We live in California and have no problem selling our eggs. We keep anywhere from 60-80 chickens a year and production never meets demand. We have people on a waiting list.
Few things you should know;
• Hens only lay real consistently for 2-3 years. After that they'll either be pets or...
We got 12 turkeys this year and too many of are tom's.
They are driving us crazy. Way too much noise, the only time they shut up is when they're sleeping.
Need to get rid of at least four tom's, this weekend.
Six turkey's will be fine on 1.5 acres, although you may need to clip their wings to keep them on your property.They'll forage just like chickens, but they'll need feed as well.
We have no problem getting out turkey back into their enclosure at night, but we don't have many trees. If you've...
Is it possible to free-range and have tender chicken?
Never have raised any birds designated specifically as 'meat birds', pretty much everything is what seems to be referred to as dual purpose.
I've never had one that was suitable to eat after being roasted. Sure the breast meat is...
Not sure why fermenting feed would be different than lacto fermenting amything else?
Fermenting crocks are airtight with water seals around the top to allow gas to burp out as fermentation occurs and to keep bad bacteria from forming.
We do a fair amount of fermenting of food at home, but...
Several years with three dogs, and anywhere from 40-80 chickens st any given time and no dog-chicken fatalities.
The mastiff looks at all other non humans as competitors for food and it's in her nature to take what she wants from other animals.
Getting close to turkey butcher time and it's obvious that the feed store had their turkey poults mislabeled.
We buy broadbreasted, to eat for Thanksgiving and to fill the freezer for the year.
This year the feed store gave us some heritage breed instead of broardbreasted. Instead of 40-50 lb...
We've lost 4-5 birds over the years, primarily to owls with one getting caught by a hawk.
Took us a while to figure out it was an owl, finally spotted the owl hovering over the the chickens right at dusk. The owl was getting the hens when they were heading back to the coops to rooster for the...
Shepherds, Great Pyrenees are very active dogs. They're used for herding four legged animals, which are also very active.
Chickens do not range very far, our self regulate their foraging area to about 3/4 acre.
Very active dogs ill get very bored keeping an eye on chickens.
Mastiffs...
Three dogs, all in house.
Large hawk attacks Gold laced Wyandotte hen.
Let dogs out.
Mastiff (female), charges down hill and chases off the hawk.
Mastiff picks up hen.
Mastiff eats hen.....the whole thing, feathers and all.
Hawk watches from nearby fence post.
Lessons...
Our turkeys have seriously injured two of our hens this week.
Chickens (all the time) and turkeys (when we're home) have free range of our property during the day and are locked up seperately at night. They don't mess with each other while foraging during the day.
For some reason twice this...
Stray cats - hens don't need a rooster to handle cats.
Not many animals stupid enough to come on our property with our three dogs arounds around, however on afternoon when the dogs were in the house we watched a cat stalk our hens. Hens were too smart and too big for the cat.
We typically keep...
Gave him a few days in the garage until he started standing on his own again. He limped a bit for a week or so, now he's back to normal.
Glad we gave him a chance to heal, instead of putting him on the chopping block.