MJ's little flock

[LozzyR]

Glad she is lively and poops a lot. Personally I wouldn’t keep her away very much longer from the others anymore if she is very lively.



Great bike ride

The (high speed) train network in Europe is not okay!
The avian transport is much better organised and almost tax free, which makes it difficult to compete.

We do have a great bike infrastructure in the Netherlands. In (between) villages/towns and for recreation too.

Cars get in traffic jams all the time in my country. And if we go to other countries we often have to pay to use the highways.

It would be so much better for the environment to have better and affordable trains.

For work/every day traffic cycling is often the best transport if you live near your work. The e-bike became very popular for distances between 5 and 20km. Sometimes in combination with a train/bus. In general public transport takes 2x the time of going by car. A bike is sometimes faster, healthier and cheaper. And you don’t have to pay to park. Parking a car in a city /city centre costs in general in between € 1 - 8 /hour.

Yes, parking can be expensive here too, especially in Sydney. They have e-bikes there too and in Melbourne they have a lot of e-scooters. They would be great to ride, so long as people ride responsibly. They’re trialling them here too.

 

[MaryJanet]

I’ve been riding to work for over a year now, although I did it for a while when we first moved there.

How long does it take Lozzy? I'm a 15 minute drive and often think I should be riding, but in the car I'm doing 90ks on the expressway most of the way and the best bike route goes through the industrial area, which is a extremely grim. I still can't get over they built that nice new expressway and didn't put in a bike path all the way through

 

[RoyalChick]

I look forward to wandering around and meeting Piglet and the other ladies in person! (Or is that ‘in chicken’)?

Princess Pigletine is looking a bit better. She was very raggedy from molting. But her tail is mostly back and she is sporting her new hat.

 

[MaryJanet]

The (high speed) train network in Europe is not okay!
The avian transport is much better organised and almost tax free, which makes it difficult to compete.

I would be thrilled if Australia had even a few high speed trains. The only ones I've ever been on were in Europe.

 

[MaryJanet]

Princess Pigletine is looking a bit better. She was very raggedy from molting. But her tail is mostly back and she is sporting her new hat.
View attachment 3995130

Vey stylish!

 

[MaryJanet]

@RoyalChick when you asked about grit, were you thinking of shell grit, which the hens use, or bentonite which is in the chick's crumble, or something else? Should the chicks have access to shell grit? I thought its purpose was forming shells. Shell grit is the only one I've ever seen for sale in Australia.

 

[RoyalChick]

@RoyalChick when you asked about grit, were you thinking of shell grit, which the hens use, or bentonite which is in the chick's crumble, or something else? Should the chicks have access to shell grit? I thought its purpose was forming shells. Shell grit is the only one I've ever seen for sale in Australia.

I mean Little Rock’s - usually granite - so they don’t get their intestines blocked.
It sits in the gizzard and acts instead of teeth to grind up the food.
If raised outdoors they usually find it for themselves.
I think for babies sharp builders sand may be enough. Or a bit of gravel.
Shell grit is for calcium and only needed by laying hens.

From Reddit in Australia.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/z5xzyw/confused_about_grit

 

[MaryJanet]

I mean Little Rock’s - usually granite - so they don’t get their intestines blocked.
It sits in the gizzard and acts instead of teeth to grind up the food.
If raised outdoors they usually find it for themselves.
I think for babies sharp builders sand may be enough. Or a bit of gravel.
Shell grit is for calcium and only needed by laying hens.

So the bentonite in the crumble is inadequate? I imagine that's why they put it in the crumble. The chicks live on sand and often pick some up.

 

[RoyalChick]

So the bentonite in the crumble is inadequate? I imagine that's why they put it in the crumble. The chicks live on sand and often pick some up.

I think bentonite is a type of clay and is used to keep feed fresh. Don’t think it is there to grind up food.
If the chicks are outside and have access to dirt they will find their own. I was asking about the lethargic one because maybe it had a blockage from not being able to ‘chew’ its food and it wasn’t out in the dirt to find rocks.
They need very little of it. Less than a handful lasts a long time!

 

[MaryJanet]

I think bentonite is a type of clay and is used to keep feed fresh. Don’t think it is there to grind up food.
If the chicks are outside and have access to dirt they will find their own. I was asking about the lethargic one because maybe it had a blockage from not being able to ‘chew’ its food and it wasn’t out in the dirt to find rocks.
They need very little of it. Less than a handful lasts a long time!

Ah! I think the timeline is a little out of kilter, which is fair enough given the difference in time zones and my abbreviated posts - this time of year I'm at the desk more than ever, I just worked through the weekend and will likely work through next weekend too.

Woozy became woozy a day or two after leaving the clean-ish environment of the closed little coop to go out and about in Kindergarten Corner. From that I thought maybe (no certainty) the dirty environment had made the chick unwell.