Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

Puts us all to shame, doesn't it? People were tough back then and you won't find it nowadays...that generation are dying off and the new generations just don't have it. I know I'm nothing but a pale, moon cast shadow of my own mother and the stories she tells of her mother are impressive.

I often wonder what this generation would do if faced with what the last generation had been faced with? Curl up and die, I'm thinking. We are all such weenies!

 

[Triple Willow]

You guys know one thing that comes to my mind that is so different from years ago? Back then the kids were expected to help the family survive. They didn't spend their days "playing" and too precious to do some work. Everybody contributed to the family's survival.

 

[perchie.girl]

You guys know one thing that comes to my mind that is so different from years ago? Back then the kids were expected to help the family survive. They didn't spend their days "playing" and too precious to do some work. Everybody contributed to the family's survival.

When Dads Sisters went out to pick cotton they dragged a huge bag along behind them as they went And because they had to baby sit dad as well (He was an infant) they plopped him in the middle of the bale he rode along.


That horse was a saint somewhere I have a picture of All of the Kids on that horse... somewhere in Texas.

deb

 

[Beekissed]

You guys know one thing that comes to my mind that is so different from years ago? Back then the kids were expected to help the family survive. They didn't spend their days "playing" and too precious to do some work. Everybody contributed to the family's survival.

You are correct! There were no options on that. Even in my generation, we were the only family homesteading it in a log cabin and without utilities and Sundays were the only days that weren't work days. We were actively working on survival at all times we weren't in school. Dad was death on anyone sitting down until after dark. But that was a rarity even then...most of the kids I knew didn't do any real work unless they were boys that lived on a farm and even then they didn't work every day at it like their parents did.

My dad used to plow the fields with a mule when he was just a little boy and all day was spent working on growing and harvesting food of some kind. They would even set fall traps to trap songbirds to eat. Mom had her first job when she was 9 yrs old, cleaning a large house for an old madame. There were no such thing as child labor laws out in the country...if you wanted to eat, you worked.

My boys whined when I had them working on little projects on their Saturdays.

They didn't know what real work was and, as hard as I worked growing up on the homestead, I didn't even scratch the surface of what my folks had to do when they were young. I'm sure it was like that for each generation, with the last generation having to work much harder to survive.

 

[Beekissed]

When Dads Sisters went out to pick cotton they dragged a huge bag along behind them as they went And because they had to baby sit dad as well (He was an infant) they plopped him in the middle of the bale he rode along.


That horse was a saint somewhere I have a picture of All of the Kids on that horse... somewhere in Texas.

deb

I love the pic! Horses were handled and worked a lot back then...not like the pasture ornaments we have nowadays. I rarely ever see anyone riding or working with their horses now and it's common to see someone keep horses in their pastures for decades without ever actually doing anything with them but feeding and vetting them.

 

[perchie.girl]

They worked their own fields with horses and mules Sharecroppers Get to farm a portion of the land to support themselves. But the rest of the land had equipment. I think Grandpa worked a section or two. Farming for others then coming home and farming for himself. Dirt poor they would butcher a pig and sell the meat for new shoes once a year. Dad would work in the AM before school and in the PM after school. His sisters worked just as hard doing the same things.

My Grandma on my moms side her family grew a quarter section of Pinto beans. Her dad (My great Grandpa) farmed with mules.... oooh he had a temper he would beat those mules with logging chains till they went down on their knees. Her mom (My Great Grandma) was the only one that could make him stop. She was Fourteen when she married him he was a widower with a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter.

They had 9 children together Grandma was the youngest. They too migrated to Orange groves during the great depression. My grandma is 97.

deb

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

That's pretty bad.  I know some folks on here just go ahead and trim those areas off before they become infected...I'd find it hard to do unless there was absolutely no blood supply left.  How about you try massaging that comb lightly with some castor oil and see what becomes of it?     Could be that just the outer layer of skin will slough off and the outer tips, but a good massage and the antibacterial properties of the castor oil might help to restore some of the circulation and prevent infection.  The castor oil is also good for the skin and may help prevent any further damage. 

That last pen of cheap meats was showing several blackened and shriveled tips on the combs when I go them...those that were the worst got a gentle massage of castor oil and they brightened right up in a few days.  Later on when it was really wet and cold out I saw a few dark tips again but they were gone the next day and nothing came of it.  All those leghorns and other large combed breeds came out of our weather down in the teens, in their very open air coop, without any true frost bite...nice, red combs all. 

It's not that beautiful bird in your avatar, is it?  If so, that's a real shame.   

I'll definitely go pick up some castor oil today and gently massage it on his comb. How much do I put on and how many applications ?

Unfortunately it is the bird in my avatar, Rodney . I feel sick that this happened to him, absolutely ill about it.

 

[Beekissed]

I'll definitely go pick up some castor oil today and gently massage it on his comb. How much do I put on and how many applications ?

Unfortunately it is the bird in my avatar, Rodney . I feel sick that this happened to him, absolutely ill about it.

It doesn't really matter how much you use...just a goodly amount to cover all the areas and one should do it. That stuff is very thick and viscous, so it provides a good. protective layer of moisture barrier on the combs and wattles. It also seems to stimulate blood flow to the tissues as the combs reddened right up after this application. Blood flow is what is needed if there is any chance of saving the underlying tissues on that darkened area of comb. Don't give up hope! Rodney could still come out of this fairly pretty.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

It doesn't really matter how much you use...just a goodly amount to cover all the areas and one should do it.  That stuff is very thick and viscous, so it provides a good. protective layer of moisture barrier on the combs and wattles.  It also seems to stimulate blood flow to the tissues as the combs reddened right up after this application.  Blood flow is what is needed if there is any chance of saving the underlying tissues on that darkened area of comb.  Don't give up hope!  Rodney could still come out of this fairly pretty. 

Thanks, Bee ! I'm just heading into town now to pick up the castor oil. Gonna grab that boy when I get home and put the oil on his comb. Hopefully I can salvage whatever is left of his poor comb. I'll let you know the outcome ! Thanks so much

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks, Bee ! I'm just heading into town now to pick up the castor oil. Gonna grab that boy when I get home and put the oil on his comb. Hopefully I can salvage whatever is left of his poor comb. I'll let you know the outcome ! Thanks so much

Please do! It's better than nothing and it's worth a shot. Please take a before and after pic if you get the chance so we can get some idea of his damage and the results of the CO. It may or may not be instructive, but we'll pray for "may".