Poultry in Urbania

Comment

Comment by Matt Moir on September 1, 2012 at 9:26am

HiHathi give Cam a call from Heratage if you baught your rooster from him as a garenteed hen he stands by them and will more than likly give ou an excange

Comment by Hathi on September 1, 2012 at 9:18am

Hi all,  Does anyone want a free to a good home rooster?  He is just starting to make some noise, but not crowing properly yet, so he has to go from Devonport, sadly as he is quite sweet and easy to handle.  Black Austrolorp free range, originally from Puhoi Heritage.  We may have a second rooster also, but I am a novice and it is so hard to tell.  He is around 30 weeks old. 

Comment by Mercurious on August 31, 2012 at 9:11pm

Has anyone else got babies on the way? My hen went broody so managed to get fresh fertile eggs from a lady in Hamilton and 12 of them are tucked up underneath her and due on the 18th of September. I'm soooo excited about Spring!!!

Comment by josephal on August 31, 2012 at 9:25am

Earl,

I had similar problems with feeders, but they eventually got the hang of it. What helped was putting a piece of ply on the step to keep the lid open and to act as a bit of a ramp. It's the lid moving that gives them a fright. Sprinkle a few pellets on the ramp, or even put some really tasty treats inside & ontop the feeder, so they associate it with food. I also had problems with chooks flicking heaps of food out onto the ground, so I cut a piece of plastic garden mesh inserted it ontop of the feed. No more feed on the ground.

Comment by Kathrina Muller on August 30, 2012 at 8:35pm

I have used a Grandpas feeder with my hens for about 15 years.  I must admit I can't remember how it went orginally.  When I have young hens I have to leave it open for a while until they are heavy enough to actually open it.  When I got new pullets I went through the training system instructions that came with the feeder.  Can you put a stone or brick on the foot plate so that it doesn't move at all for a week or so? and don't give them any food anywhere else.  then move it to the the top level so it only moves a bit.  Also I have decided to go to using pellets in the feeder rather than mash as the mash was getting spilled everywhere and the sparrows were coming in to clean it up.  We ended up with a couple of dead sparrows that had got caught in the feeder  and couldn't get out again.

 I must admit I wouldn't be without the feeder it is so convenient.

Comment by Kate on August 30, 2012 at 8:01pm

Oh no! They wont use the $195 feeder. That is heart breaking. At least they lay well. So do you just have to have it propped open all the time? I guess it can be closed at night to stop mice, and that only leaves the birds to eat all their food during the day!! Poor you! Perhaps you can sell if on

Comment by Earl Mardle on August 30, 2012 at 1:22pm

Commiserations Nigel Our girls use the new one you bought with no trouble, they also use anything else nearby when it suits. 

HOWEVER, despite being very adaptable when it comes to water, and barely missing a beat when shifted from town to the country, being housed in an old, draughty coop for 2 nights then being moved again to their new, completely different coop in the orchard and carrying on laying as if it was perfectly normal, we have been TOTALLY unable to get them to use the $195 Grandpas Feeder.

Money aside, six weeks of experimentation with the thing and in the end we gave up. One would try it if it was half open, then the other, then neither. And certainly neither of them would use it when it was closed, the lever opening spooked them every time and they ran away.

Love my chooks and they have been great producers and easily handled and no health problems for over 3 years. But when they get an idea into their little heads there is JUST no room for the lever to get it out again.

Comment by Nigel Thomson on August 30, 2012 at 1:04pm

Chooks won't use new water dispenser.

I got a new water dispenser a month ago, one of those hanging bell shaped ones, but the chooks will not drink out of it, they prefer either puddles/cat bowls or the old dispenser.

It has been cleaned out theres no plasticy scent etc

Its been lowered and raised to see if there is a sweet spot for the chooks to drink out of.

I have tried having it as the only source of water for the chooks, but the chooks didn't like that at all.

Any tips or suggestions

the new one looks like the green ones here

http://www.plasticsplus.com.au/products/large/127.jpg

whereas the old one looks like this

http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/farming-forestry...

Comment by Lynda Coe on August 28, 2012 at 12:52pm

It has been a battle keeping my "stock" out of my fenced off garden area. They like the tilled soil to scratch about in, the flavour of our veg, and don't know when they have eaten enough! 

The only things I have found that they won't eat is avocado and margarine. Have you ever watched chooks trying to spit out avocado? Very entertaining. They even like a spicy curry. :-) 

My dad has always said it's either chooks or a garden. He chose the latter. 

Comment by fiona watt on August 28, 2012 at 11:42am

I too have lovely chickens and vege gardens, In the area where the chooks are I net off the veges patches with 1m high netting, they never get into these and this allows me to plant happliy through the season.  Last year I planted rows of beans peas and potatoes and the chooks happily did their own thing and left them alone.  I also have fruit trees in this area and though they have done some root damage, the trees have become firmly established and they dont seem to dig around them so much now.  They are usually to be found in my compost bin!

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