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[Pedro]

the fat black hen has gotten winter solstice can't be bothered blues

I have given her the roasting pan chat today ....

If I were a chook in Canberra in the middle of winter I wouldn't be laying eggs either, just trying to use my energy to keep warm!

Pedro

[robbiegal]

That poor little chook!  It's too cold for her to be trying to lay eggs. :biggrin:

I'll send my little Peachface down if you like, she's squeezed out 5 eggs in the last few weeks. I think she's re-loaded again too. Pity her cage partner is sterile. :shok:

aww cute
so you can eat the eggs then if they aren't viable
like a tiny omelette for a baby ?

sounds like you might need to order a new boy to get the job done

the fat black hen has gotten winter solstice can't be bothered blues

I have given her the roasting pan chat today ....

If I were a chook in Canberra in the middle of winter I wouldn't be laying eggs either, just trying to use my energy to keep warm!

Pedro

yeah and the girls have just been moulting - what a weird time to drop feathers
the brown one is growing back very black feathers too
she is usually a slower layer but has kept us supplied daily the past month
I like having feathered garden pals - they are my pets now  (along with the fish of course)

couldn't really eat them - my father always said -once they have a name that's it you just can't eat ém
ps but I won't be telling Gracie that - keep her on her toes .... err chook claws thingees

[trout]

High protean feed is what your chooks need when they are moulting or in the cold weather and plenty of it :ok:
And I agree that if the missus or kids have named it , It becomes freezer proofed

[robbiegal]

like steak?

[trout]

like steak?

Meat meal or other pellets like that really give them the boost they need when they are struggling :ok:

[keldaw]

throw a big spider in with them ,
 and watch super chook go into action with it ,
the spider wont even have time to blink .

[trout]

throw a big spider in with them ,
 and watch super chook go into action with it ,
the spider wont even have time to blink .

HeHe
I can just imagine RG picking up a thumping big huntsman spider :laugh2:

[robbiegal]

thanks kel
the hubby tossed the girls a flaming huge huntsman last year
and yes it created a storm
and I didn't want to eat their eggs for a fortnight either
felt like I wanted to hurl every time i thought about it !!! :shok:
ps
I was researching meat meal just recently

well I gave them some fresh rump steak off cuts in todays scrap bucket
might help

if Gracie lays an egg, I will give her scotch fillet as well

[autocoupler]

well I gave them some fresh rump steak off cuts in todays scrap bucket
might help

Heck, this reminds me of holidays at my Aunts at Coffs Harbour in the 60's. It was my cousins job to take the steak left overs to the wood heap and dice them on the chopping block for the fowls. Only problem was he loved raw meat and would eat half of it himself.

[trout]

My Sister lives on a 40 acre block and my Brother in law likes to let the chooks out so that they can have a good scratch around and catch some bugs.
This does the trick and the chooks seem to always be in great condition :good:
Guess what, They head straight for my Sisters veggie patch as soon as they are let out and a dozen or so chooks can do a lot of damage in a very short space of time :laugh2:
They get a dozen new chooks every year and in the last few decades all the chooks that have died was from old age or got unlucky with the odd snake, fox or wild cat.
The grandies love these chooks as many of the older ones will come up to one of the kids and squat down to be picked up for a scratch and a cuddle
I recon Chooks are great value .

[robbiegal]

cheers guys
the chooks are my veggie patch labour
I just penned off veggie bed number 1 on the weekend and they have it half sorted now

though I will say there was some nice looking young but fair sized spinach growing in that patch - seems they like spinach too - greens = nice orange yokes, so it's ok I suppose

my father only ever kept the chooks in the pen but I like to let them out as long as the viable garden is covered in netting mind you

gee auto -I haven't seen a backyard chopping block for years
or a home incinerator

reckon if I set up a chopping block miss Gracie would be pumping out the eggs! ha ha
not so glamourous snap from last year with miss cuddles and the brown one in the veggie patch
Gracie is a cuddlier gal - Henrietta is far more skittish

[Pedro]

Chooks will eat almost anything and especially if it is green.

Pedro

[robbiegal]

they'd eat us if we didn't runaway!! ha ha

[trout]

As we are heading off for a weeks camping and fishing tomorrow two of my Sons are coming out to my place today so that we can load up the two 4WD's with all the fishing and camping gear that we will need for the trip.
I had to buy them each a beach rod and reel as neither of them has any decent fishing gear and their camping equipment consists of a swag each and that's it.
I asked Mrs Trout if I could take the pop up van on this trip and I got a very definite "No Bloody Way" with that idea so that's why I got the other awning with the room option.
It wasn't cheap at about $800 But I would rather spend that than have to try and explain how we somehow busted something on the van that she loves :good:
It will be great to get out in the bush with the kids again, Well not really Kids as the youngest one is 23 But to me they are still kids
I am looking forward to a weeks fishing,  drinking Beer and telling each other tall tales around a campfire at the end of the day :yahoo:

[robbiegal]

good on you dad

gee fussy about the campa van

23 - yup still a kid - still like to need you

my 25 year old loves coming to visit mum and taking back to his flat a bag packed with homemade bread, garden veggies & eggs

his girlfriend giggles when she sees him asking if there's any spare bread in the freezer