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

[Melabella]

I saw two mice in the barn this morning. I need a good barn cat. My fiance does not want anymore. We've lost two cats this year because of the roads.

I have a friend with a riding stable. As you know, if you have livestock, especially horses it seems,, you have mice and rats. She SWEARS her Buckeyes are better mousers than her cats. She is giving me some chicks in the spring. She says her best broody catches mice when not on the nest all day long. She told me it's sight to see. Sits and waits just like a cat...lol. I am going to try and find an email she sent me with her carrying a mouse to her sister hens. lol....Apparently they are very people friendly as well, from day olds. no fear of people. She told me their only fault is they don't get out of the way! Very cold hearty too, and the only american breed of chicken attributed to being started by a woman.. of course from Ohio!

 

[aoxa]

  the 3 Pekin girls are drinking a little and shaking their tail feathers. Not interested in eating. I even gave them left over baked apples, one of their favorites. But it has only been 24 hours since the attack roughly.

Good to hear Stony!

I think it will take them a while to eat something solid. I've been following along with Marty on his toulouse's recovery from a dog attack. Took her quite a while to eat. She's coming around quite well.

I have a friend with a riding stable.  As you know, if you have livestock, especially horses it seems,, you have mice and rats.  She SWEARS her Buckeyes are better mousers than her cats.  She is giving me some chicks in the spring.  She says her best broody catches mice when not on the nest all day long.  She told me it's  sight to see.  Sits and waits just like a cat...lol.  I am going to try and find an email she sent me with her carrying a mouse to her sister hens.  lol....Apparently they are very people friendly as well, from day olds. no fear of people.  She told me their only fault is they don't get out of the way!  Very cold hearty too,  and the only american breed of chicken attributed to being started by a woman.. of course from Ohio!

  

My chickens do catch mice, but these mice are not in the chicken part of the barn. Smart things I guess. I have seem them eat two so far while I've been down there. It puts a smile on my face every time.

Rats would not be acceptable. These mice are tiny little things. Food is all covered, and they haven't chewed through anything yet.

 

[Beekissed]

Did you know that Canadian Walmarts on the East Coast of Canada don't offer any produce or meat products, let alone alcohol? I went to Toronto this year and they DID, I was in heaven. The prices were so much better than our grocery stores.
I remember the first time going in a real dollar store (not one of those buck or two stores). I was 14 or 15. Quite impressed with what you could get for a dollar. Now even our dollar stores are a dollar+ The products are very rarely just a dollar any more.
Was speaking with my fiancée's grandmother the other night. She grew up on a farm, and is suffering from alzheimer's, so she remembers her childhood very vividly right now. It was fascinating to hear her stories. They never bought meet, fish, eggs, grains or produce. They grew it all (except the fish, they caught the fish).They made their own clothes, and the little money they had came from selling any extras. I find it silly how far away from these times our society is right now. I'd like to get back to the basics. Everyone looks at us like we have two heads if we say that. I mean, why would I want to do that?

I know that feeling.

I grew up in a two room log cabin with no electricity, no running water, toting 5 gal. buckets of water to livestock WAY away from the house(Dad had a sensitive nose) from a spring and finally a hand dug well. Carried our own drinking water from untreated springs about 75 yds away from the house and in the warmer months we had to strain the mosquito larvae out of it...never once made us sick in any way. Lived rough. Chilled our milk in the spring, just like old times...never spoiled, used it raw and good like it was meant to be used. Walked a mile out to the hard road to catch the bus. You know..that story that no one believes and everyone makes fun of? "Sure!!! And it was up hill both ways!" (said with a sarcastic sneer). It WAS uphill both ways..that's how hills are built, you numbskull..not often you find just one hill standing by itself that you have to only walk up and then down...around here they stack them a little closer.

Anyhoo, out of all the kids in our family, that lifestyle made the most impression on me. I was pretty comfortable with it all and have been working towards getting back to some level of that for most of my life. Food sufficiency, fuel sufficiency, self-reliant lifestyles are my thing. I trust in them because I've been there, done that and know how good it all is. It's no dream lifestyle that one reads in a book and can never be achieved...I've done it.

You can probably see how my chicken husbandry is colored by that way of thinking...home remedies, cheap setups, culling for maximum results because no one wants to work to support livestock that give nothing back, steps-saving routines when caring for the livestock(because I have went many a step in the past and am always working on keeping those down to conserve time and stress on a schedule).

That would be books I'd be interested in keeping!

Never thought of that. I currently do two yearends for two farms, but they do their own bookkeeping until December 31st. Then I review.

