Tag: Chickens

Speckled Sussex chickens are gaining popularity in small backyard flocks across America. These speckled beauties are perfect for people desiring a cold- or heat-hardy chicken that excels at egg laying. With these traits, it’s easy to see why the speckled Sussex is gaining popularity.

But what else is making the speckled Sussex breed a popular choice for backyard flocks?

History

Bred in the mid-1800s in Sussex, England, the breed was initially developed as a meat bird. Before Cornish Rocks gained popularity, Sussex was the primary meat bird of England.

Even though the Sussex’s original purpose was to be a meat bird, they are not prone to the health issues often occurring with Cornish Rocks.

Color

The Sussex comes in a variety of colors: speckled, red, light, Columbian buff and white. The striking speckled—a mahogany color with each feather ending in a black bar and white speckle—is the most popular color in the U.S. With each passing molt, the speckles become more numerous.

Meat & Egg Production

Sussex chickens make an excellent choice for the table. They are known to have incredibly tender meat, especially when butchered at a young age. Each chicken should average a dressed weight of 6 to 7 pounds. However, speckled Sussex are slower to mature than Cornish Rock crosses (averaging 20 weeks to reach butchering age).

This trait puts them at a disadvantage to faster-growing breeds, who reach butchering age in 9 weeks.

Speckled Sussex are excellent egg producers who will lay eggs without declining for several years. Each hen averages four to five light brown eggs per week for the first four to five years of her life.

Personality

If you are looking for a pet chicken, you don’t have to look any further than the speckled Sussex. These hens crave human interaction and will do anything to get attention. Sussex are chatty, curious, friendly, intelligent and energetic.

They love being the center of attention. They also love to be held and will carry on animated conversations with their owners.

Hens of this breed are very energetic and benefit from directly supervised free-ranging. Even so, they still tolerate confinement well if allowed to stretch their legs. If bored, they often will find ways to entertain themselves. Sussex can bully other flock members when bored, so provide lots of mental stimulation.

Providing Entertainment

The Border Collies of the chicken world, Sussex are intelligent and energetic hens who require physical and mental stimulation. Providing your hens with fun activities will keep these chickens healthy and happy.

If you have a bored Sussex, try one of the ideas below.

Fresh Straw

Putting clean straw in your coop or run will provide chickens with endless entertainment. Even when your other breeds have tired of the game, your Sussex will continue to scratch happily through the straw.

Because if there is anything a Sussex likes to do, it’s scratch.

Chicken…

(Continued from Part 1.)

Our goal is to limit our trips to town by producing as much food as possible. There are still a few items we will need to purchase, salt, flour, etc., but those are easily procured in bulk to limit our trips. I am a student of history. I study how and what our ancestors did as they settled this country. They had to be resilient and self-reliant. They had to deal with heartache and failures. Most that pursued manifest destiny failed, but regardless, those men and women were tough. They kept on going. It is easy to romanticize a time we did not live in, but their fortitude eventually settled a wild land.

I have heard that it took two generations for our society to lose all “coping skills.” What this means is our lives have become so easy and reliant on technology. Most of the society does not have basic skills, like building a fire. We do not know where our food comes from, and we are driven solely by corporate marketing tycoons who tell us what to buy and when. Our society now values feelings more than knowledge and grit. We praise and worship creeps and mentally deficient individuals instead of trying to better ourselves. Our society is soft. As a nation, we appear weak.

So many people in this country lack the basic skills to take care of themselves. Look at how many people get stranded and die sitting in their cars during a snowstorm; a snowstorm they had been warned about for several days. We are not taught critical thinking or how-to skills. High school graduates don’t know how to balance a checkbook, make a healthy dinner, and some have no desire to learn to drive.

Why drive when you can play a video game? Through the lack of real-world skills, technological advances and a lack of interest, our culture no longer has the grit and perseverance that our ancestors did when they headed West for a better life. Can you imagine this generation leaving everything they have in search of a place they had never been just for the chance of a better life?

