i never thought i would LOVE chickens as much as i do.
we keep them in an unheated greenhouse for the winter, on deep mulch so they build rich compost. i lay soaker hose to get it moist and cooking. then we plant the hothouse plants in there - which tend to be heavy feeders, and so benefit from the chicken poop.
their eggs are amazing.
we feed organic and supplement them with nutritional yeast, kelp, etc.
their shells are hard and their yolks are deep orange.
and my mother -who's never eaten so many eggs in her life- attributes the eggs to having more energy, more stamina, less physical pain, and amazing endurance (she'll stack a cord of firewood then have some eggs for lunch and come out to plant potatoes in the garden with me... in previous years she'd rest for the remainder of the day after stacking a cord of wood)
and one of the best parts of having hens is the empowerment of hatching out more yourself. using dual purpose breeds, having a rooster and a few hens can provide endless food in both eggs and meat. you know what you're eating, how it lived, how it died, and what it was exposed to. chickens are a super survival food.
my mum started eating more eggs (we rapidly had an abundance!) about a year and a half ago. it was this spring and summer that she kept remarking on the difference in her energy. and less/almost no arthritic pain. no stiffness or limping after exertion the way she had previously been.
and yes, the hatching is magic. i candle the eggs about a week into incubating and seeing life, the pulsations and then movements. it's just magic... and then those wet scrawny little chicks get big and lay eggs (or our extra roosters become food). it's just amazing.
i've thought that eggs must either have stem cells or some sort of stem cell precursor. considering (if fertilized) they are a self contained pod of life-potential.
chickens are too noisy for my taste, and their manure is "hot" (will burn many plants when used as fertilizer without aging/composting.)
I tried ducks, but the local hardware store gave me 4 male chicks. I didn't do them in, but the neighbor dog busting through the fence certainly did.
I'd consider trying them again, maybe mail order next time for better guarantee. but I'd have to put up my hogwire fence on my side of the wooden fence with the bad dogs, and even grazing a quarter acre of yard those boogers demand a lot of food. not to mention going out in the snow or icky cold twice or more daily in the winter to make sure they're watered and warm. and I'd build them a better, rolling, coop, to mitigate the cleanup annoyance.
I know the egg quality is worth the effort, even if the food intake costs far exceed the price of going and buying my normal quantity of eggs at the farmers market. had ducks when I was ~teenager years (other non commercial subsistence farm livestock too, but that's another story,) and the quality difference between commercial eggs and the fresh ones is ridiculous. and I'd be eating a lot more eggs if I had to deal with 1-3 a day.
tl;dr I'm lazy, and dislike the investment and ongoing maintenance. but that is balanced by the high quality food factor, which is something extremely difficult to purchase outside the homestead anymore. once meat continues inflating far enough, the usefulness of ducks and rabbits will likely exceed my dislike of farm livestock maintenance that I developed as a youngling doing it.
//edit: I surveyed no on chickens. a technicality.
even though it might be relatively soon I'd have fowl, it'd probably be ducks instead of any variety of chicken.
Thanks Dude for sharing your story! I hear you on the physical investment - at least you know what you are willing to put up with, and not waste/ invest until it's too late. I think ducks would be easier - they can also fly away, which can be a good thing as it keeps them from being eaten, but bad for us...
quail and guinea hens could be easier, tho their eggs are smaller. I've also heard that people with egg allergies can eat duck eggs.
I like the bigger, richer eggs, as well as the immediate application fertilizer and lower voice volume.
I'd be clipping wing feathers next time though, as it's no fun going to any of the three neighboring sides of the fences to chase down delinquent ducks who saw the grass was greener over there. chickens can flap pretty high too when they feel like it, just not for long distances like the ducks. I've seen them up in trees.
They make posts calling serious SS writers "flies on shit". You can see a photo of the flies on shit, many of us writers you know near the top of this post that has other explanations.
What do these maps have to do with a healthy food non-profit organization?
Morell, the president of Weston is also affiliated with The Center for New Economics. Along with Price they seem to have a corporate Board and large numbers of advisors. Philanthropies and think tanks tend to be fronts for something. Seems like lots of $$$ is being thrown at these groups that have more importance than just promoting raw milk or community economics.
Thank you Proton - I always wonder about these types of organizations...but I will say that WAP did help me connect with many people and farms i normally never would have found, and I did this without having to pay into a membership. I didn't know about the Center for New Economics - will check them out - thank you for always being on the lookout.
True, even the BMG Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation do good things. And Baileys and Cowan give out helpful information most of the time. It's what is buried within and behind the facades that holds other truths, like that pizzeria that sells kids, they may also make good pizzas.
i never thought i would LOVE chickens as much as i do.
we keep them in an unheated greenhouse for the winter, on deep mulch so they build rich compost. i lay soaker hose to get it moist and cooking. then we plant the hothouse plants in there - which tend to be heavy feeders, and so benefit from the chicken poop.
their eggs are amazing.
we feed organic and supplement them with nutritional yeast, kelp, etc.
their shells are hard and their yolks are deep orange.
and my mother -who's never eaten so many eggs in her life- attributes the eggs to having more energy, more stamina, less physical pain, and amazing endurance (she'll stack a cord of firewood then have some eggs for lunch and come out to plant potatoes in the garden with me... in previous years she'd rest for the remainder of the day after stacking a cord of wood)
and one of the best parts of having hens is the empowerment of hatching out more yourself. using dual purpose breeds, having a rooster and a few hens can provide endless food in both eggs and meat. you know what you're eating, how it lived, how it died, and what it was exposed to. chickens are a super survival food.
