Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[colburg]

I don't have a reason to use mob grazing yet. Too much area available and they don't run out of grazing.

Have you ever seen an animal rip through 1/2" welded wire. Anatolian Shepherds can. We got a full grown Anatolian and put him in the orchard with chickens..they were locked up. 120lbs 3.5ft tall and he went through 1/2" welded wire under a pipe fence 6" off the ground to get OUT. CARAZY.

In NM I just leave the FF in the shop year round. The ferment slows, but 10 days in the can and it's all good.

 

[RedRidge]

I don't have a reason to use mob grazing yet. Too much area available and they don't run out of grazing.

Have you ever seen an animal rip through 1/2" welded wire. Anatolian Shepherds can. We got a full grown Anatolian and put him in the orchard with chickens..they were locked up. 120lbs 3.5ft tall and he went through 1/2" welded wire under a pipe fence 6" off the ground to get OUT. CARAZY.

In NM I just leave the FF in the shop year round. The ferment slows, but 10 days in the can and it's all good.

A good lgd who is properly started by the breeder will never challenge fencing. Not only will they respect their boundary, they will be too tightly bonded to their livestock to have any desire to leave. Too many people do not start their lgds prooerly (which is unfortunate), but started properly they are your biggest asset and a thing of beauty to watch work. I couldn't run my farm without my maremma. My current litter of 9 week old pups leave for their new homes in 3 weeks and have been with the sheep and poultry 24/7 since birth. The do not touch the fencing. .. Ever. .. And are rotated daily with electro netting. They sleep curled up with the livestock. Right bonds at an early age are critical.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: love the maremmas. WIll pm you.

Raising a dog to know his job is a challenge, Especially for the first timers. I guess it is like raising children,we make all the errors on the first child and by the 3rd we've got it. Puppies take a lot of work to get it right.

I'm working on getting electric fencing up-- need to knock down some brush to keep the lines clear. Coyotes were howling last night very close. I turned on spot lights, and went out side.

I have a number of birds that roost up high in the trees-- are these the birds to keep or the birds to cull? those that go to roost lower we can catch and put in the safety of a closed coop.

Dogs asleep in the house cannot hear what is going on outside.

 

[RedRidge]

 

I don't have a reason to use mob grazing yet. Too much area available and they don't run out of grazing.


Have you ever seen an animal rip through 1/2" welded wire. Anatolian Shepherds can. We got a full grown Anatolian and put him in the orchard with chickens..they were locked up. 120lbs 3.5ft tall and he went through 1/2" welded wire under a pipe fence 6" off the ground to get OUT. CARAZY.


In NM I just leave the FF in the shop year round. The ferment slows, but 10 days in the can and it's all good.

A good lgd who is properly started by the breeder will never challenge fencing. Not only will they respect their boundary, they will be too tightly bonded to their livestock to have any desire to leave. Too many people do not start their lgds prooerly (which is unfortunate), but started properly they are your biggest asset and a thing of beauty to watch work. I couldn't run my farm without my maremma. My current litter of 9 week old pups leave for their new homes in 3 weeks and have been with the sheep and poultry 24/7 since birth. The do not touch the fencing. .. Ever. .. And are rotated daily with electro netting. They sleep curled up with the livestock. Right bonds at an early age are critical.

love the maremmas. WIll pm you. 

Raising a dog to know his job is a challenge, Especially for the first timers. I guess it is like raising children,we make all the errors on the first child and by the 3rd we've got it. Puppies take a lot of work to get it right. 

I'm working on getting electric fencing up-- need to knock down some brush  to keep the lines clear.  Coyotes were howling last night very close. I turned on  spot lights, and went out side. 

I have a number of birds that roost up high in the trees-- are these the birds to keep or the birds to cull? those that go to roost lower we can catch and put in the safety of a closed coop.

Dogs asleep in the house cannot hear what is going on outside. 

I will add that a good breeder will be with new puppy owners every step of the way. I always hesitate to sell my pups to newbies... not because of the extra time commitment it takes to guide them through the first 12-18 months, but because many newbies are not very open to the help and suggestions. Poultry only farms present a bigger challenge than farms that have an alternative livestock such as goats or sheep to use the pups on during those teenage months. Too many people want to train... training is never required... only properly timed guidance should be necessary. This is the reason I keep my pups til 12 weeks instead of 8 and why started or mature lgds are pricey - but worth every penny.

 

[BGMatt]

Keep in mind for growth rates and such the more range and foraging you allow the slower your growth rate will be. It's healthy or them sure, but you'll have better growth and better weights if you feed a good food and have them in a spacious, but not humongous grow out pen. In the past I've used 12x12 grow out pens for up to 25 birds until 6 months of age, then it starts getting crowded. Separating cockerels and pullets as soon as you can identify them helps drastically too. Feed is vital too, get a good balanced commercial diet, preferably with meat protein and feed it. Don't dilute it with other stuff, that's a rookie mistake. Yeah they used to do things different, we have better science on our side now.

Edit: for grow out space clarification I have found through the years that if you allow 1sqft per month of age til maturity (around 6-8 months) you'll get a happy medium of good growth and adequate space. Let's you cull through at a good pace too. I start culling at 8 weeks and every four weeks after that.

 

[Lacy Blues]

How do you manage to make enough FF for a large number of burds?? I like that it doesnot go bad in the summer heat. ANd my birds eat it ike candy. My horses pick at it until it is gone-- that is, the fermented alfalfa cubes. THe birds pass on THAT! lol

My birds don't like the alfalfa cubes fermented either. I shred the cubes and soak them in plain water overnight to soften and then stir into their morning ration. The eat it all up!

 

[RedRidge]

 

How do you manage to make enough FF for a large number of burds?? I like that it doesnot go bad in the summer heat. ANd my birds eat it ike candy. My horses pick at it until it is gone-- that is, the fermented alfalfa cubes. THe birds pass on THAT! lol

My birds don't like the alfalfa cubes fermented either.  I shred the cubes and soak them in plain water overnight to soften and then stir into their morning ration.  The eat it all up!

I ferment my grains only. Alfalfa meal is one of the ingredients I add each morning to the fermented grains once they are drained.

 

[Fentress]

To Colburg and others. A survey taken not too long ago by APPPA (American Pastured Poultry Producers Association) provided an average price of $4 per dozen eggs and $4 per pound for broilers. Of course, most of them use hybrids, but that is what you have to compete with in what is already a niche market. Their general advice is to find/create your market and charge as much as possible. Producers are more price sensitive than the buyers if you market correctly, which would be even more important for heritage stock. The good news is that in some areas demand and therefore price continues to increase.

mark

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I ferment my grains only. Alfalfa meal is one of the ingredients I add each morning to the fermented grains once they are drained.
ALfalfa meal??? WIll have to look for that. I really like my morning eggs to be dark yellow, and with the decreasing grasses during the winter, the eggs look rather drab already from some pens.

 

[NanaKat]

To Colburg and others. A survey taken not too long ago by APPPA (American Pastured Poultry Producers Association) provided an average price of $4 per dozen eggs and $4 per pound for broilers. Of course, most of them use hybrids, but that is what you have to compete with in what is already a niche market. Their general advice is to find/create your market and charge as much as possible. Producers are more price sensitive than the buyers if you market correctly, which would be even more important for heritage stock. The good news is that in some areas demand and therefore price continues to increase.

mark

What about plump boiling hens (stopped laying)? I'm getting ready to pull some old girls rather than feed them thru winter.