Saving Heritage breedsis my story

redchicman

Hatching
Mar 25, 2017
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0
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Hello i'm new here but love to visit this site so figured i should join this evening so i could post and comment. the vast amount of knowledge shared here is so amazing and i always seem to find answers to different bird subjects. I am currently starting hatchery with 65 turkeys and 186 chickens i have three heritage breeds of turkeys and 18 chicken breeds. I have had turkeys and chickens for 40 yrs this yr in April and I am finally pursuing a life dream to have a live breed hatchery we will not be using incubators here on the farm. Heritage in my mind is all natural breeding with broody hens like nature intended. Nothing against incubation, just trying something a little bit old fashioned i guess you could say. They will all be pastured raised on 160acres and we will be growing all our own feeds for all birds. So life is exciting and I wanted to share. will post pics soon of baby chics and poults new this spring it has been busy! Saving heritage breeds from extinction is important to me and I hope i can make small difference in the forced society we live in were if you dont raise or grow it, you never know what your eating!
 
Hey that sounds great! Wishing you well in this enterprise and hope you will post about the experience and details (feeding, predator control, pasturing, hatching/breeding etc.)... Many here would like to share in your experience! Hope you will be selling some, I would like some Heritage birds raised your way.
 
We are wanting to do the same with havings hens hatch the chicks. We plan to grow corn on a bigger scale soon but I didnt have luck with soybeans and not sure how to harvest efficiently without machines anyway. Same trouble when we grew wheat. It gre great but too much for us to harvest by hand. Let us know any tips and things you discover!
 
What about black-eyed peas as a protein source (vs soybeans)? It grows very quickly and I don't believe has been gmo to the extent that soybeans have. Soybeans also have phytoestrogenic compounds in them. Also, if planted in small patches, the birds could harvest wheat themselves, if turned out into the area. Of course, you will need winter feed, so that would have to be harvested and stored, perhaps in a silo. Or I have read of planting winter feed in the form of turnips for sheep/deer. Apparently some plants are unpalatable until the weather gets cold, and then the top growth becomes tasty and eaten and the root will be scratched for and eaten after the top growth is gone, later in the winter.

I am wondering how you plan to harvest the corn? Without machines, that seems more labor intensive than the wheat. My turkeys will eat corn, but corn is not as high in protein as other grains such as sorghum and wheat (which all my birds prefer and pick out of the henscratch).
 

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