A Greenhorn's Journal

[Lizzy733]

Ah, so pets only? Not future bacon?

Very cute.

Yup, strictly pets.

My husband doesn't like the idea of killing something that clever, so they're organic lawnmowers for the orchard and our substitute puppies - due to the no cats\no dogs cause kiwi etc...

Have just ordered some smaller harnesses and can hopefully get them mowing in the garden soon. My husband has been pushing me to unleash the chooks back there, but they'd go straight for the strawberries in the raised bed and not touch the grass, so wouldn't really do the needful.

 

[Lizzy733]

Just thought I would mention, we think of eggs as high in protein, but they are actually only about 16%. So supplementing your 20% feed with eggs means you’re actually lowering the protein content of your poults’ diet.

If you can’t find gamebird starter, they should be ok on 20%. Due to skyrocketing feed prices, I’ve been raising all my birds this year on 16%. (Chickens, turkeys, ducks) I don’t know if it will cause any long term effects, but so far they all seem to be developing properly.

I'd been giving them two hard boiled eggs at breakfast.

I would really love to be able to get a hold of some soybean meal and cut their feed with that, but none of the feed stores seem to carry additives. Can't really get it posted either. Our post box is not that big and is 5k down the road. Postshop delivery won't hold packages that big either I will be keeping an eye out and get a big bag when I can find it. NZ seems to have a big problem with putting enough protein into their bird feeds.

A lot of 'pheasant and game' crumbles only list around 20% protein and I can't find any carried at the feed stores nearby (as in 30-40 minute drive away nearby... we're pretty far off the beaten path!) I've been raising them on premium chick crumble (19% protein) with b-complex added to their water. Layer feed skimps too... around 15-16%. Our weather can be pretty hot and higher protein diets are meant to help with heat tolerance according to some studies done in aus, so I've always kept my hens on more premium feeds with higher protein content in general. Unfortunately, everyone's on grower at the moment and there's only one brand in the shops.... Might just give everyone meat crumble until my new girls come into lay.

Once the turkeys are done with the chick crumble, they'll be moving onto 'meat bird crumble', which is 20% but at least contains the correct vitamin ratios. It's supposedly for chickens, pheasants, quail, turkeys... but yeah... big issue here as mentioned. I could also comment that turkeys in the super market are nothing like their american counterparts - generally quite small and eye-wateringly expensive.

I think I have too many jakes, but they're so sweet... hopefully they can still do the deed come breeding season next year and not be too caught up with themselves.

I still plan to separate my hens and roos - roos will either go into the garden or stay in what has been dubbed the future 'grow out pen' for my meat birds... so much to do around here! can't wait till I'm on leave next week and can just focus on that.

Hopefully, the storms will be done with as well. My poor water tanks are dripping down their sides with how full they are right now. I suppose I shouldn't be complaining, but we've been getting a lot of rain lately... I should really go check to make sure no more of the bananas have fallen over...

 

[Lizzy733]

Geeze, my luck.

Looks like the one of our new little boys has a respiratory something going on. It's the bigger of our two kune kune...Not obvious, but with observation and having his younger sibling to compare, we can tell something's up. He has less energy than his little bro, a runny nose, occasional sneezing or coughing. His breathing is also quite heavy and rapid in general. He's a happy little boy otherwise and has no issues getting around or eating.

My first thought was maybe lungworm. Will go get some broadline spot on tomorrow and drench him to see if his symptoms clear up. If not, I suppose he'll be having a trip to the vet to see about some antibiotics. Hopefully it's not viral.

The youngest had ticks and there's lots of flea dander etc on both of them. Have given them both a good flea shampoo this week too and noticed they're itching less aggressively today, so perhaps that's making a difference.

They're being kept in the greenhouse at the moment; well ventilated and where my office is located so I can keep an eye on them and pop on a fan when it gets a bit warm.

They're settling in quite quickly and starting to be allowed out to graze under supervision. They're honestly quite respectful of boundaries - maybe it's their hotwire training or maybe they're just content with what they're given. We'll see if that changes once our big boy is feeling better. His younger brother is quite adventurous, but is too loyal to his brother to go far on his own.

 

[Alaskan]

Bummer about the whatever illness issue.

 

[Lizzy733]

There is always a something to do here and the turkeys are growing up so quickly!

Our little sick kune has been to the vet and received antibiotics about a week ago. It was a slow turnaround, but he's in great spirits and his breathing has finally leveled out.

