Thanks Koru - the overgrown bit is quite long and see thru like a finger nail so I think I will be ok cutting a bit off it.Hopefully now she is outside she will keep it worn down.
tinart,
Jul 15, 2:19am
helloe everyone again .how are all our chooks doing!i have 2 that are 2 1/2 years old and have been thru their moult and completely re-feathered looking great!this happened about 3+ months ago but they are STILL not laying at all.Any help on hurrying them along !they are still eating the laying pellets.
stompy,
Jul 15, 3:41am
My four girls are great they haven't moulted at all and I'm still getting four eggs a day they are amazing.
stompy,
Jul 15, 3:42am
Sometimes it helps if you feed them dog roll the fat and protein can help to get them laying again.
bev00,
Nov 22, 5:16am
marvellous thread for poultry lovers
jules.,
Nov 22, 11:09pm
Hi Guys, gosh its been ages.- .2 of our girls keep going broody, 3+ weeks sitting (if I leave them) and 1 week 'normal', 3 weeks broody (etc). They are driving me nuts. Think its about time to sell them on to someone who needs them to be good mommas and get some new ones. Petshop has 3 lovely shavers just fresh from the mault, think I might go back and see them for a closer look tomorrow :)
Did your girls come back on the lay Tinart!
chicken02,
Nov 24, 5:04am
Keeping chooks My husband and I ran a large free range egg farm for a few years. If you feed the birds with 100g of commercial chook pellets each every day they will get all the nutrients they need. No other food needs to be given altho most chooks enjoy a bit of silverbeet. Overfeeding causes lower egg production and often food around for rats. Rodent control is an important issue for all poultry farms.We only kept the birds until they were about 2 years old as after that they tend to go on longer and longer moults (an annual happening)and lay less and less. Birds start laying at 20 weeks old. The will naturally live to between 5 and 7 years.
chicken02,
Nov 24, 5:04am
Keeping chooks Commercially only Highlines and Shavers are used for laying and they will lay an egg a day (like little machines really). We found both types of birds responded well to a steady routine and always preferred to lay in the nesting boxes (it is illegal to sell eggs layed elsewhere). The birds get quite attached to their keeper - my husband feed them twice daily and they got agitated when I carried out the feeding (twice daily).We made the nesting boxes attractive by keeping plenty of fresh shavings in them, keeping a timber perch along the front of them as they like to jump up into the nesting box, keeping nests in the darker part of the shed, and having plenty of nests available.
vmare,
Nov 25, 1:21am
Our chooks eat anything we eat, chicken included Someone said they do not naturally like to eat thier own, try telling that to my chooks. They love picking over the roast chicken carcass and are all running around scratching in the blood if we axe one. Ours were free range but since penning them (std fence height) and clipping thier wings the garden has really come away. I knew they were stealing my vege plants but didn't realise how much damage they were doing to my flowers. We have speckled hamburg, aracanas, leghorn and various crosses we get about 6 eggs from 8 chooks, they get pellets everyday.
jules.,
Nov 25, 2:34am
bump again, its been a while thought we better go back to the top :)
stompy,
Nov 25, 5:15pm
Well my girl never came right and I had her put down she had a growth this time its was noticiable cancer its quite common in chooks apparantly.she was only young too. =(
jules.,
Nov 26, 4:00am
up we gooooooooooooooooooooo
purplegoanna,
Nov 30, 3:38am
my teenage mixed breed hen is now outside in the rabbit hutch! and inside my office during the night! why you may ask is she not in the chook run, the rabbit hutch is the only thing she cannot escape from so far.well shes the tamest chook ive eva met, runs around the lawn after me, pecks in my vege garden whilst im weeding, jumps up onto my shoulder and sits like a parrot! and WILL NOT stay in the run, she even takes on the electric fence to get out and back to human company! ive called her tikka! (masala!) lol.i think the neighbours light sussex roo has jumped the fence cause im 99% sure shes LS x BR.ill take a pic of her tomorrow doing or being somewhere she shouldnt.shes taking life into her hands considering ive got 2 giant chicken eating dogs on the property!
bev00,
Dec 2, 2:07am
advise please on mite prevention/treatment.tia.
