Cheap Cheeps -

[Bailey]

Pretty much like making compost- except you'll be wanting to make a sponge-
Mix stinky meat scraps- fish "cleanings" work very well-
Add fresh horse manure good for "texture"
We add old bread garbage ( burgers, rolls, bread, old oatmeal) from a diner- make sure it is NOT MOLDY -
I also add coarse weeds- roots and all - you'll want to get air into the mix

Mix well- keep damp but don't let it fill with water- the little nasties will drown.
We have our "Feed Farm" WAAAY out in the pasture under the trees-
Direct sun is not good- the little blighters are photophobic and hot sun will kill them.

We use 5 gal buckets with cracked bottoms- found on the hiway- I just scored some old 4" deep bread trays I'm going to try covering the bottoms and sides with screen (handles sewn in the corners) and see if that will work -

To feed - we mix a gallon of the 3-5 day old mix ( almost 3/4 maggots) into a gallon of scratch and spoon it out onto freshly turned soil - not too much in one place. Works for us- we "compost" our meat/greasy scraps that won't normally go in the garden- We have a source of "Free Protien" to feed the birds and best of all, we have fewer flies even tho' we are actually growing them -go figure

I'll have the trays up and running in a few days and will post a report

Thanks for the interest
Don

 

[Bailey]

Count 103
We moved them this evening - They're now in the garden area in a "Tractor" at night and cruise during the day.

We are spending $11.00 per week feeding the 103 broilers, 3 layers, 25 pullets and 6 roosters- That includes ~20 lbs of layer pellets per week
This is about half what we were spending a month ago-

The key to this is free range and 20-25 gallons of scraps from a local diner. We also grow and feed maggots- garden extras and toss their scratch in the gardens where they keep the bugs at bay- They are doing a great job in the okra patches- they scratch off the mulch and eat anything down there- they spend the heat of the day hunkered down in the shade-
The best part- I throw more mulch, coffee grounds etc in the rows and they dig it around and re mulch the plants

I haven't mowed in months!

They take care of the grass I go through with an idiot-stick and harvest the canes for bedding this winter...

I've been reading about raising Cornish X -
We're looking for about 25 to see how they work out. Will try a batch once it cools off.

 

[Bailey]

Been ...
a while... busy...meaning to do this...

This has been a true learning experience! The frypan special has been a deal- Learned a lot- got to try out a bunch of different breeds- some good - some not so good for what we're trying to do-

Wyandottes and White Rocks seem to be the best meat birds for us- strong, smart enough not to get eaten by the wild things lurking in the fenceline they get big- with little input-

We like the Production Reds, Australorps and RRs and our own leghorn/Orp X- for layers- we crossed some Aussies/Leghorn we'll see what happens there.

We got some Cornish X - nope- God did not intend chickens to be that stupid... poor little things are sad to watch- they jump off things and break their legs... run under trucks- when moving-

ah well- the pig has enjoyed the causalties...
If kept confined they do just eat and grow- but--- We'll stay with the Wyandottes and Rocks for free ranging here in our neck of the Ozarks-

We swapped a bunch of chicks for the pig - "Una"- and one of the frypans- a little red hen -as yet un-named- have set up housekeeping with "Digit" a tiny poly-dactyl calico cat. They all live in the pighouse- Una shares her food with both- chases the other chickens away while her friends eat- little hen likes to be carried in your coat or overalls while watering/feeding - then she hops out and rejoins her other friends- kinda strange-

We're looking forward to seeing how all this works out when Una has a litter of her own.

Seem to be spending less and less time online- Happy Holidays to all -

Bailey

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Wow, sounds like a great learning experience! Thank you for sharing.

I have to agree with you about the Cornish Xs, too high maintenance for me! So how'd the meat turn out? Did you process any yet? Eat any of them?

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Interesting! How do the Wyandottes and White Rocks dress out for weight? Have you compared them to the Orpington roos? I got better results from my Orps than Wyandottes but each strain is not the same. Rocks for sure are great.

 

[1acrefarm]

Very interesting. I will be following this thread. I am always interested in raising some of my own food. Don't think I could go as far as the harvesting flies though they will have to catch their own if they want them.

 

[halo]

At what age did you process these chickens? Would you do this again? What would you do differently? This was a very interesting read, thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

[picklespickles]

i like the part about your cat, chicken and pig. that was great.

i have thought about the cornish x's before but was wondering about the things you mentioned.

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

I liked your comment about "spending less time online".

I find that the more full my life is in real life, the less I time I spend online, as well.

I've dropped all the other forums I was on except this one, and when I only have 15 minutes at the end of a long day, I check BYC instead of checking email. I haven't told my friends I choose chickens over them, but they have noticed that I'm not emailing as much!