The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[chooks4life]

Quote: Does sound good! Not that we have Fertrell over here as far as I'm aware, so I don't know anything about it, but I'm sure you did your research.

I'm just being apologetic just in case I offended anyone, don't mind me.

 

[lalaland]

about the comfry, it's a good mulch for the berry bushes/trees/rhubarb/aspargus because they're perennial heavy feeders. That is, you don't turn new material into that soil yearly, you can only top dress. Comfry is great for this, it's high in nitrogen, and it draws up minerals from the sub strata of the soil into the leaves, which then break down and are available to the plant you are mulching.

Thanks, that makes total sense to me. And it prompts me to do the first cutting of the comfrey, and I'll cut more plants this time to use as mulch.

I know the popular and naive argument for genetic modification is that it's 'no different from what farmers have been doing for thousands of years as they selected their breeding stock' but that one's easily shot down because they could only breed what naturally bred together, not mix genes from completely divergent organisms like birds with swine and herbs with poisonous insect genes. No farmer managed to breed a goat into producing human milk proteins, nor did any farmer manage to breed a spring onion into growing an ear of corn. Today we have all these 'wonders'. Combining different organisms is not remotely anything our bodies are able to adapt to. It's literally russian roulette being played beneath the surface. New studies show GM soy proteins remain in your stomach indefinitely, having joined with your cells and replicating 'alien' DNA therein.

ooohhhh

I am glad you posted this but oh so depressed to hear this. am getting pretty scared about the food supply. even with my gardens, and practicing as best I can to eat seasonally and eat locally, it is a scary thought that we all get to be experimental subjects.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
That's why I like raising my own food or knowing the folks where I get it and their practices

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy, that is good thought when it comes to breeding/culling.

At some point, if I keep going the way I am, I'd separate the layers from those that I wanted to breed and proceed from there.

In the meantime, this girl with the feathers is a hatchery ee that lays the largest eggs in the whole flock. They weigh out at "jumbo" size in ounces per egg. She is definitely a good layer and even if I didn't breed her for future genetics, I'd surely keep her for egg laying.

You're right - sometimes people give advice that they try to apply to everyone...but different folks have different goals.
-LW has a good bunch of layers the run with the roosters. They lay and produce what's needed. They're like the old fashioned farm flock.
-Then there are the folks that are breeding for standard conformation and to sell offspring. A whole different set of rules and variables and list of what makes them valuable.
-Some have the old fashioned farm flock then decide to breed/cull for other things such as egg size and numbers, overall good health, feed efficiency, etc. etc. etc.
-Others just purchase new chicks from time to time and will never breed but will raise meat/eggs from those chicks. They replace them from the hatchery or breeders as needed.

You just have to figure out what your goals are and go from there.

I have hens that are a value to me in producing eggs for eating. Then I'm beginning a little flock of birds of a breed I want to breed for myself as a closed flock - and to perhaps sell fertilized eggs or chicks sometime off into the future. These 2 groups will be treated differently in what I'd find valuable

Thank you Leahs Mom. Truly. You got my drift exactly right.

 

[Bulldogma]

Does sound good! Not that we have Fertrell over here as far as I'm aware, so I don't know anything about it, but I'm sure you did your research.

I'm just being apologetic just in case I offended anyone, don't mind me.

You have not offended anyone that I can see, nor has anyone else that has expressed their method and opinion on over-used hens.
This kind of wonderful information exchange is exactly what the thread is for!

 

[Ashdoes]

Here's my blue girl with her saddle..notice the back of her head as well. Our boy is big, and I think he has trouble balancing on the girls.

I actually took it off and put Nu-stock on her back, and I'm hoping she gets her feathers back soon. My broody Cochin also has one on, and we were planning to get it off tonight, I don't want her over heating.

 

[Pozees]

Quote:
I quite agree.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: x3 No offense on my part! And I have very much enjoyed ALL the posts today. Lots of good stuff!

 

[aoxa]

I don't think the feather quality or nutrition come into play with LM's hen. I just think she is more submissive, and therefore just gets a lot more action than the other girls. That and she is probably starting her molt.

You notice that most of the BEST layers have lesser quality feathers, are smaller in body and have paler legs. I think it was Fred's Hens that talked about this over on the OT thread.. The best layers often look the most rough.

Penny was definitely one like that! All of her energy went into laying.

If I could find that post I would quote it.

 

[Mumsy]

Yesterday I spent the day at the Farmers Tilth again. Sold out my cut flowers, veggie started plants, Romaine, and onions. I had just a little set up with a few things but the best part?....I sold four two month old barn yard pullets! I only have three left and they are at point of lay.

A lot of people asked me if I would sell eggs. Next year, when my heritage Rhode Island Red flock are in production. The local store sells free range eggs for fifty cents each!

Does anyone else sell at market? The lady in the booth next to me sells alpaca wool and sits at a spindle wheel all day. Lots of people selling produce but I was the only one with live chickens.