Search results for query: *

The wonderful thing about raising your own birds is that there aren't any rules and you can do whatever you think might be a good idea! My first and second year I finished birds on cracked corn and a LOT of extra scratch (extra grit must be provided to prevent impacted crops) and they were so...

~ANY UNCOOKED BEAN~ As a homesteader trying to get away from GMO bag feed and the high feed store bill I tried to supplement my birds with the highest protein plant I could find - beans - Unfortunately there isn't a lot of information on the toxic level of uncooked beans and the affects on...

Marketing - Marketing - Marketing It's awesome what a few chickens can teach you when you are willing to get your hands dirty and work. Dirty hands equal clean coops. As a former city kid I also thought brown eggs were healthier. When they were first introduced to our grocery store they were...

I'm no master! Just farm driven to feed myself and make a few bucks! ….and I like to see what I can get away with outside book of smarts. Lots of my birds have had slightly bloody navels. They will heal up in a few hours. I would be led to believe that is from humidity just a touch to high...

You really are a good neighbor. God Bless You and shame on me. I would have shot the dog in a fit of rage. I put more work into fussing with those little chicks than anyone could ever repay in me in dollars. I don't sell grown poultry for this reason. Hours spent changing waterers that have been...

HOORAY!!! I'm so happy for you! Be patient! Mine would pip and usually take 10 hours or so to hatch. I set 20 eggs last… and because I had been doing so well I quit monitoring the temp on the incubator… figuring I hadn't touched it… it should stay the same. Something went wrong. I have no...

I would chalk that up to your run. A bird of prey can't fly straight up with a meal to take it to it's dinner table. They have to fly at an angle to gain height or circle up slow in huge sweeps. Likely, they see your run as some sort of a trap. I have my birds on open pasture. Many evenings our...

I disagree. I think it's worms. I have studied this constantly but there isn't much information on it. I have spent hours studying liver photos (and testicle photos) on line - for my own health as we LOVE poultry livers and we have seen some goofy other parts. The nodules could be worm cysts...

We built a wiz-bang. Look it up on youtube. After a year of tweaking, I can pluck 3 chickens at a time or a 35lb turkey. A turkey will make that thing wobble back and forth like a washer with a load off center on the spin cycle but it gets the job done. In my opinion it's worth it's weight in...

I have heard that red blinking (twinkle lights) mimic predator eyes and they will leave. I get INCREDIBLE use out of metallic pinwheels from Walmart. The ones with red and silver fans. The red mimics the eyes and the silver flash they can't get a depth perception on and they think it will hit...

I have goats - and a note on the poop... They aren't actually eating it… but pinching them apart looking for whole seeds from the feed. Close investigation shows beak pinches in each nanny berries. I'm sure some is ingested. They will chug dog turds though. My goat is tall and thinks is great...

oh… I aim for 99.8 on temps. But I don't think a degree or two fluctuation effects hatch rate.

I have incubated over 100 eggs this year. …I have no idea what I am doing. This is my first year for it. From my first experience with hatching turkey eggs with a Bantam who sat on 4 wild eggs for me… and my inability to not mess with them nearly every day… I came to the conclusion that as long...

Adorable! I lose a few every year. I hatched my own heritage turkeys this year. Around 100 of them. We sustain on poultry and I hatch some extras to sell.… apparently humidity changes can give you an "upside down" chick. I have had a few that can't upright themselves and the only thing it could...

I'm very happy seeing more people get into turkeys! I really don't understand why more people don't have them. I have never been spurred by a Tom (but have heard of it happening). They seem very docile and easy to care for. If you can do chickens - you can do turkeys. They just require a little...

Yep! Low and slow! I pressure cook and it falls of the bone no matter what bird or how old.

I raised 5 geese last year. Problems I had were - they were hard to put up at night. They don't learn like chickens. Herding them in their house was difficult each and every night. They constantly played in the mud making mud pies in all of my poultry waterers. This makes me crazy as I...

A slow smoked goose is to die for! I smoke them - then pressure cook them for 20 min to loosen ALL of the meat from the bone. I do it on a rack to save the broth. Smoked goose broth makes incredible rice!

Congrats on your new brood! Sounds like an exciting experiment! Let us know your outcome!