Chickens down South

04/09/2024

We would love to see pictures & hear updates of your chooks 😍

Pictured is Elton & Flower who are now 2 years old 🌼 livin the dream in downtown Witchcliffe !

We will be in Albany on Saturday with Young Hyline Pullets that are 14 weeks old, just forward a text to order 👍
Ph 0421 784147

03/09/2024

Enrichment for your chooks!

Chook swings!!

Chickens are really inquisitive & curious, they will enjoy the movement of a chicken swing, the extra activity keeps them in good shape to pump out eggs 🥚

Great Southern Stock Feeds

02/09/2024

Chickens enhance family life & gift you eggs!

Hyline Browns 14 weeks old available for pick up in Albany on Sat 7th & Denmark on Mon 9th.

To order please text Ph 0421 784147

02/09/2024

Cake, always a good start to the week !!

Ilan, requests marble cake and this recipe is a winner !!

The quantities make a large cake for sharing.

200 grams almond meal
200 grams gluten free self raising flour
150 grams rapadura sugar (more or less!)
150 ml olive oil
3/4 of a can of light coconut milk
4 very large eggs (vegan: try a flaxegg)

Mix ingredients well, put 3/4 of the batter in a lined baking pan.

Mix the remaining batter with 2 large tablespoons of cacao and and a splash of the left over coconut milk.

Dollop the cacao batter on top of the blonde batter in the baking pan, slightly mingle the chocolatey mix into the blonde batter with a fork.

Into a 180 degree oven, for about 40 minutes, or until cooked. The top of the cake should bounce back when gently pushed.

Leave to cool, if you can wait!! The smell in the kitchen will be intense, cakey, chocolatey, yum.....enjoy.

Happy Monday 🌞

30/08/2024

We feed our Hyline Pullets twice a day to allow them access to feed ad lib !

Our netted areas allow them ease to free range and roam all day, scratching, dirt bathing, hunting insects & bugs !

If your looking to add chickens to your flock, you can order Hyline Pullets
14 weeks old
for pick up in Albany on Saturday 7th
Ph 0421 784187

30/08/2024

Packed with protein ....mealworms !!
💪 🪱 🐔 🥚

Happy Healthy Chickens = Yummy Eggs !

Drop into Great Southern Stock Feeds for all your feathered friends feed rations.

29/08/2024

Egg thieves!!

Crows are extremely active this time of year.....stealing precious eggs from your chooks.

With the rising costs associated with keeping chickens it pays to protect your hens and the hen house where your girls lay.
Netting the coop will keep crows out but where this is not practical or affordable we recommend locking your girls in until most of the chooks have laid and the eggs have been collected.
Other possibilies are making access to the laying area as difficult as possible for the crows.

How do you keep crows out of the coop ?

28/08/2024

Its the time of year for the Chickens to experience a Spring Flush !!!!!

Whats a Spring flush !!!!! ?

Spring Flush is when the chickens gear up again, ready to start laying more frequently.
They may have stopped laying over the last few months and or laying alot less. The increase in day length is picked up by the pineal gland (which is in your chicken's brain) this in turn signals the body that it's time to ramp up egg production again and pump out eggs.... 🥚🥚

To help support your hens through spring flush, make sure you:
Offer a high protein, high calcium complete laying feed.
Offer a complete laying feed ad lib. Chickens are great self regulators so will eat what they need.
Prioritise your laying feed over scraps and foraging.
Give your feathered friends a weak seaweed solution which is full of vitamins, minerals & Omega 3's which will support the chickens overall health.
Plus plenty of clean water.

🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚 🥚

Chickens Available to order:
Young Hyline Pullets
Ph 0421 784147 🐔

27/08/2024

Chickens Available:
Young Hyline Pullets
14 weeks old
Healthy friendly birds
Prolific layers ! 🥚
Pick up in Albany on Saturday 7th
Pick up in Denmark on
Tuesday 3rd, Monday 9th
&
Saturday Sept 14th
Text to order 0421 784147
(Thirty Eight Dollars each)
Please byo box upon pick up!

26/08/2024

Happy Healthy Chooks = Tasty Eggs🥚

Paying attention to what your chooks need before purchasing will make your life's much easier....it's all in the preparation....

What your chooks need:
🐔 Shelter from the weather
🐔 Safety from foxes, dogs, birds of prey & crows
🐔 Perches for roosting & entertainment
🐔 A place to lay eggs
🐔 Food
🐔 Water
🐔 Other chooks
🐔 Room to scratch & forage
🐔 Dirt/sand baths

I am often asked about what to feed Hylines:
🐔 Hylines from 10 weeks - 20 weeks old require a growers feed ration, the growers feed ration assists the bird with growth and preparing their bodies for laying.
🐔 Hylines at 20 weeks old require a layers feed ration which assists the bird with egg production.
🐔 Hylines require a high protein feed so that they can maintain productive egg production. 💪 🥚

🐔 On the farm we sprout grain for the chickens, it's an easy process, soak grain in a bucket of water overnight, then transfer grain to a bucket with holes in the bottom, this drains the water off the grain, water daily, after a couple of days you will see the grain sprouting, feed to the chooks, they love it !
More nutritious and easily digested.

