thoughts on battery cages

[stephen84]

There are two night predators here by us,wild cats and jackals,and offcourse two massive great danes that loves live chickens but they obey and keep the other predators away,my coop will be closed off with a wire diamond mesh in all areas so it will be safe..

 

[stephen84]

I'll keep an eye out for turkeys,surely if I go to my local butcher I can get a contact number to the supplier,not too sure what breed I'm going to start off with,I'm still new in this game,but I have noticed that at the market we have here every saturday its only white eggs,so ima try a different approach and go 4 a brown egg laying chicken..I remember my gran always said brown eggs are better than white.I know those eggs sell for a bit more aswel but the breed of chicken eats more..if you can help me with the name of that breed I will be greatfull..your friend in durban will most definitely find turkey in ladysmith,its about 2hours drive from Durban,I will get contact numbers for you to pass on

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The interior of the egg quality is dependent on what they eat.
The shell color is dependent on the breed. No correlation between the inside and outside.
In some markets, very dark brown, blue and green eggs sometimes sell for more money.
Every country is different in what breeds are available as importation is difficult now.
Almost every Mediterranean breed lays a white egg. Exceptions are Catalana with a cream colored egg, Penedesenca and Empordanesa lay a very dark brown egg.
Perhaps you could do some research to see what breeds are there and I could guide you further.

My friend would love to find sources of turkeys.

 

[stephen84]

I will do some reseach and find the best egg laying breed for my region..I will make some calls to ladysmith in the morning and come back to you with numbers..

 

[stephen84]

0745806416...Its a turkey farm in pietermaritzburg,50min drive from durban..they sell turkey chicks at R140 each..your friend can only phone between 18:00 and 21:00..as fa as my friend knows they still in operation..letme know if your friend comes right.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, stephen84, and

! Pleased to have you with us! Best of luck on your venture!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

I used to have a small chicken farm in South Africa, in the Western Cape, selling mostly eggs and some chickens as well. The market for for "proper" free range eggs is very, very good and the demand is huge. My hens simply couldn't lay enough. I'd suggest as a breed go for the Boschveld Indigenous chickens. I will PM you the farm's contact details. Those chickens are hardy, don't need much pampering and they lay well. Do not buy POL pullets from the battery farms. They are expensive, they don't lay well in free range conditions and are not nearly as hardy as proper plaashoenders.

 

[stephen84]

So boschvelt chickens are plaas hoenders?I can't go into meat production yet,my small 'farm' only has bore hole water and no blumbing as yet,what's the best way to get rid of slaughtered chicken leftovers?do I burn them?

 

[sumi]

They're a cross between the Venda, Matabele and Ovambo chickens, so basically they are mutts

But they are great. The left-overs... anything edible like feet (runaways?), heads etc would get snapped up by the locals and the feathers, depends on how much you have?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I compost the blood, guts and feathers.
I have 6 coops so the clean out from those creates huge piles that heat up well so the guts and feathers get broken down pretty quick.

Farms that have large animals (hogs, cattle) die, often do the same. Composting in rows covered by lots of straw and sawdust.
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/depu.../InnovTechForum/InnovTechForum-IIC-Keener.pdf