About Chickens

[Ron Mauer Sr]

As economies decline, it becomes more important to find supplemental food sources. Chickens provide a healthy and inexpensive source of eggs.

Using a moveable chicken tractor is one way to protect the chickens and to provide a healthy environment. Here's a short video of one man's clever chicken tractor design.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y93hWnIowU

In the warmer months, free ranging chickens are almost self sustained with a vast variety of bugs to eat. But free ranging chickens are vulnerable to predators.

If chickens are free ranging, here is a clever door opener that will allow one to sleep later in the morning. If chickens could talk, they might say "We shut ourselves in at night and we let ourselves out in the morning."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRm2U72pu90

[Matt P]

Love your posts Ron...and your website. I highly recommend folks check it out.
Hope to finally get my chicken coup finished this year! I live in the suburbs and am noticing many popping up on our bike rides!

Matt

[Joanne Shepard]

I love chickens and the eggs :) Ive even had chickens that laid green eggs, have to be able to put them in the pot though after a year, boy my grandmother was the queen at cleaning and frying up a chicken :)


Best way to get omega 3

[joeecho]

Cool invention. Not sure why it would need to be movable but then again, I have never raised chickens.

My chicken association of the day :p

Mr. Tweedy: What is it?
Mrs. Tweedy: It's a pie machine, you idiot. Chickens go in, pies come out.
Mr. Tweedy: Ooh. What kind of pies?
Mrs. Tweedy: Apple.
Mr. Tweedy: My favourite!
Mrs. Tweedy: Chicken pies, you great lummox!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae50P_ajLxA

[Ron Mauer Sr]

Joel Salatin (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joel+salatin+polyface+farm) talks about the advantages of chicken tractors.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-MbPwaY6Y

Joel says "One of the things it is important to understand here is … it’s beautiful .
You know good food production should be aesthetically, and aromatically … sensually romantic."

[Cidersomerset]

This wiley old Fox is thinking long term and rearing its own ..........

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/24/article-2587878-1C87B58000000578-246_634x458.jpg

[Joanne Shepard]

Joel Salatin (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joel+salatin+polyface+farm) talks about the advantages of chicken tractors.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-MbPwaY6Y

Joel says "One of the things it is important to understand here is … it’s beautiful .
You know good food production should be aesthetically, and aromatically … sensually romantic."


Free Range chickens (what we want/need) they need to Rome free during the day so they can catch bugs. (no traffic pesticides/contaminates around) The cage is to protect them at night while they roost.

[Joanne Shepard]

Cool invention. Not sure why it would need to be movable but then again, I have never raised chickens.

My chicken association of the day :p

Mr. Tweedy: What is it?
Mrs. Tweedy: It's a pie machine, you idiot. Chickens go in, pies come out.
Mr. Tweedy: Ooh. What kind of pies?
Mrs. Tweedy: Apple.
Mr. Tweedy: My favourite!
Mrs. Tweedy: Chicken pies, you great lummox!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae50P_ajLxA


If your going to raise chickens, you will need a chicken pie machine too :)

[Joanne Shepard]

What Kind of chickens shall we get, ones that lay brown eggs, feathers on the feet, small chickens (banties my fav) hope we get some that lay double yolkers. Ive been wanting some chickens :)

[joeecho]

Free Range chickens (what we want/need) they need to Rome free during the day so they can catch bugs. (no traffic pesticides/contaminates around) The cage is to protect them at night while they roost.

So you need these movable pens to protect them during the day too? Do I understand that right?

Interesting. Never seen anything like it.

[spiritwind]

Free Range chickens (what we want/need) they need to Rome free during the day so they can catch bugs. (no traffic pesticides/contaminates around) The cage is to protect them at night while they roost.

So you need these movable pens to protect them during the day too? Do I understand that right?

Interesting. Never seen anything like it.

The movable chicken tractor/pen can be moved around your yard even if you live in the city. That way the grass can re-grow where you move it from (all nicely fertilized) and you don’t end up with a barren wasteland. It took about 2 weeks of watering for it to green back up from where we moved ours from around the yard, moving it about once a week when I would do a thorough clean out. Plus, chickens will eat a lot of weeds and bugs so by moving the tractor around you get to change their scenery and keep their greens available. We eventually let ours out in the yard during the day and then put them up at night, but once they got used to it they didn’t like it when they didn’t get let out. Last year was a little too exciting in the moving around department so we gave ours away to someone who still has them and was delighted to get them. We’ll get some again when we’re in a better situation to have them. They may get to where they lay their eggs anywhere but where you can find them if allowed total freedom. They can also be remarkably mean to newcomers to the flock we found out. Funner than heck giving them earth worms though. They get pretty excited. They remind me of miniature dinosaurs.

