Admire A Chicken Day

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#1508319 8-Mar-2016 17:09

tdgeek:

How many here have chickens, 1-Day has some super cool chicken coops for around 200 bucks. Seemed a bit cheap. We use a lot of eggs.

Have a flock of 6 chooks, and a rooster. 2 ageing shavers, which lay occasionally, and 4 semi-bantums which lay green-blue eggs. I tend to give away most eggs as they produce far more than I consume. Green eggs go down a treat with parents - Green Eggs and Ham

The original rooster we had was a real nasty b*stard - his nick name was Sid, Sid Vicious ,,,,, he was tame, mostly, but then, POW !!!, he'd go you, beak n claws, etc, leaving nasty puncture wounds that took weeks to heal. Awesome as a guard rooster, and if you tried kicking him away, he'd come back really nasty. Really, really nasty ...

We had to resort to carrying a stick outside in case he went ya.

Though tame enough to be picked up without a problem.

Had to lop 'is 'ead off ....

eracode

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#1508427 8-Mar-2016 20:15

Rikkitic:

We take way too much for granted. We already know that. But we still do.

I am a ‘vegetarian’, in the sense that I do not eat meat. It just doesn’t appeal to me. I also don’t eat birds. I do eat fish and dairy products, however, and I am not interested in defending that choice. That is not why I initiated this thread.

I started to eat a hard-boiled egg the other day (yes, I am aware it is an undeveloped foetus). Then I stopped and began examining it and thinking about it. I like eggs. I enjoy eating them. I also admire them. They are miracles of biological engineering. I actually think mammals took a step backward when they abandoned egg-laying in favour of giving birth.

You can’t admire a product without becoming interested in its source. Chickens are often portrayed as brainless meat machines. Many see them as figures of fun. But I think chickens are marvellous animals. Not only do they produce something as amazing as eggs, but they are also a major source of food themselves, in a seemingly endless variety of forms. I don’t eat them, but even I can appreciate their value to those who do. Yet many people seem vaguely contemptuous and dismissive of ‘chooks’. Maybe this is another case of familiarity breeding contempt.

People should stop and consider for a moment what would happen if chickens suddenly vanished. Not only would that leave an immense hole in the fast-food choice of most New Zealanders, a great number of processed foods would also disappear or become prohibitively expensive. Eggs are used in almost everything. There go your cakes and pies, for starters.

Fortunately, chickens are great survivors. We need them a lot more than they need us. When chooks disappear into the wild, they get on perfectly well in almost any environment. They have no problem at all finding food and staying alive. How many of us could make that claim?

Chickens ought to be worshipped, the way cats were in Egypt. At the very least they deserve to be respected as the remarkable creatures they are. Think about that the next time you dig into your greasy bucket of drumsticks. I declare this Admire a Chicken Day.

Shame on you. Such thinly-veiled, shameless and unabashed product promotion by a PR lobbyist has no place in a secular and food-agnostic forum like GZ. Posing as an individual who 'admires chickens' is ingenious but also despicable and does you no credit. How much did they pay you?

If this is the way GZ is going to go, it should be opened up to wider players in a sector. Let's hear from people who admire the manufacturers of battery cages or nugget-making machines? What about admirable fertiliser manufacturers who generate the lush green grass that the free-rangers strut around on? And the pillowcase makers?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

eracode

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#1508430 8-Mar-2016 20:17

Using a feather is erotic. Using a whole chicken is perverted.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Amosnz

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#1508544 8-Mar-2016 23:13

tdgeek:

How many here have chickens, 1-Day has some super cool chicken coops for around 200 bucks. Seemed a bit cheap. We use a lot of eggs.

Yep we have 4 Hyline chickens that we brought at point of lay (~18 weeks old) in Jan. Since day 1 they've been giving us 3-4 eggs per day and my girls (2 and 6) love going and checking\feeding them. They are super friendly and can be picked up by anyone, even the 2yo.

We got our coop off TM or similar for about $300, it was a bit smaller than I expected, definitely wouldn't want more than 4 in it but it does the job.

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#1509848 9-Mar-2016 13:40

Do I pick up a chook or the 2 year-old?

xpd

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#1509889 9-Mar-2016 14:01

Both will get you some odd looks.

