I have a treadle feeder but I still get rats. There is no other food source so I don't get why they keep coming back! I Have a bucket with a small amount of chook pellets with two bricks (either side of the bucket so they can climb in but not out) which has caught me many mice in the past but no...
My lovely Australorp, Gertie has been acting strangely in the mornings for about a week.
When I open the coop and they come out, I give them (4 hens) about a cup of scratch mix on the ground.
Gertie is a real guts, and could eat underwater, but this last week after a couple of half-hearted...
Cottage cheese and yoghurt are great sources of calcium. I often give my girls plain yoghurt and they absolutely love it! Very occasionally some grated cheese. The extra calcium is good for their bones and egg shells.
My little auracana is the lowest in the pecking order who is mostly bullied by her sister. The other two join in if she tries to share food.
She spends so much of her time alone and when she's with the others, she's nervous. I hate so much her being bullied to the point where she is neurotic...
Speaking of lemon ants. I met some lemon flavoured ants on a trip to Kakadu. We were encouraged to eat the ants that frequented a particular type of tree (don't remember the name), and they tasted just like a tart lemon! Amazing!
Hi Silkie fluff butt,
My Australorp has a problem with her egg shell gland. I give her a human calcium tablet every second day. It helps create a shell but they are still very thin. However, I haven't had a soft egg for weeks. Twice she has laid, and the next hen to go into the nest, steps on...
The loss of a bird at any time is heartbreaking. I have no doubt that they mourn, even when I take one of my hens away for a vet visit, I know they worry and are always welcoming when she returns. This article was excellent and enlightening, but there pain of the birds left behind makes me feel...
Hi MEEmery,
Nice to find another Aussie here, welcome 😁 What do you plan to do with your roosters? I don't have one but when I have a hen that is almost continuously clucky, I have a friend who breeds and shows chooks and she gives me some fertile eggs. We've had a couple of boys, but my husband...
Hi,
My name's Bron from Mandurah near Perth. I currently have only 4 chooks. One Australorp (Gertie), one Golden-laced Wyandotte (Myrtle), one Auracana (Topsie) and a Frizzle (Frizz).
I've always wanted chooks but couldn't until we bought our house on 2/3 of an acre. They free range and sleep...