The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

@mlowen Hey! Good to "see" you!

@JanetMarie

You 2 are inspiring me....I want to learn how to tap

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh...and how much sap are you able to get from a single tree?

 

[armorfirelady]

@mlowen Hey! Good to "see" you!

@JanetMarie

You 2 are inspiring me....I want to learn how to tap

Oh...and how much sap are you able to get from a single tree?

I started tapping trees a couple years ago. The amount f sap depends in the size of a tree. And the time of year. I already tapped my trees this year & stopped because the trees budded already. I got about a gallon of sap & ended up with 2 pints of syrup. The 1st year I got as much sap as I could and had a ton of syrup but it was a lot of work. So this year less was ok. I don't actually consume that much anyways.

I have bot plastic taps (found on amazon) old metal taps (from a friend) & have used copper pieces (from lowes) to tap the trees. The copper ones are the hardest to remove. I bought tubing at lowes & used old, ut clean gallon jugs & 5 gallon buckets.

Its so nice to check off another item off my list of items I no longer need to purchase.

 

[JanetMarie]

Oh...and how much sap are you able to get from a single tree?

The amount per tree differs. Some just give more sap than others. The Maple tree flows more than the Walnut trees. I'm not sure what all of the factors are, but it seems that the Walnuts that flow more are the ones with the larger nuts, and of course the larger trees will flow more. The buckets have to be placed on the south side of the tree.

When all finished I'll post how many finished quarts/pints altogether. This may be the last week for tapping.

 

[GreatBreeder]

Does anyone have an experience with the fun and funky assortment from MyPetChicken, or what quantity would be best. I want them to be mixed in with standards, that's why I'm wondering quantity. Can only have 8 chickens total.

 

[GreatBreeder]

For anyone that didn't know, it's an assortment of EE, Cochins, Silkies, Polish,

 

[GreatBreeder]

Seramas, Silchen, etc. that can be frizzle, sizzle, naked neck, crested, or silkied.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@TheGreatPapyrus

Sorry I don't have any experience with MPC....maybe someone else that reads here does? @oldhenlikesdogs - did you say you get yours from MPC?

I know one thing that I'd encourage is if you're going to get various breeds, I suggest 2 of each. Strangely enough, I've found that chickens really do hang with "birds of a feather" and even when mine have been mixed and raised altogether, they always seek out the ones that look like themselves to hang with. So if you follow my recommendation in this, you'd end up with 4 breeds since you're going to purchase 8 birds.


Also - might want to look at charts that compare them on different factors such as "good foragers", "cold hardy", "heat hardy", etc. This one might help: http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

If you want to range your birds, a good forager is great! Birds with crests are more at a risk while foraging due to not having the best vision for overhead predators (hawks, eagles, etc.)
Some breeds tend to be more able to "take care of themselves" outside.

Some breeds are prettier than others...did you want something pretty? Some can be pretty AND good foragers....some pretty breeds are bad at foraging and taking care of themselves.

Some are more aggressive and some more docile.... Nice to have docile breeds with docile breeds (or agfressive with aggressive) so they can hold their own within the pecking order. Some birds are just downright mean no matter what, and it doesn't necessarily hold to the whole breed.



Is it possible for you to get your chicks from a local Rural King or TSC that has a large assortment? That way they won't have the stress of being shipped...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I do get all mine from MPC, but I haven't done that mix of breeds from them. My problem with that mix is it includes breeds that can be easily bullied, and can be more challenging. I would not recommend mixing silkies, polish, bantam frizzles, and seramas with Easter eggers and naked necks, which are bit more active and could peck the meek birds.

Silkies and polish aren't good breeds to start with anyways unless you are only choosing to keep them with their own breeds as both breeds can be off in behaviors and the crests attract attention from birds without them.

I haven't had seramas yet, but from my understanding they also need extra care and attention due to their small body size.

I believe you would be better off starting with some sturdy and reliable breeds since you have no experience with chickens yet, than you can get into more challenging breeds as you gain experience @TheGreatPapyrus.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Good advice @oldhenlikesdogs

I started out with 6 "sturdy" birds when I first started with the hopes that they'd be great foragers and predator savvy.....

2 hatchery rir
2 hatchery br
2 hatchery easter eggers (only because I wanted color eggs)


The originals I have are still laying well now at 5 years old and are good foragers. (Except for the ee who's never been a great layer but she stays because she makes colored eggs

)