Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[HiddenChicken]

Miss Lydia, There is a very old article from 20 years or so ago in a Florida newspaper about a true event involving a Dachsund.
The dog went missing out of the yard. A while later he came back smelling awful and all dirty. The next day the neighbor found a huge alligator, dead right behind the yards. It looked like he had swallowed the dog whole and the Dachsund clawed his way out and found his wayhome. Thats a very big dog in a little body.

Holy Hannah!

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Many Old Timers say to set eggs, castrate animals, fish, ween young, plant garden etc. by the moon, they use the farmer's almanac. My grandfather used the farmers almanac, his own weather predictions and experience to do plan many things on the farm. Do any of you use the farmer's almanac?

 

[Beekissed]

Never did....around here they just call it The Almanac, 'cause everyone is an old farmer.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Nope never bother with the Almanac. Most of its sales are likely to city folk.

Note the moon cycles? You better believe it. I always know what cycle the moon is in. You live and die by that as a truck farmer.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep. Plant by the cycles, I have and will. Grandma always did also. Don't know that I ever bought an Almanac though...they sort of look old timey and cute though, don't they?

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Info on Just One Bite bars and where to find them (also a coupon to print out) http://www.farnamhorse.com/product.php?type=HORSE&mainkey=200005&pid=100442&key=300002 I agree with beekissed, JOB is fantastic. Some people say JOB is more attractive to rodents than Tomcat (thus more effective), all I can tell you is that JOB is appropriately named and really works.

 

[HiddenChicken]

I was just discussing this last night with DH, as I have been spending increasing amounts of time thinking about the best way to stop feeding corn, as it is impossible to know whether one is really getting non-GMO. He suggests we plant some next year, bless his heart, and we probably will try, but could never water enough to feed the flock through the year, at least not in any substantial percentage. I have handmixed scratch using cracked corn, whole wheat and whole oats, and they like it okay but don't scramble for it the way I would expect them to, so I'm sure the cracked corn is GMO and I probably won't add it again. Will try some BOSS, not sure what else. They get FF every morning, except this weekend it's supposed to drop into the teens overnight so I may cook them some cracked wheat and steel cut oats for breakfast

Hmmmm... Maybe I'm paying for GMOs in my supposedly non-GMO scratch. I can't think of any other reason they wouldn't eat it...

LOL on the steel cut oats! I make myself steel cut oats in the morning...and *sometimes* I just make a little extra for the girls. But, before I get roasted for doing it...lol...I never cook it for them if I'm not making it for myself!

 

[HiddenChicken]

I have saved two recipes for FF, Bruce's and Pigeonguy's. Both are generous in sharing their trials, experiences and advice. Hopefully they won't mind if I paste them here:

Bruce's FF Formula:

i came up with this formula.
i made a typo this should in my postings 18.47% not 18.17%
game feed 20% - 14 parts @ 20 % = 280 %
alfalfa milled 12% - 1 part @ 12 % = 12%
scratch grain 7% - 1 part @ 7 % = 7%
boss 15% - 1 part @ 15% = 15%
total ------------------------------------------------ 314% protein
parts--------------------------------------------------- 17
percentage ratio------------------------------------ 18..47 %
i am not sure how much fermenting raises the protein amount. the fermenting allows the nutrient uptake to be more available. . to go even farther the chicken uses the feed for what it is intended for and not wasted out the other end.

Pigeonguy's FF Formula:

I started feeding the fermented feed Friday. I made my starter like this.
100 pounds oats 12% , 100 pounds corn 9%, 100 pounds poultry base 36% = 19% protein ground into chicken mash
In a 5 gallon bucket
1: Filled bucket with mash to the 1 and 1/2 gallon mark
2: Put warm water in to the 2 and 1/2 gallon mark.
3: Put in 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar raw, unpasteurized, with mother.
4: stirred till thoroughly mixed.
5: Put a towel over bucket to keep out flying critters.
6: Let sit for one week. Stirred mixture 2 times a day morning and night.
Through that time it smelled like vinegar then I don't know but not completely unpleasant then back to smelling sort of like vinegar but a little sweeter.
The way I am feeding goes like this. The day before the first feeding I scooped from bucket 1 into bucket 2 four quarts of the ff without straining juice off then I put 1 quart of dry mash in bucket 2 and stirred all of the juice in it was still a little sloppy. Then I added 4 quarts of dry mash back into bucket 1 added water to bring it back up to the 2 and 1/2 gallon mark and stirred.
The next day all the juice had soaked into the mash in bucket 2 (this was 24 hours later) it also had a good layer of what looked like mother on it so I stirred that in and fed it to the chickens. Then I made my bucket for the next day.
One problem I had in bucket 1 I found that 4 quarts of wet out does not equal 4 quarts of dry in because the next morning when I went to stir bucket 1 it had soaked up all the juices so I had to add more water it was fine when I made feed that afternoon. I only put 3 quarts dry mash back in then.
The way I am doing it each feeding is guaranteed 48 hours of ferment time. I also do not have to go threw the draining process.
I would like to tell you they loved it but it doesn't matter what I take to them as soon as the gate opens they are running at me saying Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine. I set it down and they start eating even if they look full crazy birds.

Thank you! Gonna try this in the spring!

 

[the foot]

I learned to raise chickens from my grandma. She died in 1958. She had Rhode Island Reds. Hens were protected at all cost, cockerels were killed, cooked and et when they became adult. One rooster covered 12 hens.

My philosophy has remained true to my grandma Emma. Today my flock are Delawares. My chickens are lovely creatures, but they are not pets. They have no names, but I love each of them. They all fit into the pattern. Protect the hens, eat the cockerels, have one rooster for 12 hens.

And, don't get emotionally involved with a bird.

 

[HiddenChicken]

There was an article by Maggie Koerth-Baker in Popular Science recently exploring the possible impact of climate change on different crops. Apparently of all the major crops, corn is the only one that is not easily hybridized/modified/transmogrified to be tolerant of higher temperatures than we currently have. Food for thought, so to speak.

This article ( www.i-sis.org.uk/US_drought_destroys_GM_Crops.php ) says the latest drought destroyed GMO crops, but non-GMO crops flourished. More food for thought...