The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[islafarm]

The 3000 birds were over a period of a season... I think he was talking about having several different groups of meat birds in the season.

He spoke about 1,500 meat birds in a half acre, but also spoke about 3,000 egg layers in an acre, but divided into 2 paddocks. (Wonder where he finds his eggs?) Although it sounded like he hadn't worked at such a large scale but felt ready that the model could be scaled up. I'll have to look at his website.

 

[SunshineAnShade]

This is definitely the right thread for me! I've already picked up a few pointers and can't wait to learn more! By any chance is there anyone else here from Massachusetts and where do you get your organic feed from? My friend suggested green mountain but i want sure if there's anything around here with a better price. I'm just getting started and waiting for my chicks to arrive from mpc so I'll need starter feed for now.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Not from Massachusetts, but I do get most of my chickens from MPC.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

It is the "permaculture/food forest" idea which I love... planting perennial food crops that you don't have to replant every year as the mainstay, then the annuals go around them. Now THAT'S the lazy way to garden!!!

That's one of the reasons I'm looking for a nut producer that I can plant as one of the main ones. I'm wanting to learn more about the hazel nuts for that as they sound like more of a shrub height which would be more manageable.

Any particular reason you're looking into nut trees instead of fruit ones? Just curious.

Also, stay away from any kind of walnut or related nut if you're planning on gardening in or near the area. Walnuts have a toxin in their roots that kill nearby plants to reduce competition. Sometimes these roots spread much farther underground than you would think. I've heard the roots can go out as far as the branches reach horizontally, and then some.

 

[islafarm]

Roots can travel 2 to 3 times father than the branches spread, in a forest roots basically form a mat below the surface. Walking through a forest you are literally surrounded / held by the trees

 

[allyclair]

How short are summers in Nova Scotia?  Does your area look like Prince Edward Isle?  I loved the Anne of Green Gables movies/books when I was younger.  

Summers are basically June, July, August. I used to seed/transplant into the ground the first week of June and by early Sept we start getting frost the odd night. The days in Sept are beautiful but the nights really start cooling down the end of August.

Nova Scotia is more rugged than PEI, lots of big pines, rocky coasts and tons of lakes. But there are also the sandy beaches and rolling farmlands like PEI. My mum lives on the north shore of NS which faces PEI and the water there in the Northumberland Strait gets like bath water it's so warm in the summer, especially when the tide comes back in over the sandbars on a hot day.

I loved Anne of Green Gables too and am trying to get my oldest daughter (9 yrs) to get hooked on the books. So much better than a lot of the stuff that's put out for that age today, but she really doesn't like to read Breaks this bookworms heart ha ha

 

[Leahs Mom]

I loved Anne of Green Gables too and am trying to get my oldest daughter (9 yrs) to get hooked on the books. So much better than a lot of the stuff that's put out for that age today, but she really doesn't like to read

Breaks this bookworms heart ha ha

Read out loud Maybe if you watch the videos, it will get her interested in reading the books.

I used to read to my girls when they were little from books like the Little House series, etc. I think it really inspired my oldest to want to read on her own. Always had a book in her hand when she was old enough to read.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Any particular reason you're looking into nut trees instead of fruit ones? Just curious.

Also, stay away from any kind of walnut or related nut if you're planning on gardening in or near the area. Walnuts have a toxin in their roots that kill nearby plants to reduce competition. Sometimes these roots spread much farther underground than you would think. I've heard the roots can go out as far as the branches reach horizontally, and then some.

I'm interested in nuts to have a protein source in addition to animal protein. I am not interested in using legumes of any type for a food source so nuts are the other choice.

eta: would also do fruit, so not nuts exclusively. The tannin issue with walnuts is one of the reasons that the hazel nuts sounded interesting....smaller bushes rather than a full tree. I haven't looked at the anti-nutrient issue with hazel nuts yet, however. They probably need to be soaked or sprouted like other nuts to take care of that issue, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

 

[islafarm]

Hi Leahs Mom,

have you tried azolla or duckweed? They're much higher in protein than hazelnuts, quicker to grow, but probably wouldn't tolerate your winters (even so it could be worth it in the spring / summer / fall as you'll only harvest hazelnuts once per year. There's a neat youtube video of a guy who has substituted I think half of his feed for azolla, he's in North Dakota:

Of course they won't provide shade

wondering why you don't want to use legumes?

All my research and scouring the forum is to educate myself and try to do the best for my chooks. I can't buy gmo free food here, I can get small amounts of organic corn, but I'm talking 10 pounds at a time here or there. So I'm constantly trying to find alternatives. I raise black soldier fly and grow duckweed / azolla so I feel I'm fine with protein, fats, minerals, but finding the carbs is difficult. My girls love the azolla and duckweed. Right now I feed a fermented mix of commercial feed, jackfruit seeds and corn, but both corn and jackfruit seeds come and go in availability. I can't get any other grains.

Any information that I post is purely in the sense of research: I have nothing to prove, no years and years of experience which is 'better' than anyone else's, I'm just having to do a lot of reading and researching for my own situation and finding ideas or alternatives which may be of use.

I had chickens years ago in the US, and raised chickens as part of my kindergarten here and now have chooks at home - finally after 6 years of badgering the DH. But the FF was a new idea to me 4 months ago and I'm learning so much on this forum. I was so inspired by your post about the worming preparation Molly used that I decided to read the whole thread. I have to admit that at page 250 I gave up - it would have taken me over 6 months of nightly dedicated reading to catch up to where I first posted on here. So many posts! I'm excited at finding a group of people so interested in the welfare of their chickens, and I hope to be able to join in.

thanks!
Ancel

 

[lazy gardener]

Isla, I just now noticed that you are from Costa Rica. My son was there when he was in highschool. Awesome country! Your growing climate is a bit different than mine! Glad you are enjoying FF. My flock lives almost exclusively on it. When I was gone for 10 days, hubby had them on dry, and egg production went way down. Still down b/c of the heat, but has rebounded somewhat after getting them back on FF.