BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[lcertuche]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to pick up some of those 2-gallon bleach jugs you mention. I have 4 boys still at home so no problem using it up, lol. I have 11 BSL roosters that are going in the freezer as soon as the weather begins to cool down some.

 

[Beer can]

Same here, first time I used a cone I forgot the taping or tying legs part. That's why I say they must have a heart that's pumping pretty good even without a head when they can thrash and somehow make their way out of a cone.

 

[Beer can]

I've tried nearly every method you can use to make a chicken dead over 40 yrs, short of shooting one, and have found the cutting of the neck with a sharp knife to be my favorite for a quick kill and less mess.

There truly is no way to calculate which results in a better bleed out as chickens don't really have that much blood in the first place and it's not likely you'll encounter any in the muscle tissue when it's all said and done. I've killed hundreds and hundreds of birds and never encountered blood seeping from the muscle fibers when cutting them up later on.

I use a 2 gal. bleach jug killing cone tacked to a tree...makes for nice, hands free working. Fits any size bird, even the big ol' overgrown CX.

I've shot quite a few throughout the yrs, in the head .22 hollow point, they bleed out pretty good anyway. Never encountered any blood soaked meat either no matter what the method.
Only blood soaked meat I've seen was in store bought chicken probably from the machines beating them up and breaking vessels/bones even while they are still alive.

 

[Mini Meat]

This is normal for breeding chickens. Most Breeders stop hatching now and start back up in January.

I hope you are right but I read it to say that they may not offer NN's in 2017 at all. That makes me wonder if they may be considering discontinuing the line. I guess I could just ask.

I imagine at some point they work at building and improving their own stock also.

I hope it's something like that.

 

[Kev]

I hope you are right but I read it to say that they may not offer NN's in 2017 at all. That makes me wonder if they may be considering discontinuing the line. I guess I could just ask.

I hope it's something like that.

Yes that's how I read it also- not offering at all next year with possibility of dropping the line altogether.

Would like to know why and if dropping the line I would be even more tempted to go ahead and order.

 

[bnjrob]

Oregano is an awesome anti-viral with natural antibiotic properties. Anytime anyone in my family starts to show signs of illness I whip out the oregano oil capsules and the illness disappears very quickly. I add both oregano and hot chili pepper seasoning to my chickens' fermented/soaked feed multiple times per year just to help boost their overall well-being. I've heard that oregano increases egg production, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. All I know is that I've very rarely had any sick chickens. Heat stroke is the only the only real killer on my little farm.

There was a study that came out in the last few years where they had found that peppermint had improved egg production. So far I have not had the time to cultivate THAT much peppermint to be able to feed it to the hens and see how it does.

I have been thrilled with putting garlic in the water this year though. Normally when it is hot, the hanging nipple water buckets get black mold/mildew in them really bad unless the water is completely dumped and refilled daily. But this year I started putting a clove of garlic in the water - talk about keeping the mold/mildew at bay. I don't have to dump tons of water every day anymore. I've also put in oregano oil and garlic to see what happens - talk about clean water! Like well maintained pool water, nice and clear. The hubby teases me that I am just pre-marinating the birds. But even he has been impressed with how clean the water stays and not having to replace water every day and can just do some topping off. It's rare for us to have ill birds so I originally just added the garlic for the health benefits thinking it couldn't hurt anything, but the clean water from the garlic's influence has been worth a fortune in not wasting so much water and in time needed to clean out buckets.

There is much to be said for going back to basics and *old wives' tales* when caring for people, animals, and their environment.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

There was a study that came out in the last few years where they had found that peppermint had improved egg production. So far I have not had the time to cultivate THAT much peppermint to be able to feed it to the hens and see how it does.

I have been thrilled with putting garlic in the water this year though. Normally when it is hot, the hanging nipple water buckets get black mold/mildew in them really bad unless the water is completely dumped and refilled daily. But this year I started putting a clove of garlic in the water - talk about keeping the mold/mildew at bay. I don't have to dump tons of water every day anymore. I've also put in oregano oil and garlic to see what happens - talk about clean water! Like well maintained pool water, nice and clear. The hubby teases me that I am just pre-marinating the birds. But even he has been impressed with how clean the water stays and not having to replace water every day and can just do some topping off. It's rare for us to have ill birds so I originally just added the garlic for the health benefits thinking it couldn't hurt anything, but the clean water from the garlic's influence has been worth a fortune in not wasting so much water and in time needed to clean out buckets.

There is much to be said for going back to basics and *old wives' tales* when caring for people, animals, and their environment.

@bnjrob how much oregano oil and garlic, in how much water? Did you just peel the clove and put it in whole?

 

[bnjrob]

@bnjrob how much oregano oil and garlic, in how much water? Did you just peel the clove and put it in whole?

Yes, I just peel the garlic and throw in a clove. I squeeze the clove a bit in my fingers just to help release a bit of garlic juice. I try to gauge the size of the clove to the size of the bucket, smaller cloves in my 2 gallon buckets and larger cloves in the 3 1/2 gallon to 5 gallon buckets. I also toss them into the wading water bowls. The cloves in the closed bucket waterers can last 2-3 weeks before they start dissolving but the cloves in the open wading bowls don't last that long - the birds pick them out and eat them.

I use 1 to 2 drops of oregano essential oil per gallon of water in closed bucket waterers.

 

[Beekissed]

I have a ton of mint here...I'll hang some and dry it this year and let you know if it has any affect on laying.

Should at least give them fresh breath....

 

[bnjrob]

I have a ton of mint here...I'll hang some and dry it this year and let you know if it has any affect on laying.

Should at least give them fresh breath....

Nothing like a hen with minty fresh breath! You know who else likes mint - our donkeys. Darn things chewed both the peppermint and the chocolate mint down to nubs in their pots. But like any good mint, they came back to life after I got them out of the donkeys' reach.