Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[Pathfinders]

If you're interested in saving money on feed, it can cut your feed costs nearly in half and provide probiotics for excellent flock health. Also increases the feather quality and yolk size and decreases the smell of feces. And that's just a few of the benefits of fermented feed.

Those all sound like good benefits. Can you point me towards a tutorial please?

 

[chickadoodles]

Greetings. I lost my entire flock of RIR to a dog attack( saint barnards). I was in need of some good breeding stock to rebuild my flock. I called Jeremy Woeppel (XW Poultry Ranch) at Chambers Nebraska. He said he had some young New Hampshires he could spare. I live 35 miles to the north, so I made a date and purchased 12 pullets and 2 roos. That was yesterday and they are already growing on me,I like them. I can see myself putting a lot of time and energy into this breed. Here are a few pics. Thanks XW.

Very nice looking birds!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Seems to me she would have been very valuable in the days before vegetable oils became readily available--- and since in my house we don't use much of that crap, this hen would be welcome at my house!! A nice flavorful fat for cooking.

 

[ocap]

Those all sound like good benefits. Can you point me towards a tutorial please?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

I use two buckets, for me it is faster, I pour off the liquid into the empty bucket and use the fermented feed that I need, add dry feed and pour the liquid back on top and stir, faster than holes in the bottom of a bucket. I fermented with one bottle of kefir and kept the ferment going all summer, no additional kefir required. Winter requires dry feed in my location.

 

[thedragonlady]

We have looked at and tried several things. We live on a windswept prairie near the foothills, the land was cattle pasture for decades before we bought it in 2006, so the only natives growing here were prairie grasses, cholla, prickly pear, yucca, juniper, and rabbitbrush - all fairly low and dense because that shape bears the wind better. There are few days we have none, not all days are bad, but it is common to have a day or more per week (and sometimes weeks' worth) with winds gusting in the high 30s and low 40s. This past year has actually been one of the easier years for wind since we moved here.

That said, I feel confident we will find something that works, and I particularly think if I grow something against a chain link or other fence, so it has a braced side, I will have more success. Because of the arid climate, I am leaning toward trying to dig a trench and fill it with amendments including peat moss. I would say I will mulch, but that would mean the chickens would have to stay on their side of the fence the entire spring and summer, and until I get the gardens going they usually are out every day at least part of the day if the weather is decent (meaning, above 20 degrees, not too much wind or precipitation). Chickens love them some mulch But landscape fabric over the top might do the trick.

I think the windscreen fabric will be the answer to your problem. You can put hardware mesh over mulch to keep birds from digging up the mulch too. Too much trouble for them to try to scratch through 1/2 inch mesh laid on the ground.I have 3' tall tubes of it around the bases of my hops vines to keep the birds from pecking all the leaves off the vines in early spring.You can see how those vines grow on my page.

Beware of using too much peat moss in dry climates. It actually repels water when completely dry. Rotted horse manure with straw, or shavings wok much better, especially if you add water holding crystals.A soaker hose in the bottom of the trench , and you're in business.

 

[Arielle]

Well they did publish a study this year that determined some humans have a genetic disposition for obesity. I can definitely see this being true for birds as well.... I am in awe of this bird.

THese are the people that survived the hard times-- so as a rule we are mostly genetically able to put on fat. I would have been one of the survivors in a famine or over the winter!! lol With the readily available food in modern AMerica, keeping off the extra weight is the challenge--it is easiest by eating meat like chicken and fat.Fat doesn't make me fat, cereals and breads, potatos and rice make me fat. I have a pot of turkey soup on the stove now; chicken soup will be next. YUM. Need to get a duck in the pot to change it up.

 

[Arielle]

Really?? I was appalled at the fat on this bird! For a layer, she is way too fat, so I was pretty ashamed at her fat level. You'd really love to see the old WR I processed the other day....5 yrs old, one of a flock of 14 LF that were only getting 1 1/2 c.~for the entire flock!~ of fermented feeds per day and free ranging the rest of the day. When I processed her I was again appalled at the level of fat on the bird but couldn't really knock down the feed amounts much more than I already had!












Her gizzard!!!

Beee--- was this hen still laying??????

Dairy cows stay much thinner than beef cows mainly due ti the production demand on their bodies for resources. So that's what led me to think this girls was not laying anymore and hasn't been for a while.


ANd leads me to ask what they are eating while free ranging-- what kids of plants are they eating, and do you have lots of bugs??

 

[Arielle]

I'm putting this pic up to better understand squirrel tail.

Background-- I noticed some of the speckled sussex roosters had "squirrel" tail so tagged the 3 with better tails so I could observe them at different times during the day. WHen on high alert head is up and tail is up; the other extreme is at evening roosting time and the tail is down and the head is not as up. WHat I also noticed once tagged, all the squirrel tailed roosters have 2 long sickle feathers.

THe boy above has 1 long feather and looks better than those with 2.

Comments??

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Technically, squirrel tail is past the 90-degree angle point. So, that doesn't look like true squirrel tail. it's unacceptable, but it's not squirrel tailed. Japanese bantams are the only breed where squirrel tail is not a disqualification.

 

[Arielle]

THanks Joseph.

SO I"m guessing the best time to evaluate this is when the boys are calmly freeranging?