Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

@duluthralphie must be sleeping in today

 

[duluthralphie]

So I was talking to some people about my chickens (funny how that always happens) and the were saying they have wished they could have chickens but never have because they don't have the technical knowledge to build a coop. It got me thinking of course... How cool would it be if there was a company that 'city folk' could go to and get a turn key backyard chicken system. I'm thinking on the scale of 2-3 hens only. They would basically be buying a backyard coop/tractor and the necessary equipment like feeders and waterers and it could even come with hens or started pullets. There could be some sort of training/schooling about chicken care included as well as follow up support as needed while they learn about their new flock.

I've added this idea to my list of 'income opportunities' for when I decide I'm tired of riding a desk on weekdays

I did not sleep in, I was busy and my putor required an update.. I hate when it does that..


If I sleep in it interferes with my mid morning Grandpa nap, And if that gets pushed back it interferes with my Noon Grandpa nap and of course that being pushed back interferes with my Afternoon Grandpa nap..

So I have no choice but to get up at 5..




Now to your post, There is a company that "rents" you chickens and coops for city people for 5-6 months. They charge a fortune but a person can have chickens without the winter hassles.. I have seen it on craigslist..








Now I have a question we opened this egg yesterday and it had a "grape" in it.. any idea what it is, I have never seen one, my Mom had never seen it either and she had chickens for 60 years or more.

 

[duluthralphie]

I want a class on mushroom hunting, identification and eating...... I will be the 4th person to try each one, I will eat the day after everyone else..

 

[KlopKlop]

Now to your post, There is a company that "rents" you chickens and coops for city people for 5-6 months. They charge a fortune but a person can have chickens without the winter hassles.. I have seen it on craigslist..

As far as 'rental chickens go' one of the other ideas on my list is 'renting' baby chicks and/or baby bunnies at Easter time. The consumer would get to surprise their children with little peepers and then when they get smelly and ugly I bring them back home and they eventually become dinner for me.

Now don't all of you go getting rich off my crazy ideas without cutting me in

 

[Minniechickmama]

I don't know! I knew there was something about gases - that it could kill you, and I think I also thought you could be in a silo trying to undo a jam of corn and it would get loose and suffocate you. So...maybe corn? Never ever thought about silage. didn't know what it was.....I think that is why I really like the pederson boys from north dakota, who make a ton of you tube videos about farming - featuring them singing and grooving while they do various chores. Kind of a tutorial!

Yes, the big grain bins that have corn are a potential hazard if you go inside. My husband watched an entire docudrama one night about a young guy in Iowa who went into the top and was tethered, but the rope broke. They rescued him though, but some don't make it out.

Silos have the dangerous gases while they are fermenting. Haylage is chopped hay that is blown into the silo, silage is corn or corn mix (pretty sure we mixed sorghum into ours one or two years) that is chopped and blown into the silo. They ferment for a few weeks, then once that process is done, an automated unloader is set on top and will scrap and shoot the forage down a chute. Or, as we had, the "Armstrong" unloaders = us people with "arms" and a fork that went up and pitch it off. That is why no boys in high school would ask me out, they were afraid I would kick their butts. I started young scaring them though, in 4th grade I started arm-wrestling the boys and beat every one of them. By high school, I had some pretty noticeable 'guns' that they were threatened with. It is all good now, I ended up with a pretty amazing dude who isn't afraid of anything about me My 17-year old is built like a bean pole and always talks about trying to bulk up. I tell him, go work on a farm. Of course, there are barely any farms any more that are like the one 'back home', which isn't there any more either, just a Harvestore silo no one wants. Pitching silage, pitching manure, breaking cattle to lead, bucking hay bales and carrying milkers to the dumping station, those will built up a body. Let's not forget what all that squatting under cows and getting up about 1,000 times a day will do for the glutes and quads and hamstrings! Oh, the memories of my youth! LOL

 

[Minniechickmama]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/will-2015-be-the-year-of-the-chicken-1419632701

I think the chickens you all wrote about are in this article.

