That's good to know about the nightshade purplehat. I've got a lovely leghorn with a big floppy comb over one eye too - such a character! Not that she's laying...

I know rhubarb is meant to be dangerous for chickens as well, but mine really like ours. What is it meant to do to chooks? I'm wondering if, perhaps, they eat small bits of it as a sort of self-medication or tonic, a bit like cats eat grass and that sort of thing?? Our yard is over-run with all sort of beautiful green lush weeds that chooks love at this time of year, but it doesn't stop them coming back to the rhubarb for a nibble.

It's really high in oxalic acid, which can cause liver damage and prevent mineral uptake if taken in large doses. But then, so is soursob and I read that chickens eat that just fine. Perhaps they can eat more oxalic acid than humans normally tolerate.

So interesting about the nightshade. I'm going to find out what th difference is.

I just went to a poultry shop to buy a feeder, bedding, shell grit, food etc and I looked at the chooks they had for sale. It was so sad seeing them squished into tiny pens with eggs rolling around in there. All ISA browns. I said I wouldn't buy one because I want an australorp and the guy said he didn't know what that was.

I was excited to see they sell a lot of herbs and supplements that I use for humans - licorice root, chamomile, cod liver oil, slippery elm and many others. All for chickens!! I buy all of these in bulk for human use already and already decided to try them on the chickens.

Sigh. Okay, so I have too many roosters. I took a little Ancona to the rescue place to become eagle food. One of my lovely boys will have to go as well though. So I've decided (sadly) to move on my lovely black Australorp rooster, Castro. I'll sell him if I can as he cost me $25. Hope I find a good home for him.

Miaowzen wrote:
Funny, my chooks like soursob as well. They've been eating the rhubarb leaves and soursob when they feel like it for years, so I guess they know how much they can tolerate.

I asked at the fodder shop at Gepps Cross about whether they stock other chooks. No. It's easier for them to get isa's cos they are readily available, wormed & vaccinated. His comment was that other chooks & day-old's are too much work. He warned me against Blacksdane as he said many people come to him with sick chooks after purchasing from them. Other breeds of chooks bought from breeders don't tend to be vaccinated, but it doens't seem to cause too many dramas - what are others' thoughts about this??

BV, when i was at the auction on sunday, there were lots of roo's. The guy who was doing it said it's a 'sad time of year to be a rooster'. My two boys went for a dollar each.. but i was just so glad they sold. So we are down to 2 roos now, and DH is trying to make me put the sussex in the pot, NO WAY am i killing him. My theory is i'll keep him to breed, and eat the future boys, but DH says he believe me when it happens

I hate the way that when you're writing a post you can only see one previous... This is a memory test

Fertile eggs can keep for 3 weeks -- pointy end down, in a cool dark place.

Specific hens can be prone to lay double-yolkers in the same way non-identical twins run through a human female side of the family.

Don't set double yolkers -- ever. Candle the eggs, yolks appear as a dull shadow.

Most chooks will nibble rhubarb -- individuals will like the buzz, develop a habit for it and over-do it; They will eventaully die of liver and kidney failure.

If you have a hen with bad habits such as grazing heavily on rhubarb don't allow them to raise chicks or your issue will multiply.

Dried, crunched comfrey leaves can either be stired through warm pollard but I just add it dry to grain.

Vickie: were you at Traralgon? I left the house intending to go to the nursery but the rain came so I HAD to do the indoor chook auction instead. My kids still can't get over us leaving empty handed -- UNHEARD OF! I fell in love with a blue bantam leghorn but stopped bidding at $30, don't know what it went for, I couldn't bare to listen. Also had my eye on some super cute young silke cross frizzles but they went for $16!

If you keep eggs for a while before setting them , store in an egg carton pointy end up as mentioned above, but also have one end of the carton raised about 45o and change the raised end every 12 hours or so.This stops the insides getting stuck to the membrane.Sitting chooks turn their eggs regularly for the same reason - not that they actually know why they do it!! Nature is wonderful.

BV.......

Purplehat is correct-what we call 'deadly nightshade' here is actually blackberry nightshade, and quite safe for chooks to eat. The berries are edible to people when ripe. The main difference is that blackberry night shade has white flowers, proper deadly nightshade has purple flowers and has not currently been found in Australia as a weed.

