AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi everyone, Happy New year....
I have a New Years Resolution.
I am going to finish my new Peacock shed and get ready for my Greens (hopefully?) at the end of the year.
Hope everyone is having a food breeding season cos mine has been a shocker so far and I think it is at the end .
That's another story for another day though.
Hope to hear from you all throughout the year.
Buggsy.....

Hi all, Like Buggsy I'm hoping to finish some more chook pens and a better Mandarin Duck enclosure.Have fallen behind on these projects owing to recent ill health (body refused to work) plus have a very sick mother in law so I have been tied up one way or the other.

Had e really good chook season,average peacock season and a terrible Mandarin Duck season but overall very happy with what I got.

Happy New Year to all.
Regards,

Snowball.

Hi Buggsy & Snowball, Sorry to read your season, Buggsy has not gone well, what went wrong? good luck with the pen! also sorry to read, Snowball that you were not well hope you are on the mend? also good luck with your projects. Our season has gone well with a record hatching of Peafowl, Guineas, and Pekins. On the Waterfowl front, we had an average year with 3 eggs down from last year. We have heard many breeders had trouble this season with Mandarins, with little or no eggs laid? we had a typical year and hatched 46.

Thanks
Peacocks Australia

Hi Pa,
My Mandarins laid 8 eggs of which one I found broken on the floor?? and the others were all clear, but this was their first year so maybe better luck next year.
Regards,
Snowball

Hi Snowball, 8 eggs for the first season is good, usually a Duck would only lay a couple in her first season. Should be a bumper this season?

P.s Infertility is quite common for the first lay.



Thanks
Peacocks Australia

Well, as far as bad seasons go, this has been my worst.
Two of my free range hens have had clutches raided by either foxes, dogs or crows, so zero babies there.
The caged birds laid a few eggs which I have in the incubator and some are due to hatch tomorrow....(but not holding my breath)
One of my captive hens just died overnight......no sign of illness or disturbance at all.
She just settled down on the floor as if she was going broody and that was where I found her the next day.
the 2 other free hens (which had their nests raided have vanished (I am assuming that they may be nesting again somewhere......
So, I guess I will concentrate on getting the new shed finished and maybe those elusive Greens will have to wait till next year.
On a brighter note, I have been lusting after Bleeding Heart Pigeons for years and finally bought a pair off Petlink a few weeks ago.
As soon as I got them in the aviary they built a nest and laid.
So if they are successful I will be happy.
At least my turtle breeding has gone well.

Anyway..........I talk too much....
Buggsy

I do not even want to start on my peafowl season! I am that upset, I hatched many babies and I am down to one reverse pied. The rest have all died at about 3 or 4 weeks of age. They all had lots of weight and were feathering in well, I just found them dead in the mornings. We have had unusually cold December here in Perth, but the baby runs are sheltered from the wind and rain. I do not know what I am doing wrong but whatever it is its disastrous. I have wrapped the baby reverse pied in cotton wool for now to keep it safe. So disillusioned by it all. I am hoping for better luck next season.

Hi Mrpeabody, sorry to read you lost most of your Peachicks, hope we can help with the following info on "Our Procedures":

Incubator Hatched Chicks.
all Incubated chicks stay in the Incubator for 36 hours after hatching, they are then moved into "Brooder Boxes" as a group. Our brooder boxes are located in the "Brooder shed" which we believe is very important for Peachicks, the boxes have 50% fully enclosed shelters with one or two heater lights (75w) in each shelter. These heater lights stay ON for the first 2 weeks 24/7, then they are put on timer to come on 5.00pm, off 8.00am(subject to weather)The floor of the "Brooder boxes" is completely covered with "Turkey Starter" we also have 4 auto feed hoppers filled with "Turkey Starter" in each box. We ONLY feed "Turkey Starter" for the first 6 -8 weeks depending on growth rate. We strongly recommend you do not feed the Peachicks foods that can contain Bacteria, such as kitchen scraps.Fresh water is given twice a day without fail, this is very important as their immune system is yet to fully develope. The Peachicks will stay in the "Brooder Boxes" for a minimum 10 weeks usually longer. We then move the chicks to our "Juvenile Pens" (subject to weather) these are one third the size of our normal pens (including height) and have 50% shelters, with 6 inches of wood shavings in each. We do not mix Peachick batches, this means Batch no1 will go in "Juvenile Pen" no1, Batch no2 will go in "Juvenile Pen" no2 and so on.. The Peachicks will have NO contact with any Adult birds, especially Peafowl, Chickens, Guinea Fowl ect... they stay in the "Juvenile Pens" for 5-6 months minimum and are vaccinated (usually at 3 months of age) within that time.

Hen Raised:
We do not allow Peahens to raise chicks, we will and do use Chickens but under strict conditions, all our "Peafosters" as we call them are kept away from all other birds especially Poultry, like all our birds they are vaccinated with Baytril, Emtryl, and wormed, but they are given one additional dose prio to incubation of Peafowl eggs. All "Peafosters" are set in our "Brooder Boxes" in our "Brooder Shed" and are treated the same as Incubated Chicks including heater lights were needed.

Important points:
Peachicks are very susceptible to a couple of diseases and must be treated like a new born human baby (sterile conditions) "Turkey Starter will help build their immune system and vaccinate them. They should NOT have ANY contact with Adult birds, particularly Peafowl, Chooks, Turkeys (excluding the foster bird of course)

Peachicks MUST have heat for at least the first 6 weeks, they are very happy in 35c and need the heat to aid growth and mobility.

If you have more than one batch of Peachicks, you should wash you hands from brooder to brooder and anything in one brooder should never go in the other, including Chicks.

Do not mix Peachick batches, do not allow them to have contact with each other or any birds. Do not introduce a juvenile bird to the flock until they are at least 5 months old (6 or more is better)

The above is a Guide only and may vary on climate.
Peacocks Australia

This is part of an Article that will be on our Web Site in the coming weeks.

I am not writing this to make anyone feel sorry for me, but just to show how stupid I can be and how my run of bad luck just continues.

As can be seen from by posts above, my season so far has been a shocker.
Now to add insult to injury, other than having the two "wild" nests raided by foxes, I have had a few stray eggs in my Bellsouth 100 incubator.
The other day I hatched out 5 beautiful babies, (one of them was a lovely pied) and I thought my luck had started to change for the better.
I put them in a brooder (in my Snake Shed) after about 15 hours and they started eating well and were doing great.
One morning (3 days sfter they had hatched) I went up to check on them and when I looked in the brooder.....................no chicks.
Imagine my horror when I looked behind the brooder and there I see one of my Centralian Carpet pythons..so full of 5 peachicks that it couldn't move.
I was gutted. Absolutely gutted.
The python had escaped during the night and found a lovely meal of my babies.
That was 2 weeks ago and I am slowly starting to get over it.
One of my "wild" hens is sitting on another clutch.
My remaining captive hen is now sitting as well, and I have another 6 eggs due to hatch in the incubator.
I hope everyone else is having (or have had) a good year....

Buggsy.