[aviators]

The boom in backyard coops spawns a business that lets people try raising fowl before buying.

Their success is a new twist on the backyard chicken boom, which has been gaining momentum in cities and suburbs for much of the past decade. Once the domain of die-hard foodies, the coops are now being embraced by more casual poultry fans, who like the idea of having a couple of hens around without a long-term commitment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/backyard-chicken-boom-produces-a-growth-industry-rent-a-hens/2014/06/17/f2e1cd0a-f249-11e3-bf76-447a5df6411f_story.html

[RunningDeer]

Love your posts Ron...and your website. I highly recommend folks check it out.
Hope to finally get my chicken coup finished this year! I live in the suburbs and am noticing many popping up on our bike rides!

Matt
In case folks aren’t aware, Ron’s address is posted at the bottom in the signature block: RonMauer.net (http://ronmauer.net/blog/)

@ Matt - I look forward to your pictures.

@ Ron - I love the chicken homes!

[Hazel]

In the area I once lived, a successful egg selling farm had their 'chooks' (as we affectionately call the little peckers in Aus')... cleverly housed in adapted caravans (trailers), so as to freely move their coups when need be.

[cursichella1]

I have 2 roosters, 5 chickens and two geese. The eggs are GREAT but I've found that not only am I not saving money, but when I calculate the costs of organic feed, treats, straw, bedding, enzyme cleaners, diatomous earth, netting (hawks), fans, light bulbs , electricity, hardware..., each egg is costing me $1.50, and lately they're laying just 2-3 a day, so probably closer to $3 each egg...Lol. I'm obviously doing something wrong but it is very entertaining, so worth it.

Btw Backyardchickens.com has helped me through several crazy chicken issues. Like what to do about roosters' spurs, hawk attacks and other crazy stuff that I was ill prepared to deal with. Ron, I'll be checking out your website!

[Cidersomerset]

I was not sure whether to post this item on this uplifting thread......


This article is on Davids site this morning , A horror story,
I know its hypocritical for meat eaters. But there is no need
at all for this inhumane rearing of any animal.....




Shocking Undercover Investigation Exposes Buried-Alive Chickens at Nation’s Second-Largest Producer

Sunday 29th June 2014 at 04:36 By David Icke


The vid is shocking so I'll post the link
if you want to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEy6Sr_YxzM



‘After watching Pilgrim’s Shame: Chickens Buried Alive, it’s tough to decide which is
more disturbing—the combination of physical abuse and inhumane killing of
chickens or the murderous mentality of the animal farmers who were secretly taped
earlier this year.

The brief video and accompanying report on CNN’s Erin Burnett Out Front actually
makes a case for the latter. Hearing an animal farmer laugh about creating
a “gravy that is simmering and squirming” from the buried-alive chickens he had
just finished abusing is about as chilling as anything uncovered by an animal rights
activist in recent years.’

Caution – Graphic scenes

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/


Read more: Shocking Undercover Investigation Exposes Buried-Alive Chickens at Nation's Second-Largest Producer

http://www.alternet.org/food/video-shocking-undercover-investigation-exposes-buried-alive-chickens-nations-second-largest

[Ron Mauer Sr]

I have 2 roosters, 5 chickens and two geese. The eggs are GREAT but I've found that not only am I not saving money, but when I calculate the costs of organic feed, treats, straw, bedding, enzyme cleaners, diatomous earth, netting (hawks), fans, light bulbs , electricity, hardware..., each egg is costing me $1.50, and lately they're laying just 2-3 a day, so probably closer to $3 each egg...Lol. I'm obviously doing something wrong but it is very entertaining, so worth it.

Btw Backyardchickens.com has helped me through several crazy chicken issues. Like what to do about roosters' spurs, hawk attacks and other crazy stuff that I was ill prepared to deal with. Ron, I'll be checking out your website!