When I brought the first batch of chicks home to our new house, my one-year-old son waited anxiously. Obviously, as parents, we built up the occasion. He was so excited and loved holding them. Often, we have people ask us what our chickens’ names are. I always respond, “We do not name food.” These chickens are part of our lifestyle, not pets. It’s at these times when I remember what those working cowboys had said years before. Our animals are tools we use to give us healthier food, a sense of freedom from corporate products, and the plain comfort of knowing we have food regardless of the supply lines.

To this day, we have not named any of our animals and we have taught our son where his food comes from. On occasion, when we sit down…

It’s inevitable: Once you start keeping chickens, you become an encyclopedia of all things poultry. If you’re like me, you get your hands on every publication available in pursuit of new chicken facts. I have five bookshelves dedicated to chicken books. I have acrylic magazine holders stuffed with issues of Chickens and Hobby Farms. My browser features a folder full of bookmarks for reputable chicken web sites.

My phone’s Contacts app has entries for professors of poultry science, avian veterinarians and chicken breeders. You’d think that I probably know everything there is to know about chickens … but I don’t. I learn new facts about chickens with pretty much every article I research and write.

When I discover new facts, I get excited all over again and eagerly wait for my family to get home from work and school so that I can share my new knowledge about our chickens with them. Naturally they’re not as enthusiastic as I’d hope—perhaps because they’ve been at computers all day. But, luckily for me, I can share these nuggets with all of you.

Here are four sets of chicken factoids I recently learned for you to enjoy and perhaps share with your own poultry people.  

Production Pro 

The United States leads the world in poultry-meat production, surpassing the planet’s 194 other countries in output. America raises more than 513 million chickens and more than 216 million turkeys annually, with more than 59 billion pounds of that being broilers. 

Those 730 million birds brought in approximately $77 billion dollars in revenue in 2022.  As enormous as this seems, the U.S. actually only produces 17 percent of the world’s poultry, with China and Brazil following close behind.  

Chicken Chow Down 

America not only produces the majority of the world’s poultry; it also consumes most of the world’s chicken. About 15,000 metric tons of chicken is eaten each year in the U.S., and it’s easy to understand why: chicken wings, fried chicken, chicken soup, roast chicken … Americas just adore chicken.

Not only is it a tasty protein, it’s also an inexpensive one, much less costly than beef, veal or seafood. Chicken’s affordability definitely helps put a chicken in every American pot.

But it’s not just the U.S. that loves chicken. Global consumption of poultry is estimated to be 136,000 metric tons in 2023, more than nine times what the U.S. consumes.The country that eats the most chicken after the U.S.? China. 

The Real Eggsperts 

The United States is also a global leader when it comes to egg production, with more than 109 billion eggs produced annually. According to United Egg Producers, more than 55 percent of America’s annual egg production is consumed right here in the U.S. Less than 1 percent of the US’s annual egg production—about 0.15 percent, or 160.8…

Peacocks are recognized globally for their amazingly iridescent, colorful feathers. Plus they have special links to specific religious and cultural beliefs. But the bird specie’s name is really peafowl. Peacocks are male peafowl with their magnificent-fanned-tail displays for courting season. Dullish in appearance, the females are peahens, and the babies are peachicks.

Peafowl may be feral or domesticated, are popular in zoos, and even roam urban areas. On some farms, they even serve as guard animals. However, they are unique birds, and consideration of their needs and personalities is integral when deciding whether or not they will successfully relocate and adapt to a specific environment. But one successful relocation story comes out of Oklahoma.

A Rehoming Tale

A county sheriff called up Gloria and Chester Hocker 20 years ago to ask if the couple would round up a group of escaped peafowl running loose in a small town. The birds were free-roaming neighborhoods, damaging property as they went. Their sharp talons scratched cars when the birds jumped on them.

The Hockers own Chester’s Party Barn and Farm in Piedmont, Oklahoma. An over-25-acre farm, the rural location is home to 18 animal varieties. Even though the venue doesn’t rehome animals, the sheriff asked the Hockers to make an exception. 

“Rounding them up was interesting,” said farm manager Jasie Dinkel. “You have to catch them at night, when you have an element of surprise in the darkness, and they are in one location roosting and sleeping. Our crew used fishing nets to catch them one at a time.”

