Adelaide Chicken Sitting Service

08/10/2025

Egg Incubation Times for Different Bird Species: A Quick Guide
1. Chicken 🐔

Incubation Time: 21-22 Days

Fun Fact: Chickens are one of the most common poultry raised worldwide, with a quick incubation time that makes them easy to care for.

2. Quail 🦆

Incubation Time: 16-18 Days

Fun Fact: Quail eggs hatch much faster than chickens, making them an ideal choice for those who want to enjoy baby birds sooner.

3. Goose 🦢

Incubation Time: 24-32 Days

Fun Fact: Geese eggs take a bit longer to hatch, but they’re known for being great parents, often protecting their nests fiercely.

4. Pigeon 🕊️

Incubation Time: 12-16 Days

Fun Fact: Pigeons are quick incubators, and their eggs hatch relatively quickly compared to other bird species.

5. Ostrich 🦢

Incubation Time: 35-45 Days

Fun Fact: Ostriches have one of the longest incubation times among birds, but they’re also one of the most impressive species to raise due to their size and strength.

6. Peacock 🦚

Incubation Time: 25-28 Days

Fun Fact: Peafowl incubation is quite similar to that of ducks, and the beautiful feathers of a peacock are an iconic sight after they grow!

7. Turkey 🦃

Incubation Time: 28-30 Days

Fun Fact: Turkeys take a bit longer to hatch than chickens, but they produce delicious meat and are often raised around the holidays.

8. Duck 🦆

Incubation Time: 26-29 Days

Fun Fact: Ducks hatch a bit faster than turkeys and are wonderful foragers, making them fun and useful additions to your flock.

9. Guinea Fowl 🦃

Incubation Time: 25-28 Days

Fun Fact: Guinea fowl are hardy birds and known for their ability to protect your garden by eating pests. Their eggs are also a tasty delicacy!

08/10/2025

Chickens will be available on Tuesday 14 Oct at Sandersons in Coromandel Valley. Be very quick.

YOU ASKED….WE DELIVER! We have pulled some strings with our breeder and we have some more Hyline’s on the way!

Available next week, TUESDAY 14th October from 8.30am 👍

Quality 17 week old Hyline Browns, $32 each.

Please remember to bring your transport (box or crate) to get them safely home 🏡

23/08/2025

2026 PRICE RISING COMING
I often get asked if my prices are every going to rise. In all the years that I have been chicken pet sitting, I have only ever had one price rise. I have always tried to keep it in line with what dog walkers charge. I have only recently been informed that dog walkers charge a lot more than I do, and I offer a very specialised service.

Effective of 1 January 2026 all of my service charges will rise.

Once a day visit will rise by $5.
Twice a day visit will rise by $10.

Wing Clipping visit will rise by $5 but per bird shall remain the same.

Consulting fee will remain the same at $80 per hour ($40 per half hour thereafter).

Thank you kindly for your support.
​JANINE

Send a message to learn more

18/08/2025

Incubation Hatching Period for different types of poultry

18/08/2025

ROAM ZONE CHANGES.
As you may be aware if you visit my website blog, I work full time as a professional gardener. This means that the area that I can cover for chicken pet sitting has become a little smaller due to travel time from each of my gardening jobs.

I still do not know of any other chicken pet sitters, so I throw this out to you: if you know of anyone else who is chicken pet sitting, please get them to get in contact with me so that I can give them a lot more work. I am still desperate for people to work in the Adelaide Hills, east, northern and north-western suburbs. I can only cover the southern suburbs.

I do not employ any one, I can just work as a free referral service. What could be better than that?

I am no longer able to be flexible to visit outside of my roam zones. My sincerest apologies.

Here is to the future as I help you to KEEP your chickens.

13/08/2025

Sick chicken posture.

When a hen is sick, she stops laying eggs. Don't assume that a hen who’s not laying eggs is egg bound- it's just not as common as chickeneers think.
Learn how to care for a sick chicken in this important article on my website: https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-help-sick-chicken/

If a hen is truly egg bound, it is an emergency that she isn't likely to survive more than 48 hours without a veterinarian. Learn more about egg binding here: https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

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28/07/2025

Somerzby explains how large your chicken run should be for the amount of chickens you want. Best tip: Always be generous.

Explore green lipped mussel for dogs: a natural supplement to boost joint health, reduce inflammation, and improve your pet's well-being.

22/07/2025

IMPORTANT WARNING. Not that chickens are microshipped but this will apply to your dog and cat.

13/07/2025

List of things that are toxic to chickens.

21/06/2025

Its the Winter Solstice, but that doesn't mean that our hens are suddenly going to start laying again. They should start around about the last week of August. On average, from my chickens and all of my clients' chickens, that is the most commonest restart week. Hybrids are another story, entirely.

14/06/2025

Another take.

The chicken came first, not the egg, because the protein needed to form it's egg-shells is only produced by chickens.

This protein, called ovocleidin-17 (OC-17), is essential for the rapid development of the shell and is found exclusively in the chicken o***y.

While eggs predate chickens, the specific formation of chicken eggs, with their unique shells, requires the presence of OC-17, which is only produced by hens.

06/06/2025

One of the most common conditions to affect your chickens will be diarrhoea.

Here are some tips on how to help prevent diarrhoea in your flock.

If you have any concerns about the droppings your chicken is producing contact your local chicken friendly vet for advice. A list of chicken friendly vets can be found here >>> https://www.chickenvet.co.uk/find-a-vet