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

[Miss Lydia]

stony how are the girls today? and did you get the mink?

 

[stonykill]

stony how are the girls today? and did you get the mink?

never saw the mink again. Still after it. My trapping buddy is pretty excited to kill it himself.

The girls are moving their necks a little more this morning. I am heading out now to glue up table parts, then the girls get a bath again today. And Nustock re applied. I offered them food then left the shop. I figured when they are ready to eat they will.

I'll know more after I re bathe them.

 

[thedragonlady]

I can agree with that assessment. Silkie chicks forced to stay with the flock as chicks with a DP mama would probably continue that flocking instinct. Flocking instinct is the key to good foraging and pasturing of many livestock. Those who stay with the flock are less likely to be preyed upon and they also consume more on foraging with the rest of the flock due to food competition instincts.

This is something that the Aussies pioneered with sheep, so Pete could probably have something to say about that. Mob grazing ~bunching the sheep in small paddocks that they grazed completely in one day's time and then moving them to fresh graze each evening~resulted in them not eating selectively but consuming everything in their path due to competition for food/survival instincts.

This had two benefits. They didn't pick past the weeds and less desirable greens to just eat the best...which in turn helped the growth of better pasture. Grass does better when grazed, weeds cannot produce seeds when grazed in this manner. This keeps the pasture more full of nutritious grasses instead of an overgrowth of rank weeds.

The second benefit was that they were constantly moving to fresh graze and by the time they hit that spot again in the rotation it is months later and the worm ovum left behind had already reached larval stage without a host to consume it and died. Less parasites, better pasture, more food consumed which means fatter, healthier sheep. If left to roam a big pasture, these things do not happen.

End of shortcut lesson on mob grazing instincts.

Sheep are very parasite prone. This study was done before we had really good wormers. It is a system that is being used again today as the parasites have become immune to most of the wormers.

I have some paddocks for the birds so that I can rotate, and over seed . Young birds are put out on "clean" ground, that has rested after having older birds on it. The result is that my birds are not exposed to a heavy parasite load at an age when they can't handle it. Yup, I use worm medicine, but only after running fecals to see if the birds need it.

 

[Bulldogma]

Here is Molly

Melabella - Just send her on down to me.

As for 1/2 page picture posts being requoted over and over again....all that does is take up space....lots of space. This thread goes 10 to 20 pages a day, and 1/2 of that is the same exact pictures getting reposted over and over again

Hey everyone - did you know that when you quote another post, you can delete out all the photos to shorten the page... just as I did with Malabella's post about her beautiful pony that I want really badly but can't afford right now but maybe I will someday when I hit the lottery even though I never play the lottery?

The girls are moving their necks a little more this morning. I am heading out now to glue up table parts, then the girls get a bath again today. And Nustock re applied. I offered them food then left the shop. I figured when they are ready to eat they will.

I'll know more after I re bathe them.

Glad to hear the girls are moving better!

 

[stonykill]

thanks Bulldogma

 

[Bulldogma]

OK Bee (and everyone else) - just a fun question for you (so have fun with it)!

If you were snowed in for a few weeks, what would you want to have on your farm and why?

 

[Miss Lydia]

OK Bee (and everyone else) - just a fun question for you (so have fun with it)!

The Mayan calendar ends on 12/21/2012. While most of us believe this means that this is the end of the Mayan cycle so 12/22/2012 will mark the beginning of a new cycle, there are those that are concerned that there will be a zombie apocalypse beginning on that date. In the event of a zombie apocalypse, what things (including what kind of chickens) would you want to make sure you had on your farm, and why?

(This question is open to ALL folks and I'll post the best answers on the BLOG on the 20th just for fun!)

Zombie chickens????

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good news on the girls stony..

 

[aoxa]

the silkie part was a joke. It was no more rude than Bee calling them door mats.

As for 1/2 page picture posts being requoted over and over again....all that does is take up space....lots of space. This thread goes 10 to 20 pages a day, and 1/2 of that is the same exact pictures getting reposted over and over again

I haven't heard Bee say that here. She knows there are many people here that own them, and really enjoy them. I would say the same thing back to her. Silkies are not for everyone. But they are for some. They are no less valid than any other chicken, and have been around much longer than most breeds of poultry.

History traces them back to the 13th century. Can you say the same about your Sumatras? Though Silkies were much more like chickens than they are today. They had much better vision and looked very different. According to research, the Sumatra is classed as a low production in eggs, where silkies are classed as medium. Just a few comparisons for you. I do love the look of Sumatra as well. They'd be much easier to have in a free range environment. If someone does not free range, Silkies would be a good choice if that is the type of chicken that suites the person. They handle confinement better than any other breed I keep.


Oh and the picture thing I agree on. I think Bee had said not to quote it a few days ago. Everyone obliged. It does get very hard to read between the images.

 

[aoxa]

OK Bee (and everyone else) - just a fun question for you (so have fun with it)!

The Mayan calendar ends on 12/21/2012. While most of us believe this means that this is the end of the Mayan cycle so 12/22/2012 will mark the beginning of a new cycle, there are those that are concerned that there will be a zombie apocalypse beginning on that date. In the event of a zombie apocalypse, what things (including what kind of chickens) would you want to make sure you had on your farm, and why?

(This question is open to ALL folks and I'll post the best answers on the BLOG on the 20th just for fun!)

What a fun topic.

Better stock up on chicken feed.

I think I have enough chicken to keep us going for a while. Our house is heated by wood. Nice and toasty. Clementine will kill the zombies.