That't it!!!
I read an article in the NY Times about one of the NY restaurants who serves only the "Rouge" chicken and it is Amish raised. Well, I looked it up. It is a hybrid chicken, first of all. So is the Red Sex Link, Red Production, Dixie Rainbows, CRX, etc, etc, etc.
Also, there was a picture in the article of the farm they were raised on. Guess what? They might have been Amish, but those birds are still raised in a CONFINEMENT building! Just like all the commercial CRX on the market. So, they have this quaint 'story' about the chicken they use, but in reality, they aren't doing anything any more special than the rest of the commercial markets.

So, once again, here is a "new" chicken everyone will want to get. There is nothing wrong with the American heritage breeds, or the hybrids developed here in the US, but because someone slapped the French twist on those, they will be all the rage now.

 

[scandiafowl]

I want a class on mushroom hunting, identification and eating...... I will be the 4th person to try each one,   I will eat the day after everyone else..

So, Ralphie, is that your ad on Craigslist?

 

[Minniechickmama]

So I was talking to some people about my chickens (funny how that always happens) and the were saying they have wished they could have chickens but never have because they don't have the technical knowledge to build a coop. It got me thinking of course... How cool would it be if there was a company that 'city folk' could go to and get a turn key backyard chicken system. I'm thinking on the scale of 2-3 hens only. They would basically be buying a backyard coop/tractor and the necessary equipment like feeders and waterers and it could even come with hens or started pullets. There could be some sort of training/schooling about chicken care included as well as follow up support as needed while they learn about their new flock.

I've added this idea to my list of 'income opportunities' for when I decide I'm tired of riding a desk on weekdays

Have you heard of "Rent A Chicken"? My husband thinks I should do it. I can build small coops in a day or two, and then provide the chickens and possibly small portioned feed. The thing is, I don't want to do it. I have more than enough to do already, and I can't believe it would be that profitable for me with time it would take (the way he thinks I should anyway, which includes a coop cleaning service).

 

[KlopKlop]

Have you heard of "Rent A Chicken"?  My husband thinks I should do it.  I can build small coops in a day or two, and then provide the chickens and possibly small portioned feed.  The thing is, I don't want to do it.  I have more than enough to do already, and I can't believe it would be that profitable for me with time it would take (the way he thinks I should anyway, which includes a coop cleaning service).

You would almost have to make them buy the coop and the rent the hens. It would be a struggle to charge enough to cover the expense of building (also consider wear and tear) and still attract consumers.

These are all just pipe dreams though my crazy brain is always coming up with ideas so I just write them down

 

[duluthralphie]

Yes, the big grain bins that have corn are a potential hazard if you go inside. My husband watched an entire docudrama one night about a young guy in Iowa who went into the top and was tethered, but the rope broke. They rescued him though, but some don't make it out.

Silos have the dangerous gases while they are fermenting. Haylage is chopped hay that is blown into the silo, silage is corn or corn mix (pretty sure we mixed sorghum into ours one or two years) that is chopped and blown into the silo. They ferment for a few weeks, then once that process is done, an automated unloader is set on top and will scrap and shoot the forage down a chute. Or, as we had, the "Armstrong" unloaders = us people with "arms" and a fork that went up and pitch it off. That is why no boys in high school would ask me out, they were afraid I would kick their butts. I started young scaring them though, in 4th grade I started arm-wrestling the boys and beat every one of them. By high school, I had some pretty noticeable 'guns' that they were threatened with. It is all good now, I ended up with a pretty amazing dude who isn't afraid of anything about me My 17-year old is built like a bean pole and always talks about trying to bulk up. I tell him, go work on a farm. Of course, there are barely any farms any more that are like the one 'back home', which isn't there any more either, just a Harvestore silo no one wants. Pitching silage, pitching manure, breaking cattle to lead, bucking hay bales and carrying milkers to the dumping station, those will built up a body. Let's not forget what all that squatting under cows and getting up about 1,000 times a day will do for the glutes and quads and hamstrings! Oh, the memories of my youth! LOL

We mixed sorghum into ours for a few years too, There was a time it was pushed as more "green yield" per acre. But if you recall it had some problems, if you did not get it up before it froze, suckers grew out the bottom of the stalks that were deadly to animals and the milk was rejected because of some reason or another. I know we only did it a few years. Dad did use if for green chop on feeder wagons for several years and just plowed the remaining under after it froze as a green manure. The advantage over corn for green chop was its ability to come back after being cut. It was more cost effective than pasture and corn.

Do not forget what ducking a manure laden sloppy wet stinging tail does for coordination.