🐔 Spring is around the corner and with
Spring comes the spring flush,
meaning lots of eggs!!! 🥚🥚
One of our top tips for your chooks is a supplement of diluted seasol solution, add a splash of seasol to water and let your chooks help themselves!

🐔 Top tip 👌 Add wormwood and lavender to the nesting boxes, chooks will peck at the wormwood (a natural wormer) & the lavender will give a great smell in the hen house.

We recommend Great Southern Stock Feeds The Denmark Co-Operative & Goodies Farm for all your chooks feed rations.

❤️

21/08/2024

Spring is around the corner.....it's such a good time to add chooks to your hen house.

Available the first week of September
14 week old Hyline Pullets

To order please text
Ph 0421 784147

Happy healthy chooks = yummy eggs 🥚

19/08/2024

It's local, it's lush 😍

Hey there, fresh food fanatics!

We've been absolutely spoiled this winter, thanks to our awesome local growers keeping our bellies full and happy. But heads up—this week, we're scaling back just a bit. Also, we're pressing pause on apples and pears (unless you really want them), so this week’s all about our juicy, vitamin C-packed citrus. Enjoy the zesty goodness!

For fresh veggies in your kitchen,
Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Broccoli, Potatoes, Leek, Pumpkin, Avocado, Chard, Pac Choi, Parsley, Coriander, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Kohl Rabi, Celeriac
Check the form link for more detail
Local Market Box Aug 24th
https://forms.gle/FJdQ7rqfRB2S9P648

18/08/2024

Well we are definately getting our share of rain today !! 🌧 🌂 🐔
Please check on your feathered friends 🧡

Handy chook tips for settling in your hyline pullets👌

Hylines are a commercial breed, prolific layers and super friendly birds.

Hylines require a high protein feed to pump out those eggs 🥚 💪 😋

If you purchased your hyline pullets at
14 weeks old they require a growers ration, feed can be purchased at Great Southern Stock Feeds in Albany or The CO-OP in Denmark. Goodies Farm also grow top quality feed for chooks.

Your hylines will begin to lay from 20-22 weeks (eggciting times!). When you see eggs your girls will require a change of feed to a layers ration.

Introducing your pullets to a pen that already has chooks.... there will be some pecking until their hierarchy is sorted.... supply 2 feeding areas so that you know your new pullets are getting food and water.... keep your new pullets locked in their laying house for a few days so they know where they will be laying in the future....

Keeping your pullets healthy....check your pullets when there are downpours of rain, as they may stay in the wet and get cold 🥶...

Supply your pullets with fresh water and clean feed, hylines also love greens, free ranging, gut lovin foods and any extra protein.

A simple shelter for roosting and locking up at night is essential to keep your pullets safe from foxes and stray dogs.

🐔🐔

17/08/2024

Fancy eggs for brekkie?
Then our
8 month old
Hyline Layers
are for you ! 🥚
3 for 100 dollars
To order please text
Ph 0421784147

Pick up is available in
Denmark on Tues 20th
or
On farm by appointment

Healthy happy hens = yummy eggs 🥚

13/08/2024

🍳 ATTENTION FLOCK RELEASE !! 🍳
Wanting eggs 🥚?

Then these Hylines are for you ....
We are releasing a small number of LAYERS!
Hylines are 8 months old, productive, friendly & will eat kitchen scraps that tend to go in the bin, producing yummy eggs!
(3 Hylines for one hundred dollars) 💸

Ordering is easy, send us text with how many you would like to
Ph:0421 784147

Pick up is available in
Albany on Saturday 17th &
Denmark Tuesday 20th

Or on farm pick up by appointment only.
Please byo a box upon pick up 📦

11/08/2024

CHICKENS AVAILABLE:

Available for immediate pick up:
THREE HYLINES
2x 8 month old Hylines - Laying 🥚
+
1x 20 week old Hyline - Point of Lay
(One Hundred Twenty Dollars for all three!)
Healthy, friendly chickens
Pick up is available in Denmark or on farm by appointment
*Edit to post these 3 Hylines are now SOLD*

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 7th
Taking orders now for
14 week old Hylines
(Thirty Eight Dollars each)
Healthy, friendly chickens
Pick up is available in Denmark, Albany or on farm by appointment

Please call or text to order
0421 784147

07/08/2024

Our Pekins are busy producing....love the little eggs 🥚
What a mild winter we are having...the trees & plants think it's spring...daffodils are in bloom my mulberry has fruit !!!

05/08/2024

Brekkie was a thang this morning !!
This brekkie is loaded with all the good stuff and will keep you fueled in a good way for a long period of time so you can keep on keeping on in the Barnyard and Veggie Patch!!! 🤣
Or cut up into pieces for the kids lunch boxes.....

2 cups of porridge oats blitzed to a fine ish flour
1 cup milk of choice
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 large grated apple
1 large grated carrot
Small handful of raisens
Small handful dates chopped
Scraping of a vanilla pod (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Piece of ginger grated (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cheeky swig of maple syrup
Small handful of pecan nuts to place on top

Stir all ingredients, dump in a lined tin, flatten top, press nuts in place, pop in the oven.

