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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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How Long is Goat Gestation?

When raising dairy goats, the first step is breeding the doe. You may then wonder, “How long is goat gestation?” Taking a look through the entire process will set you up for a more successful start.

Breeding the Doe: Pre-Breeding Checklist

Deciding whether to breed the doe should include several factors. For first time breeders, look at physical maturity of the doe. Has she finished most of her growth? Are the teats well formed? Look at udder conformation. Most breeds reach sexual maturity by five to six months of age, but you may want to wait until eight to twelve months before breeding. If your doe is on the smaller side of breed size, choose a buck that is also smaller. Otherwise, she may have trouble delivering large kids.

If you are repeat-breeding the doe, look at your goat’s gestation history, since this can help you avoid problems after breeding. Does that had issues in the past may not have them with subsequent kiddings, but be prepared to assist with problems such as delivery emergencies, rejected kids, milk fever and low milk production.

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Before breeding, some goat owners will flush her, to bring up pre-pregnancy weight. Flushing is done by adding extra grain or higher-quality forage to the doe’s diet and can cause her to release more eggs during estrus, thereby increasing the chances of a successful breeding.

Seasonal Breeders

Most goat breeds, including most dairy breeds, are seasonal breeders, meaning they come into a season of estrus for a few months out of the year. This includes Pygoras, a fiber-producing breed. Nigerian Dwarf, Boers, Spanish, fainting goats, and pygmy goats are year-round breeders. When breeding the doe, look for estrus. Tail-wagging, bleating, and a mucus discharge from the vulva are some common signs of goat reproduction. She will have an estrus cycle approximately every 20 days. During the two or three days that she is in heat, the ovaries release eggs. If breeding occurs during this time, the doe will likely end up pregnant.

In most breeds, fertility cycles occur late summer into late fall or early winter. Commonly, does will be in estrus or heat during August, September and October. If you have a buck in with the does, he will also alert you to a doe in heat. Bucks have distinct behavior during breeding season, including tongue flapping and a distinctly unpleasant smell from the urine. Be cautious when thinking about running a buck with the herd. If he has access to the does all the time, it is harder to estimate when the kidding will take place. While many does can and do give birth unassisted, even in the field, occasionally assistance or emergency methods are needed. Knowing approximately when your does will kid gives you a chance to be on hand to assist.

Keep in mind that even older does, that should not be bred any longer, will still cycle and have a heat. They often have more problems with goat gestation. If you do not want to put an older female at risk of a problem goat pregnancy, make sure she has no contact with a buck during breeding season.

Goat gestation is approximately 150 days. Of course, this will vary based on individuals and breeds. Knowing how long a doe is pregnant is key to scheduling your kidding season. Breed the doe to kid at a convenient time by counting back from the desired time frame.

What to Do While Your Doe is Expecting

For most of the goat’s gestation period, you won’t need to change her routine. If the doe is in good condition before breeding, she will be able to breeze through the pregnancy. Add additional care during the last few days.

At 100 days, increase the feed according to the recommendations from the feed company. Trimming hair from the udder and crotch area may be needed, depending on the goat. In selenium-deficient areas, give selenium injections one month before the due date. If you are unsure if your area’s soil is deficient in selenium, ask your livestock vet or a county ag-extension agent. In addition, many goat breeders will give a vitamin booster of A, D and E around day 135.

As kidding time approaches, prepare smaller birthing areas in your barn. A larger stall can be sectioned off into a few kidding pens so the doe can labor and deliver in a quiet environment. Line the floor with deep straw and prepare your emergency goat delivery supplies, keeping these supplies close at hand. Few goats will wait to go into labor while you run back to the house to collect supplies. And while I believe that most goats don’t need us in order to deliver healthy kids, you will be so glad you prepared for emergencies if problems happen.

When Labor Begins

Goat labor signs are individual. Some does will want to wander away from the flock. Vocalizing is common; some does become quite loud. The udder fills, although this can also happen right before kids appear! The ligaments around the tail relax and become mushy. The doe may bite at her sides and make soft sounds to her baby. She may seek you out or totally try to get away from you. It’s different with each doe.

photo credit Carrissa Larsen – Feather and Scale Farm

What Is In a Goat Kidding Kit?