Thanks Miss G for chiming in...it's an amazing testimonial on your mother you shared...
I helped my niece hatch two hens a few years back - was a life-changing experience for all involved, figuratively and literally (:
When did your mom start eating more eggs?
my mum started eating more eggs (we rapidly had an abundance!) about a year and a half ago. it was this spring and summer that she kept remarking on the difference in her energy. and less/almost no arthritic pain. no stiffness or limping after exertion the way she had previously been.
and yes, the hatching is magic. i candle the eggs about a week into incubating and seeing life, the pulsations and then movements. it's just magic... and then those wet scrawny little chicks get big and lay eggs (or our extra roosters become food). it's just amazing.
i've thought that eggs must either have stem cells or some sort of stem cell precursor. considering (if fertilized) they are a self contained pod of life-potential.
Enjoyed listening to this while I ate a breakfast covered with a Bearnaise sauce made with 5 raw egg yolks form my flock.
After raising chickens for nearly 3 decades, I have a few thoughts about how to do that. From May of 2022 -
https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/prepping-chickens-the-ultimate-regenerative
chickens are too noisy for my taste, and their manure is "hot" (will burn many plants when used as fertilizer without aging/composting.)
I tried ducks, but the local hardware store gave me 4 male chicks. I didn't do them in, but the neighbor dog busting through the fence certainly did.
I'd consider trying them again, maybe mail order next time for better guarantee. but I'd have to put up my hogwire fence on my side of the wooden fence with the bad dogs, and even grazing a quarter acre of yard those boogers demand a lot of food. not to mention going out in the snow or icky cold twice or more daily in the winter to make sure they're watered and warm. and I'd build them a better, rolling, coop, to mitigate the cleanup annoyance.
I know the egg quality is worth the effort, even if the food intake costs far exceed the price of going and buying my normal quantity of eggs at the farmers market. had ducks when I was ~teenager years (other non commercial subsistence farm livestock too, but that's another story,) and the quality difference between commercial eggs and the fresh ones is ridiculous. and I'd be eating a lot more eggs if I had to deal with 1-3 a day.
tl;dr I'm lazy, and dislike the investment and ongoing maintenance. but that is balanced by the high quality food factor, which is something extremely difficult to purchase outside the homestead anymore. once meat continues inflating far enough, the usefulness of ducks and rabbits will likely exceed my dislike of farm livestock maintenance that I developed as a youngling doing it.
//edit: I surveyed no on chickens. a technicality.
even though it might be relatively soon I'd have fowl, it'd probably be ducks instead of any variety of chicken.
Thanks Dude for sharing your story! I hear you on the physical investment - at least you know what you are willing to put up with, and not waste/ invest until it's too late. I think ducks would be easier - they can also fly away, which can be a good thing as it keeps them from being eaten, but bad for us...
quail and guinea hens could be easier, tho their eggs are smaller. I've also heard that people with egg allergies can eat duck eggs.
I like the bigger, richer eggs, as well as the immediate application fertilizer and lower voice volume.
I'd be clipping wing feathers next time though, as it's no fun going to any of the three neighboring sides of the fences to chase down delinquent ducks who saw the grass was greener over there. chickens can flap pretty high too when they feel like it, just not for long distances like the ducks. I've seen them up in trees.
Outstanding information $5 per month. How much the power couple clearly enjoys each other's company? Priceless
Thank you Tri! Appreciate you chiming in here today (:
Roman, The Baileys, Kaufman, and Cowan are Honorary Board Members of the Weston Price Foundation.
https://www.westonaprice.org/about-us/board-of-directors/#gsc.tab=0
They make posts calling serious SS writers "flies on shit". You can see a photo of the flies on shit, many of us writers you know near the top of this post that has other explanations.
https://protonmagic.substack.com/p/secrets-of-the-bailey-castle
Some were or are also selling or had promo codes for very questionable drugs/chemicals/tests. I'll skip the details.
The Price logo looks exactly like the technate (technocracy) maps planned for the world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_A._Price_Foundation#/media/File:Logo-WAPF.jpg
What do these maps have to do with a healthy food non-profit organization?
Morell, the president of Weston is also affiliated with The Center for New Economics. Along with Price they seem to have a corporate Board and large numbers of advisors. Philanthropies and think tanks tend to be fronts for something. Seems like lots of $$$ is being thrown at these groups that have more importance than just promoting raw milk or community economics.
https://centerforneweconomics.org/?s=morell
Thank you Proton - I always wonder about these types of organizations...but I will say that WAP did help me connect with many people and farms i normally never would have found, and I did this without having to pay into a membership. I didn't know about the Center for New Economics - will check them out - thank you for always being on the lookout.
True, even the BMG Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation do good things. And Baileys and Cowan give out helpful information most of the time. It's what is buried within and behind the facades that holds other truths, like that pizzeria that sells kids, they may also make good pizzas.