The newest thing thrown our way came in the form of an orphaned day old quail that decided to squeeze its way into our kitchen. No mom in sight, so the little one is in the brooder. Unfortunately, it doesnt seem like anyone nearby has day old chicks at the moment, so he's an only child, unfortunately.

I dont think he's gotten the knack of eating yet, which is worrisome. I've tried tid-bitting, but he doesn't seem to get it. He's on a meat\game crumble which has been blitzed and scattered about the brooder. He's been with us three nights so far.

Seemed a bit low on energy today, but yesterday evening was a bit on the cool side - still at least 35 degrees in the brooder. I've been keeping him hydrated with a syringe and gave him a bit of polyaid today and added some supplemental heating.

He's no longer flighty, which is good. There's a quail breeder in auckland which has a hatch due in around 4 days... May need to go get some day olds then if I cant find him any company beforehand.

 

[Alaskan]

There is always a something to do here and the turkeys are growing up so quickly!

Our little sick kune has been to the vet and received antibiotics about a week ago. It was a slow turnaround, but he's in great spirits and his breathing has finally leveled out.

The newest thing thrown our way came in the form of an orphaned day old quail that decided to squeeze its way into our kitchen. No mom in sight, so the little one is in the brooder. Unfortunately, it doesnt seem like anyone nearby has day old chicks at the moment, so he's an only child, unfortunately.

I dont think he's gotten the knack of eating yet, which is worrisome. I've tried tid-bitting, but he doesn't seem to get it. He's on a meat\game crumble which has been blitzed and scattered about the brooder. He's been with us three nights so far.

Seemed a bit low on energy today, but yesterday evening was a bit on the cool side - still at least 35 degrees in the brooder. I've been keeping him hydrated with a syringe and gave him a bit of polyaid today and added some supplemental heating.

He's no longer flighty, which is good. There's a quail breeder in auckland which has a hatch due in around 4 days... May need to go get some day olds then if I cant find him any company beforehand.

One year we made the mistake of getting only 2 turkey poults. Too few.

We had to go and remind them to eat every hour all day long for the first week.

Take a finger and tap the feed... and they would eat.

With quail that were slow to eat, some times if you took the crumb and dropped it on the ground of the brooder, the bouncing food would entice them.

We read that crumpled up tin foil below the feed to have some sparkle could also entice the slow to eat... that didn't work for us.

 

[Baymule]

Poor little birdies, no parents to teach them to eat. I hope your little quail starts eating and doing what quail chicks do. Adding a few more will help.

 

[Lizzy733]

One year we made the mistake of getting only 2 turkey poults. Too few.

We had to go and remind them to eat every hour all day long for the first week.

Take a finger and tap the feed... and they would eat.

With quail that were slow to eat, some times if you took the crumb and dropped it on the ground of the brooder, the bouncing food would entice them.

We read that crumpled up tin foil below the feed to have some sparkle could also entice the slow to eat... that didn't work for us.

Good to hear its at least a bit normal. Our turkeys were past that point when we got them - looking to be 3 boys and 2 girls in our turkey flock. - not an ideal ratio. Perhaps I should bachelor coop one or two of the boys with my cockerels as they grow.

They eat very well and have learned how to use the chook feeders from the chickens. They've outgrown my pullets and cockerels hatched in october. I've decided to keep them together for the time being as I dont intend to bring in any more outside birds anytime soon (except maybe quail for the aviary) and I religiously keep on top of my flock's health.

I've tried popping him in the puppy play pen with my silkie - she is very gentle with stranger chicks, but unfortunately not broody at the moment. He did watch her use the waterer, but was more distracted by the size of the pen and she wasnt too keen on food at that particular moment.

I tossed her a few mealworms, but she smashed those out while the chick wasnt paying attention. - might try again with her later today. She will only give a warning peck if he gets right up in her face and is always pretty gentle about it, so I trust her, but wouldnt leave him alone with her just in case.

Will try the aluminium and keep going with the syringe for now. First few days, I wasnt too worried because I knew he'd be running off yolk reserves, but it's been night 4 with us now and he should really be eating.

Another cool evening, but I added a seedling heat mat under his brooder and the probe was reading 38c overnight. I havent had a good look at him this morning, but he sounds to be up and running around. Hopefully, he's just pecking about when Im not looking.

 

[Alaskan]

Quail are incredibly tiny... so harder to feel...

But if you can... feel if the crop is fully.

 

[Lizzy733]

Quail are incredibly tiny... so harder to feel...

But if you can... feel if the crop is fully.

Incredibly tiny, indeed. It is such a small chick. I did see it scratching around a bit earlier, so it looks like it may just be eating when I'm not looking after all!