Texas

[TexasLisa]

Wow, it has been a weekend of chicken-related ups and downs. We lost a 6 weeks old little pullet night before last. We have gotten to where we always leave our big dog outside, since our losses always occur on nights he sleeps inside. Well, night before last was one of those where the husband and I both fell asleep super early and so the dog didn't get put out. And - true to form - we lost this little pullet. She was just a mutt cross of JG and BO, but she was the closest thing to a lap chicken we've ever had. Very sweet and inquisitive little thing. I spent all day yesterday wondering what got her. No remains found.

Well, the big dog was back out last night. No losses this morning, but we woke up to big dog reeking of skunk. So, I'm guessing that's our culprit.

Anyways, that's the low. The high is that I FINALLY got a first egg from one of the 25 week old pullets that I was complaining about on here a day or so ago. A BO that i was expecting to lay her first egg over a month ago... I love finding those first eggs.

I am so sorry for the loss of your 'lap' chick. That is so frustrating when the varmints tend to outsmart us!! Congrats on getting your first egg. Was it a little one?

Lisa

 

[familypendragon]

Oh no Us too - lost a Crested Cream Legbar cockerel yesterday during the DAY! I would normally suspect my dogs but there were feathers and no body. They don't usually eat anything they catch. Thought maybe one of our cats as he wasn't too too big yet - although they lay around in the middle of the flock all day and show no interest. If it was a hawk I don't see there would be a pile of slobbered feathers in front of the shed. Something would have chased it off before it sat to have a meal in the middle of everyone. Maybe a dog and cat double teamed him???

 

[Italia]

How much salt and water do you mix together for your glass of brine?

Usually just a mounded spoon full. If I am really tired or feel off and still need to be physically active in the heat for longer I will take two. The first time I heard about this for an energy drink I was skeptical, but I know it works. Within a matter of minutes you are energized! I find it very interesting that salt is electrical. I did not know that until recently. The negative and positive ion thing is pretty fascinating in my opinion.

I do not really understand how water makes it different but maybe I can dig around and find a good article that explains it well. I read so much on health that sometimes I forget where I get my info from. lol There is so much out there that is just rubbish and is making people very very ill. It took me a whole three years to figure out what worked and how to heal myself. It has been a lot of work but well worth it. I have a much better quality of life now. Oh and I have excellent blood pressure now. I did not before I changed my diet. Yay bacon!!!!!!!

 

[Italia]

We had a who done it murder mystery going for a while. We were even blaming the poor cat at one point. Well, one day we were working on the pond and heard a huge ruckus from the horse pasture where our chickens are. We look up and it looks like our white horse was upside down with legs in the air and all the ladies were attacking! What? So, we go running up to the top and my upside down horse legs were actually the wings of a an a hawk. That birds wings were at least 6 feet tall. Crazy huge. I did not even know they came that big! After that the ladies now pay better attention and after they ganged up on that hawk we have not lost any. Except for a chick to fire ants and that made me furious.

 

[topdycke]

Yep. Same here. It's not as handy and easy but it's not as difficult as it may seem either to avoid fast food and convenience foods.

