HERE is where we are going to talk about a sustainable meat bird flock

[pringle]

Those are some nice cages you got there CARS looks like battery hen cages right?Im gonna use 2 smallish rabbit htuches for the breeders,2 big rabbit hutches for the meat quail and then 2 dog houses for the layers with small runs attached so they can eat grass and bugs.speaking of battery cages im getting 3 battery hens soon!Im hoping to give them a great life.

 

[CARS]

Thanks. They might have been a little tight in there until I culled the flock down but it worked great. If anyone is interested in them, there is a lot of info in the quail section.

 

[Buster52]

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Hey, you brought it up.

 

[Buster52]

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Anything you do that makes you more self sufficient is definitely a step toward sustainability. Plus, every quail you eat is one less factory farmed bird bought at the store, which is in no way sustainable. So, it's win/win.

I applaud your efforts.

 

[Buster52]

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But, my freezer runs on electricity provided by a power company that burns fossil fuels to produce that electricity. I think that means I cannot claim sustainability when it comes to the chicken portion of my food supply regardless of what kind of chickens I put in there.

Tim

I am not talking about your family being completely sustainable. Just like I pointed out in the first post. Breeding for new stock, hatching the new stock, raising the new stock, processing the excess yourself, etc. I don't even want to know what or how you feed them.

Can't anyone read today or am I just going crazy???? I don't care if you use your grandma's bike to do chores with a wicker basket your mom made. I just want to know about the dang chickens!!!!!

That was tongue in cheek. He was teasing me about my comments in the other thread, CARS.

Geeze, lighten up, dude.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I'll post some good points about turkeys if you don't mind. I don't actually eat meat, but I have quite a bit of experience with turkeys. The heritage turkeys I have had were in my opinion: excellent for the homestead/freezer flock. I had one pair that quite dilligently produced naturally incubated hatches of 18 to 20 poults up to 3 times per year. If they were allowed to, they would raise them themselves, they did a great job and never lost a baby and if allowed to free range needed minimal supplementary feed. I only have about 2 acres, so not much room needed for a pair and offspring. Therefore, with little effort or feed investment one could produce 20 to 60 turkeys with the only work being shutting them up at night, providing water and a feed station.

 

[Buster52]

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[Buster52]

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I agree. Whether they are hatched by the mother or are incubated, turkeys are one of the best choices for self sufficiency. After that delicate first 8 weeks they are practically indestructable. And when folks brag about their CX giving them 8 pounds of meat, I think of my beauties easily weighing two or three times that.

We as a culture seem to have this weird notion you can only eat turkey two or three times a year. Yet, we think nothing of eating chicken two or three times a week. There is no reason turkey can't be a regular part of the diet.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Buster, you are too right, while I no longer indulge in turkey, it used to be my favorite. The rest of my family eats turkey at least twice a week, and roasts a whole one every month or so. (They have a chest freezer) I'm glad you pointed out that they are super tough after that 8 week mark. thats a good point.

Might I be so bold as to mention how fast a grower geese are? I found that nothing I have raised has so quickly reached weight as geese, and you can free range them too! Also, my geese never waste food by spilling it, so that makes them economical.

 

[CARS]

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A couple years ago I raised BB turkeys for meat. Most got way over 20 lbs by the time of processing and we split them in half. We had turkey twice as often and loved it!!

Maybe a flock of heritage birds that will be around long enough to lay, hatch, and grow out needs to be a part of my farm.

Thanks fancbrd and buster!