According to my calculations, the first egg from my initial chicken raising experience cost me approximately $100, the second egg was only $50, etc. After a dozen or so, the eggs got so inexpensive that I lost interest calculating.

[Matt P]

Love your posts Ron...and your website. I highly recommend folks check it out.
Hope to finally get my chicken coup finished this year! I live in the suburbs and am noticing many popping up on our bike rides!

Matt
In case folks aren’t aware, Ron’s address is posted at the bottom in the signature block: RonMauer.net (http://ronmauer.net/blog/)

@ Matt - I look forward to your pictures.

@ Ron - I love the chicken homes!

Uh oh, pressure is on! My wife is already pushing me, too. Thanks RunningDeer! ;)
Right now, we get eggs from a neighbor down the street. I'm still collecting reclaimed/recycled materials for mine. My main job is as a carpenter so I come across all kinds of cool things to scavenge. Nothing actually built yet. :-( My wife loves how I accumulate this stuff in the garage. BUT, this is how I built our greenhouse so she understands she has to be a little patient and it will pay off. It took a couple years to collect the glass (old windows, shower and sliding doors) but I was able to build a 12X9 greenhouse for about $200. That's a story for another thread!

Matt

[Cardillac]

@Cidersomerset's 2nd posting-

common, folks, this is the real world- and it's hideous beyond comprehension (for most) but it's reality; I still cannot understand why people on this forum continue to skirt reality by individually posting "thinking positive thoughts" about things as if 'positive thinking' will eradicate the negative actions of others; right- and I shot Kennedy-

what we all need is even more of Cidersomerset's 2nd posting to shake us awake (and I mean in no uncertain terms) and make us aware about what's really going out there in the world; yes, the truth is ugly-

the only thing that has ever changed anything for the positive on this planet is when people finally become aware that evil has the upper hand (and take action against it) and not "the invisible man in the sky" 'supposedly' solving our problems-

Larry

[Matt P]

I may not be the best to respond, Larry, but I'll try. You're right. Industrial chicken production is an abomination. So is cow, pig and the others. About 20 years ago when I first became aware of this, I stopped eating all animal products. We had our first child and didn't know how to feed him but we figured it out and were vegan for about 8 years. Then we were vegetarian for a few years after that. Then, and now, we eat some animal products but only free range/organic/grass fed/chemical free/gmo free/local/you get the drift. We made this change after watching an Amish doctor cure a friend of many nasty conditions with just raw milk, eggs and a couple other purely natural farm products--of course all Amish products grown the "right" way. I admit I still go back and forth about going back to vegan.
I think this is what Ron's post addresses, without specifically saying it. If you go to his site you can see all kinds of ways to get off dependence of industrial food production and chemical living and learn how to take responsibility for the footprint you leave on this planet. If we all, or each neighborhood, had their own chicken coups and could raise them humanely, we wouldn't need industrial production and we wouldn't read stories like Cidersomerset shared.

Maybe I missed the point of your post. If I did, please don't hesitate to help me out.

Thanks

Matt

[edit: I asked my wife to refresh my memory on the Amish doctor and what he gave our friend to cure her (lupus, crohnes and something else). She couldn't remember but did remember that his name is Ruben Schwartz (sp?) and he lives in Tompkinsville, Ky]

[RunningDeer]

Shocking Undercover Investigation Exposes Buried-Alive Chickens at Nation’s Second-Largest Producer
Had to skip your post, Cidersomerset. Even the title makes my heart pound out of my chest. I am no longer able to watch even a nano second of animal abuse (or any other). It shakes me right down to the core. The images haunt for days, and even weeks.

I use to think I need to be 'in the know' and watch the brutality. But now, I know. And over the years it seems like the torture has escalated. Either that or more people are putting it out there. Which is good. Bring the problem out, so we can raise consciousness. Which is what you are doing.



Young Boy Hugs A Chicken Named Love Bird
l1sTIzh-Mqw
<3

[Ron Mauer Sr]

@Cidersomerset's 2nd posting-

common, folks, this is the real world- and it's hideous beyond comprehension (for most) but it's reality; I still cannot understand why people on this forum continue to skirt reality by individually posting "thinking positive thoughts" about things as if 'positive thinking' will eradicate the negative actions of others; right- and I shot Kennedy-

what we all need is even more of Cidersomerset's 2nd posting to shake us awake (and I mean in no uncertain terms) and make us aware about what's really going out there in the world; yes, the truth is ugly-

the only thing that has ever changed anything for the positive on this planet is when people finally become aware that evil has the upper hand (and take action against it) and not "the invisible man in the sky" 'supposedly' solving our problems-

Larry

Hi Larry,

Things "hideous beyond comprehension" and about eradicating "the negative actions of others" might serve a useful purpose in another thread. Have you considered starting one for that purpose?