AND..you could have a small agri-tourism biz if you organize your harvest and hatch times, lambing times and such to make for a wonderful "farm" experience and sell eggs, (learn to make homemade bread by hand, not a machine), get some bees and sell honey, sell seed to "feed" to the birds and lambs, sell any number of chicken related items that we have mentioned here(ferment chick starter baskets), really get into breeding that good stock you have, refining it and selling eggs and chicks, sell all natural soaps, sugar and salt scrubs, sheep cheeses, garden and sell produce, herbs, pies...you name it, the sky's the limit when you live where people actually slow down on the highway to take pics of your birds. This is a market for people who think it is quaint and old timey to have these things and they will come. Your place is lovely...if you market it, they will come. And think of the life your kids could have living and learning all that stuff!

Pete, no Australorps?

BA is the acronym for Black Australorps and he mentioned having a few. As it should be for an Aussie...

the 3 Pekin girls are drinking a little and shaking their tail feathers. Not interested in eating. I even gave them left over baked apples, one of their favorites. But it has only been 24 hours since the attack roughly.

That's good to hear, Stony! I've found that when animals and kids won't eat, it's for a good reason and I don't push. Their bodies are telling them to rest and recover, not use valuable blood supplies on digestion.

 

[Beekissed]

I have a friend with a riding stable. As you know, if you have livestock, especially horses it seems,, you have mice and rats. She SWEARS her Buckeyes are better mousers than her cats. She is giving me some chicks in the spring. She says her best broody catches mice when not on the nest all day long. She told me it's sight to see. Sits and waits just like a cat...lol. I am going to try and find an email she sent me with her carrying a mouse to her sister hens. lol....Apparently they are very people friendly as well, from day olds. no fear of people. She told me their only fault is they don't get out of the way! Very cold hearty too, and the only american breed of chicken attributed to being started by a woman.. of course from Ohio!

And...can you get your hands on any of this stock?? I would if I were you....that is one mongo good rooster standing there.

 

[maryhysong]

the 3 Pekin girls are drinking a little and shaking their tail feathers. Not interested in eating. I even gave them left over baked apples, one of their favorites. But it has only been 24 hours since the attack roughly.

They could still be in a bit of shock; was several days before my least hurt birds began really eating. More than a week before the chicken with the hole in the head did. Happy to say that those that were still alive when I interrupted the attack have all lived. Just glad the weather was cool enough I didn't have to deal with maggots

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks Bee didn't realize BA stood for Australorps. This is the breed I am going for, learning as much as I can. There is someone in the same county as I that has them and they look great. Never really had a chance to pick my on special breed as my first chickens came by way of adoption or death. So we adopted. They have been a great tool for learning but I am hoping in the spring for some BA eggs to hatch.from my bantams.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I feed dried mealworms, wish I had the space to grow my own, they are pricey dried ,I buy in bulk. I only feed them in the winter when bugs aren't available for protein. All I have to do is bring out the shovel and I can't even dig for being surrounded.

Where do you get your bulk mealworms, please?

 

[stonykill]

That's good to hear, Stony! I've found that when animals and kids won't eat, it's for a good reason and I don't push. Their bodies are telling them to rest and recover, not use valuable blood supplies on digestion.

they did lose a lot of blood. I removed the food. It lasted about 5 seconds in the front yard. The flock ATTACKED it. Lil pigs

. As long as they are drinking and shaking their tail feathers I'm happy for now.

 

[aoxa]

I know that feeling.    I grew up in a two room log cabin with no electricity, no running water, toting 5 gal. buckets of water to livestock WAY away from the house(Dad had a sensitive nose) from a spring and finally a hand dug well.  Carried our own drinking water from untreated springs about 75 yds away from the house and in the warmer months we had to strain the mosquito larvae out of it...never once made us sick in any way.  Lived rough.  Chilled our milk in the spring, just like old times...never spoiled, used it raw and good like it was meant to be used.  Walked a mile out to the hard road to catch the bus.  You know..that story that no one believes and everyone makes fun of?  "Sure!!! And it was up hill both ways!" (said with a sarcastic sneer).  It WAS uphill both ways..that's how hills are built, you numbskull..not often you find just one hill standing by itself that you have to only walk up and then down...around here they stack them a little closer. 

Anyhoo, out of all the kids in our family, that lifestyle made the most impression on me.  I was pretty comfortable with it all and have been working towards getting back to some level of that for most of my life.  Food sufficiency, fuel sufficiency, self-reliant lifestyles are my thing.  I trust in them because I've been there, done that and know how good it all is.  It's no dream lifestyle that one reads in a book and can never be achieved...I've done it. 

