The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[slordaz]

islafarm here is a link to this recipe on how to make your own apple cider vinegar even just from peels and cores,you might like, it' simple one to do

http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/02/how-to-make-apple-cider-vinegar.html

Apple Cider Vinegar from Scraps
Author: The Prairie Homestead
Recipe type: DIY


Ingredients

• Apple peelings or cores
• Sugar (1 tablespoon per one cup of water used)
• Water
• Glass jar (a quart is a great place to start, but you can definitely make larger quantities, too.)

Instructions

1. Fill the glass jar ¾ of the way with the apple peels and cores.
2. Stir the sugar into the water until it's mostly dissolved, and pour over the apple scraps until they are completely covered. (Leave a few inches of room at the top of the jar.)
3. Cover loosely (I recommend a coffee filter or fabric scrap secured with a rubber band) and set in a warm, dark place for around two weeks.
4. You can give it a stir every few days, if you like. If any brownish/greyish scum develops on the top, simply skim it off.
5. Once two weeks has passed, strain the scraps from the liquid.
6. At this point, my vinegar usually has a pleasantly sweet apple cider smell, but is still missing that unmistakable tang.
7. Discard the scraps (or feed them to your chickens!), and set the strained liquid aside for another 2-4 weeks.
8. You’ll know your apple cider vinegar is complete once it has that unmistakable vinegary smell and taste. If it's not quite there yet, simply allow it to sit a while longer.
9. Once you are happy with the taste of your vinegar, simply cap and store it as long as you like. It won't go bad.
10. If a gelatinous blob develops on the top of your vinegar, congratulations! You have created a vinegar "mother". This mother can be use to jump-start future vinegar batches. You can remove it and store it separately, but I usually just allow mine to float around in the vinegar as I store it.
11. Use your homemade vinegar just like you would storebought vinegar-- for cooking, cleaning and everything in between!

 

[lazy gardener]

For us "Natural Chicken Keepers"....

Just read a really interesting article re using chickens in regenerative farming. I thought some of you would enjoy it so I'm going to post the link. The article is very encouraging. There is also a video which I haven't watched yet.


If you read through the article, he talks about using this kind of system on as small as 1/2 acre and on up.

Thought it was interesting that they mentioned 7" of rain and that their healthy paddocks took it all in.... A topic that is of interest to a lot of the US this year with the excessive rain a lot of us have experienced. But it starts looking at areas that weren't getting much rain at all.



Here are a few quotes...

​

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...n=20150719Z1&et_cid=DM80204&et_rid=1041955871

Awesome article. I just returned from Guatemala, and may have passed the Ag program referenced in my travels. So very needed in such a poverty stricken country. We would do well to follow example set. Am already having my gears churning about how to implement those practices. Thinking about doing the double paddock, completely surrounding my coops, running a hot wire above and below permanent fencing. Have already planted hazelberts, several varieties of fruit, including plum, apricot, high bush cranberry. Have apple and pear yet to plant, have comfrey and siberian pea trees planted. plenty of raspberries that could also go into the paddocks. They would do double duty by providing fruit for us and birds, and be a catch crop for Japanese beetles for increased protein. Also using BTE approach for fruit trees, which makes my electronet not an option.

ok anyone got much experience with rooster? I need help

The rooster is about a month older than my pullets but he is gonna drive me insane at this rate, he's trying to get all the pullets, told my friend to hide the dog and the calves after he tried to breed the duck hen and drake.

Put him in chicken jail over night
we tethered him for a day a way from them\
went and got some older hens that were laying already

about at witts end with him

You've done a good thing, getting some older birds to teach him some manners. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. If it doesn't, I'd invite him to dinner and choose an other.

not a good night at all. Got home, let the chicken out - the raspberry patch offers great protection, the squash leaves running out of the garden do too . Was changing in the house, heard a ruckus. It was so bad I went running out barefoot and in my underwear. Chickens hysterical and everywhere. Got everyone together, counted, came up short. Found feathers.......more tail feathers.....followed the trail but lost the trail - no more feathers. No blood, but ....probably a dog.

THis chicken, grace, was a hefty girl, seems too big for a fox. maybe a dog but usually a dog just kills and sticks around to kill more. So sounds like a fox.

Spent an hour in the woods, looking but no luck.

Lala: I bet it was a fox. So sorry. He'll surely be back. Are you in a no shoot zone?

 

[islafarm]

@slordaz,

Thanks so much for this

Very sweet of you, looks so simple too

 

[lalaland]

Lala: I bet it was a fox. So sorry. He'll surely be back. Are you in a no shoot zone?

nope, just need a gun! but haven't seen a fox for two years on my property but have seen them on the road. Which is a way of saying I would be surprised to see one let alone have a gun handy and close enough to be able to get a shot off, assuming I could aim the danged thing.

I have restricted the flock to the run and maintaining supervision if out of the run. Today I have a broody in a smaller run that a fox could dig under...keeping my fingers crossed. Its a gamble! will have to lay wire fencing down on the perimeter to feel confident. It is hardware cloth on the sides and roof....

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I think I just found where I belong on this website, I don't worm my birds with wormer, I feed more than just layer, my birds free range, get thrown all kinds of scraps, either they eat them or don't, I let most health problems resolve themselves one way or the other, I cull if sick or weak, I let my birds stay until they die, or are culled for health reasons, I don't heat or cool my birds they take care of that themselves, my birds come and go as they please. Please tell me this is the place for me because I'm not feeling welcome with my advice on other forums.

 

[FridayYet]

I think I just found where I belong on this website, I don't worm my birds with wormer, I feed more than just layer, my birds free range, get thrown all kinds of scraps, either they eat them or don't, I let most health problems resolve themselves one way or the other, I cull if sick or weak, I let my birds stay until they die, or are culled for health reasons, I don't heat or cool my birds they take care of that themselves, my birds come and go as they please. Please tell me this is the place for me because I'm not feeling welcome with my advice on other forums.

I think you'll like it here.

I don't post much on this thread, but I've learned a lot by reading and keeping up with it.

 

[CherMoz]

I think I just found where I belong on this website, I don't worm my birds with wormer, I feed more than just layer, my birds free range, get thrown all kinds of scraps, either they eat them or don't, I let most health problems resolve themselves one way or the other, I cull if sick or weak, I let my birds stay until they die, or are culled for health reasons, I don't heat or cool my birds they take care of that themselves, my birds come and go as they please. Please tell me this is the place for me because I'm not feeling welcome with my advice on other forums.

Welcome to the thread!

 

[mvawdre2]

How do you make your own nu stock? I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I can't find a recipe for it online (perhaps I am looking in the wrong place). It's probably been discussed before and I just missed it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Okay so I'll ask my first controversial question to you folk, I have always taken any cracked or soiled, or unwanted eggs and have cracked them on the side of a board tossed them in a high arc and let them splat on the ground, my chickens and ducks fight like mad over them, I make sure they do not resemble an egg anymore, I was told on this website that I would make egg eaters out of my chickens, been doing this for like 20 years, never had an egg eater. So my question is does anyone else do this, and am I insane like others have told me? Will I after 20 years make egg eaters out of my chickens?

 

[mlowen]

How do you make your own nu stock? I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I can't find a recipe for it online (perhaps I am looking in the wrong place). It's probably been discussed before and I just missed it.

Check out Natural Chicken Keeping at Blogspot. Recipes for lots including "nu"stock.