The Rhode Island Red pullets are beginning to lay eggs! When a pullet transitions into hen-hood, her first eggs are often irregular in some way. A hen needs some practice before she manages the stable production of standard eggs. It is common for pullets to lay shelless eggs, eggless shells, asymmetrical eggs, yolkless eggs, […]
Until recently, I had been feeding the hens two scoops of pellets and two scoops of fermented grain, twice per day. That amount was determined over time. I began with the amount recommended by theory and modified it after patient experimentation. I watched them eat and added or reduced the amount until they did not
As in October, the air vent temperatures are following the general trend of the outdoor air, but with a welcome improvement. It is encouraging to find that the biomeiler continues to raise the temperature of the incoming air by approximately 50 F degrees even as the outdoor air temperatures continue to fall. The coop temperature
November Experimental Results Read More »
Today, while completing the chores, I noticed that the chicks are now all fully-feathered. There were a few who still had downy feathers on their heads even a few days ago, but, thankfully, they have ceased procrastinating. As the chicks have grown in size and their feather cover has improved, I have been reducing the
Chicks Fully Feathered Read More »
In early October, the outdoor air temperatures were low enough that it seemed prudent to reconfigure the ventilation system for the chicken coop. During the summer, the air was drawn from beneath the coop in order to cool the air as much as possible for the benefit of the birds. The ground beneath the
October Experimental Results Read More »
Ordinarily, we are disinclined to have young birds in the fall, but, this year, circumstances forced us to reconsider the matter. Our coop is divided into an 11’x11’ side and an 11’x4’ side. The larger side is where the hens and our single rooster live, cage-free. The external door opens to the smaller side of
Last weekend, we harvested the last of the Cornish Cross broilers, closing this year’s Meat Season. In each of the four harvests, we selected the birds which were the current largest in the flock. The goal of that strategy was to prevent any overgrowth and to give the smallest birds the best opportunity to grow.
Last week, the Goldstream Farmers Market was cancelled due to air quality issues. Smoke from the wildfires in the area was drifting into Fairbanks, resulting in conditions too extreme for conducting business outdoors. In consequence, we were not able to sell any of the chicken meat we have harvested. That problem, mostly an inconvenience, rippled
This is the first year that we have used heat shrink bags for the whole chickens. It is a better way to store the whole birds than using resealable freezer bags, but it requires the use of single-use plastic, which we try to avoid. We made the change since we are will be selling
Packaging the Broilers Read More »
Today was the 54th day for the Cornish Cross broilers. We harvested the 12 largest of the 50 and found some surprises, both positive and negative. #1. These birds stink. The Cornish Cross broilers have no inclination to scratch at the litter in the coop. The floor soon becomes messy no matter how careful
First Broiler Harvest Read More »