Newbie in South Glengarry

[McCluckyCluck]

gidday and welcome eh!

diseases: my biggest problem is coccidiosis, its tough on young birds, its a cyst that lives in the intestinal tract; bottom line have a feeder and waterer they can't in.

which predators? all of them! we tend to have romantic notions of birds "free range" but sooner or later something will get them. best advice is to lock them in at night as this is when most predation happens and train a big dog to walk around the place; last year a fox got four (was late locking them up one night: his tail is on the wall in my shed), falcon (or whatever bird of prey) gets one or two each year as I let most birds run loose during the day; coyotes keep their distance after they heard my 12 guage one night (long story); and raccoons hit me hard years ago and not since (buggers can tear walls open and open locks so make it tight) and a mink killed one 5 years ago (shotgun got that one too). over 20 years add a rat and skunks and thats the whole list. all i didn't mention was an owl (who did bash in the roof of a pen one night) and neighbours dogs (lost a roo and a duck along the way) and cats; and weasels (killed a big brahma hen when I was a kid; friggin vampires; suck the blood and maybe tear the head off)

or you can lock them up tight: heavy welded wire, roofed pen, or good "chicken tractor". you'll build a pen that's good enough and you might be fine for years then something will hit you and you'll cry, get mad, and build a fortress with an electric perimeter fence and a guard tower with a machine gun (ok, bit of an exagerration but just a bit)

the bigger the bird (geese, Jersey Giant chicken) the less predator problems

apologize if details are gruesome: we like to eat chicken, so do all the predators

(as I write this there's a herd of 'yotes yapping maybe 300 yards from my couch. getting hungry and bold this late in the winter). too bad fur coats aren't popular.

good luck!

Yeah I was worried about coccidiosis but can't find anywhere that sells medicated chick crumb.Or do you think it's unnecessary if you can stop them eating and drinking their own poo?! Current plan is to have them secured tightly at night and free range in the day. We're at home all the time and will probably get some sort of dog. We have a cat but he is terrified of Canada..mega whimp. I am still very worried about predators but it seems like it would be too expensive to make a run that would be safe enough AND as large as I would like it... so guess we'll go the gruesome route! :-S

[McCluckyCluck]

to PTO!!
There's a store called TSC in Cornwall that sells a selection of feed and supplies. It's a 'big box' store, and has convenient hours and locations, but their prices aren't great and quality can be hit and miss, as can the knowledge of their sales staff.
There is also an animal feed store in Williamstown, called Rozon I think.
Excellent choice in the Australorps! Are you getting them from Performance Poultry?

Yes, Performance Poultry! Have you tried them before? They seemed to have good reviews. Yeah I've checked out TSC and it seems ok, but like you say a bit hit and miss. There doesn't seem to be much selection.

[thejonesboy]

Welcome to

New to the country, where are you from?

Just moved from England. So all the predators and cold weather is kind of a new thing! Haven't been put off yet though!

Whereabouts in England, I'm from Manchester. Quite a few expats on PTO. Yes, the cold takes a bit of getting used to, but better than damp.

[Killerbunny]

I'm from the UK too originally.

[windwalkingwolf]

Yes, Performance Poultry! Have you tried them before? They seemed to have good reviews. Yeah I've checked out TSC and it seems ok, but like you say a bit hit and miss. There doesn't seem to be much selection.

Yes, I got some babies from the a couple years ago; Embden goslings, silver Spitzhauben, silver Dorkings, and some Australorps...the Australorps were a mistake, they were supposed to be Jersey Giants, and the Spitz arrived with severe pasty butt, but other than those things, I was very happy with my order. Performance sources many of his offerings from breeders and hatcheries in the U.S., and I expect the Australorp mess-up was a supplier mistake and the pasty butt was the result of chicks spending a little too long in the U.S. postal service and getting chilled.
I still have one Dorking hen, one Australorp hen, and three of the original geese. I would definitely buy from P.P. again.
The Australorp hen I kept is a great layer, but is the ugliest Giant I've ever seen lol

[McCluckyCluck]

Welcome to

New to the country, where are you from?

Just moved from England. So all the predators and cold weather is kind of a new thing! Haven't been put off yet though!

Whereabouts in England, I'm from Manchester. Quite a few expats on PTO. Yes, the cold takes a bit of getting used to, but better than damp.

There you go then, I've heard there are quite a few Brits in Ontario but you're the first I've heard from. I grew up in Sale as a kid, then moved to Dorset as a teenager, also lived in London for a bit and most recently Worcestershire. Hoping to stay put now! My family think I'm nuts moving out here and getting chickens. If I am mad then I'm not alone :-D

[McCluckyCluck]

Yes, Performance Poultry! Have you tried them before? They seemed to have good reviews. Yeah I've checked out TSC and it seems ok, but like you say a bit hit and miss. There doesn't seem to be much selection.

Yes, I got some babies from the a couple years ago; Embden goslings, silver Spitzhauben, silver Dorkings, and some Australorps...the Australorps were a mistake, they were supposed to be Jersey Giants, and the Spitz arrived with severe pasty butt, but other than those things, I was very happy with my order. Performance sources many of his offerings from breeders and hatcheries in the U.S., and I expect the Australorp mess-up was a supplier mistake and the pasty butt was the result of chicks spending a little too long in the U.S. postal service and getting chilled.
I still have one Dorking hen, one Australorp hen, and three of the original geese. I would definitely buy from P.P. again.
The Australorp hen I kept is a great layer, but is the ugliest Giant I've ever seen lol

That's good to hear then..more or less! If it all goes well this order than I will hopefully get some more next year. There didn't seem to be much choice of hatcheries to be honest. Unless I was going about it all wrong!

[Killerbunny]

The other thing to do is try these out and you can decide whether you like these or not (they are great layers). You can check out some shows if you fancy a heritage breed or 6!
I used to live in Fordingbridge for a while, you may have heard of it, near Ringwood and Salisbury.

[KimChick]

Welcome!
We're north of Kingston, near the village of Westport.
Australorps are a breed in which I am recently interested, being a large bird - for eggs & meat. But before I get any, I want to try my hand at hatching eggs from the hens that we have.

[Kbr42]

Performance Poultry is awesome. I've been ordering from Jason for years. I believe he sources hatching eggs to augment he's own breeding stock. Sometimes he's doesn't have larger numbers of hatches but he tries very hard to fill each order. Good luck.