Bake 180 for about 35 - 40 mins

The slice can be slightly wet inside, so if you have a deep brown colour on the outside, its done!

04/08/2024

Top gardening tips 👌

AUGUST IN YOUR GARDEN 🥬🥔🫛
It’s time to get planting! There are some great plants you can put in now. Try beetroot, winter lettuce, parsnip, peas, radish, celery (in a milk carton), leek, lettuce, onions, mizuna (an Asian green), mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley), seed potatoes, rocket, silverbeet, and spinach.

Top up mulch on your veggie patches, herb gardens, and ornamental beds. Choose a sustainable, low-environmental-impact mulch like our Native mulch, which will enrich your soil as it breaks down.

If planning on putting in some tomatoes next month, prepare a bed now (your toms will thank you for it). Do this by popping in some of our compost, a small amount of water, and applying a straw mulch. This bed will be awesome come September… and you will have the most terrific tomatoes in the street!

Pruning and weeding is a top job to do at this time of year. Deciduous fruit trees love a big trim now - except your apricot! Green manure crops (like clover, barley, wheat or field peas) are good to go now… improve that dormant veggie patch! On really cold days, why not head out to the shed, and sharpen, clean, oil and maintain your garden tools. Sounds tedious, but it’s really rewarding and will save you cash and plant illness in the long run.

Thanks again to Sustainable Gardening Australia for the gardening tips this month, to learn more visit https://www.sgaonline.org.au/

03/08/2024

Ilan the Chicken Whisperer 🐔
Will be in Denmark
on Tuesday 6th & Thursday 8th
with Hyline Pullets - 19 weeks old
Point of Lay 🥚
(ONLY 10 LEFT IN THE CURRENT FLOCK !!)
* POST UPDATE 4 LEFT !!!!!! *

Also available
Advanced Seedlings 🌱 weathered
Ready to plant!
Snow Peas
Broad Beans
Sugar snap peas
&
Coriander

AND
Genuinely free range eggs
from healthy happy hens 🥚

To order please call 📞 or text
Ph 0421 784147

03/08/2024

Twas a beautiful morning to shop at
Albany Farmers Market Western Australia
Love supporting our
Local growers, makers, bakers and creatives
😍

25/07/2024

We have a limited number of
Point of Lay Hyline Pullets
Available for pick up in
Albany on SATURDAY 3rd
To order please call or text
Ph: 0421 784187

These healthy, friendly Hyline Pullets lay from 22 weeks old, at this time of year 🥚
Given the correct feeding and environment conditions these birds will lay prolifically for
2 to 3 years.
Chickens will add a charm to family life,
gift you eggs, fertiliser, scratch and turn over your gardens where needed & eat your kitchen scraps 👍

Chickens make wonderful pets & have hilarious characters!

23/07/2024

Did you know ?
That an egg can be sold for up to 30 days after the date it was put in the carton!!!!!!!!!!
And farmers have up to 30 days from when the egg is laid to then being in the carton!!!!!!
That means that supermarket eggs can be two months old by the time you buy them!!!!!!!!!!!!

At Chickens down South we believe eggs need to be fresh, therefore there is much more taste and nutrients in the egg when used for cooking !!
When an egg is laid it's best to let the contents of the egg form and settle inside the shell.

A fresh egg will have a runnier white, then a thicker white near the yolk, the yolk should be an orange colour (but not a fake orange colour, this will mean there are colourants in the chooks feed!).

We recommend knowing your farmer and knowing the product that you are eating.

Healthy happy hens = yummy eggs 🥚

22/07/2024

🐔 Cluck yeah 🌱
We are heading into Denmark town
from the farm on
Saturday 27th
We will be bringing
Hyline Pullets - 18 weeks old
Advanced snow pea & broad bean seedlings
To order send a text or give us a call 📞
Ph 0421 784147

21/07/2024

They grow 'em big Redmond way 😆 🤣 😂

Romanesco is huge this year !!

No filter the colour is a lime green!!

19/07/2024

🐔 Hyline Pullets
18 weeks old
Pick up in Albany
Sunday 28th
10am
Byo box 📦
0421 784187 📞

Friendly healthy birds
Prolific layers 👍

16/07/2024

Looking for feathered friends?
Hyline Pullets - 18 weeks old
Available for pick up in Denmark on
Saturday 27th July
Healthy, friendly birds, prolific layers 🥚
To order or for more information
Call/ text Ph 0421 784187

14/07/2024

I love love love Tronchuda (Portugal Summer) Cabbage, this has been a fabulous addition to
'The Patch!'

The cabbage has green leaves, large loose leaf cabbage. Does not heart.
Use as a cabbage roll, large white mid-stems are tender and tasty.
Use in stir frys, eat raw in salad.
Delicious 😋

I made Asian style steamed cabbage rolls filled with tofu, coriander, ginger, garlic, noodles & spring onions!

12/07/2024

Vita our beautiful Maremma Guardian taking her duties next level and watching over greens that I picked for the daughter !!

10/07/2024

Info for growing Snow Peas 🫛 👍