Team Chester integrated the peafowl into their popular agri-tourism venue. Some of the 13 have now passed away due to old age, but the farm currently has two peacocks and one peahen. (The peahen was hatched on the farm.)

At Chester’s, the peafowl are docile with no issues around people. As well, they cohabitate with chickens, roosters, turkeys and ducks in a 400-square-foot area with lay boxes. They have outdoor areas to scratch and roll around in the dirt for dust baths, plus at least three levels of roost—including ledges, poles and rungs—for added height to their enclosure. Like chickens, the peafowl roost on almost anything off the ground.

Chester’s is a petting zoo, and visitors easily see the peafowl up close, and pet and feed them. But the birds’ enclosure is made so the peafowl cannot leave. So, although the other birds may get to free graze on the farm, the peafowl have to stay at home base.

“Our peafowl cannot totally free roam for their safety from predators, cars, and the risk of them getting loose and causing nuisance situations for our neighbors,” Dinkel said. “You can train most chickens to a home area. But our peafowl are not like chickens in that way. If they get out, they are gone. Perhaps some other farms may be able to train them to stay close, but we have not been…

Oviduct prolapse is scary and stressful for backyard flock owners. The thought of your beloved hen’s oviduct sticking out of her cloaca is enough to send shivers up and down your back. While most hens will never experience an oviduct prolapse, it does happen occasionally. Learning to treat this condition could be the difference between life and death for your hen.

There are several things you should know before dealing with a prolapsed oviduct:

• Always isolate the prolapsed hen to avoid cannibalism.
• Only treat a prolapsed oviduct at home in emergencies.
• Always take your hen to see a licensed veterinarian, even if you have successfully pushed the oviduct back in, to ensure she isn’t injured internally.

Emergency Prolapse

Emergency treatment occurs when you realize your hen has prolapsed, and the veterinarian who usually treats your chickens is closed for the night. Every animal hospital you call has no appointments or doesn’t treat chickens, and there is no other way to treat her.

That is what happened when Millicent, my Speckled Sussex hen, laid an egg on the fourth of July and prolapsed. Every vet I called in the area was closed, and all the emergency veterinarian hospitals I called in my home state didn’t have a veterinarian who treated chickens. So, with help from my sister, I gathered everything we needed to treat a prolapsed oviduct at home.

When dealing with a prolapse, you must respond quickly to increase your hen’s survival rate. The longer the oviduct is exposed, the harder it will be for your hen to recover, and increase the chances of contracting an infection and fly strike. Chickens can’t poop when they have a prolapsed oviduct, so a hen suffering from this condition may also have an impacted crop.

Treatment

Treating an oviduct prolapse requires only a few things that should be in your flock emergency kit:

• disposable gloves
• petroleum jelly or coconut oil
• granulated sugar

Wearing disposable gloves and holding the hen securely on your lap, clean the exposed oviduct gently with warm water, being careful that no water enters your hen’s cloaca.

Generously sprinkle sugar over the exposed oviduct and let the sugar sit for 15 minutes. The sugar helps to absorb liquid in the prolapse, causing the oviduct to shrink.

Next, wear a clean pair of disposable gloves, coat the gloves and the hen’s cloaca with Vaseline or coconut oil. Carefully gather the exposed oviduct between your fingers and thumb, and gently push the oviduct up the hen’s cloaca until the oviduct has disappeared from view.

In some cases, the oviduct will pop right back out. If this happens, repeat the steps until the prolapse disappears into the hen.

Calling a Vet

Whenever possible, having a vet treat the prolapsed oviduct is the best way to treat your hen and increase her chances of survival. Oviduct prolapses are an emergency life-threatening condition, so when scheduling an appointment for your hen, tell the receptionist that you are…

When one of my daughters, who has a good job, starts complaining about how insane food and supply prices are, I pay attention.  She has started shopping at Walmart searching for the lowest possible prices.  Her recent cart rung up at $450 and she didn’t buy hardly any food – mostly toilet paper, paper towels, dog and cat food, a few household items, and enough food for a few good meals for her family.  She exclaimed, “This won’t even last us a week!”  I keep telling her to shop Costco for certain items – you get way more product for the price – twice as much product.  Yes, you pay more due to quantity, but the per quantity price is much lower.  Well, that’s how I do it, but I understand that Costco can feel overwhelming cost wise.

