then there were seven...

18 years ago

We're down to 2 chooks, now 12 weeks old. So far, they are showing very aggressive/dominant behaviour (flying at each other with wings flapping and claws up) then staring each other out etc. Neither is crowing, so I'm just keeping myself amused watching their behaviour, and am happy to wait till either a) someone else crows or b) someone lays an egg.

But 2 chooks seem not enough after having had 4 - they just aren't 'chirpy' enough LOL.

My daughter came home from school, and said "Isabella asked if we want her chickens". These came from the same batch of babies that hatched in my sons class, so I said "yes, of course - as long as they're not crowing, we'll take them".

Does anyone see the problem yet????????

Yes!! Silly me!! I forgot to ask 'how many chickens does Isabella have?" D'oh!!! I just ASSUMED that Isabella took 2-3 chicks like everyone else did! (What did Benny Hill used to say about ""assume"??????) But NOOOOOO!!!! Isabella took FIVE chicks. And Isabella and her mum have just dropped them off. And if at least 3 of them aren't crowing tomorrow morning, I'll eat my chook mash!

Off to check Brisbane City Council bylaws to see how many poultry I'm allowed - I think it's just 6..... and need to draw up plans for a bigger chook tractor.....

laugh all you want - it's healthy for you!

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Comments (8)

calthrop
18 years ago
Isabella's mum couldn't get them to you fast enough could she.
She probably thought her daughter was only bringing one or two home.
Maybe your original two are just trying to establish the pecking order.HEre's hoping for eggs ..... and real soon.
adamus
18 years ago
I come from a loving space when I offer this Wish, but do you need a recipe for Chicken A La Isabella?.
I was given a beautiful Elizabeth David CookBook last week.............a little Chianti, roast Potatoes......
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ozmantis
18 years ago
Spatchcocks maybe mmmmmmh
wishful
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks guys for the moral support. I don't own an axe, and I don't think I'm strong enough to wring it's neck - don't fancy trying and getting it wrong, at any rate. So thanks for the recipies, but it's the produce shop for any thing that crows - hen, rooster, chook, spatchcock, peacock etc. Looks like I'll still be driving up to Caboolture to get my organic chicken!

Oh, and according to my house plans, I'm on a 798m2 houseblock, which the Brisbane City Council will let me run 6 poultry on. Anything over 800m2 (i.e. one chook tractor extra space) and I'd be allowed TWENTY birds!!

Imagine how many tomato plants you would need to feed 4 kids and twenty hens!
The_Grub
18 years ago
I can't wait to read all about your egg recipes. I'm almost lost for egg ideas with just two hens :)
Fin_
18 years ago
Grub,
I have five hens (one of whom doesn't lay - she's just living out her retirement) and so I have found some great egg recipes! One of my fav's is:

4 eggs hard boiled and then fried whole in a little peanut oil until crispy brown on the outside.
Then fry up mild long red chillis with sliced onions until the onions are nice and translucent and have turned red with the chilli.
Lastly mix together two tablespoons of fish sauce with tamarind (about a tablespoon mixed with water if using large blocks of dried tamarind) and a tablespoon of palm sugar. Let it boil and caramelise.

Sit eggs on boiled jasmin rice, top with onion-chilli mix and then pour sauce over top. Yummo!

I have also found some really good indian egg recipes: one for egg and cauliflower in coconut curry sauce; parsi scrambled eggs with cumin, coriander (fresh and seed) tomato and eggs; and an indian omlette which also used cumin and coriander as well as fenugreek and corn.
Heas of interesting Indian egg recipes out there!!
wishful
Original Author
18 years ago
everyone sing along.....

(to the tune of 10 little indian boys)

one little, two little, three little roosters,
four little, five little, six little roosters,
seven little, eight little, NINE little roosters......
what are the odds of that????

yes - that's right - our original 4 chicks, AND Isabellas 5 chicks, were ALL roosters! There were 22 chicks that hatched in the Year 1 class - can any maths genius work out the probability of the 9 out of 22 chicks that have passed through my backyard ALL being roosters?????

so far we have made 3 visits to the produce shop - my daughter has very specific requirements in the birds she wants - she actually wanted to get babies again, but I pointed out that we still wouldn't be able to tell the sex - so she's agreed to get point of lay hens, but only certain 'colours'.

Apart from the fact that we have 7 icecream containers of chook food, and we've already built the chook tractor...... can any one please remind me why I thought backyard chooks were going to be a good idea??????
User
18 years ago
Hi I have bought chicks a few days old that have been sexed.
They sold both layer and for the table .... baby chickens.
I enjoyed bringing up four fluffy yellow chicks that turned white and the way I identified
Trixie, Pixie, Dixie and Lixie was I put food colouring on three of them so then I had
A white, pink, blue and green spotted chicks something different.
If you are after a big size egg, get the brown chooks Lowmans I think is the way they spell it.
They lay a 85gm + egg about 360 days a year the biggest egg so far has been 102gms
Those fancy coloured chooks are sometimes bad layers we have just taken two back to the produce store
So they can find homes for them, and bought another two black ones POL they have just started laying
But there eggs are ony 55-60 gms so I will be looking for the Lowmans Browns again next time.
Good luck with all your POL chooks they to are a delight to own also......Cheers..MM.