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Mom, look what we caught!
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 158172" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Well... hens, anyway. Most of them are too old to lay. Maybe we'll get an egg every few weeks in summer. We should get some retirees from the battery farm down the road, but we've been sort of relieved that the numbers have dropped off. </p><p></p><p>husband was just looking over my shoulder as I pulled up your photos - it's hard to be certain because of the feather loss, but I would say Herbert is a hen. The tail feathers could have been plucked out, plus a hen-pecked young rooster will imitate a hen in manner and appearance in order to survive. They often drop their impressive rooster tail feathers when other more dominant roosters are around. </p><p></p><p>Looking at the clean, smooth legs I estimate fairly young, maybe last year's hatchling. </p><p></p><p>You probably need to house Herbert somewhere else, though - that timber floor is either going to get really cruddy fast, or rot through, or both. Plus, she won't be as comfortable there as a place on the ground. You could keep the place for her as somewhere to sleep at night, though, especially if you put in a perch for her with a box underneath to catch her droppings.</p><p></p><p>We've found that putting up a tree branch about wrist thickness horizontally across the coop gives them a really healthy (and cheap) perch. They do best with natural wood, and we get a lot of windfall timber here (Aussie eucalypts drop branches all the time - some of them are called "widowmakers" for very good reason). You can then put something underneath to collect droppings, something you can get to easily and empty out. You don't want droppings on timber, especially soft timber, because they really eat it away fast.</p><p></p><p>For chooks to get to during the day - they need fresh air, sunshine and soft litter to scratch. Our chookhouse is a compost heap, all the grass clippings go there as well as our scraps. The chooks eat a lot of it and their droppings fertilise the rest and make it break down very quickly. Worms will mmove in and other small creatures which the chooks will happily eat. They also love snails, so throw them in when you find them on your garden. The end result of the chook's "bedding" - we knock out a few bricks from the wall, dig out the rich compost and plant straight into it, the plants love it. We then shove the bricks back into the wall. The more concentrated manure from under the perch, that has to be aged and broken down or it burns plants.</p><p></p><p>We built a rectangular brick structure, about 2' high, but with no mortar, just loosely stacked. We then put a timber frame on top, wrapped with chicken wire and roofed with sheets of fibreglass. Hessian sacks made curtains for the sides, which we could raise or lower depending on the winds and the season. If it gets really cold in your area for winter, you would need to check with other people in your area who keep chickens, to find out what works for them. But the compost heap idea does help to keep them warm, as it breaks down.</p><p>Brick steps at the doorway allow both chooks and people to get in easily. Or you could use a small ramp.</p><p></p><p>We use old ice cream containers as water bowls, locking one in place with more bricks and having another removable as an insert. Water must be changed daily because they poop in it. But you can pour the water right onto your plants and they love it. Maybe hang some potted geraniums on the chookhouse and pour the water into the geraniums.</p><p></p><p>Feed - we use a standard chicken feeder, a hopper sort of thing but we put it up on bricks about 10". Not only does this stop them kicking litter and crud into their feed, but they also crawl underneath when broody. Or you can suspend a feeder, so it hangs about 10" above the ground. Watch out for thieving critturs, though - other birds, or mice/rats. That will also bring in the snakes. But at least you can legally kill your snakes - we can't, all Aussie snakes & lizards are protected. I'll have to open a photobucket account so I can post a photo we took of Monty, the large Diamond Python who often visits our chookhouse.</p><p></p><p>Chooks also love a dust bath - a kids sandpit can be ideal, for the chook. Not so much for the kids.</p><p></p><p>And a hen can be a good companion, as well as a useful egg layer. We feed ours a layer pellet mix, and give them our vegetable scraps and sometimes meat scraps (although you have to make sure it all gets eaten). Chunks of fat, for example - great! I also crush dried eggshells and feed them back to the chooks (in their feed hopper) to make sure they have enough calcium. Laying eggs can deplete their calcium stores.