How to buy food and supplies

For instance, if you buy dog food from Chewy (I used to) to be delivered, you might pay as much as $50-$70 for a large bag.  The price is the same online at Costco.  However, if you go into a Costco store and purchase, that same bag of dog food is $35 because you aren’t paying shipping costs.  “Free Shipping!” is not free.  At Walmart, you’ll pay for a lesser quality of dog food, half the size bag, for the same $35 price.  I don’t like going to Costco and pushing around one of those really huge trolley carts.  It’s very cumbersome, but when I go I can fit 4 bags of dog food, a case of paper towels, a case of toilet paper, and the other things I need and pay about $350.  Those things will last several months, not just a week. 

I shop completely differently now in this age of inflation.  Even if you shop “paycheck to paycheck”, you can still put some money aside rather than spend it, so you can purchase the larger-quantity items.  I can see how the math makes sense, but it’s hard to convince others.  If money is terribly tight, form your own “food and supply co-op” with friends and go in on those bulk items, take them home, and split them up.  People used to do that all the time, and many still do.

I don’t buy meat at a regular grocery store.  The prices are crazy unless you find a really good sale and stock up.  But, I’ve become very suspicious of where that meat is coming from (possibly Mexico) and how the meat has been treated (before and after harvesting).  So, I buy in bulk from a local rancher.  Mr. Rancher apologized to me that he had to raise his prices… by 25 cents/lb.  That’s some honesty right there.

I realize everyone can’t raise their own steer or pigs or chickens, as I have been attempting to do.  I also realize that “pastured” meat is selling in some places at absolutely insane prices.  Organic, whole, chickens from Costco are half the cost of sourcing…

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By Tom Lovrić

If you live in the country, one of the issues you’ll face is a constant animal invasion. They don’t do it on purpose, really – if you think about it, you’re the one who moved into their territory.

In an ideal world, you could share the area with them, and to achieve that, you’ll have to mark your territory the same way they do.

Based on research and my own experience, there are a few species you need to look out for the most, and in this article, I’ll tell you a bit about them, and we’ll see exactly what dangers they may pose.

Before we start, though, I’d like to insert a disclaimer.

The animals discussed in this article usually don’t mean you any harm. In fact, they’re mostly not interested in you or your family, and they’ll never attack you unless they’re threatened or starving.

They’re mostly interested in your crops and/or livestock, so they’re naturally attracted to your home. Getting physically close to you is what poses a real threat, and this is something to keep in mind.

The safest thing for both you and them is to keep your distance and admire them from afar.

Which animals invade gardens and pose a danger?

To save you from a whole lot of reading, here’s a simplified table.

Species	Why Are They Dangerous?
Wolves	Killing and eating livestock, possibly harming people.
Bears	Eating crops, killing and eating livestock, possibly harming people.
Mountain Lions	Killing and eating livestock, possibly harming people.
Deer	Eating crops (and some flowers).
Moose	Destroying crops (by walking over them), possibly harming people.
Raccoons	Eating crops, possibly harming people (carriers of rabies and other illnesses).
Skunks	Possibly harming people with their spray (bites are rare, but they’re carriers of rabies).
Venomous Snakes	Possibly harming people, capable of eating small animals.

This list is certainly not comprehensive – different regions have different threats. But these are some of the most prevalent animals to look out for if you have a place in the country.

Wolves: behavior and diet

Wolves aren’t afraid of venturing into yards, especially if they can find sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, horses, or chickens there. They will return to the same spot for food unless the pack migrates, so you can expect several invasions if you don’t put up a fence.

