Sleep tight - don't let the mites bite

This is a 33 day old chick.



We are in the middle of moving house so things are a bit hectic.


I have been feeding the chicks in the cages they will eventually travel in -- just to get them used to being in there and hopefully reducing the stress of their big trip.

Miss Lilly got over her strange behaviour and settled down for a quiet night with her chicks.

The only one acting strange today was Salt & Pepper -- she had flown out the window of the nursery but then couldn't get back in.  When I came home her eggs were very cold. She has since gone back to them so now it will be an anxious week wait to see whether any hatch or whether they got too cold to continue incubating.

For those who keep enquiring about her progress, here is NQR.

She is still small compared to her sisters, but she is otherwise developing normally.

Here they are snuggling up to sleep on their roost. The boys and girls are now very obvious by their combs (girl at the front, boy fast asleep at the rear).

Tomorrow we try to move them to their new home.

Happy Australia Day!

This is a 32 day old chick.

I spent 10 minutes today photographing one that is from the wrong age group. 

They are so similar now and the only real difference is size.

It was a very hot Australia Day so they spent most of it in the shade drinking -- like a lot of other Aussies I suspect.

I opened the door to let Miss Lilly and her chicks out for a stroll today but she was not keen.  She is quite a nervous mother.









She actually goes to extreme lengths to not allow me to even see her chicks. In the photo below see how she has her wing out to shield the chicks from view.  This is not usual behaviour around here.

So  a very curious Angelina, who had been sunning herself and her chicks close-by, popped her head in to say "hello sister, where have you been."

That turned out to be the wrong thing for her to do. Miss Lilly went crazy and there was quite a fight.  Below is the photo I was taking at the time.  All the chicks right across the yard stopped to see what all the commotion was about.

I'll have to wait and see how her chicks' temperaments turn out. I think we will use Miss Lilly's eggs for omelets and sponge cakes from now on.

Roosting!

This is a 29 day old chick.



They reached another exciting milestone overnight...

They flew up to roost instead of sleeping tucked under their mother.  This means they are growing stronger.

They took up an important position -- right beside Simon.








Angelina took the opportunity to move her lot into the main chookhouse in the barrel Alice had vacated.  It really is a juggling act here at the moment with all the clucky hens, mothers, chicks, layers, roosters...


The number of cluckies grew by one today. Dottie decided to sit for the first time.  She has a secret hidden nest in the ivy.

I occasionally hear this excuse that people HAVE to use incubators because they want to keep a breed that is "non-broody" -- as though that is some excuse to be cruel and give them no opportunity to be raised by a mother.

Well here's proof that that is utter nonsense...

Dottie is a silver spangled hamburg a supposed "non-broody" breed and here she is sitting on eggs! Her sister goes broody, her mother goes broody... chances are her chicks will go broody.  So this proves it's not impossible to undo the damage done by breeders from generations past.

Serious chook breeders do other weird things that do not make sense and are not in the best interests of the chooks.  For example, I was reading about ways to stop your hen from laying -- strange I know but wait until you hear WHY they do it...

Because a hen that is laying is the wrong shape!  Imagine that -- if the hen is laying it will not attract high points in competition because it's body shape will be wrong?! Who in their right mind when determining the 'right shape' and setting the "Standard" for all breeders to try to emulate would be a shape that can only be achieved if the hen isn't laying?!

Another example is when you see ads saying 'tail feathers have been removed for breeding pruposes'.  So in an effort to make the chooks look pretty they have been selected and selected to the point that their tails prevent them from being able to breed without the feathers being removed!

These things are just as  crazy as breeding out the ability to sit and incubate eggs.

People used to dock the tails of certain dog breeds without giving it a thought or pausing to consider why -- it was just routine. Now that battery hens are frowned upon I wonder how long it will be until we go  astep further as a community and see machine incubation as a cruel and unnecessary practice.

One, two, three... JUMP!

This is a 28 day old chick.



Their full breast is now feathered and their head heathers are growing out.


She is turning into a pretty girl.

Here they are having a dust bath and a rest.  It has been a busy day...









They spent the whole day climbing up then flying down from the tree -- that's what Alice was trying to get them to do yesterday.

Some were braver than others. The ones that were not so confident would let the ones behind them push in the queue!  Even NQR managed to climb up to see what they were doing -- that's her at the top.

Roosters find a voice

This is a 27 day old chick.





The difference between the boys and the girls is getting even more obvious.









The chicks are becoming more independent spending more and more time off in small groups.

During the day Angelina's and Alice's chicks mingle together and only separate off when it's time to sleep.

