Pets chickens

[Kram]

How did it die?

A couple of mine were crook for a day or 2 wheezing like it had something stuck in its throat with a croaking sound. The others I just noticed looking simply weak in the morning and dropped dead by nightfall. I'm actually missing another hen that sleeps under the house on its own, worried it got crook or worse Mr Fox may have made a return.

 

[estibador]

How did it die?

No idea. I hadn't noticed any issues but then yesterday morning it was just lying dead facing the corner inside the hutch - the exact same spot my last chook retired to before it passed away.

I couldn't see any obvious signs pointing to the cause of death, not that I'm very well versed on what to look for.

 

[Kram]

No idea. I hadn't noticed any issues but then yesterday morning it was just lying dead facing the corner inside the hutch - the exact same spot my last chook retired to before it passed away.

I couldn't see any obvious signs pointing to the cause of death, not that I'm very well versed on what to look for.

Yeah who knows.. I just don't want anymore in case there is a serious 'problem'.

Are you gonna whack any eggs under this spring if you get a sitter for a 2nd try, come on you have to

 

[estibador]

Are you gonna whack any eggs under this spring if you get a sitter for a 2nd try, come on you have to

Nah the eggs I get off my friend are all silkies and stuff and I can't afford to carry too many of those non-productive breeds who eat all my food and only lay 4-6 months a year. I'm a skint uni student at the moment so I need maximum productivity from my girls to feed me.

I do a bit of nightfill at the moment so I've been bringing home a box of F&V scraps from work a few times a week to try save on feed costs, but the spoiled things still sqwark all morning if I let the laying pellet dispenser run out.

 

[Kram]

Nah the eggs I get off my friend are all silkies and stuff and I can't afford to carry too many of those non-productive breeds who eat all my food and only lay 4-6 months a year. I'm a skint uni student at the moment so I need maximum productivity from my girls to feed me.

I do a bit of nightfill at the moment so I've been bringing home a box of F&V scraps from work a few times a week to try save on feed costs, but the spoiled things still sqwark all morning if I let the laying pellet dispenser run out.

Yeah it adds up.. The funny thing is there is like probably 2 tonnes of decent wheat feed destined for the tip still sitting here at the CBH. If we lived closer I could just give you 4 light sussex eggs to put under, not big eggs for large birds but very solid layers plus very friendly chooks that make good pets.

 

[JohnW]

Do your existing chicken's get along well with the chicks they hatch?

I have thought about getting more but am concerned about adding to layers to my existing girls? I'm not to sure they will be happy to share to overly large space.

On another note, my two birds stopped laying? Should I be concerned? They haven't laid for a week, they are about 1 year old.

 

[Kram]

Gave away both a Sussex and a PekinX rooster today.

Now have 5 Sussex and 2 PekinX left to go.

It was quite funny because both sets of people were looking to start up with chooks but hadn't got any hens at all yet so both are just own their own to start. Usually it's always people already with a flock of hens wanting to put a rooster into.

 

[Kram]

Do your existing chicken's get along well with the chicks they hatch?

I have thought about getting more but am concerned about adding to layers to my existing girls? I'm not to sure they will be happy to share to overly large space.

I always let the mum with the chicks live out of the pens in the backyard mostly away from the others. When the mum leaves them and they start to get to a decent size I chuck them all in the pen with the adults, they might get bullied a bit at the start but I just keep an eye on them and usually after a few days they sort themselves out and get along.

 

[JohnW]

Anyone had a chicken attack one person only?

One of our chickens attacks my wife when she goes in there, never me. My wife is the one that feeds them 90% of the time.

 

[Kram]

Never had any of mine go at anybody but I've heard of it happening to other people. Apparently a tiny bantam rooster at Dad's retirement home took a dislike to a nurse and chased her all the way inside lol so they got rid of it.

One thing I've noticed is that they are definitely quite wary of strangers, whenever I've had people around getting roosters when I try and show them what hens I also have instead of running over looking for food when it's just me, they all bloody tend to hide around the corner or in bushes.

 

[Frank Bunn]

I found out this weekend that my chickens won't eat chocolate cake. Wouldn't even go near it. They'll pretty much eat any other scraps I throw out for them.

 

[Kram]

Cake probably isn't very good for them to eat anyway..

I've got a young PekinX head, for the last couple of weeks it has a massively swollen top of its head, looks disgusting. The weird thing is it doesn't seem to be sick much at all otherwise, eats and drinks, but also the swelling hasn't got any better or worse. Never seen anything like it before and neither had the vet when I took it down there yesterday, tried it on some antibiotics though.

edit - oh and it seemed to come up almost overnight.

