Gender
Female
Activity Feed
"BRILLIANT!!! Now... any ideas on deterring Harris hawks? :)"
"AAAARRGH! How do you get rid of MITES??? "
"Oh, I'm with you... at my wit's end with the "little birds." The doggone chickens don't defend their feed... I'm going broke feeding the little ones! There are so many hanging around, I'm starting to feel like the prelude to Hitchcock's horror…"
"Ah, I'd forgotten about my pressure cooker! Thanks for bringing that up, Jeanne!"
"I can add one more that we learned this year...not enough supplemental feed if they're pastured hens. :)"
"Normally I roast them slowly. Brine them for a day, then cook them covered at about 300 degrees for 1/2 hour, then drop it to 250 for a few hours, removing the cover near the end. Low temps keeps from toughening the protein so older birds will be…"
"For stewing chickens, I'm a great fan of my pressure cooker. I let the last batch cook with the weight rocking ever so gently for most of an hour. The meat came out very moist and intensely flavorful and as tender as possible for older hens."
"Christie, everything being equal (and they follow me around like the Pied Piper, clucking for treats)... maybe it's my thoughts of homemade chicken broth that they are picking up and stressing them out? They don't appear to be stressed... "
"I hear you... I hate to have to pull the plug on them; they are so cute. But I can't afford to feed them if they don't produce. How do you stew yours?"
"Thank you, Karis. Where do I get chicken dewormer? They've been doing fine with Purina Layena + treats, and they are done with moulting. They have a light at night, and I dust them with DE. One hen has not laid an egg in months... she's getting…"
"In my experience, things that slow production are:
Moulting
extreme weather
too little protien
too little calcium (offer free choice oyster shells)
shorter days
parasites which include lice, mites and worms of all sorts. Deworming is safe and easy…"
Moulting
extreme weather
too little protien
too little calcium (offer free choice oyster shells)
shorter days
parasites which include lice, mites and worms of all sorts. Deworming is safe and easy…"
"We are down too right now. We have a small flock but we are down from 6 a day to 3-4 a day. I figure it is the changing weather and light, but I've chosen not to put a light in their coop because I figure it's good for them not to work as hard and…"
"Good to hear others are experiencing the same thing as we are, although it's not a good thing we're experiencing it!
Ours went to lower-than-usual production during the summer...last year they went down to 50% production, this year it fell to 5%.…"
Ours went to lower-than-usual production during the summer...last year they went down to 50% production, this year it fell to 5%.…"
"All things are equal except the egg laying. They've already molted and are in fine feather now. Plain yogurt helped production during the summer... will try that again. Don't want to consign them to the stew pot! :("
"we are going through our annual molt cycle ... last and this month .... that has been observed to curtail laying ..."
"My own girls were doing quite well through the heat of the summer, but slowed way down about 8 weeks ago, down to 4 or 5 eggs for 17 birds. In the past few days, I started offering more treats from the kitchen waste, and a scoop of COB mix that I…"
Comments
Hi Ginger, So glad to see you here! Writing and drawing are a couple of hobbies of mine as well.
Welcome to the Valley Permaculture Alliance, a local 501C3 non-profit education organization that offers classes, training, activities, tours, events and demonstrations on various aspects of sustainable living around the Greater Phoenix Valley. You can read more about the VPA on the ‘About Us’ page, and explore the many groups and resources this Ning “social networking site” has to offer, as well as customize your own Profile Page and connect with new like-minded friends.
We encourage you to browse the discussions, blogs, videos, comments to get a feel for our incredibly resourceful community, and to share your interests as well. There are many volunteer opportunities to assist with classes and events, so please let me know if you are interested in helping out when available.
We offer a variety of classes to our members on a donation basis (usually $10 to $25) that goes toward venue hard-costs, also to our experienced and knowledgeable instructors, as well as to support the non-profit in providing quality education for improving our health, our communities and environment. See what classes you may be interested in attending atwww.phoenixpermaculture.org/events - and feel free to contact us with any questions.
Thanks!
Liz
Valley Permaculture Alliance