Thanks. I drop in every few days, but not much to say. Down to 7 hens, but they are all well & happy. We will all be glad when ground is bare!
All I know about tapping I learned from the interwebs. There is a Maine association of maple tappers that had great information. You can tap birch trees...
I tapped one of my maples, this year. Don't know if I'll boil it down for syrup...too much moisture to do it indoors and I don't have a gas grill to do it outside. The sap makes lovely coffee, though. Just use it instead of water.
I just checked previous calendars and in December 2013, I had 105 eggs, with 4 layers--two were leghorns. 2014 there were 56, 2015 - 18. This year, 2. I've had pullets that have gone into lay the previous fall, until this year. Next year, I'm freezing eggs in November!
Since it's been awhile since anyone has posted, here's a question:
How many eggs is everyone getting out of number of birds, with number of hours of daylight? Any supplemental lighting or heat?
I've missed y'all.
I have 8 hens altogether. 5 are almost two. They are Easter eager-Dominique...
Welcome! TONS of fabulous info in this thread. Worth reading all the way through (a little at a time, when you have time.) Questions usually get answered, it may take awhile. It seems like all of us have been pretty busy and not posting much, lately.
I, too, am very comfortable with how comfortable the chickens are at sub-zero temps. We don't get quite so cold here in the "Deep South " but it's been in the teens below zero a few days at a time and they've done just fine. I have lots of ventilation and no drafts in my coop. I bring out hot...
This is one of the best threads about raising chickens naturally anywhere--not just on BYC. I read through the whole thing, in little bites, there is a wealth of info. I think people are just busy this summer and getting ready for harvest/back to school.
Welcome!!
I, also, am a deep litter fan. I use the hens to shred my leaves (mostly maple and oak) and mix in their poo as they go. In spring, I haul out a layer for my garden. Coop and run are together under one roof and all deep litter over 1/2 inch hardware cloth and dirt. I collect leaves in...
each is organic. I go between a Blue Seal brand and one from another local feed store. I haven't noticed any major changes in feathers or eggs--but I started after feathers had been eaten, so they look scruffy, anyway. The eater is my white leghorn--she always has done. Maybe the feather piking...
I wanted to report on an 'experiment' I've been conducting. There were conversations about layer feed vs all-flock with higher protein, the value of giving the chickens a choice, if possible, AND that feather eating and bullying might be related to not enough protein (I do give meat, sometimes.)...
I use only leaves from the trees in my yard. Oak, maple, birch and beech, mostly. I bag them in the fall, store them in a diy "leaf barn" hoop house made from cattle panels and spread them out as the hens break them down into lovely dirt for my garden.