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Egg #2
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 165207" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>I'm with the henhouse brigade, people. There are many good environmental reasons to keep chickens. You don't have to raise babies to do so. We no longer have a rooster, because we found trying to stop them from annoying the neighbours was too difficult. Also, WE were not getting any sleep.</p><p></p><p>However, to keep chickens the New Age way, first build a deep litter henhouse (plans available on request) then buy some hens from a place that sells eggs from battery chickens. These chooks get killed after they're about 18 months old. They've generally been debeaked, they can be missing feathers. A battery farmer needs to keep production up as high as possible, and after about 18 months the egg-laying rate drops off, plus they are more likely (when more than a year old) to stop laying over winter. Unproductive. So out go the old, to make way for a new generation.</p><p></p><p>That's what my father used to do - he would note the egg production of each hen and as it dropped, he would replace them with a younger model. Each autumn we would fill the freezer with the older birds and a fresh lot of pullets would arrive from the hatchery.</p><p></p><p>We have friends who do this, too - they buy battery hens at point of 'retirement' and turn them loose into their backyards. The hens start laying with enthusiasm, almost in gratitude for the chance at a decent life.</p><p></p><p>And the deep litter - it should work like a giant compost heap. You throw all your scraps to the chooks (including all lawn clippings) and in return harvest not only the best eggs with yolks of rich orange, but also marvellous compost for your vegetables and herbs. Done right, it also doesn't smell. I dig the compost out from under the heap and put plants right into it (no burn). You can only do this with compost; neat chook manure WILL burn plants, but you can use it to make a very dilute manure tea as a plant tonic.</p><p></p><p>There is something about wanting to eat a fried egg for lunch, and going out to the henhouse to see if one has been laid yet. Frying or poaching a day-old egg is a real experience, because you really understand just how useful it is to have them fresh. A really fresh egg holds together well, the yolk is centred in the white (which is very thick, not runny at all) and - well, there's nothing like it.</p><p></p><p>Our chooks get let out most afternoons, we change their water and check their pellet supply. Just on sunset they put themselves back into the chookhouse. I've put in some old branches (windfalls) as natural perches for them, they range along the branches in their favourite positions and snuggle down together. Any broodies crawl under the feed hopper (you got high hopes, girls - not a chance!).</p><p></p><p>If the chookhouse floor gets wet, then it can get smelly. We try to keep it dry, but if it's smelly we sprinkle garden lime. Every so often we go through and aerate it with a garden fork. Nothing else to it, really.</p><p></p><p>Hope this helps change some minds.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 165207, member: 1991"] I'm with the henhouse brigade, people. There are many good environmental reasons to keep chickens. You don't have to raise babies to do so. We no longer have a rooster, because we found trying to stop them from annoying the neighbours was too difficult. Also, WE were not getting any sleep. However, to keep chickens the New Age way, first build a deep litter henhouse (plans available on request) then buy some hens from a place that sells eggs from battery chickens. These chooks get killed after they're about 18 months old. They've generally been debeaked, they can be missing feathers. A battery farmer needs to keep production up as high as possible, and after about 18 months the egg-laying rate drops off, plus they are more likely (when more than a year old) to stop laying over winter. Unproductive. So out go the old, to make way for a new generation. That's what my father used to do - he would note the egg production of each hen and as it dropped, he would replace them with a younger model. Each autumn we would fill the freezer with the older birds and a fresh lot of pullets would arrive from the hatchery. We have friends who do this, too - they buy battery hens at point of 'retirement' and turn them loose into their backyards. The hens start laying with enthusiasm, almost in gratitude for the chance at a decent life. And the deep litter - it should work like a giant compost heap. You throw all your scraps to the chooks (including all lawn clippings) and in return harvest not only the best eggs with yolks of rich orange, but also marvellous compost for your vegetables and herbs. Done right, it also doesn't smell. I dig the compost out from under the heap and put plants right into it (no burn). You can only do this with compost; neat chook manure WILL burn plants, but you can use it to make a very dilute manure tea as a plant tonic. There is something about wanting to eat a fried egg for lunch, and going out to the henhouse to see if one has been laid yet. Frying or poaching a day-old egg is a real experience, because you really understand just how useful it is to have them fresh. A really fresh egg holds together well, the yolk is centred in the white (which is very thick, not runny at all) and - well, there's nothing like it. Our chooks get let out most afternoons, we change their water and check their pellet supply. Just on sunset they put themselves back into the chookhouse. I've put in some old branches (windfalls) as natural perches for them, they range along the branches in their favourite positions and snuggle down together. Any broodies crawl under the feed hopper (you got high hopes, girls - not a chance!). If the chookhouse floor gets wet, then it can get smelly. We try to keep it dry, but if it's smelly we sprinkle garden lime. Every so often we go through and aerate it with a garden fork. Nothing else to it, really. Hope this helps change some minds. Marg [/QUOTE]
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