Arizona Chickens

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hmm, interesting information. It does point out one of the comments I believe I had previously mentioned earlier. It's very possible that a large amount of those claiming "lactose intolerant" are misdiagnosed. As with a great many of our diseases, doctors most likely go with patient disclosure rather than scientific testing. That's one of the problems with the antibiotic dilemma right now. Based on verbal testimony, it may or may not be a particular disease, but we are going to prescribe this and if it doesn't work, come back in two weeks. Even though testing for lactose intolerance is extremely easy, it doesn't appear widely done. That double-blind study would support that belief. Of 63 patients who made it past the initial screening, 36 failed the hydrogen breath test. That's 57% of the applicants. Have you had the scientific testing done or is it self-diagnosed/verbally diagnosed? I'm quite curious to know. This stuff fascinates me. My personal experience with my eldest daughter has confirmed this, but it was impossible to get our insurance to cover the cost for the intolerance testing. And at over $600, we can't afford it. After a fluke accident with Halloween candy, we think it was more of a too-healthy diet lacking sugars than the intolerance.

A lot of people have complaints about their digestive systems and they're looking for answers. From my own experience, it's often not as easy to divine the problem as you'd think. I had just lower than normal lactase levels and I didn't always have severe symptoms. I think it's short-sighted for the insurance company to not cover the testing.

Quote:
I would also be interested in that 57%. However, given they weren't lactose intolerant, that is a separate question from what they were asking. Your second point is unfounded. This is something you'd only learn in a college statistics or experimental design class, so bear with me. Small sample sizes are a problem only for Type II Errors: the likelihood of failing to reject the null hypothesis when the alternate hypothesis is true. Think of it as a false negative. This can happen when an effect of some variable is very small, but consistent. It can take larger sample sizes to detect a difference. That is not what happened in this study, they found large statistically significant differences in symptoms over time in both raw and pasteurized over both baseline and soy. With effects that large, funding agencies would not support more expansive and expensive study. Having said that, there was a slightly significant difference between raw and pasteurized on day 1 of testing (p=0.04). That would be worth exploring more.

Quote:
Every study can't answer every question about a subject. The study was supported by the raw milk lobby and that is what they paid for. We should be grateful for it, it's the only one out there. And that's the great thing about science, anyone can go out and collect data that will either agree or disagree with this first study. But, I am in complete agreement that long term studies will be much more valuable. Chronic digestive issues generally don't clear themselves up over night.


Quote: Agreed.

ETA: trying to make the stats explanation clearer.

 

[FeatherPugs]

There are various factors that can affect the flavor as well, not just the breed, but what they are fed plays a big role. Think about goats grazing in a pasture with wild onions. If they eat a lot of wild onions, the milk will taste like onions. Also if you have a buck in the pen, the milk can pick up a bucky odor/flavor--not good. Goat's milk needs to be chilled down rapidly after milking, if this is not done, it will not taste good. We used to put ours in the freezer for a rapid chill down before putting in the frig.

And speaking of bucks, that is another issue: breeding. No kids, no milk. Yes you can buy a doe in milk, but she will dry up over time. Most people will let the kids have all the milk for the first month, then gradually start weaning them. Milk the does for about 9 months, then dry them up so they have a break for a few months before kidding again.

When I got my first goats, I was semi-clueless about the added costs associated. You must weigh all these factors ahead of time and decide if you are ready for the expenses and commitment. Here are some examples, not necessarily in order of importance:

1. Breeding: My experience with having my own buck started out good but went sour. Bought the first buck. He was fine. Bucks SMELL!
Had a blue-eyed doe and got a boy kid from her with blue eyes and decided to keep him unneutered, figured he could keep the other buck company. It is not a good idea to house the bucks with the does. The buck will pester them ALL the time. With 2 bucks, I guess because of the competition, the first one started to moan and moan at the does (in the pen next to his) and he would keep it up all day. It drove me nuts. If I were to do it over, I would have the buck pen way out of sight and smell of the does. Not easy to do.