I do not want to upset you or anyone else, but after I nearly died I had to take a good look at what my lying criminal doctors were telling me. I now eat a diet very high in grass fed animal fats and I drink a glass of brine every day. Not only have I lost weight but I have new knees, hands, and back. I lived a life of chronic pain and thought it was normal. If I do eat bread, I make it myself out of arrow root and almond meal. Salt is great for you and fat does not make you fat! Bread does make you fat and has no nutrition at all. In fact it is full of lectins and anti-nutrients and is slowly killing everyone.
So basic is this electrical function, that salt is one of a group of elements called "electrolytes". These are made up of ions, which are groups of atoms that carry a positive or negative electric charge. An ion can be either positively charged or negatively charged, and, like magnets, opposites attract.
Sodium is positively charged and chloride is negatively charged, so they attract each other and bond tightly. Our bodies also contain other electrolytes, including potassium (+), calcium (+), magnesium (+), bicarbonate (-), phosphate (-), and (sulfate (-).
Electrolytes are essential because your cells use them to transfer liquids, nutrients, and wastes across their membranes and to carry electrical impulses through nerves and muscles to communicate with other cells. Salt is even essential to brain function--without it, our brains would not even be able to send a message to lift a finger.
No Thoughts and No Actions Without Salt
Even the simplest processes in our body need salt or its inherent elements in ionized form. For example, it is the task of our nervous system to transmit the stimulation that has been recorded via sensory input to our brain, which in return passes this information back to our muscles in order for us to react to the respective stimuli. An electric potential occurs on the membrane wall of the cells when the positively charged potassium ions leave the cells and the positively charged sodium ions cannot enter due to their size. The outside becomes positively charged and the inside negatively charged. When a nerve cell is stimulated, its membrane suddenly becomes polar opposite and consequently is permeable for the sodium ions. In one-thousandth of a second (1/1000th), the electrical potential is transformed and releases, with every nerve impulse, 90 mill volts of energy. The received stimuli are now being converted into thoughts and actions. Without the elements potassium and sodium in the salt, this process is not possible. Not even a single thought is possible, let alone an action, without their presence. Just the simple act of drinking a glass of water requires millions of instructions that come as impulses. In the beginning there is the thought. This thought is nothing but an electromagnetic frequency. The salt is responsible for enabling this frequency to transmit commands to the muscles and organs.
The Conductivity of Salt
Most of us are familiar with experimenting with the conductivity of salt from science class. We attach two ends of an electric current to a light bulb and submerge it into a glass with distilled water. Because this water is not conductive, the bulb does not light up. But when we add a little bit of salt into the water, the bulb slowly starts to glow. It is the same with our body. When we lack the natural elements of the salt, we are suffering from a chronic loss, a chronic energy deficit, or deficit of information. Salt cannot be labeled as a medication, because that would imply that apples too were a medication. Salt is a core essential nutrient with exceptional abilities and qualities fundamental for keeping us alive. And we can find that which we are lacking, the respective frequency pattern, as well as the necessary bio-chemicals, in natural crystal salt.

Like the chickens we tend to eat what we like and not necessarily what we need. My husband make fun of me because I do single out certain salt as 'better'. Its is the trace minerals or iodine that is distinctive. Since I am a gym rat I do salt some things but I wouldn't advocate for everyone to supplement with it. Salt is in so many things already that we dont think about - beer has a spoonful of salt in each bottle. Fresh foods and balanced diet are always a good thing for man and chickens.

Yep. Same here. It's not as handy and easy but it's not as difficult as it may seem either to avoid fast food and convenience foods.

 

[jajeanpierre]

We try to stay away from anything that is prepackaged and called a "convenience" food since they have so many chemicals and artificial stuff in them!

Bread has massive amounts of sodium. So does things like pasta sauce, canned anything and cheese. You would be surprised at the amount of salt in things. There is no difference between sodium chloride from table salt and sodium chloride from sea salt. The only difference is that most table salt has iodine added (albeit in a form that is not readily available to the body) and the other salts have a few other trace minerals in them.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Salt is used in bread to control the yeast development. It is necessary for the baking. It is not in large amounts however.

One sandwich will supply you with 25% of your recommended daily sodium allowance from just the two slices of bread.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I do not really understand how water makes it different but maybe I can dig around and find a good article that explains it well.

When salts are solid, they form a bond (sodium with chloride) and are solid. When dissolved in water, their bonds are broken, so form ions of sodium and chloride. Each has a charge. When bonded in a solid state, the charges cancel each other out and the molecule has a neutral charge.

 

[taterdee]

I was wondering if you have ever used essential oils? I heard they are amazing, but know nothing about them.... Guess I have found what I need to learn about next month.

I use essential oils and they are great. They work a lot better (for me) than the homeopathics I have tried. For a good quality company that is not a MLM and also has great prices, check out butterflyexpress.net
I also put some in my chicken water as a natural antibiotic (heavily diluted--a few drops in the 5 gal bucket).

 

[Jessica Lynn]

So excited.... one of my hubby's yokahmas has gone broody!!!! We have 3 under the silike and she has 5 under her. Hope the mortality rate is much higher than it has been. I think out of a dozen that hatched only one is still here, it's momma is a game. It has been a hard year for these chicks. When we started out last year we only lost a few, this year has been horrible!!! All of the mamma chickens that went broody only have one chick left with them...

Oh no Sweetie, I would never wish for you to have a HIGHER mortality rate! It would leave you with no chickies at all!