 5:45am
My Girls (brown shavers) are naughty diggers too - they dig holes around all my nikaus I have planted exposing the roots - then when they have finished fighting over that particular hole they move on a start a new one :) On the bright side - I look upon them as my free gardening crew - all our bush perimeters are totally weed free :)
koru_designs,
Aug 31, 10:04am
Any feathered-footed breed won't dig (well, at least, *shouldn't* dig). They have feathers all over their legs & feet & it makes it difficult for them to dig in the dirt. Examples include Pekins, Cochins, booted Belgium d'Uccles, Brahmas, Faverolles, Langshans & feather-footed Silkies. They scratch & are still capable of messing up your mulch (especially when they have a dust bath & will create a wee depression as they bathe) but they don't dig holes. I have Pekins & one who has turned out to be a very odd Pekin-Frizzle cross. The Pekins all have beautiful leg/foot feathering. The Pekin-Frizzle cross has no leg or foot feathers. She makes a terrible mess compared to the other chooks.so much so, I have had to protect all my tree roots because she digs round & exposes them all. If she wasn't such a good layer, I'd get rid of her.
bean21,
Aug 31, 3:29pm
Can you tell me if it is true that if you have a rooster (one) amongst the chooks. (I have red shavers rescued 16months ago from a battery farm) that they go off the lay.I know in winter they do.and they have! but out of 7 chooks I am lucky to get 2 eggs per day.should I get rid of the rooster!
jaazmile,
Aug 31, 3:44pm
Scratching chooks Yes the shavers can be annoying I have Wyandottes and the Silvers dig big holes but the Golds hardly disturb the ground. I also find the orpingtons don't scratch much so long as they have one place they can have dust baths which they just love. The idea that the hens go off the lay when a rooster is introduced has never been evident here and I have 5 or 6 different lots of hens and roosters.
koru_designs,
Aug 31, 5:35pm
My girls certainly haven't gone off the lay since Arte (our rooster) has been around. In fact, my troublesome layer is laying more than before. You don't need a rooster for them to lay & they tend to be less stressed without a rooster around but I've noticed our girls are a more cohesive group now the boy is around.plus our troublesome layer used to exhibit rooster behaviour like mock crowing & doing guard duty for the rest of the flock, which she doesn't do now there's an actual rooster around (which is probably why she's laying more).
koru_designs,
Aug 31, 5:42pm
Bean. their not laying is probably due to other reasons. How are they health-wise! Do they free range! What food do you give them! I'm presuming they've long since moulted & you're getting longer days (as laying is triggered by number of hours of daylight). Another potential problem is ex battery chooks are gotten rid of after 1-2 years as that's when peak production for those breeds tends to decline.& they can develop health problems around then (2-3 years old) as well. So there might be some underlying health issues going on. Have they always not laid or is it a recent thing!
tjc30,
Sep 2, 6:02am
re #334 speaking as a neighbour of free roaming chickens.its a total pain in the butt having to put up with someone elses chooks eating my hard worked and takes ages to grow vegie garden.not to mention great big globs of shyte all over the place. SO its only fair that us chookie owners are responsible and keep them out of others yards:). If you dont like caging them up.clip their wings and build a large pen leading off their chook house that they can roam around in. Mine will stay in their house with its run. It was built large and compared to their battery hen cages I just got them from. Its a 5 star hotel to them!.now to teach them that they dont have to roost all together on the ground lol.
jules.,
Sep 8, 4:32am
woohoo, 8 eggs today! we have been getting 7 the past few days, but today was a great surprise, 8/10. the 2 old girls are just here for the free food now :) i have found that they are laying much better and more consistantly on pellets than on mash. i think they get bogged down and guts up on the nice warm mash too much, even though i give them the same amount as they get of the pellets. strange, but if they are going to lay better on the pellets, thats what they will get. they can have the warm mash again in the 'off' season :) does anyone else find this to be true!
cheylitz,
Sep 8, 2:21pm
I am interested in your theory Jules I give mine a little warmed mash, often with yoghurt, or garlic, or cider vinegar in it, kibbled maize, Chook Chow and Peck in Lay pellets.The Mash goes first then Chook Chow and Maize about equal and the last to go is the pellets.They also are allowed to free range in the afternoons.I am getting 6 to 7 eggs a day from 10 hens.I have found my 2 year olds are laying much bigger eggs this year than last year as first time layers. Has anyone else noticed this.
koru_designs,
Sep 9, 1:58am
My 2 year olds laid bigger eggs too And more eggs than they did when they were younger (especially the one who hardly laid at all - she sort of settled down a bit in her 2nd year). They're into their 3rd year now & have been a bit slow to resume laying after coming out of the moult but the eggs are consistantly bigger than the other chooks (who are in their first laying season). Granted, they don't lay as often as the younger ones but I'm still getting at least 2 eggs every day from 4 Pekins (who aren't as prolfic layers as the bigger birds).& a couple of times a week I get 4 a day (each bird seems to lay around 4-5 eggs a week, more or less.my cross bred chook lays approx 6 a week). One day I found 5 eggs. Not quite sure how that happened! I've never fed them mash or pellets. They get fed a commercial grain mix as well as additional treats from me (mealworms, porridge & yoghurt, greens, etc) & free range all day.
janet31,
Sep 9, 5:10am
My 6 are on pellets as their Staple with household scraps of cooked vege/rice/wholemeal bread/meat etc and a little junk food of white bread and cereal. I am getting 4-6 eggs every day- I think I am losing a few into some secret bush nests - since we put a couple of fake eggs in the house nesting boxes they have been alot more consistent with laying there.
jules.,
Sep 9, 5:53am
we came home this afternoon. to find an EMPTY run! after noticing the gate open, we found them scratching under the grapevines, they love getting ubder there when we let them out. think the kids didnt latch he gate properly this morning after filling the water bowls. but of course it was mr nobody. but all is well and they never go far. only 5 eggs today, think they were having too much fun to stop to lay eggs :) we do let them out in the afternoons and on weekends and we (& the neighbours) give them vege scraps etc. they are WELL loved!
jules.,
Sep 12, 4:33am
well, so much for my 2 old girls! we got 9 eggs yesterday! so one must have decided shes go a few more eggs left after all :)
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