We have had New Hampshire Reds in the past, they are good layers.We've also had B/Shavers, which have tended to go broody - but before that they laid ALOT! :)I now have Barnevelders which are lovely chooks, very very friendly - but don't lay as much, still love them though.To bring on the lay more feed corn, spinach and lots of leafy greens, they love things like bacon rinds (chopped up!) and bones too for protein! :)
koru_designs,
Mar 22, 9:46am
Jules.how is your girl going! I came across this & thought it might be helpful for your wee one. It's a feeding supplement to increase protein & other nutrients in the diet.helpful for a sick bird in general but specifically good for a bird that may have rickets: Feed the birds once a day for three days or until you feel the bird is looking and acting better - usually 3 weeks. This amount feeds one bird. Each serving consists of: 1/2 to 1 x cooked egg yolk??
koru_designs,
Mar 22, 9:46am
(cont) Always have fresh clean water available at all time for the bird and good quality food. Feed the rickets diet in the morning. Also have her ordinary feed and fresh clean water available at all times: if it has not been fully eaten with in 12 hours throw it out.make another one the next morning.don't add to it.clean out the dish it was in also before adding the new mixture.
tractor9,
Mar 23, 3:30am
Myshaver hen has started "crowing" She appears to be quite happy. She is definitely a girl and does all the girl chook things that one would expect. Any thoughts! I`m not worried about her, just interested.
jules.,
Mar 23, 11:20pm
we sadly had to put the chick out of her misery, she finally had 1 leg out the front and the other out the back, so was definately mareks. my father in law took her as the kids were too sad to have it done at home. he put her to sleep and then the kids had a burial for her when she came home. i said this would be the last time as they are farm animals and we were to expect things like this. i said it was good to be sad but these things happen. my son is incredibly soft hearted. when his pet chook died in january he was so upset, he still gets sad about her. im not all that hard either, but we all have to learn not to get too attatched to them. we have some pet ones, but the chicks are there for a short time then they get new homes.
maryteatowel1,
Mar 23, 11:50pm
Sorry for your kids jules.must be hard. our 17 year old named all the chooks so we wouldn't eat them.but we dont have enough land to raise any other meat so we will be culling some for the pot.if I can.but I hear myself making excuses already why we cant kill my favourite rooster.oh life is funny
jules.,
Mar 24, 2:21am
i know how you feel, i thought we could do the same, but hubby will hardly pick one up if they get out. i read all about how to do it and when it came to offing the poor wee thing the other day when it was sick and past saving i had to call in the father in law cos i chickened (sorry for the pun) out, and im sorry, but i wasnt taking it to the vet to be put down either. my cousin is a farmer and she said i needed to knock it on the head to concus it first then chop its head off. so i got all the stuff i needed and then couldnt go ahead with it. maybe just cos it was a baby and the kids have named them ALL. poor splotch, RIP.
jules.,
Mar 24, 4:36am
some of my girls are starting thier mault, i thought it was a bit early, what do you think! one of our girls was just about as naked as a ready to roast chook, she looked so funny, we had feathers EVERYWHERE! she has started to grow her new feathers so is starting to cover up again.
koru_designs,
Mar 24, 7:50am
Big hugs Jules It's a very difficult thing to do & to be honest, I don't think I could do it to my own chooks either (mine will all be going to the vet when the day comes - they're too small to eat & they're our pets, not production chooks). But you've done the kindest thing for the wee girl - Marek's isn't treatable & the leg thing is the #1 telltale symptom for it. Just keep an eye on the other birds as it's very contagious (you can immunise against it but unless you have a big problem, it's probably not worth it.you can also run turkeys with your chooks - they carry a virus similar to Marek's that stops Marek's from developing tumors). Make sure you give her coop a *really* thorough clean out (incl disinfecting the coop itself) to stop the virus spreading through litter, dust & cast off feathers/dander. And don't leave her old bedding, etc, where other chooks can get to it - probably best to double bag everything & throw it in the rubbish. Good luck & big hugs to you & your kids.
koru_designs,
Mar 24, 8:01am
Re #206 It's not uncommon for a female to assume rooster duties if you have no roo in the flock. They may let the others know of yummy food in the garden, etc.I've even heard of females trying to "mate" with other females. And part of that behaviour is mock "crowing". They even sometimes do it when there is a roo present. My dominant hen "crows" but I discovered it was because there was too much light getting into the coop in the morning & she was getting ansy that we hadn't let her out (even if it was 5.30 in the morning!). One we light-proofed the coop, we didn't have any more problems & her daytime noise diminished quite a bit too (I also suspect one of the other hens has assumed dominant hen position after the old one went broody.so that will have helped too). If she's doing it in the early morning, you could try checking how much light is getting into their coop.otherwise revel in the noise :)
kat120,
Mar 24, 9:59pm
Chook has disappeared.Would this be rat or stoat.
twins3,
Mar 24, 11:58pm
Hey everyone i need some help please i am new to the chicken world, and a friend of mine gave me 3 pure bred lavender Araucanas, they are about 3 months old and i want to know what a rooster looks like. One of them has a long red mark running up its head and seems thicker around the neck.
missmuppett,
Mar 25, 1:52am
Could possibly be.Or it flew away! !
mothergoose_nz,
Mar 25, 1:59am
i read in a thread ages ago about a hen eating a feed of rhubarb and later pooping out a lot of intestinal worms.
Thanks for those pictures I'm guessing it's a rooster after looking at those pictures. The other 2 don't have that red going up their heads. So as we aren't allowed to have a rooster, if anybody wants him they are welcome to have him.
twins3,
Mar 25, 12:44pm
Of course i'm not 100% sure so if anybody on here lives in Franklin and wants to come and tell me it's a rooster please do so, or i could try and take a photo i guess.
purplegoanna,
Mar 25, 5:10pm
twins there is a guy out your way somewhere that takes roosters, he does eat them but they have a nice life inbetween, sadly at this time of the year there is a overabundance of roo's.im eyeing up 3 of my chicks sadly i think theyre going to be roos too.
dms01,
Mar 25, 9:00pm
yep its a natural vermifuge. But it's probably safer to just worm your birds with aviverm or avitrol. Pumpkin seeds are supposed to do the job too, and garlic is meant to help. I use a product I get off here called AHE which is a good general tonic
dms01,
Mar 25, 9:01pm
sounds like an infected oviduct, I only know the symptoms not how to treat it sorry
tractor9,
Mar 27, 4:00am
Thanks Koru ! No noise in the mornings, just occaisionally thru the day which is no problem.
midnight42,
Apr 1, 8:22pm
How much cider vinegar do you put in the chooks drinking water for worms! Also we are shifting soon and the chook house has automatic water filling trough, can I still use cider vinegar and how much!
maryteatowel1,
Apr 3, 3:06am
I'v got no idea how much you are supposed to put in but I use two overflowing cap fulls for a 7 litre container.I have noticed how much less green gunge is on the drinkers every couple of days when I clean them out and refill them.the chooks prefer this water to the buckets we have all over the place even though I clean them just the same.
eigna,
Apr 4, 4:25am
Chocolate and Caramello - not quite as interesting as above, but they do remind the boys of the household about the favourite flavours of the girls of the household!The next ones would have to be peppermint and crunchie
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