XPD / Gavin

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#1509985 9-Mar-2016 16:18

Amosnz:

tdgeek:

How many here have chickens, 1-Day has some super cool chicken coops for around 200 bucks. Seemed a bit cheap. We use a lot of eggs.

Yep we have 4 Hyline chickens that we brought at point of lay (~18 weeks old) in Jan. Since day 1 they've been giving us 3-4 eggs per day and my girls (2 and 6) love going and checking\feeding them. They are super friendly and can be picked up by anyone, even the 2yo.

We got our coop off TM or similar for about $300, it was a bit smaller than I expected, definitely wouldn't want more than 4 in it but it does the job.

Do you consider them free-range?

Amosnz

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#1510037 9-Mar-2016 17:47

Yep, they have a 250sq/m area attached to the coop to roam about for most of the day and during the afternoon\ evenings the girls let them out into the back yard (~1400sq/m).

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#1510048 9-Mar-2016 18:15

Amosnz:

Yep, they have a 250sq/m area attached to the coop to roam about for most of the day and during the afternoon\ evenings the girls let them out into the back yard (~1400sq/m).

Sorry, I got the impression they were living in the coop! I don't know if they'd be happy in there full-time, but probably actually, if they didn't know the difference. Bit unkind though.

Ours was quoted as "houses up to 6 chickens" but we had 4, now 3 :(, and like you I thought it seemed pretty packed. Apparently, they like being in close quarters at night etc, so it's probably OK. I've seen two chickens squashed into one side of the nesting box when the other is empty too!

Fred99

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#1510129 9-Mar-2016 20:48

eracode:

Using a feather is erotic. Using a whole chicken is perverted.

I couldn't agree more.

Amosnz

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#1510140 9-Mar-2016 20:51

Our coop had a ~1mx1m run attached to it, but it still seems as bit mean to keep them inside that area!

The coop has 3 perches in it, at night time they are quite happy on them. Our 3-4 eggs per day always come from 2 of the 3 nesting boxes, and number 1 seems to be there favourite!

One of ours started acting funny a few weeks ago, stopped laying, barely ate, didn't follow the group around outside and just sat in the grass, we were sure she was a gonner, but she came right by herself and none of the others have been affected.

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dickytim

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#1510254 10-Mar-2016 07:30

Fred99:

eracode:

Using a feather is erotic. Using a whole chicken is perverted.

I couldn't agree more.

I am going to hell for laughing at this...

eracode

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#1510861 10-Mar-2016 19:52

Fred99:

eracode:

Using a feather is erotic. Using a whole chicken is perverted.

I couldn't agree more.

Brilliant! And cute how the chicken pretends to be reluctant but is clearly up for it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

PhantomNVD

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#1512091 12-Mar-2016 17:33

Amosnz:
Our coop had a ~1mx1m run attached to it, but it still seems as bit mean to keep them inside that area!

The coop has 3 perches in it, at night time they are quite happy on them. Our 3-4 eggs per day always come from 2 of the 3 nesting boxes, and number 1 seems to be there favourite!

One of ours started acting funny a few weeks ago, stopped laying, barely ate, didn't follow the group around outside and just sat in the grass, we were sure she was a gonner, but she came right by herself and none of the others have been affected.

We had that once... Turned out we had a 'free range' deadly nightshade in a far corner of the property the chook must have tried a taste of... Check that all the plants in their yard are recognisable? (Ours died) 😔

SepticSceptic

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#1513169 14-Mar-2016 16:52

Amosnz:

One of ours started acting funny a few weeks ago, stopped laying, barely ate, didn't follow the group around outside and just sat in the grass, we were sure she was a gonner, but she came right by herself and none of the others have been affected.

Could have had a gullet issue - paspalum is the worst for that - chickens eat the seeds, but because they are so sticky, they lodge in the gullet / crop, and adhere to all the other stuff they eat, causing a blockage.

Try squirting a bit of diluted apple cider vinegar (10:1 with water) down the gullet with an eye dropper or syringe, and then give the crop a bit of massage. The crop is about 5cm down from the underneath of the head, and if it is full / swollen you'll definitely notice it ...

A bit if a massage, then the chicken will burp . ... check for bad smelling breath when you massage the crop,,,,

Keep their drink water fresh, and occasionally add 125mls apple cider vinegar to the water - aids for their digestion.

Apple cider Vinegar is cheap at the at stores like Rd1, etc

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