Dixie Chicks

[bamadude]

Idk. Apparently I cant read either

 

[Ravynscroft]

Heh... maybe because you keep ignoring the foundation ads?

 

[bamadude]

 

[bamadude]

My house has wheels

 

[JulesChicks]

@Juleschicks. if you haven't done it before ...it is something to wrap your head around for sure. Especially if they are loved...which many are for us. The knife just didn't do the job well enough for me with quills in the way and the speed of it. Ack..

I guess I use more of a short hatchet rather than Axe.

Nope, never killed anything directly, never wanted to and I still don't really. But I do believe in knowing where your food comes from and raising animals in as humane way as possible and I think it's a really honest pursuit to raise your food with love and care and dispatch it with respect and humanity when the time comes. It's weird, I don't like the idea of killing an animal or that something has to die in order for me to eat but I do enjoy eating meat/animal protein in my diet. From a health perspective I think it's possible but very difficult to be healthy without having animal fats and proteins in your diet- it can be done but you have to know what you are doing and put quite a bit of effort into it in my opinion. So, from a spiritual perspective I guess, I would prefer not to have to eat anything that was breathing - but let's be honest, they taste great and provide good nourishment. I just don't want to have to think about it too much and ironically, raising my own chickens will put me in this position at one point or another - if I'm being a responsible chicken owner and not trying to pawn my roosters off on someone who won't put it in the pot just because I became too attached to do it myself. With more and more people raising backyard flocks I think we will continue to see those ads on craigslist for the unwanted roo or old laying hens. I read a blog post recently, forgot the name, but the title was something like "Don't get chickens" - and she was speaking to mainly the small flock keeper who may only be able to keep a few hens and when one stops laying it needs to be replaced but the owner not wanting to kill it herself OR have anyone else do the deed (she had a friend who really wanted chickens but couldn't hurt a fly). She took issue with the people wanting to have hens for eggs while they lay and then rehome them to someone else who will just let them live out their natural life in chicken-pecking bliss. She said this is irresponsible and if we are to raise chickens then we need to be responsible for them until the end. Anyhow, I think I'm rambling now... But that is what I want to be - a responsible, respectful chicken owner who loves her chickens, raises them well and then dispatches them (or by proxy DH) with respect and humanity. And that is more than most chickens ever get.

YEAH! hatch is over,

2 out of 2 leghorns

4 out of 6 olive eggs, the 2 that didn't hatch were clear

out of 23 Marans eggs 14 Marans hatched... 4 were clear, 4 were dead in shell, 1 died after fluffing up. The 4 dead in shell, and the one that died shortly after hatch were all from very dirty eggs...

I wanted to experiment, and see if it really made that big of a difference.

Well done and congratulations!

Pics please!

@Amberjem No progress on the brambles this week but hopefully over the weekend...I'm a little stumped on where to put the coop and it would be easiest to focus on that location (once decided) first. I had thought we would do it near the top of the S/SE facing slope but it doesn't seem wide enough and it's a bit steeper than I thought. So, we may put it a little more west of that location, still facing mostly south, where it's a more gentle slope. Not sure if we should level the area first, or build the coop up on posts. I would much prefer it to be level if possible. This area of gentle slope is actually grass so it wouldn't technically need to be cleared, but if we built there maybe the structure would hinder getting equipment to the other side to clear the brambles there and make way for a garden. Dunno...decisions decisions.
Ack! It's late and we have an early indoor soccer game for my son. Night everyone and have a wonderful weekend! Happy Valentines day!!

Oh and fingers still crossed @Outpost JWB You deserve a fresh start where you will be well treated

 

[vehve]

Jules, well said. Yup, that's something you need to consider when getting chickens, can I kill them if necessary. If the answer is no, then you might not be ready to keep them.

 

[NotAFarm]

Nope, never killed anything directly, never wanted to and I still don't really. But I do believe in knowing where your food comes from and raising animals in as humane way as possible and I think it's a really honest pursuit to raise your food with love and care and dispatch it with respect and humanity when the time comes. It's weird, I don't like the idea of killing an animal or that something has to die in order for me to eat but I do enjoy eating meat/animal protein in my diet. From a health perspective I think it's possible but very difficult to be healthy without having animal fats and proteins in your diet- it can be done but you have to know what you are doing and put quite a bit of effort into it in my opinion. So, from a spiritual perspective I guess, I would prefer not to have to eat anything that was breathing - but let's be honest, they taste great and provide good nourishment. I just don't want to have to think about it too much and ironically, raising my own chickens will put me in this position at one point or another - if I'm being a responsible chicken owner and not trying to pawn my roosters off on someone who won't put it in the pot just because I became too attached to do it myself. With more and more people raising backyard flocks I think we will continue to see those ads on craigslist for the unwanted roo or old laying hens. I read a blog post recently, forgot the name, but the title was something like "Don't get chickens" - and she was speaking to mainly the small flock keeper who may only be able to keep a few hens and when one stops laying it needs to be replaced but the owner not wanting to kill it herself OR have anyone else do the deed (she had a friend who really wanted chickens but couldn't hurt a fly). She took issue with the people wanting to have hens for eggs while they lay and then rehome them to someone else who will just let them live out their natural life in chicken-pecking bliss. She said this is irresponsible and if we are to raise chickens then we need to be responsible for them until the end. Anyhow, I think I'm rambling now... But that is what I want to be - a responsible, respectful chicken owner who loves her chickens, raises them well and then dispatches them (or by proxy DH) with respect and humanity. And that is more than most chickens ever get.