So if you do not want your own buck (which is a good idea), know ahead of time that you will be able to get your does bred. And I purposely put does in plural, because to be a responsible goat keeper, you need at least two. Goats are herd animals and need company. Would you keep just one chicken in a pen by herself? NO! Neither should you have a lonely goat. Many reputable breeders will not stud your doe unless she has been tested to be free of a variety of communicable goat diseases. More expense. Oh, and you want milk, right? Well just like any animal, good breeding matters. Some people work to get nice udders and high production from their goats. Other people just have backyard goats. Which one do you want to choose for your goat stud?

2. Housing: Goats are notorious escape artists. Unless you want NO landscape, you want them contained. There is also a long list of plants poisonous to goats, many you might have in your own yard. They need very sturdy fencing. I put up 9 gauge chain link pens. Regular residential chain link is 11 to 11.5 gauge. 9 gauge is HEAVY, and the does still managed to bow it by constant rubbing against the fence. And these were small goats, Nigerian Dwarfs.

3. Equipment: the list of ancillary supplies is a lot longer than I had imagined, and buying new, they sure can add up.
---You need a good milking stand. You can build your own if handy, but the materials still add up plus time to build it.
---You don't want a lot of hair in your milk. That means shaving the udder. If you don't already have one for a dog, then you need to buy
a good animal shaver.
---You need a good iodine disinfectant to wash the udder before and after milking. Plus filters and a funnel for filtering the milk.
---You will have kids born and will need to think about what you will do with them. Most people neuter the males and sell them as
wethers. So then you need the equipment (and guts) to do that, unless you want to pay a vet
---Goats grow horns and it is a good idea to dehorn them as babies. Some people leave them on, but they can hurt themselves
and you or your kids. Maybe not intentionally. So you need a good dehorning instrument and have to learn how to use it.
----You need a good pair of clippers to trim their hooves. Left untrimmed, they can become lame.
----Vaccinations are recommended yearly, prior to kidding so the babies have maternal antibodies.
----Do you have a vet near you who knows anything about goats? Some do, most don't.
----Then there is another big list of what to keep on hand "just in case" when it is time for the goat to kid

4. Feeding: You want to drink the milk, make cheese, yogurt etc. Well junk in, junk out! Feed your goat well. Good grain = increased milk production. Alfalfa has doubled in price since I had my goats, and now they have allowed GMO alfalfa, so you have to worry about that now, too. You can't expect to just let your goat eat weeds and have good milk.

5. Vacation: Forget it. Or time it for when your goats are dry. Maybe you are lucky and have a friend/neighbor who will milk for you twice a day while you are gone. But consider this before making a decision.

#6 through 10~ How many things have I forgotten? I hope this helps any of you considering keeping your own goats. It is always best to go into something new with eyes open.

I totally agree!!! There is definitely a learning curve to goats. We had a small goat dairy in the interior of Alaska where we sold mostly to moms with new babies. We lived in a country setting and when we went to work I would go one way with deliveries and my DH would go the other. Plus we raised our 5 kids on it and made cheese and yogurt! Our milk was very sweet as we gave them sweet feed with their rations - everyone loved the sweeter milk. We also had multiple acres of great pasture grass with an electric fence. In Alaska you learned to be your own vet or you partnered with other families who could handle things like dehorning or clipping hooves. I would love to do it again BUT I'm no longer that young - so I'm sticking to my chickens!!

 

[kacklinkelly]

Our girls are developing bad habits: What's Up With Them?

For the past few days, our girls who are a little over a year, have not been coming out of their coop at sunrise as usual. (it's after 10 am and they are still inside) Additionally, they are nesting near our back door at sun down. DH and I had to pick them up last night and move them to their coop after dark. Very strange. I first thought maybe something got into the coop, so I went out with a flash light and found nothing out of the ordinary. They are acting typical other than us encouraging them out in the am and putting them back in at night. I don't want to enable this behavior. Any ideas?

 

[maryhysong]

Our girls are developing bad habits: What's Up With Them?

