The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Beekissed]

The chicks I started on FF 3 weeks ago are HUGE. Biggest chicks I've raised all year. Crazy fast feathering too! Almost 100% feathered out already. Crazy. And I haven't lost ONE SINGLE CHICK! That is saying something.. Usually I have one or two that fail to thrive. I think it's a combo of their parent's diet and their diet.
They are doing so well. Crazy..
They hardly eat anything. I still have half a bucket of FF and only purchased one small bag of chick feed for $3.50

Now THAT is what I like to hear!!! I never have lost a chick in all my chick days and it could be due to the ACV I've always used but the next time it's going to be due to the FF, like it was with the meaties. Wouldn't it be nice if all of BYC could use FF and reap the joys of it...without making it difficult, of course. We want pics of the chicks, ya know...we know you have a camera...

This video is very suited to this conversation.
Please watch. It is very inspirational.

I saw this video on another forum and there was a discussion on it but it soon ended right after I posted. Funny...that always seems to happen.

All I said was this...IF??? Money doesn't matter and there is no "IF" to that question. It can't buy happy and it can't buy love. It can't even buy health or long life. It can't buy peace of mind...only breathing room.

I stopped living my life around that breathing room long ago. Money only matters if you think it does...and I don't.

 

[Mountain Momma]

I wish I could just up and leave work and run a farm. That is my dream. That and to raise a couple of children in the simple life, and homeschool.
However, how do you do that without money?

I'd like to cut hours at work at least once I have kids. Here in Canada our maternity leave is a full year. After that is over, I'll cut back to part time. Maybe take a couple of clients at home. I am a bookkeeper. I work with my mother. I have a lot of flexibility, but paperwork gets very dull when I am daydreaming about being on my farm. I just love animals, and have always wanted to do something related to them.
I left home before I graduated high school though, so college or university were not options for me at the time. I could always do it eventually, but there is nothing I want to do that needs a college education. I don't want to be a vet.. I don't want to have a degree in animal science.. I want to breed, raise and be self sufficient.
I'm currently attending the school of BEE

I get that. Kids change everything. I am an old mom for sure. I joke that having kids this little is a great way to make people think you are 30 something! We arent gonna wait for that farm. We have our little barely an acre and I'm looking into biodynamic farming, which supposedly you can self provide on an acre.We dont have soil we have recycled granite. We are at 8500 feet and have cold dry winters and very short summers but hey this is where we are. lol. I hope you get your dream. I dont really want horses and cows. A cute little alpaca might be fun but chickens a greenhouse and possibly bees will keep me busy. And Good Lord the dogs for sure. lol. I do think food is a problem and will continue to become more and more expensive and les and less fulfilling of the basic needs. I want to lean on ourselves and do it well. This forum gives me so much more than it gets from me!

 

[aoxa]

Now THAT is what I like to hear!!!  I never have lost a chick in all my chick days and it could be due to the ACV I've always used but the next time it's going to be due to the FF, like it was with the meaties.  Wouldn't it be nice if all of BYC could use FF and reap the joys of it...without making it difficult, of course.  We want pics of the chicks, ya know...we know you have a camera... 

I saw this video on another forum and there was a discussion on it but it soon ended right after I posted.  Funny...that always seems to happen.    All I said was this...IF???  Money doesn't matter and there is no "IF" to that question.  It can't buy happy and it can't buy love.  It can't even buy health or long life.  It can't buy peace of mind...only breathing room.   

I stopped living my life around that breathing room long ago.  Money only matters if you think it does...and I don't.   



   

Oh you pulled my leg.. Pictures aren't as great as they would be if it was not dark out. Only so much indoor lighting can do for a camera..

Barred boy and Easter Egger boy. Already very clear to me the genders.
The iPhone is for size reference. They just turned 3 weeks old today. Also note that EE males feather out slowly, so he is the exception to the fast feathering I was mentioning

 

[nakstk]

Originally Posted by Beekissed


Anyone else want to chime in on why you got your birds and why you chose the breeds you got? I'll try to work on it tomorrow to get some of these answers consolidated and see if I can come up with some advice on what breeds I think will be suitable...though there are many, many suitable breeds for any given purpose but I can give you some info about the breeds I have had and why.


When I was really young like under 5 years old, My Aunt Dorothy had a farm. I loved going and staying with her and my cousins. My cousins were in their teens and to them farm life was work and chores. But to me it was fun. I remember pulling weeds in the garden, taking greens to the animals. Most of all I LOVED to go hang out in the chicken coop, holding the hens and gathering the eggs. I didn't like to eat eggs, still don't really but I enjoyed the chickens.
My Dad was really strict when it came to animals I had a dog but she was not allowed in the house. So chickens were totally out of the question. When I got married my husband and I moved into our own home I still had the urge to have chickens. A few of my friends had chickens and were always talking about them, how nice it was to have fresh eggs and how different they were then store bought eggs. A guy that worked with my husband also has chickens and he was telling my husband about then and how they don't really take up too much room. That's when I found BYC and the forums.