Fascinating, I IDed it as deadly nightshade from a photo but did notice the flowers were white. A week ago I saw someone selling it at the Gepps Cross market and I asked "isn't it poisonous?" she said that most people find it bitter but the South Africans eat a lot of it and come out fine. I thought maybe South Africans had guts of steel, but now I have my explanation

I hope my chickens like soursob

Please can someone tell me, I am going to Gawler tomorrow morning to see if I can get some chooks at the poultry auction. It will be my first time going there. If I get some, how will I know if they will accept each other or not? Will there be a whole flock in one cage? I am pre-supposing I cannot just pick individual favourites from different cages.

ediedioh, I hate how you can only see one post too, i have a shocking memory. rofl. Yeah i was at Traralgon, and went home empty handed too, i didn't have time to stay and bid.. very unlike me And also.. i forgot to say i know .. HOW BAD are the old flogged out ISA's they try to sell there.. i was very shocked the first time i saw them.


Miaowzen, I probably break a lot of rules with my chooks, i have bantams, x-breeds, sussexs, isa's, all from different places and times, ages etc.. they all have little groups, the young ones sit up on the hill, the isa's are friendly and follow me around... where some run the other way, but none of the girls fight. I may be very wrong.. but i think you would be unlucky if you had hens that decided they hated each other and really hurt each other.. it's never happened in my 6 years of mixed chickens.

im hoping to take a pic of a chook i have had for nearly 2 years and never bothered to find out what breed she is.. hopefully someone here will know.. i'll bbl

They sell them by the cage, so you can't choose one from one cage and not take the rest. Most chickens will accept each other after a little while, especially when they don't have their original flocks. I've bought chooks from auctions that were from different sellers and they got along fine pretty quickly as a flock.

My advice is to get there early, have a look at the chickens before bidding starts and make sure they don't look sick. From what I remember, chicks [and other young poultry] are auctioned off first, then the adult birds.

I wish I was closer to Gawler, I want to have a snoop around the auction again [although OH wouldn't like me going!]

Hmmmm would also like to know about Gawler, it is an hours drive from me so was thinking of waiting till the weather gets warmer. I am after Orpingtons so thought spring might be better as some of you suggested.
Also can anyone help me understand hens going broody abit better, and putting fertile eggs under them. How old are hens when they start, How do you time it, when do you order the eggs, put them under hen? That sort of thing, I don't plan to do it for a while, unless some mine start in spring then I might get Orpington eggs instead of chicks and see what happens.

Hens don't turn eggs -- that's an old wives tale perpetuated by the incubator companies to sell accessories. They used to say stop turning at day 18, now the latest research says stop at day 15 or 12. But I have to declare I'm anti-incubator.

Vicky: pullets can go broody anytime from after laying their 8th egg! Some go broody 2ce a season, some go broody every 8-10 eggs (like silkes), some never go broody. Some go broody any time there's a one day warm spell (wishful thinking that spring has sprung).

When you notice she's sitting, give her some eggs or golf balls to keep her sitting and organise some eggs. Then get on the phone and order your eggs. Let them settle for 24 hours before giving them to the hen. If she's going to make a good mother she'll be super eager to accept the eggs when they arrive. Just sit them in front of her and she'll roll them into position underneath her skirt. Removing the fake eggs will be more difficult (slip them in at night when she's dozy but be prepared to get pecked!). Then 21 days later (It will seem like the longest 3 weeks of your life!) out pop little chicks.

We got 3 young chickens a few days ago and built a separate area within the chook pen for them. They first met one of our 1 year old Isa's while we were there on the weekend and she was a quite mean, so we have kept them separated! I went out this morning to let the 3 Isa's out into the yard and the baby mix breeds into the wider chookpen. Only to find none of the 3 in their section! Once my heart started again, I looked around to find them outside in the chook yard huddled in a corner!!! I guess the gap in their little door was big enough for all of them to get through and they even ventured out of the chookpen!! Thankfully all were ok and I rounded them back into the chook pen. Not confident to leave them alone with the Isa's nor do I want them wandering the yard yet. The breeded did say we just need a section for them to hide in and let them mingle but I think I would like them to be a bit bigger. They are 9 weeks old.

I assume the Isas are on layer pellets. The 9 week olds should be on grower pellets. The layer pellets will have too much calcium for the young birds -- I think that would be the main reason to keep them apart.