For the past few days, our girls who are a little over a year, have not been coming out of their coop at sunrise as usual. (it's after 10 am and they are still inside) Additionally, they are nesting near our back door at sun down. DH and I had to pick them up last night and move them to their coop after dark. Very strange. I first thought maybe something got into the coop, so I went out with a flash light and found nothing out of the ordinary. They are acting typical other than us encouraging them out in the am and putting them back in at night. I don't want to enable this behavior. Any ideas?

that is a little strange but there may be something bothering them in there at night; even a predator that just prowls around can upset them. After the fox/coon who knows what attacked the pullet pen the survivors all hopped the fence to sleep in the coop next door, so now there are about 14 chickens and 3 ducks sleeping in a house built for 5!

 

[alohachickens]

Found this today, passing it along

Totally a joke! People have been encouraged to post these funny signs around their town just to make folks laugh. Here are two of my favorites:

http://captainawkwarddotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bitey.jpg

"Very Bitey" - LOL.

And this one is so bad, it makes me groan:

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/lionel_richie_missing.jpg

More funny if you want a giggle:

http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/photos/15-incredibly-useless-flyers

 

[chicksurreal]

Our girls are developing bad habits: What's Up With Them?

For the past few days, our girls who are a little over a year, have not been coming out of their coop at sunrise as usual. (it's after 10 am and they are still inside) Additionally, they are nesting near our back door at sun down. DH and I had to pick them up last night and move them to their coop after dark. Very strange. I first thought maybe something got into the coop, so I went out with a flash light and found nothing out of the ordinary. They are acting typical other than us encouraging them out in the am and putting them back in at night. I don't want to enable this behavior. Any ideas?

When it got down into the teens a few weeks ago we decided to "pamper" our chickens by putting a light in there to keep them a little warmer. The next night they refused to go into the coop. They all just nested down under a bush, I actually had to go get them one at a time and put them in the coop. Lol.

We took the light out and haven't had a problem since. Message received.

 

[MandyFitch]

Our girls are developing bad habits: What's Up With Them?

For the past few days, our girls who are a little over a year, have not been coming out of their coop at sunrise as usual. (it's after 10 am and they are still inside) Additionally, they are nesting near our back door at sun down. DH and I had to pick them up last night and move them to their coop after dark. Very strange. I first thought maybe something got into the coop, so I went out with a flash light and found nothing out of the ordinary. They are acting typical other than us encouraging them out in the am and putting them back in at night. I don't want to enable this behavior. Any ideas?

 

[Timskins]

My Light Brahmas have grown much faster and are almost twice as large as the rest of my flock. For awhile I was wondering if they had some cornish genes in them. I think I figured out why after one has been making a very horrible attempt at crowing. :-( These are my first birds so I wasn't to sure what to look for in cockerels and it appears that Light Brahama's dont look like the typical cockerel as well making it more difficult. From looking around the web they dont appear to grow the large comb or tail feathers as most breeds do. Attached are a couple of pics of them what do you think boys or girls?

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Waiting When? If? No peeps yet. I may have counted wrong. I hope at lest one will hatch. I will check a gain if I get up during the night. Maybe they are waiting for the 24th. I have in closed the 6' x 10' pen with plastic and covered it. The young pullets couldn't figure out how to get in thru the back door, so they are all in the big girl coop. 2 are nestled in together in a laying box. The big girls will not let anyone on the railing. Nothing I can do about that.



If you want to give your girls some warmth at night, get a heat element. The light messes them up. The day light / night dark thing. I will be putting two of them out in the pen after the peeps come to help Mama. I have turned a tote into a small coop for her and her chicks.

They come in 75W to 250W. No light, only heat. You can order on line brooder heating tiles or mat.

 

[pipemum]

Timskins, that looks like a male to me, though I had a couple early maturing pullets that really, really looked roo-ish early on.

The opossum poster--hilarious! Opossums are moving into AZ, so...eventually we might have to opossum-proof our chicken coops too!

Finishing my outdoor brooder. It needs paint--I paint EVERYTHING, so it really looks unfinished to me, but good enough to use. The brooder will double as garden storage when not in chick use. My Polish/silkie mix is now mom to 14 broiler chicks. Started her with 6, and then when I moved them outside yesterday, gave her all 14. Every single one found their way under her!

My garden bench/sink/processing station, now also a brooder!



Mama finally came out of the box to eat and drink. Her comb and wattles are so withered and dehydrated!