Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Kassaundra]

I checked the SOP, and blue eggs are referenced in the preamble. I was mistaken that it wasn't in the SOP.

 

[Triple Willow]

I can't be sure my kids will be there when I am older-- I hope they do not go far. BUt jobs can be anywhere in the world now.I do find it interesting that my DH family live within an hour o each other by my family is scattered all over the US and don't have( much) contact. We spend TIME with our kids. My kids reflect what I have taught them. 

Arielle, the grown children that I see who will not be bothered to care for their elderly parents (one in particular) live right under their parents nose - not across the country, not in another city - just down the road! They have this idea that "I have MY OWN LIFE with my kids and grandkids and I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME". They have grown up being the "wittle baby" that never gave, only received. Now they are 50-something years old and their parents don't matter in their life. Oh but they want all that mom/dad has and are more than willing to try and take out a life insurance policy on them. But as far as lifting a finger to help mom/dad - FORGET IT, no time! The excuses range from: I have to work and on the weekend I have to spend time with my kids and grandkids, when they no longer work still no time, oh it (caring for mom/dad) just gets on my nerves so bad, I have to be home for when the grandkids get off the bus, they have soccer football basketball and plays with hour and hours and days and days of practice before the actual play starts. I could go on and on because I have personally heard it all. Get this one, daughter can't care for her mother today because she has to go with her 30-something year old daughter to the doctor because she is so sick that she doesn't want to go by herself. BUT and I say BUT, her daughter that was sooo sick and couldn't go to the doctor by herself was not so sick that she couldn't go "act" for 2 hours in a local play the same night when she got home from the doctor.

I'm gonna shut up. As y'all can tell this is very personal to me. All I do know is that it has become foolish to think that you can depend on anybody in this life. I know it is wrong but I can't help but hope that they get what they gave. Sorry about my rant.

 

[BCMaraniac]

So Bee, your breeds of choice if you were going into breeding heritage flocks would be WR, RIR and BA huh? I was just thinking about that this morning. I don't know but I believe I would like to do Rose Comb Ancona (chickens) and I'm not sure about the other - Delaware, BA, Buckeye...? I really like the White Leghorns too. Some say that an Ancona is pretty much just a colored White Leghorn.

My 8 month old pullets seem to be laying better than ever and recently the egg size has gotten bigger. I didn't figure that would happen this time of year.

My pullets are laying well too. Their combs and wattles are nice and red, and my girls that have gone through molt have combs and wattles that are pretty lack luster and they aren't laying. The really interesting thing is that the two broody hens I had late this past summer/early fall are laying extremely well, have bright red combs, an lost very few feathers. I guess the time off with babies helped with their laying.

Hey Bee, have you ever had a broody hen lay eggs for the better part of her time with her chicks? One of my BCM broodies started laying huge eggs....72-76 grams.... about two weeks after her chicks hatched, and has continued to do so.

 

[Beekissed]

I've had one or two that got back to laying pretty quickly but not 2 wks after a brood...more like 3 wks. I had one that got back to lay before then but it was because she fostered her chicks to another broody that had brooded in the same pen and skipped out on her parental duties after about a week.

 

[BCMaraniac]

My capons were accepted as part of the flock, not outcasts at all. We'll see if that holds true w/ the newest one, he will be the only one unless I get around to caponizing Audra (saw her as a girl out of wishful thinking)

I think what happened with my little guy is that he was picked on from the get go, so he was scared of his own shadow.....even before he was caponized. Even though he is a White Giant, he was the runt.....he was actually probably too small when I caponized him.....he got wind puffs on both sides, etc. I am surprised he didn't die, to be perfectly honest.....and it would have been my fault. I swore I wouldn't have a pet chicken.....oh, well. If he broods my chicks, he will be more than a pet....he will definitely earn his keep.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I've had one or two that got back to laying pretty quickly but not 2 wks after a brood...more like 3 wks. I had one that got back to lay before then but it was because she fostered her chicks to another broody that had brooded in the same pen and skipped out on her parental duties after about a week.

I couldn't believe it.......and she kept her chicks with her for 8 weeks. I finally took the two of them from her because they were both little roos and I needed to caponize them. She didn't seem to mind, but that may have been because there was another broody hen with younger chicks that she helped babysit after hers were gone.

 

[Beekissed]

That's a gal I'd plan on keeping for breeding..I think everyone would like to have genetics like that in a flock. See if she does that consistently and, if so, she's a remarkable hen indeed!

 

[BCMaraniac]

That's a gal I'd plan on keeping for breeding..I think everyone would like to have genetics like that in a flock. See if she does that consistently and, if so, she's a remarkable hen indeed!

Funny you should say that because the breeder I got her from said the same thing yesterday when I talked to her. She is selling her breeding stock because she needs the breeding pen for another project, so I am probably buy her breeders....6 hens and a rooster. I think her rooster is out of the same hatch as this hen, so I may breed her to him and see what happens.

I processed three slips today.......still have them on ice(inside a plastic bag), and I haven't weighed them yet........

 

[RoseMarie1]

You know? I saw one of my birds do the same thing! They didn't eat it..just walked by, it happened to hop in front of them and one of them grabbed it and thunked it on the ground until it was dead and they just walked on. Very unusual...they usually hoover up what they kill, so I'm wondering if frogs don't taste as good as lizards and snakes? Don't want to get frogenital warts?

Mine love those tree frogs some folks call them rain frogs. I had 3-4 that kept trying to live behind my cushion on my porch swing. Every time I went to sit down there they were and I don't like those things AT ALL! Every time I turn around one of them jumps ON ME!

So I started getting them into an old glass jar with a stick to give to the chickens and they loved em.

and I was glad! lol We had those things running out our ears around here. So they have really worked on them and I'm not seeing them now. Just waiting for them to cut those old woods roaches down now.

 

[Beekissed]

She's a rare gem, that's for sure. If I were in a different place in time and the world was in a different time, I'd be really getting into breeding some heritage stock...I think it's worthy of time if one is going to spend time on chickens at all. If I ever ran across a hen that still laid eggs while she brooded small chicks I'd be trying to find just how set that trait actually is and see if I could develop it....such are what dreams are made of.

I'm finishing up the processing of the 10 birds I've been culling this fall...the last batch of stock is currently in the canner. Sure feels good to have all that meat and stock in jars, golden goodness glowing on a shelf. The healthiest, best tasting meat and stock one can imagine...people who don't know what it feels like to grow a bird from chick to finish and place it in that jar or freezer have no clue about the true fulfillment of raising your own chickens. To not have to eat meat from the store is a big deal to me...and to know how these birds lived each day in the sun and fresh air is priceless.

Can't wait until you folks start tasting the meat produced on this FF...it's spectacular!