Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[gjensen]

I love breeding and flock keeping by the seasons as well...it just seems to fit the birds, the natural food abundance and it fits me. I'm more prepared to deal with chicks in the early spring than in approaching cold weathers or during the heat of summer.

And I'm none too fond of incubators...even this more simple one I'm doing is so much more fiddly than letting the expertise of the broody do all the work and do it better than I.

I do to. More and more, I would prefer not to buck the system. I do not have to keep birds that I have to hatch in Dec. to be ready for the shows in October. My birds are showing themselves broody around the same time our Turkey and quail is. They know what time it is.

 

[Beekissed]

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Azomite is derived from seas salt, so it is likely to have iodine in it. I didn't see an analysis so I don't know for sure; maybe diluted. I'm not saying not use it, just hinking out loud that sea salts maybe easier to get. WE do need more than plain old NaCl for sure.

 

[Arielle]

George-- I have replaced the Sevin with sulfur. I am curently testing it on my cats for fleas. It is working. Perhaps fire ants need an immediate zap and Sevin is est for that; otherwise Sulfer might be of interst to you. Next step is dust the birds.

 

[southernmomma]

That is the idea. I have nothing but thoughts and opinions. I rarely have any facts to offer, LOL.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that a percentage of my Catalanas were broody and made good mothers. I intend to let them work. They are quite delightful keeping up with their chicks. These birds are serious about everything they do. Really good birds.

Incubators are easy, and easier to manage the process. That is why everyone uses them. I still will, but have become fascinated by letting the birds do it. Kind of like going back in time. Heck, you do not have to worry about the power going out.

In the south, you have to be wary of fire ants etc. they do not bother the chicks once they are moving around, but wet and weak, the ants could be a problem. A little seven dust has kept me out of trouble so far.

If I could go back in time, I would have no fixed housing. Everything would be mobile. I am moving toward using my fixed housing for growers, and building mobile enclosures for my keepers. I am wrapping up some large walk in type chicken tractors. I wish that I had done this long ago. They will always be on grass.
I am intending to use small versions for the broody hens. Cleaning is as simple as sliding the pen over.

A lot of possibilities. Everyone develops their own style.

Concerning a breeding plan, I would recommend starting with simple flock mating. You can still improve a population this way. I do not flock mate, but that is how I started. I learned a lot, and it was fun. Or just have two families. There is so much to learn along the way. No one becomes a "master breeder" in a year or two. It is a lifetime of accumulated knowledge and experience. Simple is the best way to start.

Broody Catalanas is cool. They're still just about the prettiest bird I've seen too
Breeding? I've no grandiose plans but do want to challenge myself to at least maintain what I get in the beginning. I'll be starting small so I'm not overwhelmed~ looking forward to the journey and have no clear destination as of yet. Actually the more I read the more drawn out my plans become!

As for fire ants, yes def a problem. Several of the pastures have populations pretty entrenched as the land hasn't been used in a couple of decades. We're considering a large scale application of nematodes but I suspect it will come down to spot treating nests with poison and sectioning the area off from children/pets. Even Texas A&M, with all it's research, still suggests just using Amdro, lol!
Arielle, I'll be interested in your sulfur use.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I'll bet they have not tried sulfur. THat would be thinking outside the box. Mayb you can experiment and let us know-- I'd be willing to ship you a 1/2 cup to test.

 

[Fentress]

It is a hard one to answer because not all broody strains are the same. Some seam to tolerate the company of others where others will not. I have noticed some with many settings hens in a single enclosure and have no problems. I would have war if I set mine up that way. They are to protective of their chicks, which also is what makes them good mothers.

I am moving towards individual temporary houses and pens for single females and her chicks. That will be no small effort, but it will give me more control.

I intend to move them into these little fenced areas one by one. When the youngest chicks are feathered out, I am expecting to move all of the hens back into their enclosure simultaneously. The birds I intend to use do not take to newcomers well.

Do not take this as advice. This is a process that I am trying to get a feel for. I have raised a few birds here and there, but my interest in setting hens is new. I have seen that I cannot manage mine as some do, and I am scheming how to accomplish this with my own. For whatever reason it appeals to me, and I want to get good at this process with my birds. Also keeping control of the breeding (single mating) and keeping track of the chicks in the process.

I suspect that I will complicate it more than some would want.

I will say that it is a lot simpler to set a batch in the incubator. All in and all out in your own time. Not theirs.

Concerning the housing, that varies as much as the people that keep them. More is better than not enough. I would start scheming a breeding plan, and that will largely dictate how you set up. How many Families? How many cock birds? Do you intend to flock mate or line breed?

I agree. YOu have to pay attention and come up with something that works for you and your situation. I hope what i did last year, with the broody's, will work this year, since I took a 6 hour drive to go get eggs! Last year I let the flock out to roam the property when the chicks were hatching, so everbody would have lots of room. This year I am not going to do that, but I have bought more electro-net and will have about 16,000 square feet of pasture, so that should be room enough for a flock of 30 (my flock should be smaller) plus chicks. There will be lots of little places for the broods to get out of the way of the flock and each other. I will have three broods coming off at about the same time and that is a concern, since one of the mothers is very dominant (proven aggressive mom from last year) and I don't know how she will respond to the other broods. So the list of things to think about seems endless. I can understand why people standardize/compartmentalize poultry keeping, but that's just not for me. When I saw how well the broody raised chicks grew last year and what good condition they were in, I knew without a doubt that that would be my approach.

 

[southernmomma]

I'll bet they have not tried sulfur. THat would be thinking outside the box. Mayb you can experiment and let us know-- I'd be willing to ship you a 1/2 cup to test.

Lol, I think you're right.....the parameters of the box are clearly defined for most institutions

Once the school year is over for the kiddo we'll be making the permanent trek and will start working the land in earnest; we're not doing anything about the fire ants until we're up there and can monitor success/failure consistently. I'd love to avoid Amdro and keep with a more natural solution as 2 of the pastures slope down to a large pond~ I'd like to avoid contamination in even the smallest amounts. I'm going to read up on sulfur.

M

 

[chickadoodles]

IMHO anyone using anything with silica be very careful do not inhale it. Old miners died from breathing it in the mines. It gave me alot of problems using DE in my coop last year.

 

[LindaB220]

Azomite is derived from seas salt, so it is likely to have iodine in it. I didn't see an analysis so I don't know for sure; maybe diluted. I'm not saying not use it, just hinking out loud that sea salts maybe easier to get. WE do need more than plain old NaCl for sure.

You can order it on Amazon for $45 shipped for 35 lbs. This is as good a chart as I could find:

http://www.azomite.com/resources/coa.pdf