Thanks to koru design's previous thread - I now have the loveliest smelling chook house!We recently trimmed my father's lavender hedge and after I cleaned out my chook house this morning, I laid the cut lavender branches on the floor and the nest before putting a layer of straw on top.My broody lady is back on the nest so she obviously doesn't mind the lovely smell and when I walk past the house - mmmmm!
jules.,
Jan 25, 10:31pm
grandma. can you tell me what the lavender does for the hens/houses! does it have a purpose or is it to make the house smell better! would be good for broodies as the smell issupposed to relax you, might put some in with mine.
nicski,
Jan 30, 8:00pm
from reading previous postings in this thread growing lavender near the coop deters the mites. It is a good insecticide, so I guess growing it nearby is similar to using it as an essential oil.
koru_designs,
Jan 30, 8:38pm
Jules.it helps deters mites You can put lavender clippings in with the straw or whatever you're using in the coop. It's supposed to help deter mites.
tractor9,
Jan 31, 3:22am
Great thread ! We have two shaver hens who have the run of the back yard. Both are real characters and love to 'help' when I`m digging in the vege garden. One of them loves avocado, is this a problem as it has been mentioned by a previous poster.
pamellie,
Jan 31, 9:07pm
Anyone know where I can get some brown shavers in the Tauranga area! They seem to be very hard to find, thanks.
koru_designs,
Feb 1, 8:41am
Avocado can kill your chooks It contains persin, which is very toxic to birds in particular, & can cause respiratory failure in chooks. It's also toxic to other animals but fine for humans. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persin *Don't* feed your birds (or really, any pet) avocado, guacamole or anything with avocado in it.
koru_designs,
Feb 1, 10:08am
There's a good list of things you can feed your chooks here: http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php!id=2593-Treats_Chart Only thing I'd add is if you feed egg, make sure it's not whole (so either grated or crumbled.or, if raw, mixed into something). I also find it less messy to add oatmeal to yoghurt when giving it to my chooks. I'd also stay away from most breakfast cereal because of the sugar content - stick to oats.& if you're going to provide bread, stick to wholegrain if possible - white bread has marginal nutritional content & really only serves to make your birds fat (IMHO). As an aside, my chooks won't touch popcorn.& I don't feed them meat leftovers (but I do provide mealworms which they *adore*). Hope this helps :)
purplegoanna,
Feb 1, 1:22pm
Can i ask what everyone uses for there chooks to lay in! the inlaws have a giant chookrun with a house on a property they have just brought, we're going havseys in the chooks then eggs, the wooden boxes are past there best & id like to spend winter replacing them.any suggestions would be grateful.im able to get myself a load of big big plastic oil cans which i could wash out then cut a side off.any other suggestions.
jules.,
Feb 1, 10:04pm
purplegoanna i dont see the harm in that as long as they are very clean and dont roll around, you would have to make them stable. my chooks have a long old wooden box, approx 100cmL x 40cmW x 40cmH in their house. they have hay in it to lay in, i have thought of dividing it into 3 with a couple of bits of wood so they dont fight over the 'one' nest.
purplegoanna,
Feb 1, 11:20pm
mmm i can waterblast them so they no longer have a any smell etc.i was going to mount them on a wooden stand, i just thought it would be one less thing for mites to burry into!
purplegoanna,
Feb 2, 1:03am
115 i was hoping on spraying the entire inside of chookhouse with apple cider vinegar/water mix on a monthly basis, i do it with my aviarys and it seems to be ok. i also want to use the natural elixer sold on her in there water.
jules.,
Feb 3, 2:45am
one of my chooks has taken up residence at the neighbours place. she is happy roaming around there, finding bugs etc to eat under the trees that have recently been cleared under. the neighbours dont mind luckely, as i dont think she has any plans of coming home anytime soon :)
splattercat,
Feb 3, 3:06am
i have recently got chickens.4 of them 3 of them are fine and lay every day,mostly, but one has not layed once and is very submissive.she gets picked on by another chicken and spends alot of time sitting around. any suggestions would be welcome.thanks
jules.,
Feb 3, 3:23am
do you see her eating and drinking! how long have you had them! were they all from the same place or are they new together! are they the same sizes!
splattercat,
Feb 3, 4:05pm
hi jules we have had them about 4 weeks they all came from the same place and are all the same size. she eats and drinks ok but doesnt usually eat with the othersas they sometimes chase her away, but she does eat and drink.i have just checked her right now as i write this and she is in the throws of dying.
koru_designs,
Feb 3, 4:28pm
Sorry to hear that, splattercat Sounds like the other girls were keeping her away because she was unwell (anything out of the ordinary, including illness, can make the others pick on the effected individual). If she dies, it might pay to have a good check over for any diseases that may have passed on to the rest of the flock (last thing you want is something infectious doing the rounds). Are you able to put her out of her misery quickly!
splattercat,
Feb 3, 5:04pm
she is now a member of the headless chickens it is strange because yesterday my partner woke up and said she had a dream about a chickens head that was on her neck, wierd aye.i am new to keeping chickens so i am not sure what diseases they can get but google will be my friend. the other 3 are looking ok but i will keep a close eye on them.
maryteatowel1,
Feb 3, 6:10pm
Oh sorry splattercat.not a nice thing to happen
jules.,
Feb 3, 9:07pm
sorry to hear that she passed. my sons chook did this recently. she died also. the vet thought it was worms, she had no meat left on her, although she was eating and looked fine, she was not. i have wormed them all (got some worm stuff from the vet), liced them all and they had meds in thier water for coxsydia (however you spell it, they can get that from the dirt after its rained apparently, but if it was that they would die within 24hrs) the vet said she probably had the worms when we got her, so the same may apply to yours. would definately pay to worm them all. good luck!
nicski,
Feb 4, 1:32am
we got 4 chooks on Wednesday and it is a similar story to splattercats. None dead though, just bullied. One thing I noticed, loads of tiny black worms in the water - about two or three mil long, thread like. When one of them steped in the water, the worms swarmed around the foot. We are of course going to worm them! Any idea what these are!
jules.,
Feb 4, 3:10am
hi nicski i dont know what they are, but you could go into 'pets and animals' message board, theres a thread called 'poultry people', they are very helpfull and all raise loads more chooks than we have. they will be able to help im sure.
fly04buy,
Feb 4, 5:13pm
We have two orpingtons. one seems to want to stay on the nest, so we have to literally push her off.she is eating well but limping and has scaly legs.what should we do!.btw.their names began as Kentucky and Stir.Fried!.
jules.,
Feb 4, 10:40pm
she may be clucky (thinks she can hatch her eggs) but that doesnt explain the limp and the scaly legs. i think its due to mites (scaly leg mites!), if you lift the hay from the nest you will be able to see them, also on their purches. you can get lice and mite powder from the vet or pet store to put on the chooks and you can get some stuff you paint on their perches too. best to ask at vet or pet store though. good luck.
koru_designs,
Feb 4, 10:44pm
Re #129 Sounds like two things - if she's staying on the nest, she's probably broody. Pick her up & check her underside - does she have a bare patch of skin! If so, she's broody. Just keep moving her off the nest & she'll eventually stop (unless you want to break her sooner, in which case take her out of the main coop & put her in a separate area with something like a cat carrier with no nesting material to sit/sleep in & with access to food & water.or put her in a broody cage, if you have access to one).
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