I'm simply humbled to be asked to do a blog post. This is my busiest time of year so it will have to wait a lil bit.
For those who don't know me, or for those who think they know me..... I've been keeping chickens for only 9 years, 8 of them natural. I learned really quickly not to meddle too much. I've been using deep litter for the entire 9 years. Total free range for most of the flock for 7 years. I do keep a few breeding pens. Not those tiny cruel pens for only 2 birds like you see breeders using, but pens with room to move. I've NEVER had a case of bumblefoot, NEVER had a lice or mite infestation, NEVER seen a worm in chicken droppings, NEVER used meds, NEVER vaccinated. I butcher extra roosters, selecting who stays myself by simple observation over a several month period. Old hens are allowed to die of old age. They earned that right. Manyof my RIR hens are 5 to 6 years old, still lay well, and 3 of the old girls went broody and raised very healthy broods. All freerange, all natural. I've had over a hundred broody hens in the last few years. Less than some , more than most. All are allowed to do what they please. I don't step in.
Sometimes I may come across short and abrupt. I call it being pithy. Short and to the point. If my post appears offensive, I promise you it wasn't meant to be. There is too much going on in life for me to even think of being PC. So don't take offence, I am what I am.
I can ONLY give advice based on MY FLOCK and how they react to me and my ways. I always try to point this out, sometimes forgetting. But if I say this is what I do, it is because it works for me. Many OT's attack me for saying what I do, but....ehh, it is what it is. My way's work for me, they should for you, but flock dynamics differ.
For those of you who know of my Pekins, they seem well today. One girl was doing what I call the "funky duck". Tomorrow they will at the very least spend the day in their pen next to the runners. As soon as I see fit, they will all move in together. My Pekin girls need to get out in General population and move and groove as ducks do to heal faster. Of show me that they won't. Either way, they need to get out and do their thing.
I have bloviated enough
For those who don't know me, or for those who think they know me..... I've been keeping chickens for only 9 years, 8 of them natural. I learned really quickly not to meddle too much. I've been using deep litter for the entire 9 years. Total free range for most of the flock for 7 years. I do keep a few breeding pens. Not those tiny cruel pens for only 2 birds like you see breeders using, but pens with room to move. I've NEVER had a case of bumblefoot, NEVER had a lice or mite infestation, NEVER seen a worm in chicken droppings, NEVER used meds, NEVER vaccinated. I butcher extra roosters, selecting who stays myself by simple observation over a several month period. Old hens are allowed to die of old age. They earned that right. Manyof my RIR hens are 5 to 6 years old, still lay well, and 3 of the old girls went broody and raised very healthy broods. All freerange, all natural. I've had over a hundred broody hens in the last few years. Less than some , more than most. All are allowed to do what they please. I don't step in.
Sometimes I may come across short and abrupt. I call it being pithy. Short and to the point. If my post appears offensive, I promise you it wasn't meant to be. There is too much going on in life for me to even think of being PC. So don't take offence, I am what I am.
I can ONLY give advice based on MY FLOCK and how they react to me and my ways. I always try to point this out, sometimes forgetting. But if I say this is what I do, it is because it works for me. Many OT's attack me for saying what I do, but....ehh, it is what it is. My way's work for me, they should for you, but flock dynamics differ.
For those of you who know of my Pekins, they seem well today. One girl was doing what I call the "funky duck". Tomorrow they will at the very least spend the day in their pen next to the runners. As soon as I see fit, they will all move in together. My Pekin girls need to get out in General population and move and groove as ducks do to heal faster. Of show me that they won't. Either way, they need to get out and do their thing.
I have bloviated enough
