The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TipihlowLadies]

For those of you that have hens in molt, do they stop eating the oyster shell. Mine were downing it a month or so a go but now it just sits there. My hens gradually one by one started their molting about 3 weeks a go.

when they molt they stop laying or slow down so they don't need it as much.

 

[TipihlowLadies]

Pretty horse. I love the spray paint appearance of the dappling.

Thanks she looks just like my old stud and a lot like her mom as a young filly the stud still looks like her but momma has roaned out too a cinnamon white and my filly is changing color all the time that's one thing I like about App's.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I feed a ton of raw meat to my chicks. Bones are growing till they are 6 months old and I feed or give access to as much meat as I can. I encourage bug growth in my compost piles and in my DL. I prefer to feed meat, fresh vegetables and greens when available. Less grains and less processed foods.

My thoughts too.



I haven't liked the EVOO in my mayo either. It was bitter... I started using the "light" but it IS heat processed and you have to watch your brands to be sure it's really OO. Some mix with other oils but don't label them.

Last time I made it with my kitchenaid mixer with the whisk on it. Worked much better than the blender/vitamix for me.

 

[delisha]

Quote:



Have ingredients at room temperature
Grind the garlic with salt (I then move the ground garlic to a bowl since I hand whip)if you like garlic..that prevents it from breaking too

One egg can hold 1-2+C of oil
Roasted garlic also works well as a starter. The acid is need to encourage the egg proteins to uncurl and form new bonds around the oil. If the sauce breaks, take another egg, begin again but use the broken sauce in place of the oil.

Can someone educate me on the risks (i.e. salmonella) of raw eggs like in mayo? Thanks!

What is salmonella? How is it made and how can we prevent consuming it.


The organism enters through the digestive tract and must be ingested in large numbers to cause disease in healthy adults. Gastric acidity is responsible for the destruction of the majority of ingested bacteria. Bacterial colonies may become trapped in mucus produced in the oesophagus.
Salmonellosis is a disease caused by raw or undercooked food. Infection usually occurs when a person ingests foods that contain a high concentration of the bacteria, similar to a culture medium. In otherwise healthy adults, the symptoms are usually mild. Normally, no sepsis occurs, but it can occur exceptionally as a complication in elderly or weakened patients (e.g., those with Hodgkin Disease)


Ok ....so how do we keep ourselves safe?

Keep your nest boxes clean
Gather eggs daily
Wash your hands before handling eggs and after

Wash your hands after handling chickens!!!
do not gather eggs at the same time you are cleaning poop

If you have ill chickens use oxine wash on the eggs before using

Eggs are porous and there are a billion microscopic germs and bacteria on our hands..add a ton of chicken poop and wallaaaaaaaaaaa..let it set out in the sun buried in the poop and bake a little add some moisture and you might culture some nasty salmonella or other food born disease or illness. You have to have pretty bad conditions to make it. The environment would have to be filthy.

Dry litter, healthy chickens and I would not worry. Just use some common sense and do not cross contaminate. Most of those food born illnesses are made threw cross contamination and poor food handling practices. I would never worry about my own egg..ever..The store eggs are bleached and cleaned but i still worry about them since they are handled in stores..people open the boxes and switch eggs or replace cracked ones. Sometimes people will stand in front of that cooler for an hour taking a dozen of the biggest eggs. Yuckkkkkkkkkkkk and it was probably after they wiped themselves in the bathroom.

 

[PatQ]

We've been having this canola - soy free discussion on another board. I just switched to Green Mtn. Organic Layer and here is what Eric who makes this feed said

We do add DL Methionine to the ration. And it does help to keep the Canola meal to a minimum. Thing is, we are regulated on the amount of DL Methionine that we can use. Otherwise, we would be able to eliminate Canola. One thing, that I can tell you, is that the Canola Meal is less than 3% of the ration now. (After adding fishmeal). I am also maxed out on the amount of Fishmeal, and Flaxmeal, that can be used in a ration, without having ill effects from using too much. Also, with the amount of flax, that is currently in the ration, using sunflower meal would start to turn the egg whites brown in some breeds of chickens. Removing flax, to add sunflower meal, would not be preferable for most of my customers. They want as much flax, in the ration, as possible. I should also mention, that the Canola, that is approved for organic use, is not GMO. It is the naturally cross-bred variety that was developed in the 70s. No Organic certifier would allow one of the GMO varieties.

