The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[jockeyeba]

We have a friend that has lost egg sales lately because a neighbor is selling her eggs claiming their "cholesterol free", I think this lady has Americana's or EE's. I know no chicken egg is cholesterol free but are there differences in breeds?

I watched a video last night that claimed less cholesterol in pasture / free ranged chickens that eat a large part of their diet from the land.


here is a link.  http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/eggs-zl0z0703zswa.aspx#axzz2ehcEhi5U

Thanks, I read Mother Earth & others saying freerange eggs could have as much as 1/3 less cholesterol.

 

[delisha]

Quote: For us when a chicken tries to attack it does not go for the arms but instead the face or the hair. It sounds more like a scared hen as described above. My children are better at catching our chickens than I am. It is possible that your child got the chicken faster than you might expect.



I was looking at the Meyer hatchery catalog at the smaller chickens. They did not describe any of their bantam breeds as wonderful layers. Most of their smaller versions were described as fair or even poor. Is there a great laying bantam chicken that lays close to a medium egg?
Brahmas, Rock and Orps lay the largest egg in the Bantam size.

We have a friend that has lost egg sales lately because a neighbor is selling her eggs claiming their "cholesterol free", I think this lady has Americana's or EE's. I know no chicken egg is cholesterol free but are there differences in breeds?

when AM's became popular it was told the eggs were cholesterol free..it was a sales tactic. It is not true. It is not breed specific, it is environment specific.

Quote: 2 pounds Gypsom or Calium Sulfate (Food grade)
1/2 cup oyster shell
1 lb Kelp
1 lb salt
1 cup grit
3 doz egg shells crushed microwave for 5 minutes
1 cup charcoal from a wood fire
2 cups seeds
1 cup pee
1 1/2 cup water
Mix this fast and have containers ready, medium sized pail lined in plastic wrap.. If you want to bolt them or twist tie them to cage make sure you push a bolt in while mix is wet. After it is set, smack the container to release it.

Quote: Thanks, I read Mother Earth & others saying freerange eggs could have as much as 1/3 less cholesterol.

I like mother earth news too

 

[RedRidge]

I did a whole grain and field pea fermentation experiment. I fermented the same items that go into my feed, but left them whole. I wanted to see how the birds responded to the peas. They picked everything else out of the feed and left the peas. The only way I could get them to eat the whole peas was if it refused to give them anything else. It would take several days before they'd eat them. That tells me a lot. For my regular feed, I coarse grind them and they will eat those. I think, possibly, the smaller pieces ferment more thoroughly and more of the anti-nutrients are removed when ground which makes them more palatable.

My experience... for what it's worth... (and yes I am VERY behind with almost 1000 posts just in this thread alone to catch up on, sorry)...
I feed fermented grains and BSF... BSF are very easy btw and I encourage everyone to raise them.
I don't feed BSF to chicks as they are too high in calcium. And I don't feed them in the summer since the adults free range.
So... I raise them all summer and when I confine the chickens for 90 days each winter and they can no longer get bugs by free ranging, I feed BSF I froze all summer.

As far as field peas.... I have experimented with different size screens in my grinder to find the one I like best.
I don't feed a high percentage of field peas as I believe animal protein is a higher priority, but I do feed some.
Whole field peas simply do not ferment well. I use a screen in my hammermill which will break down the peas enough to at least grind them in half... two pieces minimum for each pea. This breaks through the external hard layer enough that fermenting is no longer an issue.
All of mine eat them great this way.... even newly hatched chicks.

Hope that helps... back to catching up... been a long few weeks here with too many strange things all at once... a wedding and a funeral all in the same week.
Will take a few weeks for life to get back to normal.

 

[RedRidge]

I can buy the grains crushed. So that might be worth looking into

I grind a lot of grains for many of the surrounding chicken folks since I have a grinder.
Mine is not a huge one like many of the large farms, mine is a hammermill from Premier One
Mine is the Bravo model and was less than $400...
http://www.premier1supplies.com/c/poultry_supplies/grinders_and_shellers/

 

[aoxa]

I grind a lot of grains for many of the surrounding chicken folks since I have a grinder.
Mine is not a huge one like many of the large farms, mine is a hammermill from Premier One
Mine is the Bravo model and was less than $400...
http://www.premier1supplies.com/c/poultry_supplies/grinders_and_shellers/

I don't think I'd like to spend anything on a grinder to be honest. All that work too.. I keep a lot of chickens. :S

I need a plucker before a grinder. That is my next large piece of equipment.

 

[aoxa]

I can not find fish meal here or any other animal protein to add into my home made feed.. then I got thinking.. what about chicken bones? Can I make bone meal out of that for the feed? I have so much of the stuff after soup. Would it be worth drying out and blending?

I'd love some info on this.

 

[delisha]

I can not find fish meal here or any other animal protein to add into my home made feed.. then I got thinking.. what about chicken bones? Can I make bone meal out of that for the feed? I have so much of the stuff after soup. Would it be worth drying out and blending?

I'd love some info on this.

You bake bones at 450 degrees for one hour. Take them out and cool..put them in a canvas bag or old feed bag and smash them with a rolling pin. Then stick them in a grinder. The baking makes them fragile and easy to grind after smashing. You can use any type of bones.

The type of proteins you get from bone meal is slow release. It might be fine for about 2% of your meat proteins you need for your birds, but not much more than that.

Why not take up fishing and make your own fish meal? Or find a fisher person. A few large salmon, a few chickens and all the bones a winter might do the trick.

 

[delisha]

I would make my own fish meal..however it stinks up the house and I can still buy it at the local feed store...I tried to do it outside but I do not have good knowledge about grilling and drying meats on a grill..I scorched it and lost too much proteins and it became more of a rufffage than a protein.

 

[aoxa]

I would make my own fish meal..however it stinks up the house and I can still buy it at the local feed store...I tried to do it outside but I do not have good knowledge about grilling and drying meats on a grill..I scorched it and lost too much proteins and it became more of a rufffage than a protein.

I wish I could buy it here! It's a real shame!!

If there was a way to use parts of the chickens that had real meat on it for feed I would. but not sure how all that would work.

 

[Wynette]

I use gamefish chow to increase meat protein; here in the states, it's 32% protein derived from porcine.