The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[LindaB220]

Great to have you. This is a GREAT thread. So many different kinds of info out there.

 

[curious chickee]

Today, I fed my chicks ff for the first time. I think they liked it. All squeezing in to feed. Already filled it up once, going to switch to a bigger feeder.

 

[LindaB220]

Today, I fed my chicks ff for the first time. I think they liked it. All squeezing in to feed. Already filled it up once, going to switch to a bigger feeder.

Yes, they will love it. I make my first 5 gallon batch yesterday after being in rehab for 3 weeks. It should be able to to be fed out in a couple of days since I had to start from scratch. It's warm here.

 

[Shan30]

Well I have to admit that I am a smoker. I swear I will quit this year. I keep trying and want to have a baby so...

Anyways, I've heard of many ways to use processed tobacco (usually in cigarette form) to treat/prevent internal and external parasites and pests. I don't recall ever hearing of a method using plain unprocessed tobacco leaves. My guess is that the hundreds of poisons added during the processing may be responsible for repelling pests more than the plant itself.

If anyone has any methods of using the unadulterated plant I might be interested in trying something but I personally would not spray my coop or garden with all those poisons. Plus have you ever smelled a wet ashtray? Yucky!

My guess is that all those toxins in the cigarettes, chew, etc. are no better than store bought pesticide.

Just my $.02!

 

[COChix]

With all the GMO talk on this thread I figured I would share this app for your phone. Buycott allows you to scan a bar code, the app tells you if the product you want to buy is GMO or not,. It also gives you the company tree. GMO IS EVERYWHERE. I have found numerous "healthy" food products that I was shocked was GMO. It does take awhile to shop once you start scanning bar codes.

http://www.buycott.com

 

[lalaland]

yeah, if it has wheat or corn, it is almost certainly gmo unless organic and even then there is plenty of taint.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

As far as i can tell, there are only two kinds of sugar. Beets are 100% GMO. And I love beets. Gotta learn to grow them. You will probably pay a premium for cane sugar. But the alternative........ A big thing is to know where your rice comes from. Most in the grocery stores are from China or someplace contaminated. Look on the labels. These are two of the most important choices out there. Coming from La. I have no problems buying cane sugar but the rice is just as expensive as other places.

Everyone assumes we all cooked only with honey prior to a certain date but this is untrue:

Some tree saps besides Maple are sweet and where used and can be dried.

Sweet Flag root was very common but one study and the FDA banned it, there have been no follow up studies by the FDA or USA companies on the various varieties (some are still used in other countries as sweeteners, I have not properly done follow up on this plant, so do not go off and just use it) I did note it is awful interesting this ban made everyone in the USA switch to Sugar from beets & cane for those industries.

You can grow your own sugar cane but it will attract ants.

Heirloom Beets are out there.

Stevia can now be purchased to grow yourself or in bulk powder forms.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol found in fruit, but in powder form it is made via an industrial process. Xylitol another sugar alcohol.

I know folks that use Apple Juice to act as a sweetener in baking.

Yacon Syrup from the Yacon Plant.
Agave Syrup from Agave Cactus.
Barley Malt Syrup
Brown Rice Syrup/Rice Malt Syrup
Date Sugar
Fruit Juice Concentrate
Molasses
Maple Syrup
Honey

And like it or not Corn Syrup: can't be any more processed than some of the alternatives: (CS has bad press because of a study designed to prove if Cancer Cells like Sugar). Note a medical study designed to cut out all sugar from the human diet amongst diabetic humans had to be stopped when the patients kept dying suddenly... turns out even diabetics need a little sugar in their diets from some source. So moderation is still the best rule. Also different sugars and sweeteners do effect your blood sugar levels differently so if you are consuming them and worried about that you should research that so you know what is best for you.

Now simply because it is all organic and natural does not mean it is good for you, not junk food, or not heavily refined the same as beet sugar or cane sugar or corn syrup or even better for you than what you stopped eating.

The food industry wether GMO, non-organic food industry produced foods, Organic or Natural is heavily driven by fads, bad studies abound to confuse the consumers not just to make a buck but because of politics and ethical or social economic values or religion even, and every food I have seen touted as good in my life time has been latter targeted for vilification and then often again vindicated by studies. Misuse of data is common by competing interests in making a buck or trying to change society. People often promote foods or diets with completely unsubstantiated claims and also often bash other foods & diets the same. Even medical diets are often not properly studied, and sadly just someone's idea with out proper research to back them, the original cholesterol scare that resulted in tons of people being put on meds, fake foods, & weird diets was not based on good science: Basically the scientists/doctors did a study to find the average cholesterol count and then decided they did not like that number and simply set a low arbitrary number to impose on everyone without any research to determine if that was a number that was normal for healthy people or even a good idea (why, I guess they had a preconceived idea or bias?) thus tons of people where forced on to meds we now know they did not need. Some medical diets have even been proven to increase the medical problems they where suppose to be making better. After my hubby got back from the doctors one day and I read through all the dietary restrictions by each clinic doctor he saw that day... I concluded he could have only water and lettuce, as everything else was on the no no list; not really a healthy diet the MD collective created that day.

So my point is research the food babble and make self informed choices but remember tons of folks want to tell you what to eat because they believe they know best, others because they want to make a buck and still others want to change society... and thus you need to be fixed too.

I am inclined personally to be worried about pesticides but all natural bug killing pesticides are dangerous too... so use common sense and ask questions even if a study is being cited.

I hope the list helps.

 

[TIC Remember]

Look it's leahs mom https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/967154/byc-member-interview-leahs-mom

 

[Leahs Mom]

And like it or not Corn Syrup: can't be any more processed than some of the alternatives: (CS has bad press because of a study designed to prove if Cancer Cells like Sugar). Note a medical study designed to cut out all sugar from the human diet amongst diabetic humans had to be stopped when the patients kept dying suddenly... turns out even diabetics need a little sugar in their diets from some source. So moderation is still the best rule. Also different sugars and sweeteners do effect your blood sugar levels differently so if you are consuming them and worried about that you should research that so you know what is best for you.

Corn syrup, however, isn't like some other sugars. It is processed by the LIVER. This means that your body processes the fructose as though it were a TOXIN. Same for agave nectar. There is a host of issues that are directly related to HFCS...and all "sugars" aren't created equally so it's good to take a little time and learn about each one before deciding which one you want to use.


Quote: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/agave-nectar-worse-than-we-thought/ That whole article quoted is interesting and worth reading.


Quote:

Something else to keep in mind is that if you purchase maple syrup/sugar from the grocery, many of them are not 100% maple and have corn or sugar syrups added to them to make them less expensive.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Many on here talking about wanting to go organic but the cost is so high. I don't know if Aldi's grocery chain is nationwide, but they have quite a bit of organic food at a pretty good price. They carry an organic grass-fed ground beef in cryovac at $6.99 a pound, let me tell you it is absolutely delicious and worth every penny. They have a fair assortment of organic fresh veggies and actually quite a few organic pantry items, all at better prices than I think you'd find elsewhere, for example, pure maple syrup https://www.aldi.us/en/