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Thanks for the link, sumi. We certainly have considered raising pigs. We had them on the farm for decades while grand dad was living and he had a very effective area built for them out of cinder block walls and concrete flooring, with a very large area on the down hill side for 'mud'. We always kept Yorkshires and later Landrace whites. I think we will go with the Landrace because they make for excellent bacon.Dairy goats are another great addition to a farm. You should visit our sister site, BackYardHerds.com's goat section. BYH is tiny compared to BYC, but we have a lovely bunch of people over there and some great discussions. I'm thinking about getting some dairy goats at some point, but I don't know if I'll have the space to spare for them. We shall see... Have you thought about getting some pigs? Now those things are useful on a farm! Low maintenance, good at clearing land, easiest thing in the world to feed and they grow to a decent slaughter size in 5-6 months only.
Quote: I have been using fermented feed for about a year now. I am raising all my chicks on it now.
The good points, better bioavailable nutrition, better digestive health, less stinky, less waste, lower costs. I think it helps to prevent cocci but that's just my opinion.
Downside; requires preplanning, messier, more labor intensive. The chicks get it on them. You have to sprinkle some dry food to get the chicks started for a few days.
Thanks. We're going to give it a go. After thinking about a bit, it can't hurt to do it for the pigs too. Grand pa used to gather 'slop' from restaurants and I don't know where from and if anything had ever 'fermented' before it was fed to an animal, that stuff was...even in the hottest summer months and the pigs were always in great shape and raised very large litters of piglets and the sows just poured with milk. All they got was the slop, wheat middlings and whey from the cows.Quote:
I have been using fermented feed for about a year now. I am raising all my chicks on it now.
The good points, better bioavailable nutrition, better digestive health, less stinky, less waste, lower costs. I think it helps to prevent cocci but that's just my opinion.
Downside; requires preplanning, messier, more labor intensive. The chicks get it on them. You have to sprinkle some dry food to get the chicks started for a few days.
I'd love to see more pictures of other members' birds. I would give me a better idea of what I'm looking for. The SOP is one thing, but I'm a very visual person and seeing pics of very nice birds will help me greatly.Very nice!
Ok, this broody chicken crap has got to end. My hen is still insane. She is quarantined from nest laying materials and has been in a pet taxi for the last two nights. My other three hens have not laid an egg for the last two days. Sympathetic broodiness???
Maybe I should just look for fertile eggs and let her hatch them. Out of four hens do I have go through this every year? Can it happen more than once in a year or does it just occur in the spring?