Search results for query: *

Tax!

I've tried all sort of ways of eating, some of that was trying to disguise an eating disorder, and some of it was trying to resolve digestive and hormonal health issues. I've been vegetarian, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, all of the above at once, keto, paleo.... for over 15 years of my...

Well in some good news for the thread, my hen and chicks are still doing great, I've got 2 more hens on 2 more clutches, and all is well with the cockerel and the rooster! It's not every week that things in the flock go well! You're all welcome to live springtime vicariously through me (at...

I've been absent from BYC for a few weeks, did a brief catch up but apologies if I've missed something important! Fret's chicks are huge! They grow so fast. Sorry to hear about the covid @Shadrach - I got it earlier this year (again), well I assume so it sure felt like it and was the same good...

Marrows are what zucchini turns into, the monstrous marrows you find when you've skipped checking for a day or two! I had one that was as big as the bottom of my wheelbarrow last season 🤣 I grate and dehydrate zucchini and use it as a vegetable bulker in soups and sauces and meat mixes all...

Very interesting. From that summary none of that really applied to my hen who died, except possible genetic susceptibility. They all eat the same feed which I wouldn't say is excessive from an energy standpoint, it is high in carbs I guess being grain based but it's wholegrain based so those...

Definitely. Pullet eggs are the most delicious and have the best colour. My blue and green eggs are significantly better than all the others. My old hens and my leghorn hen lay the 'lamest' eggs. All of them lay eggs that are miles better than the 'best' eggs you can buy though so I'm thrilled...

Ah it certainly could have been fatty liver disease. I didn’t do a necropsy. I did a brief search on risk factors, and see that selenium deficiency appears to be a factor. That's very interesting as we have significantly low levels of selenium in New Zealand soils. I figured their feed, plus the...

My chicks eat what everyone else eats. Approximately 50/50 split between unmedicated chick starter and soaked/fermented unground whole grain/peas mix, plus added meat and bone meal with some seaweed meal currently. I've had excellent results thus far.

Phew just caught up on the thread. Fret and all the allotment crew look so happy. It's so lovely to see them all. My cockerel boys have finally decided to grow up. I've got one who has started to crow (badly) and one who has forgone the crowing in order to fly under the radar and just get the...

I 'cull' all my surplus cockerels. They go to local families to eat. One day I will eat them myself but I'm not there yet. I would prefer to do it myself and not have them leave the property but I can't kill them. They live out their goofy wonderful lives in my yard and become somebody's dinner...

Oh what a shame. I'm not sure that hens can accurately count. It seems that they have number categories like 'a few' and 'a lot'. Or 'not enough' and 'enough'. I had a weak single chick survive a brood, there was something not right about him and he wasn't very vocal at all. His mother would...

I let mine roost where they will. I've tried, and succeeded, in the past to change where they're roost but it was a lot of work. However, I do not have significant predator pressures. That is a major factor. My only predator risk is a dog coming onto the property (I am fully fenced), or a...

Roosters are not male hens! Perfectly stated. I have over 25 years of experience with horses, in many capacities, and I can train horses and rehabilitate many 'lost' causes. I have handled and ridden stallions but I have not owned one. Even with this wealth of experience I would hesitate to say...

The egg shape isn't a problem to my eyes at least. I'd say 6-8 of her own eggs would be fine. Less if you're adding standard size eggs at the same time. I've had two single-chick hatches. It wasn't a problem although it worked out that I had both single hatches only a couple of weeks apart so...

Perhaps Carbon will oblige now she's seen Fret succeed! Broody season here has begun. Edith (or she might be Josephine, I can only tell them apart when they're next to each other) has taken the sit. I moved her this morning, kind of hoping she wouldn't be committed. But she's sat tight on the...

I too have a paper weekly planner and prefer to write notes on paper, with a pencil not a pen. It definitely help my recall but I certainly couldn't claim near perfect recall! Short term and working memory are NOT my strong suits.

Me too! But unless it's a really really important book I still get it as an ebook because shipping to New Zealand is NUTS. Amazon Australia will ship for free under certain circumstances but often don't have things in stock. Not all books I want are on Amazon, and at that point I'm looking at...

I've had production hens raised as backyard hens, they never were in a commercial environment. I didn't have them their whole lives, I got them along with some other hens (same flock) when they were around 2 years old. They were all well cared for before coming to me. They laid like crazy, had...

As requested: The little brown chick grew up to be Ginger Bonnet, the pullet who is sitting on eggs right now. Not the genetic daughter of Princess Fluffy Butt though.