- Jan 11, 2009
- 9
- 2
- 64
I have to agree that the production this year in general has been off. Especially this fall. I run 200+/- layers on pasture as well as purebreds for show and ALL have been off. Someone at our local food co-op says that the tree growth patterns this year are not normal and it has to do with the crazy moisture patterns/ and sunlight not getting through the upper layers of the atmosphere. On top of all this , I am dealing with both a BIG hawk predator, and now there are a couple of buzzards that are not waiting for dead animals but are actually regularly killing a hen or rooster and eating the heads and picking out the "ass-end" and leaving the rest. I have dealt with the usual fox problems, but this is getting to be really OLD!!!!! It is not "LEGAL" to shoot winged predators in this area (maybe not in the US) but I can not afford to keep feeding them. In order to run birds free range, we ought to be able to protect them. It is not practical for me to try to build smaller moveable pens; we have several old camper trailers that we gutted and use as "coops". Work great, hook on a truck hitch to move, but the predator situation is getting to be a "b***h". They have also taken to killing some of the lambs and a friends kids (goats). These are the Big Black Buzzards, not the naked necked kind that I only see eating the dead stuff. These black ones will drive off the naked necked buzzards, they are very agressive and invasive.
We are coping with the coyotes, have several neighbors that have gotten nearly a dozen this year. They are running in packs and one night there were 6-10 only 15 feet from my back door after my rabbits. The gun was still in the truck as I had been sitting at the pasture with the chickens earlier, and I would not risk going out to get it. Never seen such a pack before. We figure it was a female or two with young, teaching them to hunt. But the last group that I heard was a small group, maybe 3-4 different voices.
Make sure that the birds are lice and mite free. That has helped me some. I do not use lights as they are not near any sources of elec. but that is another option. I think that there may be some effects of the constant use of chemicals in the grains, and residue in the ground and even in the air. Even if you go "purely organic" you cannot control what is in the air around you. I am not an organic purist but use more local feedstuffs. I also an not so sure that all this non-animal protein is the best way to go, although for all vegetarians that is the only option. Chickens are NOT vegetarian by nature. They are oportunists/scavengers and will relish the chance to eat any typpe of meat/carrion/etc. Fact of life. Worms, grasshoppers, bugs, are not on the "vegetarion" list. Or they getting needed micro-nutrients that they need from that??????
I work at an historic grist mill part-time so the birds are getting all sorts of "extras". Use a local mill for the complete layer ration, it has more fiber than alot of them. Thought that could be the problem but after switching for a little while, no change. My son has show OE games, bantam and standard, and the big games used to lay some into the winter and this year, nothing.
Needless to say, I can not keep up with the egg demand. And after the whole fiasco with the contaminated eggs, people are definitely going more "local" here.
Glad to know that my birds are not the only ones that are off.
We are coping with the coyotes, have several neighbors that have gotten nearly a dozen this year. They are running in packs and one night there were 6-10 only 15 feet from my back door after my rabbits. The gun was still in the truck as I had been sitting at the pasture with the chickens earlier, and I would not risk going out to get it. Never seen such a pack before. We figure it was a female or two with young, teaching them to hunt. But the last group that I heard was a small group, maybe 3-4 different voices.
Make sure that the birds are lice and mite free. That has helped me some. I do not use lights as they are not near any sources of elec. but that is another option. I think that there may be some effects of the constant use of chemicals in the grains, and residue in the ground and even in the air. Even if you go "purely organic" you cannot control what is in the air around you. I am not an organic purist but use more local feedstuffs. I also an not so sure that all this non-animal protein is the best way to go, although for all vegetarians that is the only option. Chickens are NOT vegetarian by nature. They are oportunists/scavengers and will relish the chance to eat any typpe of meat/carrion/etc. Fact of life. Worms, grasshoppers, bugs, are not on the "vegetarion" list. Or they getting needed micro-nutrients that they need from that??????
I work at an historic grist mill part-time so the birds are getting all sorts of "extras". Use a local mill for the complete layer ration, it has more fiber than alot of them. Thought that could be the problem but after switching for a little while, no change. My son has show OE games, bantam and standard, and the big games used to lay some into the winter and this year, nothing.
Needless to say, I can not keep up with the egg demand. And after the whole fiasco with the contaminated eggs, people are definitely going more "local" here.
Glad to know that my birds are not the only ones that are off.