They’ll avoid conflict with humans if possible and usually attack only if you get too close,…

You’ve spent the last few years stacking emergency transitional food in the pantry, in the closet of the guest bedroom, and in the garage. You bought a grain mill and have stuffed pound after pound of rice, beans, pasta, and wheat berries into mylar. You’ve couponed until you’re blue in the face, joined a wholesale club, taken advantage of every sale on oatmeal and canned tuna. Even with all you’ve managed to put away, you realize in the back of your mind that, for the long-term, it will become necessary to shift from food storage to food production, so you’ve planted fruit trees in your landscape beds and stashed an impressive mix of vegetable seeds in the freezer.

But what if the transition isn’t as cut and dry? Environmental conditions, social unrest, illness within your family, or a steeper-than-anticipated learning curve could delay the ability to move into full-scale agricultural production. All of a sudden, then, your one-year food supply will have to stretch to 14 months or longer. Perhaps you discover too late that your stockpiled provisions, while loading you up with the necessary calories, lack one easy-to-overlook micronutrient.

Above: Food storage will get you through the initial stages of an emergency, but in the long run, it is not enough.

Food security during a major event should not only focus on stored food and Little House on the Prairie-esque self-sufficiency, but also on “transitional food production” — systems that can generate some nutrition even during a bugout or shelter-in-place scenario. Wise preppers should consider how they can implement smaller-scale food production that will help stretch their flour and freeze-dried meals, while giving them a wide range of nutrients. In the event of a delayed growing season, a crop failure, or a need to lay low a little longer, mushrooms, eggs, and sprouts are examples of sustainable foods that can help fill the gaps between what’s in the cupboards and what will eventually spring up in the garden. Furthermore, many families are accustomed to a good bit of variety in their diets, and these items can make the 99th serving of rice and beans a little more tolerable.

Transitional Food Systems Should Meet Three Criteria

1) They should be portable enough to be transported to a bugout location and back or moved into a sheltered space with relative ease.

2) They should provide significant nutrition for their bulk and weight.

3) The knowledge, skills, and equipment required to produce these foods should be easily attainable for the majority of folks.

Mushrooms To-Go

Mushrooms are the only non-animal food source of Vitamin D. They have more protein than most vegetables, they provide significant levels of riboflavin and niacin, and they’re relatively easy to grow — or at least some species are. While growing morels isn’t impossible, it’s not as reliable an undertaking as producing shiitakes or oysters.

Author Jeff CassmanPosted on May 26, 2023Categories ChickensTags ChickensLeave a comment on Transitional Food Preps: Staying Fed Between Storage and Cultivation

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(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)

In my local area, I have noted the number of people who have started gardens (one family even ripped out their entire front lawn) or have small, medium, or even large livestock.  While I do not know if they are doing it as a means to stretch their budget or as a concern of food security, they are making an investment.

I myself have invested in small, medium, and large livestock.  In the winter, I have to take them water and hay.  In the summer, just water.  For the most part, they take care of themselves. 

However, when it comes to breeding for the next generation, sometimes there is more action required.  I have had goats now for about ten years.  For the most part, the does (female goats) do their part, and I just stand out of the way.  But a few does have rejected their kids (baby goats).  It happens. 

While yes, they are little creatures I have a responsibility to care for, they are also investments, and I have a few lessons learned I wish to share with you to ensure your success if you so choose to invest in goats as I have. 

How to warm up a rejected baby goat

When the doe gives birth, she will lick it clean, then stand and allow the kid to take its first feeding from the doe.  

However, if the doe rejects the kid, she will just ignore it.  I have had, on two occasions, gone into the barn for morning feedings to find a cold and wet kid, and the mother more interested in breakfast than her kid.

The first thing is to get the kid into the house, cleaned off, and warm.  Kids cannot maintain their own body heat for the first 24 to 48 hours.  

A quick and easy way to check the temperature is to stick your finger or thumb into their mouth.

• Warm = good.
• Cool = bad.
• Cold = really, really, bad!

The best method I have found for warming them up is to use hot water bottles to keep the kid warm.  Once, in a pinch (we could not find the water bottles), we used two 1.5L wine bottles.  Since then, I keep two water bottles handy as a “just in case.” 

Place the hot water bottles in the bottom of a large enough container like a large laundry basket, a large storage bin, or even a cardboard box.  Then put a thin blanket over the bottles to prevent the kid from burning himself.  I bring the…