koru_designs,
Dec 2, 9:49pm
Bev.what sort of mites! There are body mites, red mites, scaly leg mites, etc. I'm treating for body mites at the moment (my broody hen has come down with them). You need to dust the birds with an insecticidal powder (go to your local pet shop or farming supply place - they'll have powder you can use for body & red mites). You can also use Ivermectin (pet shops sell it in strengths suitable for chooks) - it works like Spot On & controls worms & lice as well but there's a 14 day withholding period for eggs (so you'll need to get rid of any eggs laid during that time). You also need to clean the coop out & treat it for mites as they live in the nooks & crannies of the coop (as well as on your birds) & come out to feed. Either dust with the powder or get a spray-on chemical to clean the coop (our local pet shop sells one specifically for killing mites in coops).
koru_designs,
Dec 2, 9:50pm
cont. Putting some lavender in with the bedding can help deter mites, apparently. Scaly leg mites are treated with surgical spirit, vaseline, or vegetable oil. Again, you will probably need to dust the coop with a mite killer. Hope this helps.
jules.,
Dec 4, 3:05am
hehe, sounds very familiar PG, my daughters chook, miley, does exactly that. she would much rather tag along after us than be with the others. if we leave the door open she comes inside and helps herself to the cats food, it is funny when we chase her out and she skates across the rimu floor. she goes and visits all the neighbours too, they love it, she scratches in the gardens and grass clippings (doing no damage). we got 2 new girls today, shavers, milo and fudge. another of our old brooders died yesterday, son as usuall was very upset! always seems to be his ones that get old first :( but the new girls are keeping us busy and keeping his mind off 'mama'.
jules.,
Dec 4, 3:06am
oh, i LOVE tikkas name, very cute, my fave curry :)
tinart,
Dec 4, 4:28pm
wow! thanks everyone - i have been reading up on all the advice! It sounds like a lot to take it but then something new always does LOL What would be an average price to pay for a shaver!
tinart,
Dec 5, 10:34pm
hiya yep the young girls are growing great BUT someone is eating eggs and i am not sure if its a new chook just got that kinda nature or an older one getting rid of new comers eggs. i could segregate them one at a time and try and work out the offender but is there any way to stop them! i dont want to get rid of one.can she get counselling! LOLi collect eggs as soona s i cna each morning but they all lay different times and often i am too late first thing and the first one is gone. the whole egg is gone just a yellow mess left. no shell
jules.,
Dec 8, 10:43pm
time to bump us to the top!
cfa,
Dec 11, 1:36am
2 of our pullets are called Tikka & Masala, one has just laid her first egg - in the run, will need to educate her on the joys of the nesting box. Her performance is really something while going thru the motions, by the sounds she makes you would think she was the first hen to ever lay an egg - she makes a real honking noise (maybe she thinks she's a goose!). Anyway we a re still so proud of her achievement
jules.,
Dec 11, 4:21am
our new girls are doing well and adjusting to their new home and sisters. fudge has decided its better to be out and about, so lets herself out. the kids and i found her nest today under the lillies around the avocado tree. 6 good sz 7+ eggs :) the first SLW chicks are 2 months old, and the orpingtons are a month old now.
bev00,
Dec 11, 8:17pm
recycling these great chookie ideas
purplegoanna,
Dec 12, 2:30am
update: stillhaving tikka issues, shes put in the run in the henhouse then i close the door & the gate and runaway really quick, usually within the hour the dogs are wining and i know shes meandering around the back lawn, so i go and shove in her in the rabbit hutch for the day!.shes very very cute (ill have to get a pic) but it reasonably fustrating.im going on holiday for 2 weeks and ive had to organise a tikka babysitter to suit her 'spethial' reqiurements, so she'll have a garden & 2 kids to entertain her! & another rabbit hutch! lol.im now down to 3 chooks again, i gave my roo (who 1st crowed a garbled crow this morning) away to my roo man, he reckons so far hes killed & eaten none of my roos cause they such nice big healthy birds.and i had to giggle.henny my nasty bossy broody shaver hen that i gave to the inlaws has become a daily escape artist.disappears every day and mil cant locate her until dinner.i told her to look up.and guess where madams been spending her days!.yip roosting the blimin trees.grrrr
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