Over the years I've explored many of these issues. What I discovered is that taking action, doing something positive about things that bring me joy, exploring ways to become less dependent on a failed system and finding something to love, is beneficial to the way I feel. I feel empowered. Empowerment is what I want to share.

I've learned that getting on my soap box and warning others about corrupt corporations, corrupt governments and regressive ET's has only turned people off and often (not always) sent my audience running away. The ex-wife said I sounded like a preacher. She was right. I thought that if enough people knew what was going the system could be changed for the better. Still is probably true, but anxiety and fear only serves the dark side. We can only accept a little bit of truth at a time. Over the years I discovered that my preaching was a symptom of my own fear. People will learn at their own pace. The only way to influence people is by setting an example.

This thread is "About Chickens".

Thanks for your comment.
Ron

:focus:

[Cidersomerset]

Had to skip your post, Cidersomerset. Even the title makes my heart pound out of my chest. I am no longer able to watch even a nano second of animal abuse (or any other). It shakes me right down to the core. The images haunt for days, and even weeks.



I must admit I would not have posted the article if I had not seen it on Davids
site this morning , which I visit most days , I do believe in synchronicity so
after some 'Uhming' and ' Aahing' posted it.....


world cup fever a couple of French fans....

http://www.chickenmcnugget.com/pics/fowl.jpg



http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/chicken1_0.jpg


http://www.backyardchickens.com/images/coops/kreitz/finished-allopen.jpg


http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/08/chicken-coop-lead-537x357.jpg


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aint Nobody Here But Us Chickens

2KUrjTcCioY

[RunningDeer]

...world cup fever a couple of French fans….

http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/chicken1_0.jpg
These remind me of BenevolentCrow’s, who’s a retired member. She built them herself, and calls the village, “Cadillac Coop de Ville”.

BenevolentCrow, in case you catch this, one of my favorite lines from you is: "I will keep my saucy comments to myself." I still think of you once in a while. Continued success with “Revel and Fancy”. :wave:

Paula <3 (a.k.a. WhiteCrowBlackDeer)


http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/DSC01703.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/DSC01698.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/DSC01699.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/DSC01715.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/DSC01713.jpg

[joeecho]

If we all, or each neighborhood, had their own chicken coups and could raise them humanely, we wouldn't need industrial production and we wouldn't read stories like Cidersomerset shared.


I am not opposed at all to the consuming of meat but a thought comes to mind....

With these non-free range chickens, pigs, cows etc. being so inhumanly treated it makes me wonder if something is changed at a cellular level that taints the meat in some way that would not otherwise adversely affect the health of those consuming it.

I mean, everything is connected right?

This has really got me thinking.....

[AriG]

I love chickens and the eggs :) have to be able to put them in the pot though after a year

Why? We have some four year old birds that still lay 3-4 eggs per week. We even have a French Marans who is six and goes through laying cycles.

[AriG]

Edit to Add: This was in response to your question about what type of chickens to get.. Coffee... Need more coffee.....


In my experience, you will do best with dual breed birds and large fowl versus bantams. Bantams are cute and sweet and lay tiny eggs that are wonderful for the pickling jar, but they are high maintenance, delicate and don't live very long. We have had great success with Ameracaunas (olive eggers) and French Marans. We are also experimenting with heritage breeds like Buckeyes (very unfriendly though and difficult to catch for dusting, nail trimming, etc).

Regarding Bantams, we have a couple of Bantam mutts (half polish/half cochin - we call them "Pochins". They are continually getting sour crop in which we are forced to "vomit them" (turn them upside down and squeeze out the contents of the crop). Horrible and nasty endeavor. The only good treatment is feeding them anti fungal cream. We don't even bother to eat their eggs now. They are just pretty little feather footed girls who are great mascots at our farm animal sanctuary (chickens that don't lay, goats that aren't milked, horses that are not ridden, LOL). If you want eggs and meat, avoid the little ones.