I made a 3 gallon batch and they have been taking to it since day 1. So, I started another batch while I work through the current bucket of fermented grains.
Yes, they do get big. The 25 we raised this fall were in a corner of a barn. My plan is to move them daily either in our pasture or lawn. I am hoping to revive the pasture this spring with a good mix of grasses and legumes. Looks like I will need to build 2 tractors.
I have yet to skim through all the pages of this discussion. I am very intrigued for sure.
What grains do you use in your fermented grain base? Corn, wheat, barley, oats, millet, sunflowers???
I raised some CX, for the first time, this fall. Because I got them in October, they were inside with heat lamps the whole time. They were processed at 8 weeks with an average dressed weight of 5.7 lbs. I am thinking that the feed conversion wasn't great because they were also trying to keep...
I was just told, within the last 2 days, that Delwares make decent meat birds/dual purpose yet they still have quicker growth and good foraging abilities. Have you had experience with them? I will get a few Jersey Giants as an experiment this spring.
BTW, I love the picture of your GP! We got...
I am strongly considering these 2 breeds for my chicken tractor meat birds this year. I know they are slower growing than typical broiler birds. But I was hoping to save a little on feed cost with better foraging and activity and maybe better flavor??
Sorry to butt in....I just now noticed this thread. I haven't been on BYC for at least 10+ months.
I ordered 26 broilers from Meyer, as well, when they ran the special. I feel we had decent results considering that I was raising them in the barn and they slowed down in growth (even with 3 heat...
What are the odds of yearling geese laying a few fertile eggs this year? I have yearling Pilgrims, American Buffs, and Sebastopols. I have 1 male Pilgrim to 2 females. 1 to 1 on the Buffs. And 1 male to 3 female on the Sebastopol.
Well, I/we had to get some more ducklings. This time we chose Holderread Waterfowl Farm in Corvallis, OR(wonderful service by the way)!
Our first half of the order came 6-10-11. We got 2 Welsh Harlequins, 4 Magpies, and 6 Dutch Hookbills (1 died 2 days later).
The second portion of our...
This is our first adventure into having ducks. My daughters and I decided to build a small semi-transportable coop for 6 female ducks (2 Blue Swedish, 2 Cayuga, 2 Welsh Harlequin) since we rent the property we live at. The coop is aprox 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. I still intend to add some...
We are very new to raising any type of poultry. We have finished our first attempt at a house for ducks.
Please see my "Duck House" page for a couple pics.
Here are a couple pictures of the six ducks we got from Meyer Hatchery on 3-2-11.
We got 2 females of each; Cayuga, Blue Swedish, and...