Some still like a snuggle with their mum though -- usually sooky little roosters.



Our 10 week old roosters are trying out their voices in the mornings now which is very funny to listen to.  When Simon crows, they copy.  Now that we are moving to a house with a much bigger garden we can keep those little boys. There will be a great photo of them in the Feb/March edition of Green Magazine (http://www.greenmagazine.com.au/).





Alice spent most of today in a small tree.  She was behaving a bit strange, like she was frightened of something. 


But she did come down to eat so whatever it was is couldn't have been too serious.

Chicks up to tricks.

This is a 25 day old chick.

This little guy has gone one step further than yesterday, actually reaching up into the feeder in search of some wheat.

Then he gets really inventive and hops right up!






Do you ever get that feeling that you've walked in on something?  I'm feeling like they are talking about something special at the grape vine and I'm not supposed to hear it.

That one in the centre is quite different looking to all the other chicks we usually have. I'm not sure what it will end up looking like but I can't wait to see.

Here is Miss Lilly -- her eggs should hatch tomorrow.  She is a first time mother so I have promised some of them to a work colleague to go under a clucky chook that has been sitting for 8 weeks.  That way Miss Lilly will only have a small clutch to raise.  If she is anything like her mother she will be fabulous!

All feathered up.

This is a 24 day old chick.

They are all feathered up, except for their heads which still have yellow down.





It was very hot again today. Salt & Pepper chose a bad time to start sitting, but Miss Lilly should have chicks by the end of this week.

They spent most of the day sitting in long grass with their wings sitting out away from their body to allow airflow to cool them down. Even when they are snoozing in the grass Alice is on guard, keeping an eye on them and any lurking danger.

It was so hot that the chicks took the lazy option of eating from under the laying hens' feeder instead of foraging for themselves.




Below are Angelina's chicks taking turns heading out after a middle of the day nap.  That's NQR on the left -- she's doing really well after a worrying start to life a few weeks ago.

In a few more days this lot should be old enough to see how many girls we have.

Hide and seek

This is a 23 day old chick.

We missed a few days due to camera issues.







You will notice in the past few days head feathers have begun to grow.  The chicks will get a bit scraggly looking for the next little while before the stunning adult emerges.

I spent more than an hour on Saturday looking for one of Angelina's chicks that had gone missing.  I only found it when I counted Alice's to make sure none of hers had gone missing -- and realised she had one extra!  The little one had wandered off to join its cousins for the morning.

Here is a view of them from above -- a dazzling display of spots, dots and stripes.

How they will eventually end up looking isn't settled until after their first adult moult.

Alice is what is called silver laced. The pale chicks will be silver spangled.  The dark chicks will be a bit of a chequer board of them both.

Salt-and-Pepper is hiding under the nursery and refuses to come out.  I think I k

now why we've been low on eggs in the fridge. We are moving house in two weeks so it's going to pose a problem for us.

I've moved hens across the yard but never across town.

Miss Lilly's eggs will hatch next so we'll be relocating about 30 chicks and 20 chooks.

I hope the weather cools down between now and then.

Foster homes for chooks.

This is an 18 day old chick.

Those spangled spots are starting to emerge on his chest.

I got home later than usual and that combined with the sudden cold, wet weather meant the light was no good for photographing each chick in close up, so that will have to wait until the weekend -- sorry!

But I think there are 4 girls and 5 boys.




This is the chicks having a snack before bedtime, out mingling with the extended family.

Notice how Alice is allowing it, but is certainly on guard and a little on edge judging by those slightly ruffled hackle feathers.

And this is what greeted me when I popped my head in to say goodnight to Angelina and her chicks.


Chicks hatched in incubators and raised under the glaring lights of a brooder box will never have this warm, cozy experience with their mother.

I urge all chook lovers and keepers to reconsider how they raise and where they source chicks.

I'm sure it's lovely to have a box of fluffy chicks in your loungeroom -- but in the long term you and the chooks are much better off with them having had at least 6 weeks in the loving care of their mother. 

Then if you really want the "baby chicks" experience in your home we can supply fertile eggs any time one of your flock go broody -- you then become their foster carer of anything that hatches for 6 weeks before we arrange rehoming of the girls (and take back the roosters before they begin to crow).

Boys and girls are different!

This is a 17 day old chick.

Look at that tail!

Hamburgs have a particularly stunning tail, and I think this one has inherited it.








Here's a picture of them milling around just before bed time.

They are so quick and busy it wasn't until I came inside and was looking at the photos that something became obvious...