Nitrile exam gloves, lots of dry towels, and a suction bulb top the list. Add a lubricant such as obstetric jelly or olive oil, in case you need to assist with turning a kid from a bad birth position. Iodine is useful for dipping umbilical cord ends. Most of the time, the cord will stretch and separate as the sac is cleaned off and the kid detaches from the uterus. Occasionally, a long cord may need to be clamped off. There are clamps on the market for this purpose.

For the doe, I add a bottle of molasses. A welcome drink of warm water with added molasses helps the doe continue to care for the kid or kids. You can help her dry off the kids, if she is too tired and if it doesn’t add more stress.

Each time you breed doe, you will learn more and become more confident. Learning what to look for, length of goat gestation, and knowing the best time to breed helps produce a good outcome.

Originally published in the March/April 2018 issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.

How Long is Goat Gestation? was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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How to Care for Ducklings

Learning how to care for ducklings is a little different than learning how to care for chicks. Though they have similar overall needs for food, water, warmth, and safety, ducklings require some important modifications to their environment. Ducklings also generally start off bigger than chicks and grow faster; you’ll need to plan for quickly increasing space to accommodate them. If you have the right set-up, raising ducklings can be a fun and rewarding experience. Let’s look at what you need to know about how to care for ducklings.

How to Care for Ducklings in a Brooder

If you are going to raise your backyard ducks from babies, you’ll need a broody duck or a brooder. We have not had good luck with our Pekins brooding young. Of three ducklings hatched from our flock, only one made it to adulthood, and she was incubated and raised by a chicken.

If you’re raising your ducklings in a brooder you’ll need to provide what the duckling’s mother would provide for it: food, water, warmth, and safety. Our set-up for three Pekin ducklings started with a big plastic tub. In the bottom, we created a screen with PVC boards and hardware cloth so that most of the splashed water and wet feces could drop through. PVC board can withstand the moist environment and is easy to clean. Measure the inside dimensions of your tub and build a rectangle slightly smaller, then add a support through the middle. Staple hardware cloth to it and cut to exactly the size to fit down into your tub. It’s important that it’s a snug fit so the ducklings don’t fall down the sides. Also, use care not to leave any sharp edges that could cut tiny feet and legs. A zip tie looped through the screen will make it easier to pull out and clean.

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Put an old rag or several layers of paper towel over part of the screen to give the ducklings a softer spot to lay down. Easily washable, soft plastic shelf liners could also be used.

Baby duck temperature needs to be regulated just like baby chicks. You’ll want to start off with a temperature around 90 degrees for their first few days then drop about five degrees for a few days. After that, drop by about five degrees each week until they are fully feathered. You can adjust your temperature by moving the heat lamp closer or further from the ducklings. A thermometer in the brooder is helpful for monitoring the temp, but also simply keep an eye on your babies. Huddling together under the lamp means they are too cold while panting or trying to avoid the light means they are too hot. Adjust accordingly.

By two weeks old, our ducklings needed more room so we expanded into a larger 3′ x 3′ square. The sides were 18″ tall plywood and the bottom was lined with heavy plastic. We put wood chip bedding down over the plastic floor, cut a hole in the side of our original brooder down to the top of the metal screen and added a ramp. The ducklings’ food and water remained in this space until we discovered how to make a mess-proof waterer (more on that below).

You might wonder why not just start off bigger? You’ll need to clean your brooder every couple of days so the main advantage of starting smaller is that it is less space to keep clean. It’s also easier to make sure they are warm enough.

How and What to Feed Baby Ducks

We started off with simple bowls for feed and water, which was fine for food but challenging with the water. Ducks need water deep enough to get their entire bill into including the nostrils on top. One of the greatest challenges for us in learning how to care for ducklings was figuring out how to keep a supply of ample clean water available to them while also keeping their home and them (they can chill quickly if wet) dry, since they play in the water if given the opportunity.