@Amberjem No progress on the brambles this week but hopefully over the weekend...I'm a little stumped on where to put the coop and it would be easiest to focus on that location (once decided) first. I had thought we would do it near the top of the S/SE facing slope but it doesn't seem wide enough and it's a bit steeper than I thought. So, we may put it a little more west of that location, still facing mostly south, where it's a more gentle slope. Not sure if we should level the area first, or build the coop up on posts. I would much prefer it to be level if possible. This area of gentle slope is actually grass so it wouldn't technically need to be cleared, but if we built there maybe the structure would hinder getting equipment to the other side to clear the brambles there and make way for a garden. Dunno...decisions decisions.
Ack! It's late and we have an early indoor soccer game for my son. Night everyone and have a wonderful weekend! Happy Valentines day!!

Oh and fingers still crossed @Outpost JWB You deserve a fresh start where you will be well treated

A worthy goal for everyone.

About the slope.....I saw a coop here on BYC (years ago so can't give you a link) that was built on a sloped hill. The slope was kept and the people door was ground level on the uphill side and there were posts used to level the coop on the downhill side. Under the coop was fenced in as their run and there was a "trapdoor" for the chickens to go down into the run. The run was well fortified for safety. Maybe something like that would work for you.

 

[NotAFarm]

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

 

[ApiaryandAviary]

Beautiful.

 

[Amberjem]

Nope, never killed anything directly, never wanted to and I still don't really. But I do believe in knowing where your food comes from and raising animals in as humane way as possible and I think it's a really honest pursuit to raise your food with love and care and dispatch it with respect and humanity when the time comes. It's weird, I don't like the idea of killing an animal or that something has to die in order for me to eat but I do enjoy eating meat/animal protein in my diet. From a health perspective I think it's possible but very difficult to be healthy without having animal fats and proteins in your diet- it can be done but you have to know what you are doing and put quite a bit of effort into it in my opinion. So, from a spiritual perspective I guess, I would prefer not to have to eat anything that was breathing - but let's be honest, they taste great and provide good nourishment. I just don't want to have to think about it too much and ironically, raising my own chickens will put me in this position at one point or another - if I'm being a responsible chicken owner and not trying to pawn my roosters off on someone who won't put it in the pot just because I became too attached to do it myself. With more and more people raising backyard flocks I think we will continue to see those ads on craigslist for the unwanted roo or old laying hens. I read a blog post recently, forgot the name, but the title was something like "Don't get chickens" - and she was speaking to mainly the small flock keeper who may only be able to keep a few hens and when one stops laying it needs to be replaced but the owner not wanting to kill it herself OR have anyone else do the deed (she had a friend who really wanted chickens but couldn't hurt a fly). She took issue with the people wanting to have hens for eggs while they lay and then rehome them to someone else who will just let them live out their natural life in chicken-pecking bliss. She said this is irresponsible and if we are to raise chickens then we need to be responsible for them until the end. Anyhow, I think I'm rambling now... But that is what I want to be - a responsible, respectful chicken owner who loves her chickens, raises them well and then dispatches them (or by proxy DH) with respect and humanity. And that is more than most chickens ever get.

Well done and congratulations!

Pics please!

@Amberjem No progress on the brambles this week but hopefully over the weekend...I'm a little stumped on where to put the coop and it would be easiest to focus on that location (once decided) first. I had thought we would do it near the top of the S/SE facing slope but it doesn't seem wide enough and it's a bit steeper than I thought. So, we may put it a little more west of that location, still facing mostly south, where it's a more gentle slope. Not sure if we should level the area first, or build the coop up on posts. I would much prefer it to be level if possible. This area of gentle slope is actually grass so it wouldn't technically need to be cleared, but if we built there maybe the structure would hinder getting equipment to the other side to clear the brambles there and make way for a garden. Dunno...decisions decisions.
Ack! It's late and we have an early indoor soccer game for my son. Night everyone and have a wonderful weekend! Happy Valentines day!!

Oh and fingers still crossed @Outpost JWB You deserve a fresh start where you will be well treated

I would suggest consider our very brisk winds here when you place it also consider we have lots of overcast depending exactly where you are also an area get decent winter sunlight while providing a bit of shade during summer if it's not around a tree area...also some cover for our very ctive predatory birds