ID Systems
Breeding poultry, esp rare or project birds, often requires detailed record keeping. ID systems (the most common being leg bands) are vital, but often pretty pricey. Trying to reduce my own ID costs, and to find a wider variety of options, I have spent many months purchasing and testing various products. Some have failed miserably, others have proven very useful. As products pass the tests they'll be added here.
Breeding poultry, esp rare or project birds, often requires detailed record keeping. ID systems (the most common being leg bands) are vital, but often pretty pricey. Trying to reduce my own ID costs, and to find a wider variety of options, I have spent many months purchasing and testing various products. Some have failed miserably, others have proven very useful. As products pass the tests they'll be added here.
Double Spiral Leg Rings
Unlike most on the market, these are quite flexible, making them easier to get on delicate legs, and less likely to cause damage if left on too long.
They come in 12 colours (+more in the works): Dark pink, purple, light pink, red, light blue, dark blue, brown, black, white, yellow, light green, orange. (tint may vary a little between batches)
50% of profit on all double spiral legbands goes to my local poultry club, the Lachlan Valley Poultry Fanciers.
Sizes and Pricing:
Day Old - 5mm inside, 7mm outside. Fits all day old (and first few weeks) chickens, guinea fowl, and turkeys. Fits adult Jap quail, and may fit some small bantam chickens until adults. 10 for $1.50, 25 for $2.50. Postage is 50c up to 100, $1 over 100.
More sizes and styles to come :)
They come in 12 colours (+more in the works): Dark pink, purple, light pink, red, light blue, dark blue, brown, black, white, yellow, light green, orange. (tint may vary a little between batches)
50% of profit on all double spiral legbands goes to my local poultry club, the Lachlan Valley Poultry Fanciers.
Sizes and Pricing:
Day Old - 5mm inside, 7mm outside. Fits all day old (and first few weeks) chickens, guinea fowl, and turkeys. Fits adult Jap quail, and may fit some small bantam chickens until adults. 10 for $1.50, 25 for $2.50. Postage is 50c up to 100, $1 over 100.
More sizes and styles to come :)
Medications
Some medications will be available, generally as smaller lots taken from bulk purchases for my own birds.
Ivermectin Pour-on
My chemical wormer of choice. Parasites ideally are dealt with using good management practices, but there are times a strong sure product is needed. Ivermectin kills most internal parasites (excluding tapeworm), as well as body lice and scaly leg mite. Pour-on type is easy to use, a matter of a few drops on the bird's comb or bare skin under the wing, which can easily be done at night. Dose rate is 1ml per 10kg weight, at a rate of 20 drops per ml. So a small bantam (under 1kg) gets 2 drops, large bantam (1-2kg) 4 drops, small standard (2-3kg) 6 drops, large standard (3-4kg) 8 drops, and huge birds like muscovy drakes, geese, Aylesburys, heavy chickens etc get 10 drops. If birds are very young it can be hard to get a safe dose on them, so if under 400g I'd put it off or find a small bird wormer.
5ml is $10 and will do 16 large laying hens or 25 bantams. 10ml is $15 and will do 32 large laying hens or 50 bantams.
Ivermectin Pour-on
My chemical wormer of choice. Parasites ideally are dealt with using good management practices, but there are times a strong sure product is needed. Ivermectin kills most internal parasites (excluding tapeworm), as well as body lice and scaly leg mite. Pour-on type is easy to use, a matter of a few drops on the bird's comb or bare skin under the wing, which can easily be done at night. Dose rate is 1ml per 10kg weight, at a rate of 20 drops per ml. So a small bantam (under 1kg) gets 2 drops, large bantam (1-2kg) 4 drops, small standard (2-3kg) 6 drops, large standard (3-4kg) 8 drops, and huge birds like muscovy drakes, geese, Aylesburys, heavy chickens etc get 10 drops. If birds are very young it can be hard to get a safe dose on them, so if under 400g I'd put it off or find a small bird wormer.
5ml is $10 and will do 16 large laying hens or 25 bantams. 10ml is $15 and will do 32 large laying hens or 50 bantams.
Feeds
For those wanting to raise just a couple of birds it is impractical to buy full bags of starter and grower feeds. I use top quality Laucke Mills feeds for the first few months, and offer 5kg bags of these feeds for purchase with young birds and eggs.
Feed availability and price is directly relative to grain availability.While the feeds we have available are what we ourselves use, they come with no guarantee of perfect nutritional balance. Our mixes are constantly fussed over and so may change slightly on occasion as we discover new ways to improve it.
Feed availability and price is directly relative to grain availability.While the feeds we have available are what we ourselves use, they come with no guarantee of perfect nutritional balance. Our mixes are constantly fussed over and so may change slightly on occasion as we discover new ways to improve it.