Recent content by StruckBy

I have been looking to start breeding my own line of a breed that is particularly rare in the region but have been having a bugger of a time finding a good quality rooster. FINALLY find one. Yay! He has not shut up since he's been here. I truthfully do not know how he has not starved to death...

There is simply not enough protein available for any bird in most tractor situations no matter how often you move it. Even birds that are free-ranged 24/7 need some supplemental feed in most parts of the country for most of the year.

Our first few runs of meat birds, this is what we did. We would just kill one or two birds & cook them immediately (usually grilled). Unless we were doing pan-fried, we usually would just skin them rather than taking the time to pluck. I'm culling two hens in couple days & they will go...

You'll be surprised how fast she heals :) I don't really want to talk about how many dog attacks I dealt with for the 3.5 yrs we were in NV (it's actually the reason I went to 100% free-ranging...I found my birds could escape when loose by there isn't a coop made that a determined German...

DO NOT USE PEROXIDE. EVER!!! It kills the living tissue and seriously slows healing. If you need to clean a wound, use Betadine or similar. For this one, spray with BluKote then stop messing with it. The more you mess with it, the slower she will heal & the more stressed she will be. Poultry...

For anyone who watched the video & freaked out: http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/p/450-published-safety-assessments.html http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/labels-for-gmo-foods-are-a-bad-idea/?page=1

The first time few times I raised meat birds, I just ordered 25 at a time, let them free range with my layers, & when we wanted chicken (or forgot to thaw something else for dinner), ex-hubby would go out, kill a bird or two, & they'd be in the pan 20 min later. Because they were obnoxious (&...

What everyone else said. I do find mine periodically like to pick a new nest but it's usually very easy to find & convenient. Keeping fake eggs in the nest boxes helps...just be careful if you have a breed that is known for going broody! My cochins have tried to hatch fake eggs several times, to...

It is very rooster-dependent. They are all individuals. I'm not generally a huge fan of roosters, mostly because they are a completely unproductive mouth to feed, but my last several have been great. I find the crowing is worse when I have more than one...it's like they have to compete! With my...

Mine are like everyone else's...they go as far as the food is interesting. During the spring/early summer when everything is lush & growing, they probably only used a couple acres. Now that it is dry, the cochins are definitely ranging way out...using all my acreage (7) and wandering down the...

Anyone have a recommendation for where to get golden sebrights? I've been looking for nearly a year and cannot seem to find them out here (well, 3 birds on craigslist that I wouldn't have even been able to identify as sebrights as opposed to bantam-crosses). I have an absolute fantastic hen...

Really? NO ONE else's birds are this suicidal? Sigh.

I had a family emergency and had to go out of town unexpectedly. The day I ended up leaving, I had bought a couple HUGE rhubarb plants and put out an entire bag offf the iron-based 'bird/pet safe' slug bait in an area that the poultry normally can't get to. In my dash out, I managed to leave the...

I'm giving up trying to get Sebrights locally. The one gal who bred them retired & the few people who have them w/in a 2 hr drive are asking $25-$35 per bird (no way am I paying that for ornamental bug eaters!). Now I need to decide which hatchery to order from. They all seem to come out to...

I've been amazed what ravens & crows will do to get in and steal eggs. I had ravens who were lifting up a wire flap at the junction of the run & coop & sqeezing in. I watched them do it and STILL don't understand how they physically managed...especially carrying an undamaged egg! One pair of...