I incubate - but if one of my hens goes broody, I allow her to set the clutch. My results from that have been near 0%. Poor hatch rates, and usually lose all of the hatchlings w/i days. Host of reasons - my clay soils are highly acidic, very hard on egg shells. My hens have been "stupid", at...
This is how my bigger birds tend to get bumbles, as well - the trip down. Hearing a 20#+ turkey hen hop down from a 4' tall metal gate secured with a chain sounds a lot like someone knocking over a metal storage cabinet full of half empty cans - onto an angry bird, of course.
I use the same "15 min" rule to gauge whether I'm overfeeding my birds or not, since the value of my pasture varies so much seasonally. I find it a pretty good indicator, on average - though individual birds continue to vary some in internal fat accumulation based on gender and (seemingly)...
Hopes the weather people are wrong about the rain for you as well.
I just finished surveying the property, we finished our second mid 20s unscathed, didn't even need supplemental heat for the well pump. Will have an electric heat strip in the coming days. There's a warming trend, so not...
Lunch. Commenting.
{Caveat - I've only been doing this a few years now, and my flock of chickens has varied from a bit more than a dozen to almost 80 - so Anecdote, not data}
I have 30 acres, but only a small amount of that cleared. A barn in the middle where I feed the birds, and where they...
It is (for Florida) COLD. "Feels Like" 20.
Finishing my coffee before I go forth and feed the animals. Had to separate a opossum from my birds at I don't know what temp last night. Not sure if he was looking to share warmth or make a meal, didn't really take time to ask his purpose in gate...
One wall of the greenhouse up, another wall half up, panels already cut to size. Then the final wall and start roofing. Just in time for it to get REALLY cold. (OK, FL cold, not actual cold). Mid 60s overnight tonight. Mid 20s overnight tomorrow. After walls and roof, I still have to mount...
Sadly, I don't, I understand a lot of cattle.Ranchers got caught upside down recently with replacement calves being worth more than the grown cattle brought in for processing. My wife and I looked into it, but we just don't have the sort of pasture we would need for raising cattle. So we stopped...
almost everything I've learned about feeding chickens I either read on BYC, read because someone on BYC recommended the resource, or looked into because someone on BYC asked a question I couldn't answer, and was curious...
Everyone here could do the same, w/ time and inclination.