Then we discovered this trick on how to make a mess-free waterer. Start with a clean gallon milk or vinegar jug. Figure out the tallest height at which your ducklings can easily get their heads into a window. Use a knife to cut two to three small rectangles in the sides of the jug just large enough for the ducks’ heads. Fill the jug to below the windows. Keep an eye on the supply because ducks drink a lot of water — much more than chicks. You’ll need to be refilling several times a day or providing a lot of water sources. Make new waterers as your ducklings grow so the height of the window is right.

You may be wondering what to feed baby ducks. They are not as susceptible to coccidiosis so start with un-medicated chick crumble (generally 18%) for their first few weeks, switch to a 16% crumble until they are near egg-laying age (about 4-4.5 months old), then finally they can eat regular layer feed.

Ducklings need a source of Niacin (Vitamin B3). Your best option for this is sprinkling brewer’s yeast in the feed. Some other sources are peas and scrambled eggs. Our ducklings loved dog food and kale ground up in the food processor (our dog food contains Niacin).

Though feed should be the majority of their diet, ducklings love treats. Some options include grass or other greens — finely chopped, peas, small melon pieces, diced berries, cooked oatmeal, or mealworms. Our ducklings had fun with fresh kale chopped up and floated in a bowl of water. If feeding treats, mix in a bit of chick-sized grit to help them digest it.

Pool Time

Ducklings love to swim. If being raised by their mothers, they will be in the water from day one. We started ours off in a paint tray which allowed them to walk out of the water and up the “ramp” when they were tired.

Next, they swam in the kitchen sink.

Then came the bathtub.

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Finally, they moved to a baby pool.

Be sure to monitor swim time closely as ducklings can easily drown when they are young and don’t yet have oiled feathers. Dry them off with a towel before putting them back in the brooder.

Safety, Sunshine, and Fresh Air

Finally, when your ducklings are several weeks old, they can begin to spend short periods of time outside, weather permitting. Take care to protect them from getting both chilled or overheated. Also, remember they are easy prey so their outside time should be in a protected area!

Now you know the basics of how to care for ducklings. What kind of ducklings will you be raising in your brooder?

How to Care for Ducklings was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Water Glassing Fresh Egg Storage

Spring brings on the egg laying which can quickly lead to an abundance of fresh farm eggs. What methods work for fresh egg storage? One method called water glassing has been around since pioneer days and probably earlier. Is this method of fresh egg storage safe? Let me share with you what one of my friends learned using this method. Barbara Whitford Fox wrote the following guest post for this site. Barbara and her husband farm in Utah and she can be messaged through Facebook or Instagram.

Guest post by Barbara Whitford Fox

During the late fall and winter, our chickens don’t produce quite as many eggs as we would like. One of the things I love about the homesteading lifestyle is the self sufficiency. It bothers me when I have to buy eggs. Food preservation is a key aspect of homesteading and self sufficiency. I began to look at different ways to preserve eggs. Freezing eggs individually is one method. Dehydrating cooked eggs is another but the amount of work seemed daunting to me. Pickled eggs are also good but not for everyday. None of these methods gave me the fresh egg satisfaction that I was seeking.

Water Glassing for Fresh Egg Storage

In my research I learned about a way to preserve fresh eggs. There are numerous ways to get longer storage of fresh eggs. This method uses no electricity and no fancy equipment. The water glassing method was used in the 1800’s. Deciding I had only the risk of it not working and ending up with rotten eggs, I set up my experiment.

The following describes the method I used for water glassing fresh eggs storage. Here are the items you will need.

three gallon food safe plastic bucket with a lid

hydrated lime

clean water. If your water is high in iron or other mineral content, you may want to purchase distilled water.

scale for measuring the lime. (8 ounces of lime by weight for each quart of water)

eggs! 7 or 8 dozen will fit in the bucket but you can preserve the amount you choose. Do not wash the eggs. Use eggs clean of dirt.

The bucket can be found in the paint department of home improvement or hardware stores. A large crock can also be used for water glassing fresh egg storage, but the crock will be heavy once filled.

Using the clean water, and weighed lime, stir to mix the two together and dissolve the lime. Some people suggested boiling the water before adding to the lime for easier dissolving. I used cold water and the lime never fully dissolved. Next time I will boil the water first. Cool the water to room temperature.

