Preaching to the choir... PICS

[Kewlhanded]

'Food Inc' was a great documentary about our modern day processed food system. Mind blowing really, I know those of us who rely on our own self sustenance are much better off. Irish potato famine was a great history lesson that has been forgotten, hopefully not to repeat itself, but when you have hundreds of millions of people counting on a couple huge food manufacturing plants it is a recipe for disaster. Also these huge companies are only accountable to themselves, so enjoy your soy/corn fed ecoli-feces-insect bugers, with 12 thousand bits of different cattle per burger. Taking a stand starts with one person, but these politician backed monopolies will put you out of business if for one moment they feel threatened by you, they have millions to spend on lawyers, and don't care 2 bits about the little guy. There is no comparison between the small family farmer and a larger corp. that cares only for the almighty dollar. I give props to anyone raise'n there own crops and food. Bravo Zulu or job well done.

If you have not seen 'Food Inc' watch it. It is an eye open'er.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

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LOL, mine too (BF though).

Good Idea, I'll get him some "Big breasts" this year come spring LOL lots of BIG breasts from Cornish!

 

[dancingbear]

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I suggest, for your questions about produce, barter, and such, stop in at your local Chamber of Commerce, and find out where Farmer's Markets and swap meets are. Then go talk to the local folks, and learn from them. Be polite, be helpful when you can, and most people will be happy to help you learn how to do things. You'll probably find somebody there who knows about goats, or knows somebody who does.

As far as puppies and chickens go, yes, wait until you have full grown birds, but please don't think you can turn a puppy loose with them. Puppies (most of them, anyway) will chase the chickens down and kill them. Or run them to death. You have to take the puppy out among the birds, on a leash, and firmly correct the pup and redirect his/her attention to you, as the pack leader, rather than the birds. Do not allow any fixation of attention on the birds, or excitement in the presence of the birds. Watch some Dog Whisperer episodes, and follow Cesar's example.

Victoria Stillwell, of It's Me or the Dog, is also very good. Her methods are a little different from Cesar's, but equally effective. Her "watch me" training is simple, but brilliant. Using treats that she holds up near her face, she says "watch me", and when the dog looks at her, it gets the treat. You can pass the treat near the dogs face to let them catch the scent, and they'll focus on that as you raise it in front of your face. Pretty soon, every time you say, "watch me" the dog will snap to attention and look right at you. You can teach the puppy that first, before you go outside among the chickens, and you'll have an instant tool to help you train him/her. I use a combination, and it really works. I have trained several dogs to leave the birds alone, even some that had killed birds before they were trained.

If you do this, consistently, in fairly short time, maybe a week, maybe a month, for less-than-brilliant dogs, maybe a bit longer, you have a puppy that will leave the birds alone. Sometimes, when they know bothering the birds is off limits, they won't allow other animals to bother them either.

I doubt that goats will have any effect on hawks at all. I don't think that goats are among the natural enemies of hawks, LOL. I may be mistaken about that, so if anybody knows otherwise, please tell me!

I avoid white chickens, because they glow like a beacon for all predators, both aerial and earthbound, and tend to be the first ones picked off. You can also place low shelters in the open areas, like a square of plywood, or an old satellite dish, or whatever you happen to have, up on blocks, (weighted or fastened down, to keep it from being blown away in storms) so that they have something to dash under when they spot possible air attacks. Bushes and trees they can duck under will help. We have lots of hawks around here, but so far, I've never had problem with them, and my flock free-ranges during the day.

Good luck to you, I hope you have great success!

 

[xyresicchick]

any one see this yet?


warning.... graphic!

Please see rule number 2

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

I think we are done here folks. Been cleaned up before and it's not staying on track.