Jo Blyth

Hi everyone and thank you for being available Victoria. New to the permies forum and new to the wondrous world of Isa Brown hens. I'm sure they have a certain amount of heritage in them some where. Geelong, Australia is where they live so we are in a cool temperate zone with a few frosts a year. Summer heat and more extreme heat days are the challenge around here. My question is about health. I took these hens on because a young fella was selling up his small business. I ended up starting out with 25 hens instead of beginning with a small flock. I practice deep litter in their indoor area which they have never slept in except at the door. Now that we have poultry net up we don't even lock them in at night. A big mistake I am sure when I want to train half of them to a mobile system. Back to my health question. Two scares already. One deformed toe and a persistent limp in one hen that may be gout but has not cleared up or gotten worse. Another hen has an eye infection. Unclear, whether or not it was injured or just developed conjunctivitis type infection. All other hens clear. No visible or by smell ammonia problems. This hen is isolated and being treated with saline wash and antibiotic ointment. Eye is open now but doesn't show great improvement but she is eating but not laying. Been a week now, no sign of respiratory issues but not much improvement. Have exhausted my research from home, any experience offered would be appreciated. My family advise me not to spend on a vet and quite honestly our local vets are just drug and processed food retail outlets and don't treat many chooks anyway. If I am allowed two questions, I'd like to ask is it cruel to ignore broody hens or should I be managing them somehow? The chickens have lots of room and are safe as possible from predators so I think they are stress free but there is work to do improving their pasture. Their diet is high in foraged critters and quality greens and scraps so that you know their current diet situation. They also have a quality grain mix available to them. They don't seem to like the whole corn in it though. I have made you read enough. I have lots of questions! Cheers, Jo

G'day Paul, been enjoying your website in Geelong, Australia since I followed a link from Geoff Lawton a few months back now. To add to the kickstarter conversation, I would like to suggest that currency and international issues may be holding some of your readers and listeners back. Certainly, in my case but I promise to look at what is involved in signing up. Little reluctant to add the credit card to an international platform. I have been spreading the word about your website and that your approach to Permaculture is well thought out. Something, I find lacking in a lot of Permaculture forums. You asked Geoff many of the questions I would have liked to ask him myself. I am always curious about why David Holmgren never gets a mention, however. Is it because he has become involved with Deep Green Ecology or something like that? Just to throw a radical idea out there? He seemed sidelined long before that I might add... Cheer, Jo