Collecting the Eggs to Preserve

You will want to use fresh eggs that you collected recently. Do not wash the eggs as that will allow the lime to seep into the eggs. Washing the eggs will remove the bloom on the egg that is added as the egg is laid. It protects the egg from bacteria. For this reason, do not use store purchased eggs for water glassing!

Start adding eggs to the bucket of lime water. As you add eggs, try putting them in pointy side down. When you add more eggs it’s easier to get them to stay that way! I ended up with about 80 eggs in a 3 gallon bucket. Honestly, I lost track of how many but this is a close estimate.

Did it Work as a Method of Fresh Egg Storage?

I began the experiment at the beginning of September. I left the eggs at room temperature until the middle of February. It was time to try the eggs. Did this fresh egg storage method work?

First, I broke a fresh egg from that day’s collection into a glass bowl. Taking a second glass bowl, I broke a water glassed egg into it. Side by side the eggs were identical. Both eggs smelled exactly the same. Now it was time for a taste test! The water glassed egg was dropped into the frying pan and a little salt and pepper added, just as I do with our fresh eggs. I took a bite. Amazing! It tasted just like the fresh eggs we had for breakfast that morning. Six months in the water glassing solution and the eggs are as fresh as they can be. I am super excited to have found and tested this method.

What You Need to Know…..

A few things you should know when you have your own water glassed eggs.

If you are going to hard boil the water glassed eggs, first do a pin prick through the shell. After sitting in the water glassing solution, the egg shells are no longer porous, and will quickly pop when you start to boil or steam the eggs.

Rinse the water glass preserved eggs well before use. The lime water will cause the eggs to curdle if it drips into the bowl of fresh egg.

The eggs will feel very smooth when removed from the solution.

Store the bucket or crock in a cool area of the house, out of direct sunlight. This is true of any preserved food.

The water glassing method is said to preserve fresh eggs storage for up to two years. I am not sure I want to do that. For our family, keeping the eggs fresh for six to eight months is plenty of time.

A Word About Using Lime

Hydrated Lime can be found in the hardware stores. It is a common garden additive and often used for masonry and brick work. It isn’t expensive. If you’ve found yourself with quite a bit of lime left over after this process, you can use the lime in the chicken coop or livestock stalls. Sprinkle it under the bedding to dry up urine, control insects, and eliminate odors. If you are looking for a lime product specifically made and safe for chickens and livestock, look for First Saturday Lime.

I love the connection to the past that this method brings. I was talking to my father who is 84 years old. He remembers going into the pantry when he was young and getting eggs out of a big bucket of water. Of course he had no idea at the time that it was lime water. This was just how they preserved eggs on the farm. I love that we can use this method and bring back some of the old ways to our homestead.

Water Glassing Fresh Egg Storage was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Building a Mobile Sheep Shelter

By Carole West – Do you really need a barn for small livestock? This was a question I pondered before we acquired sheep. I came to the realization that most sheep owners use a barn for storing feed and lambing season otherwise a sheep shelter will work just fine.

If you live in a climate where winter conditions prompt several feet of snow, then you would find a barn very useful. Perhaps you’d be looking for a cattle shed design to fit your needs. For everyone else a barn can be a questionable expense based on weather, the number of animals you acquire, and which season you will lamb.

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I live on a small acre farm, and before spending money building a barn that would increase our taxes, we decided to explore options that would help us provide a natural environment.

My biggest concern was lambing season because I wanted to allow a ram to run with our flock year round. This meant breeding would also be on their schedule. Judging from previous experience, lambing would take place between January and March.

Breeder concerns during lambing season include providing clean living conditions that are dry with good ventilation. When animals are confined indoors in small spaces, bedding must be changed daily. Without clean conditions, the fear of ammonia from fecal decay can cause severe health issues for lambs and adult sheep.

Everything we were currently doing on our farm allows for a natural lifestyle so I decided our sheep would lamb in the field. This meant I would need some type of sheep shelter in case weather conditions were bad during the lambing process.

We’ve experienced all types of weather in North Texas, from snow, heavy rain, freezing temperatures, and our favorite, sunshine. I had to come up with something that would work for all weather conditions that provided a clean space.