You can probably see how my chicken husbandry is colored by that way of thinking...home remedies, cheap setups, culling for maximum results because no one wants to work to support livestock that give nothing back, steps-saving routines when caring for the livestock(because I have went many a step in the past and am always working on keeping those down to conserve time and stress on a schedule). 

AND..you could have a small agri-tourism biz if you organize your harvest and hatch times, lambing times and such to make for a wonderful "farm" experience and sell eggs, (learn to make homemade bread by hand, not a machine), get some bees and sell honey, sell seed to "feed" to the birds and lambs, sell any number of chicken related items that we have mentioned here(ferment chick starter baskets), really get into breeding that good stock you have, refining it and selling eggs and chicks, sell all natural soaps, sugar and salt scrubs, sheep cheeses, garden and sell produce, herbs, pies...you name it, the sky's the limit when you live where people actually slow down on the highway to take pics of your birds.  This is a market for people who think it is quaint and old timey to have these things and they will come.  Your place is lovely...if you market it, they will come.  And think of the life your kids could have living and learning all that stuff! 

BA is the acronym for Black Australorps and he mentioned having a few.  As it should be for an Aussie... 

That's good to hear, Stony!  I've found that when animals and kids won't eat, it's for a good reason and I don't push.  Their bodies are telling them to rest and recover, not use valuable blood supplies on digestion. 

I grew up the opposite, yet still dreamed about owning animals from the age I was old enough to talk. My parents were not so into that. My dad grew up on a farm, was very poor - and wanted to give us a sheltered life. Know what? I hated people knowing my family was well off. I changed schools and had everyone thinking it wasn't so.. until one of my friends corrected that notion.. I felt everyone based what they thought about me on the money my parents had. They were more apt to fake a friendship. I hate fake.

I did get to ride horses, visit family farms and what not while my grandmother was still living. She passed away when I was 13, and a lot of the communication form that side of the family was lost. No more farm visits.. Sad..
My dad knew I'd have a lot of animals, but didn't think I could handle owning livestock that would have to be killed when the time came. He has since turned that around and thinks I can do a heck of a lot more now. Never thought I'd have to scrape a cat off the road. That was tough. Really tough. But I did it. I've come a long way.

The best part about my location is it is between the city and a vacation destination. Shediac is a very big tourist location here in the late spring - fall. Lots of wealthy cottage owners there. My parents own two cottages out in Shediac and they rent them out for $1,400 a week for the bigger one. They are booked from June-September fully. That kind of explains the tourism demand a bit. We are 5 minutes from the beach, and the tourist area. I think we'd have a lot of interest

How much is your food there Bee?

Also, can you explain to me why you would feed layer to a chick? Everything I've heard from people say that the calcium can do a number on a non-layer's kidneys. You do mix in other grains, so does that bring down the %s enough to not worry about it as much? By people I am talking trusted people. Like Fred and Chris.

I really want mash, but don't think layer would be a good idea for growing birds, and roosters.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Which food? People or chickens?

I've heard all that layer mash will hurt the chick's kidneys claptrap on BYC and there have been no studies that I could find to confirm that...just theories. Tell my 6 yr old birds out there how bad it is for their kidneys...they haven't gotten the message yet.

Before they were turned over to other people, I still had 15 of the original flock of 30 ordered as chicks that year...I culled some for nonlay, a few of the production breeds and Doms died of heart failure in the second year(pretty normal for hatchery stock) and the rest were laying like gang busters into their 5 th year. Right behind them was a whole flock of 6 mo. old birds coming into lay...all healthy as horses. They did well...so did the meaties in the past and the last ones this spring. And all the other chicks I raised on it.

I once fell for that and thought, maybe I should use flock raiser instead of layer when I integrate my 2 wk old chicks back into the flock with mama, even used chick starter for the first 2 wks...but looked around at my thriving flock and their great performance and thought better of it. Same with the rooster...he eats layer. Many will tell you that, since he doesn't lay, he cannot utilize the calcium. Have you SEEN the leg bones on this rooster??? All my roosters have eaten layer ration.

Tell me this one....babies drink milk. All mammalian babies drink milk for the first months of their lives. That very high calcium diet does what? Build strong bones for good growth. Not a kidney failure in a one of them. Granted bird kidneys are different than mammals...but not much.

By the time I have chicks in my layer flocks, they are eating 100% layer mash...no whole grains. I also give my chicks BOSS within the first 2-3 days of their being here~throw some in the bedding and watch the show. Lets mama teach them how to forage, right there in the brooder and it also teaches those without a mama to do the same.