Xtratufs, the only boot that is actually nonslip, and I've tried many, many boots, nothing compares. While they might not be the warmest in winter snow, I wear them throughout the year even in winter because they provide the most traction, even on ice. They're as comfortable as a pair of...
Yes, I suspect much damage has been done environmentally. I'm very cognizant of the fragility of the ecosystem. Here we have pristine ocean and forest and we live off grid and try to minimize our presence. We use creek water and lichen tea for washing hair and body, for everything else we only...
Commercial feed is not a higher quality, it is lower quality made from manufacturing by-products which cannot meet nutritional requirements, therefore supplemented with synthetic nutrients and designed for commercial production where the birds have a maximum life expectancy of one year.
It is a...
Malines would be an excellent choice for your purposes and make the wife happy too. If I remember correctly, Bielefelder have Maline in their creation as well.
A lot of unknowns in your circumstances, weather and environment, but Partridge Chantecler are my personal favorite for dual purpose free range chickens in Alaska. They are very thrifty, excellent foragers, good egg layers, very hardy, calm, have good predator awareness and evasion, can go...
Thank you! She's 8, and yes, from outstanding international show lines, and both her sire and dam are Russian Champions, we imported her from Saint Petersburg. Love Newfoundlands, they are just perfect for us.
They are non-toxic in the environment of chickens. Will they eat them? Mine don't have access to eat it. A question I can't really answer, would it harm them if they did? Another question that is difficult to answer. In a powdered form it is sometimes fed to cattle, something to do with...
This requires a somewhat complex answer. Zeolites will absorb moisture but they cannot break down water molecules, when they reach a saturation point they will release water molecules until they reach equilibrium with the environment and then they will proceed to absorb excess moisture until...
Zeolite is a natural volcanic mineral, I have Zeolite Clinoptilolite stones/rocks that absorb moisture/odor/toxins etc
I think SweetPDZ is made from Zeolite, I'm not 100% certain though that's it's only zeolite?? It's something you can find easily though, I believe they have a sand/gravel and...
Yes, though sometimes you can get them from building/construction/garden supplies in larger quantities and/or sizes, including sand. They work well, also have some in our house as our dogs bring in a lot of water (on an island here) and it's a lot cheaper than constantly buying damprid.
Roosters produce hormones that self-regulate calcium. This is done through the hormones calcitonin and PTH which will raise and lower levels of active Vitamin D.
If there is a drop in calcium, PTH is released to create Vitamin D to increase calcium uptake. If there is too much calcium, it will...
I'd have to find the actual research but I don't have time right now. Here's an overview.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-drop-in-temperature-can-change-the-sex-of-chickens-1238516.html
Not sure about nutritional influences, but I do remember reading something about the temperature in the early embryonic stage of the egg can affect gender outcome i.e. change the gender. Something to the effect of if the embryo was changed from male to female due to the temperature of the egg...
The ruckus was in reference to an attack/kill. My girls rarely notice when eagles are just sitting idle watching them. They rarely even respond to the eagle mafia that drops carcasses of sea gulls on top of them, seems like a threat to me 🤷. They do usually notice a fly over, but not always...
Mink are solitary predators and very opportunistic. I don't have a clear idea of how many chickens or poultry you have, and don't exactly know what you mean by enclosed yard. My enclosed run is just that, enclosed - 1/4 inch hardware cloth, nothing gets in, nothing gets out. When I let my...
You're welcome. I have tons of research articles, some printed and some saved bookmarks. This is just one regarding poultry and mushrooms you might find interesting, it took me a while to find it...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119424334
Agree, I'll never feed my animals commercial food, i.e. waste products. Yes, if you're concerned about agaritine (I'm not) the agaritine content drops significantly. Read here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27323764/