Recent content by gadus

Toffee noses, the whole lot of 'em!

They pecked at it but most of it is still out there, stinking up the yard. To the compost pile next time.

I said the hell with it and tossed the scraps in the yard. They can figure out for themselves what suits 'em.

Do any fishermen/women here feed any of the offal to their birds? I was wondering specifically about squid guts, about whether or not it would be wise to feed it to the birds? Or should everything be cooked first? Or are fish/squid guts simply not a wise hors d'oeuvres, period?

Thanks to all who replied. I'm now mixing in my crushed shell with the feed. But also will provide oyster shell "on the side" going forward.

Who is using eggshells for calcium inputs? Is there any empirical evidence that it is as good as oyster shell? I've been slacking in the calcium department but I've got sacks of cleaned and dried eggshells - put aside for garden use - ready to be put to use in the coop.

I take it, that's regardless of whether I plan to broil it or stew it? It's an Ameraucana.

Based on forum comments, I'm going to make stock of my cockerel. There are plenty of hens, if recommended ratios are anything to go by, but space is limited. I can't see two roosters in a small space together, no matter how many hens there are. I just see a bloodbath. When are people butchering...

I can see now that this topic has been previously exhausted to death so I appreciate the feedback. We have many predators - bobcat, fox, raccoon, bear, hawk, even rats (though I hope I dispatched the last of them) - so I am pretty well convinced that on the predator issue alone a rooster is a...

Knowledgeable crew here. Which is why, rather than launch a new thread, I'm going to ask here, when to expose pullets to a rooster? The reality is that when they're ready to lay, they get moved into the coop, so it's kind of a done deal at that point but I wondered about free-ranging them now...

I got an Ameraucauna rooster as a gift from some friends two months ago. They had three and were happy to get rid of him. His name is Pablo, though I rarely address him by name. Pablo was attractive to me because he had apparently fought off a fox and I'd already lost several to one. Since his...

Just found out, Pablo is between two and three years old. The age feels perfect to me. His transition has been seamless, knock wood.

I have done some culling, usually in the fall, so no problem. However I wait too long to do so, so all the birds get made into chicken stock; I haven't had to buy any for a while now but the meat is too far gone to really use at that point (3 yrs plus). I've been thinking for years of building...

Thanks to all who replied. I have noted with amusement, that Pablo likes to "discover" treats and turn the hens onto them. Entertainment factor is excellent. I don't like bossing anyone around but I have been deliberately walking right next to Pablo, as if he doesn't exist. He seems like a...

I recently added a youngish Americauna rooster to my flock of 19 different breeds of layers, including members of his own breed. He is a beefy, impressive fella with what seems to be an unaggressive demeanor. Thankfully there have been zero issues with him in the less than one week he's been a...