 

[ESKIE]

Ooh a chicken thread, I have just obtained some chickens, basic girls, Rhode Island Red x with New Hampshire and black Australorp x with New Hampshire approx 20 weeks old

Loads of fun and just started laying...happy girls

 

[Kram]

Should have some Sussex hatching tomorrow and Tuesday by my calendar count. Just bought back some Pekin eggs from a bloke in Perf but the Silkie I was going to use for them as a sitter isn't 100% clucky. Think I have about a week or so whilst they are good to use so hopefully she (or someone else) decides to start sitting.

 

[Kram]

That was a bit mean ha, took the 4 eggs out under the ones due on Tuesday and put them under the other hen with the 5 hatching today under the other hen so the young girl is now starting from scratch again with 11 new eggs from Perth. Wouldn't normally do it but Silkies decided not to sit so no other option.

 

[LanceRomance]

Picked up 4 chickens on the weekend

2 Isa Browns
2 Silkies


they are funny little things. Only one is laying at the moment.

 

[ESKIE]

Picked up 4 chickens on the weekend

2 Isa Browns
2 Silkies


they are funny little things. Only one is laying at the moment.

Congrats lance..yes they are funny very quirky, we've never had chickens til a few months ago so it's a learning process, mine started laying at 18 weeks and getting on average 2 eggs a day, lovely girls

 

[7zark7]

Mr.fox took my chickens last night. I lock them up at night in their house and because I am doing morning shift I let them out at 4.30. Bang Gawn! Pretty shattered as they were cool pets and good layers. I have rigged a snare for when the fox comes back for seconds tonight. I shall take it's head off if I catch it.

 

[ESKIE]

Oh that is awful...we have no foxes here thankfully

 

[LanceRomance]

Mr.fox took my chickens last night. I lock them up at night in their house and because I am doing morning shift I let them out at 4.30. Bang Gawn! Pretty shattered as they were cool pets and good layers. I have rigged a snare for when the fox comes back for seconds tonight. I shall take it's head off if I catch it.

Our dogs got a hold of them last night.

Mrs Lance was screaming blue murder and I ran out to see what was going on.

All chickens were fine but they got a fright.

they were fine this morning.. pecking about making funny chicken sounds.

 

[PastiesPeake]

Oh that is awful...we have no foxes here thankfully

You'd be surprised. There aren't many places without foxes. Antarctica would be the only place

 

[ESKIE]

And Phillip Island

 

[Kram]

I think I read once that someone lost chooks to a fox living in the Perth suburb of Melville.

Had a hen come down with a respiratory illness again making croaking noises, this one was the first to survive it but had it isolated in the laundry and on warm day forgot to check it and with muck on its backside it got flyblown Was disgusting but one of those things that looks a lot worse than what it is, bathed it in warm soapy water for 15 minutes and washed/drowned or picked off all the maggots leaving a 20c sized wound that scabbed and healed up fine thankfully.

 

[PastiesPeake]

And Phillip Island

Touche.

 

[DazalenkoUBewty]

I got two chickens a month or two ago and I've become surprisingly attached to them although they're causing a bit of hassle.

With help i built a coup for them which they escaped from every day. Getting them to stay in the coup became an impossible task so i took the coup down and let them free-range and built fences around my veggies. This has worked ok other than the four boxes of rocket they managed to break into and demolish.

One day one of them couldn't be found and it turned out it had escaped through a small hole in my back fence and into the driveway of the ministry of housing flats behind my house. Someone had been feeding it bread crumbs because there were torn bits of white bread all over the driveway.

To get to the flats i had to walk around the block (down the main street where people were outside having a sunday session) to the next street. Get to the flats, grab the chicken and walk back down the main street past everyone outside drinking, smoking and chuckling at the person walking down the street carrying a chicken.

These chickens unwittingly cause comedic situations.

They're very friendly and not scared of humans, which is another thing i like about them. They're confident chickens.

Last night i realised one was missing. I decided the only possible escape opportunity was my neighbours and the only access to their place was in a lane way behind as they live behind a shop. When i got to their house there was a little girl on the balcony yelling "NAUGHTY CHICKEN". I asked her if her parents where home. Her dad appeared a few minutes later. It turns out they had barricaded themselves inside because the chicken was pacing up and down their court yard. He was perturbed at it's lack of fear of humans and it also pecked him when he tried to feed it. The dad also told me that every day his daughter comes home from kindergarten and feeds them rice bubbles through the fence and talks to them like they're humans. She's embellished the amount of chickens that live here by claiming there's 10 black chickens and 2 brown ones. It was funny to consider the life these chickens have that i have no idea about.

Tonight i got home and the same chicken is missing. I can't see it in my neighbours house and am worried that they got sick of the chicken breaking into their place and have let it out onto the street. I've put a letter in their mailbox in the hope they know where it is and it's safe.

When (please, please PLEASE god) i get it back i'm giving them to a very good home that i know of until i can build a proper chicken coup. I'm worried about foxes getting to them as well.

Anyone else got any chickens, or chicken stories?