A question I have - My 7 girls are 18 weeks old - 1 just started laying and 6 are getting there. They are almost totally switched to the GM soy-free layer (was mixing with remainder of my starter feed for a gradual changeover) ( I also add lots of extras - pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, meal worms, lentils, ancient grains, barley grass, flax, oatmeal, raisins and anything else I have on hand. They also get leftovers and garden extras and roam free in the yard all day so lots of weeds, grass and bugs.)

Is it OK to just feed them all the layer feed at 18 weeks old even though most aren't laying quite yet? Is there any overload of calcium worries for the non-layers at this point - it could be awhile before they start since I don't plan on adding light and we are coming into fall, so who knows when the rest will start laying.

 

[delisha]

Quote:

I feed a ton of raw meat to my chicks. Bones are growing till they are 6 months old and I feed or give access to as much meat as I can. I encourage bug growth in my compost piles and in my DL. I prefer to feed meat, fresh vegetables and greens when available. Less grains and less processed foods.

My thoughts too.




I read that a blender "cuts" the EVOO molecules and makes the mayo extra bitter. But I still didn't like the flavor when I hand whisked it.

The last few times I tried to make mayo it "broke," so I gave up.

I haven't liked the EVOO in my mayo either. It was bitter... I started using the "light" but it IS heat processed and you have to watch your brands to be sure it's really OO. Some mix with other oils but don't label them.

Last time I made it with my kitchenaid mixer with the whisk on it. Worked much better than the blender/vitamix for me.
Try a little sesame seed oil..

 

[delisha]

We've been having this canola - soy free discussion on another board. I just switched to Green Mtn. Organic Layer and here is what Eric who makes this feed said

We do add DL Methionine to the ration. And it does help to keep the Canola meal to a minimum. Thing is, we are regulated on the amount of DL Methionine that we can use. Otherwise, we would be able to eliminate Canola. One thing, that I can tell you, is that the Canola Meal is less than 3% of the ration now. (After adding fishmeal). I am also maxed out on the amount of Fishmeal, and Flaxmeal, that can be used in a ration, without having ill effects from using too much. Also, with the amount of flax, that is currently in the ration, using sunflower meal would start to turn the egg whites brown in some breeds of chickens. Removing flax, to add sunflower meal, would not be preferable for most of my customers. They want as much flax, in the ration, as possible. I should also mention, that the Canola, that is approved for organic use, is not GMO. It is the naturally cross-bred variety that was developed in the 70s. No Organic certifier would allow one of the GMO varieties.

A question I have - My 7 girls are 18 weeks old - 1 just started laying and 6 are getting there. They are almost totally switched to the GM soy-free layer (was mixing with remainder of my starter feed for a gradual changeover) ( I also add lots of extras - pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, meal worms, lentils, ancient grains, barley grass, flax, oatmeal, raisins and anything else I have on hand. They also get leftovers and garden extras and roam free in the yard all day so lots of weeds, grass and bugs.)

Is it OK to just feed them all the layer feed at 18 weeks old even though most aren't laying quite yet? Is there any overload of calcium worries for the non-layers at this point - it could be awhile before they start since I don't plan on adding light and we are coming into fall, so who knows when the rest will start laying.

I am going to let other answer this..
I do not feed layer..I stated why a few posts back..

Welcome to the group

 

[PatQ]

Thank you for the welcome - and when I read back, I see you did answer my question - force feeding calcium (via layer feed) is not a great idea at anytime! Thank you - need to rethink this

 

[Leahs Mom]

And I also won't feed flax due to the extra plant estrogens. JUST MY CHOICE.

I try to avoid adding anything that increases already-too-high estrogens in our modern environment. (Another reason I prefer as much grass-raised [as opposed to grain/soy raised] meat protein as possible.)

 

[delisha]

And I also won't feed flax due to the extra plant estrogens. JUST MY CHOICE.

I try to avoid adding anything that increases already-too-high estrogens in our modern environment. (Another reason I prefer as much grass-raised [as opposed to grain/soy raised] meat protein as possible.)

I have flax and I have used it..but I would freak out at using the quantities that are in bagged feeds...I do not like the extra estrogens either.