The Old Folks Home

[Beer can]

Bored last night, somehow ended up on Greenfire's blog, read this http://greenfirefarms.com/2012/08/the-case-for-inefficiency/
Thought it was neat, Greenfire follows a "popular online chicken forum".

 

[vehve]

Pretty well written. That would be a more ethical way to do it. Although, at the same time, it would probably be less ecological, and less economical. And it would require people to be willing to pay a lot more for their meat.

 

[vehve]

Interesting comments on the post though. Someone is saying they will open up their own chicken farm and be ethical about it, and others are wondering why people don't just free range them at the huge sites. But with the demand for chicken being as high as it is, I don't think it's possible to keep up a large enough free range operation without getting some serious illness issues. With the exposure to wild birds and the population density the required output would lead to, you could pretty much guarantee that there would be some sort of illness going around almost constantly. And the guy wanting to open his ethical farm is going to run into some major cash flow issues. Comments about "I don't think it would be that expensive..." really have no base in them. I don't think any of the people in the chicken business have gone into it thinking "I'm going to torture some chickens." I was talking to my sisters spouse, he has some friend who raises broilers. Apparently, the guy no longer eats chicken. That says a lot about the conditions in those places.

 

[chickadoodles]

SCG did you still put the turkey egg you cracked in the brinsea? I have had them open for a couple days just had to keep spraying them with warm water to keep them from shrink wrapping.
I wish you a great hatch!

I'm sorry your styrobator died.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I did 14 different varieties of tomato and 3 of pepper. I ended up calling yours BamaMaters but when I put their tags on I'll change it to Slocum.



In 2 weeks I'll start my cucurbits.

I am about 6 weeks behind in my garden on account of all this crazy snow.

I'm that far behind too, just from crazy busy.

Felix toe nail biting is only for the young and athletic. Once arthritis sets in - goodbye toenails. Can't even reach them to trim them. Did I say that out loud? Never mind

Bored last night, somehow ended up on Greenfire's blog, read this http://greenfirefarms.com/2012/08/the-case-for-inefficiency/
Thought it was neat, Greenfire follows a "popular online chicken forum".

Thanks for the link.

I used their "Terms & Conditions" as a guide for writing my chicken sales policy statement.

Pretty well written. That would be a more ethical way to do it. Although, at the same time, it would probably be less ecological, and less economical. And it would require people to be willing to pay a lot more for their meat.

Quote:

Interesting comments on the post though. Someone is saying they will open up their own chicken farm and be ethical about it, and others are wondering why people don't just free range them at the huge sites. But with the demand for chicken being as high as it is, I don't think it's possible to keep up a large enough free range operation without getting some serious illness issues. With the exposure to wild birds and the population density the required output would lead to, you could pretty much guarantee that there would be some sort of illness going around almost constantly. And the guy wanting to open his ethical farm is going to run into some major cash flow issues. Comments about "I don't think it would be that expensive..." really have no base in them. I don't think any of the people in the chicken business have gone into it thinking "I'm going to torture some chickens." I was talking to my sisters spouse, he has some friend who raises broilers. Apparently, the guy no longer eats chicken. That says a lot about the conditions in those places.

It's all about the money.
The margins are slim but the larger the operation, if you can make another penny per bird, you're rich.
Can you imagine free ranging 50 thousand birds? I can't but the predators would love it.

 

[vehve]

CC, that's exactly what I'm saying, it can't be done, unless people are ready to pay 50 bucks for a chicken. Okay, that might be slightly exaggerated, but it's not that far off.

 

[Bunnylady]

Fun and games with rabbits this morning.

BB2K and I bred some rabbits about a month ago. We write these things down on the calender, naturally; the gestation period for rabbits is about 31 days. For years, I have said that I can predict dramatic shifts in temperature a month in advance - I breed a few does, count it out on the calender, and say, "cold snap/heat wave right about then."

BB2K wrote it down; I guess she must have miscounted. According to the note on the calender, the does were due tomorrow, but there was fur all over the rabbitry when I went out there this morning. One doe might go early, but 3? Not likely.

Temps in the 40's aren't typical for nearly May, but that's what it was last night. Two first-time does, with babies all over the wire. One had a ton of fur in the nest box, but not a scrap of hay (and no babies); the other had drifts of fur and hay that had sifted through the wire on the floor under her cage; it looks like she tried to build her nest in another corner. The only doe that appears to have kindled in her nest box was a Netherland Dwarf that only had two babies, and from the position of the bodies, it looks like they were stillborn.

I grabbed the cold, still babies off the wire and peered at them briefly before untucking my shirt and cradling them against my stomach (brrrr!) Over the years, I've warmed up countless cold newborns, and experience told me these kids had a chance. We call them "Lazarus babies," and warming them too fast can cause you to lose them just when you think they are going to live.

I scurried to the house and kicked on the front door (hands full of near-dead babies, so I couldn't open it). BB2K answered it, and I handed off one litter to her. Critter filled a couple of empty soft drink bottles with warm water, and I tucked my now squirmy litter in a box with those bottles and a towel. BB2K cradled her litter all the way to school (she volunteered to stay home from school to help monitor them

), then I put them in the box with the others. When I got back home, I did a proper job of packing the nest boxes and salvaged what fur I could; the babies are now hopefully stabilizing in their nests in my hall closet. This morning's tally: 3 losses, 8 hanging in there, and two somewhat frazzled rabbit breeders.

"Breed like rabbits" - slam easy, right?

 

[vehve]

Bunny, sounds like a nasty morning. I hope your bunnies make it. We're experiencing exiting times here as well, the kits are 17 days old today and we're hoping to catch a glimpse of them soon.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Speaking of incubation. I found an old thread on here that talked about timing the setting of eggs so they hatch with the waxing moon in the signs Cancer, Pisces or Scorpio.

So I made a calendar for my spring/summer hatching.
The moon will be waxing and in Cancer May 20,21 so to hatch then, chicken eggs need to be set April 29, 30.

It said the chicks would be more vigorous.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/536525/hatching-eggs-by-the-moon-thread

Purely by coincidence, the chicks that just hatched a day early were under a waxing moon in cancer.
http://www.findyourfate.com/astrology/year2015/moon-calendar/mooncalendar2015-may.html

 

[vehve]

CC, why would that be beneficial? How does the moons gravitational pull affect the chicks?