Arizona Chickens

[Fuzzybird]

Yea I know kind of sad. I am amazed at the consolation prize for the worst hatch! Not sure how good of an Idea that was. I was one of two of the worst hatch at the Easter one last year. Not setting to many but going to enter. My incubator is all set! I got a fan for my Little Giant for an early Christmas Present and have a turner also.

 

[Phottoman]

I have been saying this for YEARS about families that torture you with their weird existences ...

MY family put the word "fun" into dysfunctional.

Skip

 

[MagicChicken]

Am in putting in a Mittleidler Garden, between the girls and the garden I am kept very busy, getting back as often as I can to check AZ Chickens. I am so behind.

Dose anyone ealse have family members like mine?

My sister is here on her monthly vist, one of the girls is hers, last night I found out she STRONLY believes that chickens are vegetarian. She will only eat vegetarian eggs. She eats only a little meat. Now, it is important to give some back ground: a few years ago she would not eat tofu, she told me it was bad for you because of fermentation. Now... She eats it because it is good for you. She reads, or hears something, with a PHD or a Dr associated with the name and it is gospel. She now has osteoporosis, she says it is old age, I say it is because she goes on a 4 week fast purging ritual, 1 wk no food, water, honey, a few drops of lemon juice. Week 2, boil vegiables drink the water (no salt) do not eat the vegitables. Week 3, eat the vegitables and drink the water, week 4 add small amount of brown rice.

Now she demand that her chicken must not be given meat orinsects...... It poisons the eggs. What am I to do????????? Family! Everyone in my family is colorful in some way except for my youngest daughter.

How am I going to convince her chickens are not and will never be vegetarian. I agree, that it is wrong to give cattle ground up meat in their feed, they are vegetarians. She clams monkeys and gorillas are vegetarians. It's on film.... In the wild they all will eat meat. Giving chickens meat that is questionable (animals that died from disease or rotting) is very wrong. My goodness, I believe that if you lay down in a chicken pen long enough without moving they will check you out for dinner.

Hmmm... have you mentioned to her that even HUMMINGBIRDS are omnivores? They eat lots of insects - especially during breeding season.

Sonoran Silkies, I share your concerns about the lack of animal protein in organic feeds. I wish there were more options for feed with organically grown grains and fish meal. I feed organic, but I think my birds get decent amounts of animal protein from free ranging, mealworms and fish carcasses. That maybe easier or more feasible for a smaller flock that can be free ranged.

If I've read the guidelines correctly, there are restrictions on the type of proteins allowed in "organic" labeled feed. Most mammalian and poultry-derived sources of protein are prohibited; hence the preponderance of legume and/or fish protein in "organic" feeds. Wish I could find that reference again! Been searching for it, and am now giving up.

 

[GrannysRoost]

This has been a BUSY thread the past 24 hours.

BTW I am looking for a receptionist for my office with Dental Office experience... if y'all know of someone looking for work.

Wish I was closer, how about an off-site transcriptionist?

 

[City farm]

Notinoz: I really need to post pics, there are two that are looking rooish to me, one that is looking pulletish and I can't tell with the other two at all.  No fighting or chest bumping that I've seen, but their dad was pretty mellow, so who knows.

Sonoran Silkies: There is a local co-op that sets up group orders of organic feed that offers organic feed with fish meal.  I really like the feed I've gotten from there.

 

Would you please pass on the information about the co-op please?

 

[beehappy4ever]

Yea the fun is in the trying. I would really love to have a real BLUE egg.

Is anyone going  to be in the BYC NY Hatch-a-long?

I'm signed up for it but not setting very many eggs. I had been planning on 80 but now it is looking like 20. I want the gff mystery chicks prize

 

[Fuzzybird]

I don't have very many eggs either.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

A raised bed, high density, vertical, surtax growing medium (several combination) in witch you feed your plants every week. A 360 square ft can grow enough vegitables to feed a family a year. In AZ we have difficult soil to grow in, summers are so hot, water retention is a problem. The medium is designed to retain moisture to be easy on water. Look it up on YouTube, I have been going by LDS PREPPER. He is in East TX, has a lot of good suggestions.

My girls are going to enjoy my garden. No, I they will not have free access, but they will be getting what we do not eat, can, hydrate or give to friends as well as cleaning up. I will be putting to gather a list of plants and plant parts that are toxic to chickens.

With this system the Veggys will be getting all the minerals that has been depleted in our soil. We are behind schedule, it should have been completed by now and our seedlings planted and seeds sprouting. I still have a little work to do on the girls coop, it needs to be sealed. I am hoping to have my dinning room back in a couple of weeks.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Thanks for the support on family. My sisters diet/body cleansing thing is not healthy. I am 65 my bones are still healthy, I recognized I am an easy keeper years ago. I stopped dieting. When I eat right I do lose weight, stress puts on weight, I used to go on 3 day fasts were you drink your calories for the day. After 3 days your body switches to starvation rations, feeding off itself and economizing. I prefer to be fat, lonely and healthy, then have self created health problems. Stress is bad enough.

My girls and the garden are helping me with stress, both will be helping me eat better, thereby be healthier. I grow up spoiled, fresh veggies from a garden, two grandmothers that had green thumbs, and remembering what rich yellow milk tastes like, fresh eggs, and grass feed meats. When you traveled you meat tasted different ware ever you went, because they are what they eat. Now a beef in Florida tastes the same as a beef in Washington. One egg is not satisfying, so you eat until you are stuffed, not enjoying just filling up. I do not know what happened to me, my sister and I grow up eating the same food. I understand death, respect life, know and acknowledge the sacrifice that goes on my plate. I am disgusted that we in this country do not eat the whole animal, it gave its life, it is dishonoring its life not to use all of it. (I am on my band wagon again, sorry).

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

I think all families have one or two nutty people in them.  My experience was that no matter how much you try to reason with them, it just makes it worse.  Learn to live with them.  "Yeah, okay you do what you think is right."  When you ignore them on one subject, they just go on to another.  The problem comes when they try to dominated your life, diet or daily routine.  Don't let that happen!  Otherwise, they will tie you in knots with their nuttiness.



Sometime you just have to say "Get the you know what out of my face."

I just figured out how to reply: you are so very right. But I am the crazy in the family! When I got my girls, started the garden..... My family members were calling each other "there she goes again". I took off and lived in a tent, went fishing for 2 months, then moved on a 25' sailboat in San Diego for another 6 months....... I'm the crazy. Well maybe just pixelated. When ever I try to conform to others I suffer extreme stress. At 65 I want to enjoy as much of the next 40 years as I can. (My mother was born 1916, still alive and she is disappointed she is so healthy)