</p><p></p><p>Enjoy! Herbert should build up condition really quickly. Here's hoping Herbert doesn't start crowing!</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 158172, member: 1991"] Well... hens, anyway. Most of them are too old to lay. Maybe we'll get an egg every few weeks in summer. We should get some retirees from the battery farm down the road, but we've been sort of relieved that the numbers have dropped off. husband was just looking over my shoulder as I pulled up your photos - it's hard to be certain because of the feather loss, but I would say Herbert is a hen. The tail feathers could have been plucked out, plus a hen-pecked young rooster will imitate a hen in manner and appearance in order to survive. They often drop their impressive rooster tail feathers when other more dominant roosters are around. Looking at the clean, smooth legs I estimate fairly young, maybe last year's hatchling. You probably need to house Herbert somewhere else, though - that timber floor is either going to get really cruddy fast, or rot through, or both. Plus, she won't be as comfortable there as a place on the ground. You could keep the place for her as somewhere to sleep at night, though, especially if you put in a perch for her with a box underneath to catch her droppings. We've found that putting up a tree branch about wrist thickness horizontally across the coop gives them a really healthy (and cheap) perch. They do best with natural wood, and we get a lot of windfall timber here (Aussie eucalypts drop branches all the time - some of them are called "widowmakers" for very good reason). You can then put something underneath to collect droppings, something you can get to easily and empty out. You don't want droppings on timber, especially soft timber, because they really eat it away fast. For chooks to get to during the day - they need fresh air, sunshine and soft litter to scratch. Our chookhouse is a compost heap, all the grass clippings go there as well as our scraps. The chooks eat a lot of it and their droppings fertilise the rest and make it break down very quickly. Worms will mmove in and other small creatures which the chooks will happily eat. They also love snails, so throw them in when you find them on your garden. The end result of the chook's "bedding" - we knock out a few bricks from the wall, dig out the rich compost and plant straight into it, the plants love it. We then shove the bricks back into the wall. The more concentrated manure from under the perch, that has to be aged and broken down or it burns plants. We built a rectangular brick structure, about 2' high, but with no mortar, just loosely stacked. We then put a timber frame on top, wrapped with chicken wire and roofed with sheets of fibreglass. Hessian sacks made curtains for the sides, which we could raise or lower depending on the winds and the season. If it gets really cold in your area for winter, you would need to check with other people in your area who keep chickens, to find out what works for them. But the compost heap idea does help to keep them warm, as it breaks down. Brick steps at the doorway allow both chooks and people to get in easily. Or you could use a small ramp. We use old ice cream containers as water bowls, locking one in place with more bricks and having another removable as an insert. Water must be changed daily because they poop in it. But you can pour the water right onto your plants and they love it. Maybe hang some potted geraniums on the chookhouse and pour the water into the geraniums. Feed - we use a standard chicken feeder, a hopper sort of thing but we put it up on bricks about 10". Not only does this stop them kicking litter and crud into their feed, but they also crawl underneath when broody. Or you can suspend a feeder, so it hangs about 10" above the ground. Watch out for thieving critturs, though - other birds, or mice/rats. That will also bring in the snakes. But at least you can legally kill your snakes - we can't, all Aussie snakes & lizards are protected. I'll have to open a photobucket account so I can post a photo we took of Monty, the large Diamond Python who often visits our chookhouse. Chooks also love a dust bath - a kids sandpit can be ideal, for the chook. Not so much for the kids. And a hen can be a good companion, as well as a useful egg layer. We feed ours a layer pellet mix, and give them our vegetable scraps and sometimes meat scraps (although you have to make sure it all gets eaten). Chunks of fat, for example - great! I also crush dried eggshells and feed them back to the chooks (in their feed hopper) to make sure they have enough calcium. Laying eggs can deplete their calcium stores. Enjoy! Herbert should build up condition really quickly. Here's hoping Herbert doesn't start crowing! Marg [/QUOTE]
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