I think it's possible to tell their gender now from their developing combs.

Have a guess for the 4 pictured left.

I think this is a girl.

And this is a boy.

The rooster's comb is more plump and red.

Tomorrow I'll be able to do a count to see how many pullets will be needing a home soon.

I don't like splitting sisters from the same clutch up as part of their rehoming.

Last one to bed's a rotten egg

This is a 16 day old chick.

According to yesterday's Sunday Herald Sun having chooks means being resigned to a decimated garden where nothing can grow and everything is reduced to a dust bowl.

That was once the case -- but not now.

These chicks are being raised by mother hens who have been selected for their light, roaming touch but as with most pets if you want them to integrate well with your family and environment there is some training required.

When you buy a puppy you don't just put it down and say, "Well it's mother would have taught it not to wee in its living quarters so it won't wee in the house."

No -- you use the mother's basic training as the basis for teaching that puppy the rules of your house; where it can and cannot go; where it can dig like a dog and what is off limits.

This is our garden. We're growing watermelons, beans and spinach.

There's no disturbance from the chooks but clearly they don't eat snails as it is the snails that have caused the damage here. The mulch is untouched.

There are places where we encourage them to dust bath and dig -- and there are places where it is not permitted.  The key to teaching them is to encourage and reward good behaviour.

When you take your new chooks home you should keep them confined until about an hour before they will want to roost -- then take them to the place where it is OK to scratch and dig.

Have the area lightly spread with special treats such as sunflower seeds and corn. After a week or so when you allow them to roam they will concentrate their foraging efforts in your preferred area -- and move swiftly across less productive areas in search of insects.

Have a look at the stance on this little boy! Very confident and thinking he's the king of the castle.

The last one to bed is a rotten egg...

And now he has positioned himself in the best vantage point -- right up on Alice's back.

In another week they will have outgrown their barrel. By 5 weeks they will be roosting with the while family. By week 6 they culd be getting ready to move into your garden.

Buk, buk, anyone home?

This is a 15 day old chick.





This little one also tried out its wings today.

They are getting quite adventurous and definitely developing their own personalities.

They are eating less and less chick crumble as they become more self sufficient foraging in the garden.

Chicks that are raised without a good mother, or no mother at all, remain very reliant on food provided in feeders.

This makes the eggs they eventually produce more costly and they are not as healthy as chooks that graze on a variety of plants and insects.

Aunty Henny Penny went to call on the new chicks today. After a few polite buk buks at the door she was greeted and invited in by the very outgoing pengin impersonator.

Then Daddy Simon dropped by to serve breakfast.

His style is more "one for me, one for you" unlike the mother hen's approach which is to feed all the chicks first then see if there's anything leftover for her.

Many people who have kept chooks for years would be horrified to hear of a rooster being allowed near chicks, but there is nothing to fear with Simon -- he is a gentle, affectionate husband, father & leader. He has never removed a single feather from the back of one of his hens.

I'm undecided what to do with these lovely sons of Simon. The pullets from their hatching has been rehomed. In a few more weeks they will begin to crow so cannot stay here.

They will model themselves on their examplary father.

If anyone is interested in providing a home for them, please contact me via The Chook Chick ads on http://www.chooknet.com.au/

Green chooks

This is a 14 day old chick.

The Christmas Hatch had their photos taken yesterday for a feature article in the next edition of Green Magazine (http://www.greenmagazine.com.au/).

It's a great magazine focused on sustainable architecture and garden design -- no massive McMansions, just well thought out living spaces that are both beautiful and functional based on sustainability principles. 

Last month's had the best information I've ever seen complied comparing different composting models & style of worms farms; this month it compares different types of mulch and applications they're most suited to.

I'd love to hear about any chook coops you know of that have been built using sustainable materials or design principles.

Miss Lilly is still sitting, here's a quick spy into her nest while she was having a drink. I can count 19 eggs -- very ambitious.







Angelina's chicks are still being very studious standing in lines waiting for their turn. She is a wonderful mother, very fair in making sure everyone gets a turn and a treat.

And for those who asked, NQR is doing OK.  Here he is sunning himself. That patch of sun on the nursery floor is prime real estate so he's clearly holding his own. See how much smaller he is beside his mate?

How cute is that friend? It looks like a penguin.

I don't know why I always refer to NQR as 'he', it may well grow into a lovely little pullet.

If you want top place an expression of interest for a mini flock from this hatching the details are on http://www.chooknet.com.au/ in the 'Victoria' listings, but if are are interstate I'm sure we can make travel arrangements, we've done it before.