Minnesota!

[lvie]

a true chicken person! I love it, you're back in the good graces, so you can afford to leave those graces for a while over a rooster!


I actually put my big boy pants on and went outside and worked. It was terrible! But I am ready for snow, So Snow gods HIT ME!!!




SleepyOwl I love the coop/barn or whatever, makes me wish ours had not burned (12 years ago).


Oh and I just came in and I am sure I felt the snow on my face. A guy stopped for eggs and he said it was snowing in Downtown Orrock.

a true chicken person! I love it, you're back in the good graces, so you can afford to leave those graces for a while over a rooster!


I actually put my big boy pants on and went outside and worked. It was terrible! But I am ready for snow, So Snow gods HIT ME!!!




SleepyOwl I love the coop/barn or whatever, makes me wish ours had not burned (12 years ago).


Oh and I just came in and I am sure I felt the snow on my face. A guy stopped for eggs and he said it was snowing in Downtown Orrock.

Its only been two weeks and I am enjoying the peace.

 

[duluthralphie]

Its only been two weeks and I am enjoying the peace.

I have only had 4 weeks peace over 40+ years. You are ready to kick the bull again.

 

[lalaland]

Was reading some more on the deep layer method at purepoultry.com, the author wrote that other than the poop board they clean the coop out twice per year.

Made me think.. Is that usual?

I didn't read the link. But, I more or less practice deep litter. The thing is that in Minnesota it is pretty much impossible to do a true deep litter where the litter is composting. This is because in the summer it is dry in your coop, and in the winter the poop is frozen.

There are beneficial microbes in the litter from the poop.

I clean my coop out about twice a year, the rest of the time I clear out poop clods and add more hay. Roosting areas are cleaned out if there is a build up, which depends on who wants to roost where! I don't like the poop to build up on the shelves where some of them roost. I've always done it that way, and I can't remember exactly when I first got chickens but it was in the 90's.

Yes, 'organic' is a bought title for your products. Technically we are all organic as are all of our animals by definition - "characteristic of, pertaining to, or derived from living organisms"

Is a grasshopper meat? If the grasshopper migrates in from somewhere and it was sprayed with an insecticide before my chicken unwisely decided to eat it, is the chicken still organic?


I am sorry, but it is a marketing ploy to yuppies in my mind and not real... Raised healthy and safely yes. but no one can guarantee "organic" for any critter or plant raised in the outdoors.

yah. don't get me started. Organic used to mean something before the multinational food companies jumped on the bandwagon and got the initial regs changed. You would be surprised what can be in "organic", which is why all the natural food co-ops have been on the eat local bandwagon. Because, for one, organic doesn't mean what it used to. For two, the regs now make it financially extremely difficult for your small farmer to be certified. For three, if you eat local, you can learn about how your food is raised, and you would likely choose someone that treats their animals right and feeds them well.

right now, you have ground up day old chicks and dead poultry used as cattle feed. You don't want to know what is in your mass produced chicken feed.

there wasn't really such a thing as a "yuppie" back in the 70's when natural food movement started.

and one last comment: there is definitely such a thing as overprocessed, unhealthy junk food that is also certified organic.

jumping off the soapbox.

 

[lalaland]

ok, I just made mac and cheese on the stove, scratch, and man on man is it good comfort food! 5 ingredients: butter, sharp cheddar, milk, green onions, noodles. (not counting salt pepper and a few capers. Why haven't I ever made that before? fast and yummy.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Was reading some more on the deep layer method at purepoultry.com, the author wrote that other than the poop board they clean the coop out twice per year.

Made me think.. Is that usual?

As Erli said I think dirt floor is needed then you'd have to keep your composting bacteria cozy all winter by inserting a heat plate. Personally I think it's gross and there's nothing more reassuring seeing my birds clean and cozy in the coop on fresh bedding in -20 below weather. I think it's a warm climate method, honestly. And since my door opens inward, I couldn't enter my coop while doing deep litter. Minnie doesn't think it works here. Holm tried it last year and said it added too much moisture in the coop.

Ralphie I'm glad you put on the head lamp and big boy pants. Lol. Chooks are ready for old man winter are they?

I think I've got the seasonal defective disorder. Never have had it before. But 1 in 10 get it. 10% is a pretty high percentage when you think about it. I took Sadie for a walk at noon today. DH had a honey do list that he punched out after I talked to him like he was the 3rd child. Hunting season is tough as I feel like a single parent. But woe is me. He got it done now so I'll have to figure something else to B:#€h about. Lol

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: Hahaha! Hilarious!

 

[duluthralphie]

I love homemade Mac and cheese.

I did not know what the right term I wanted was, I knew Yuppie was not quite right. But that is the type of person that buys into the "organic" label, regardless of what is really better.

Lala You did say what I was trying to say better than I did.


I did not know ground up chicks went into cattle feed. I am not sure that really upsets me though, as I know the hatcheries kill off tons of chicks each year, it is better to use the protein than throw it away to me. I assume it is cooked to make it safe.

 

[lalaland]

As Erli said I think dirt floor is needed then you'd have to keep your composting bacteria cozy all winter by inserting a heat plate. Personally I think it's gross and there's nothing more reassuring seeing my birds clean and cozy in the coop on fresh bedding in -20 below weather. I think it's a warm climate method, honestly. And since my door opens inward, I couldn't enter my coop while doing deep litter. Minnie doesn't think it works here. Holm tried it last year and said it added too much moisture in the coop.

ditto on the clean coop - mine smells so good when the hay gets spread around and when the roost areas get cleaned up. I swear the hay makes the coop warmer too. And the chickens are always scratching around in it, even in the summer when you would think there were much more interesting places outside to be digging and scratching in.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

The best Mac and cheese I ever had was at the Hilton in down town Minneapolis. It was a home made type with im sure more than one type of cheese ....and.... Bacon bits. Omg it was so good. I should email them and see if they'll send a recipe to me.

Organic stamps are not what the consumer is envisioning. They are envisioning "Pastured" animals. So it's a VERY misleading term. From what I understand organic is tough to get done. The Duluth egg company Locally Laid, uses not GMO corn to feed their hens, but it's not organic. The non GMO from what i understand is difficult for them to source, even.

 

[scandiafowl]

As someone who has worked in coops for many years..

Get over the organic bit. It's just a term used for food that has not been saturated in pesticides and herbicides. But to achieve that requires perseverance. My neighbor is a farmer who sprays and my land will not ever be organic. But I support the initiative. Pure food.