the knowledge I have gotten from here is priceless. We don't eat a ton of eggs at the time I was still not an egg fan. My boys weren't really either. We knew we want some friendly chickens that wouldn't mind if the temps sometimes got in to the teens. We didn't need a chicken that was a big producer either. So one day when I got home from a friend's daughter's bday party my husband had a surprised me with 5 Speckled Sussex chicks. They were for our 10th anniversary. I was not aware of the fact that the 10th anniversary was the chicken anniversary I thought it was the tin/aluminium. lol It was love at first sight. The chicks were so cute and grew so quickly. They started laying in December and laid plenty enough eggs for the 4 of us. My boys now like eggs a lot more then they use to and I absolutely love watching my girls. They are so funny and each one has such different personalities. The 5 girls laid an average of 70 eggs per month. That was enough for us and to have some extras to even barter with. (Got a $100 freezer for $90 and 2 dozen eggs!!)
Well BYC got the best of me with all the colorful eggs. Although I love the beautiful brown medium sized eggs I got from my girls I wanted more color. So on a trip to town in early May my hubby took me on a side trip to the feed store in town (not my normal feed store) and let me pick out 3 more chicks. I thought I was getting 3 Wellies the gal that worked there that know "a little" about the breeds had left. There 9 different breeds of less then a week old chick in the same container. After a few days at home I noticed one was different. I ended up with 2 Wellies and 1 EE which I am so excited to see what color egg my Greta will be laying. Still waiting for her first egg and she is 32 weeks 5 days. So far my Wellies have given me 66 eggs since they started laying in Oct. I didn't realize just how much louder the Wellies egg songs are compared to my SS. The SS don't always sing for me but boy howdy the Wellies do.

I am a stay at home mom whose babies are now 16 yrs old and in the 10th grade and 10 yrs old and in the 4th grade. So I have plenty of time to spend with my dogs and chickens. I really want to learn more about FF. I found out the (spendy) hard way that crumbles was NOT the way to go with my girls they waste SO much. They are pretty good with pellets though. Even though if I could save even more money using FF I am all over that. Bee said to add some barley grains to it but I am unsure as to where I would find them. Not sure if my little feed store in my town would have them or not. This is such a learning process.

 

[Mountain Momma]

Originally Posted by Beekissed

The 5 girls laid an average of 70 eggs per month. That was enough for us and to have some extras to even barter with. (Got a $100 freezer for $90 and 2 dozen eggs!!)
Well BYC got the best of me with all the colorful eggs.

Love that! I bought a wheel barrow at a garage sale in the neighborhood this summer and needed it deliverd because my car is too small...well I offered a dozen farm fresh eggs and the guys were all over delivering that wheel barrow. When we got to my house "DH was like what the heck?" And this retired DEA agent who had the garage sale and him talked for an hour about stuff including what a great dog Darcy is. Needless to say I put my wheelbarrow away, gave them the eggs and wondered off.-L

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Love that! I bought a wheel barrow at a garage sale in the neighborhood this summer and needed it deliverd because my car is too small...well I offered a dozen farm fresh eggs and the guys were all over delivering that wheel barrow. When we got to my house "DH was like what the heck?" And this retired DEA agent who had the garage sale and him talked for an hour about stuff including what a great dog Darcy is. Needless to say I put my wheelbarrow away, gave them the eggs and wondered off.-L

Fresh, lovely eggs are perfect for sweetening a deal!

 

[aaggjg]

Had to share my most recent thrift store find!! Just found this at my local Rescue Mission Thrift Store for $6!! So happy! It's $45 on Amazon. I have just recently begun to bake sourdough bread and have read so many recipes that state to put dough in a cast iron dutch oven or brick cloche...as I don't have one, I've just been putting the bread on a cookie sheet....
Starting today, I'll be baking in this!

It appears I need to travel North to your neck of the woods!!! I was in a thrift store the other day and I do not know who is pricing their stuff but it was just under retail!!! I took a look around and walked out ..... I mean it is USED unwanted stuff raising money for charity ..... I bet they don't sell that much stuff!!

 

[aaggjg]

Tells us a lot about how we've gone wrong in our thinking about animal nutrition in America, huh?

Umm not just animal ..... I'd say all nutrition in America

 

[aaggjg]

I am involved in the hatch along on BYC. This is the first time I am trying to hatch shipped eggs. The man who sent me the eggs shows RIR's and AM's. I ordered the RIR and he threw in one show quality AM egg. One.blue egg and I hope it hatches.

Are you hatching in an incubator??? Did you Candle them??? And are you planning on Candling them as they progress???

 

[Sally8]

Well Bee, I forgot to tell you what kind of chickens I have when I told you why I got started in it again. I was after the pretty basket of eggs (Plus the eggs to eat) so I have 1 Frizzle (not a real chicken) 2 Silver Spangled Hamburgs, not sure how or why I ended up with these, 1 RIR, 2 Delaware, 4 Black Copper Marans Hens & 1 roo, and 6 EE hens and 1 roo. Plus 2 turkeys.

A very sad thing happened to me yesterday. A friend of my DIL lost all her chickens to a bobcat. Someone gave them 2 hens. I offered them a few more and they took 4 hens and a roo. As my luck would have it THEY WERE MY BLUE AND GREEN EGG LAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At the time I thought what were the chances that it would turn out that way. I have 2 others that could lay colored eggs. But as badly as I feel about it, the woman was so pleased she cried. Her husband had a hard time speaking. They thought my chickens were beautiful. So, that explains why I have been having the urge to incubate again.