We were already raising chickens in DIY chicken tractors. These coops are a very simple design and one afternoon it occurred to me I could use a similar system for sheep shelters.

I began with modifying an existing chicken coop for the first mobile sheep shelter and it worked like a charm. The sheep shelter provides a clean environment for the ewe and lamb at all times because you move this onto clean ground daily.

If the weather turns to snow or heavy rain, I prepare a hay bed inside so they’re snug on dry ground. It’s also important to place your shelters on high ground.

When I realized this sheep shelter was the perfect solution for pasture lambing, we began building them in a variety of sizes. After a couple seasons, I discovered the best size shelter is a 4 x 4 x 3.

Perks of this Size

Ewe and lamb can relax and bond inside during bad weather.

They’re warm.

Sheep will use for shade when temperatures are 90 degrees and above.

Easy to move.

Can use for two sheep when full-grown.

Provides a clean environment.

Easy to build.

Won’t increase your taxes because they’re mobile.

If you’re thinking about raising sheep or goats on a small scale you may want to implement these neat sheep shelters for your own homestead. If you’re handy, you can even build your own. Remember to include safety gear; wear safety goggles, work gloves, ear plugs, appropriate clothing, and work boots.

Supplies List

Saw

Drill

Six 8-foot 2 x 4 boards

Two 4 x 8 pieces of thin plywood

24 Short Screws

40 Long Screws

Oil base outdoor paint or stain to finish

We’re building a simple box frame that can be completed in an afternoon. If you need several sheep shelters, think about getting a building team together and create an assembly line to maximize your efforts.

Shelter Measurements

2 x 4 = Four at 3 feet – These represent the frame height.

2 x 4 = Four at 4 feet – For the outside frame wall, top and bottom.

2 x 8 = Four at 3.8 feet – For the inside frame wall top and bottom.

Plywood = Roof is 4 x 4 feet – If you want an overhang, increase measurements.

Plywood = Walls 3.9 x 2.5 feet – Wait to cut until the frame is assembled.

The first thing we’re going to do is cut our 2 x 4’s for the frame. We’ll lay two at 4 feet for the outside and two 3.8 foot for the inside. Make sure you’re building on a flat surface and double check that the 3.8-foot boards are in between the 4-foot boards; this will give you a 4 x 4-foot frame once we assemble. It’s always a good idea to double check the measurements prior to assembly.

It’s time to connect our corners. We drill two pilot holes at each corner; this will keep the wood from spitting, do not skip this step! The pilot holes will be about as wide as the core of the screw.

Then slowly insert long screws for connection, repeat this process at each corner. Once we have the box connected it’s time to add the legs.

Take the four 3 foot legs and place at each corner of the frame. We’ll be adding each leg one at a time beginning with three pilot holes, two on the long side and one on the short side. Repeat this process with all four corners.

Now insert three long screws at each corner to connect the legs. Once this is completed we’ll set this aside for just a moment.

Make another frame just like we did at the beginning. Remember to make sure those 3.8 foot boards are inside the 4 feet to create that 4 x 4-foot frame.

This next step is the fun part and helpful if you’re building alone. Take your frame with the legs and carefully flip it so the legs fit inside that box frame. Then go around to all four corners and connect those legs just like we did previously.

Now it’s time to add the roof, double check the measurements and if you want an overhang, make sure you cut the roof to the correct size. Then attach the roof using the smaller screws. We’re drilling pilot holes first and then inserting screws all around the frame until the roof is secure.

We’re getting close to completion and I want you to notice that the sheep shelter is pretty sweet without walls. This is an added perk come spring or summer because the shelter can be used as an open shelter by removing one or two walls. Sheep normally don’t like to be closed in.

Before cutting your walls with the table saw, double check the measurements — mine were 3.9 x 2.5 and I left a small gap at the top for ventilation. These walls are added the same as the roof, I used four screws on each side.

Once the frame is completed, notice how easy the shelter is to move. If it feels heavy there is always the option to add wheels. I prefer sliding mine by lifting it up on 2 x 4’s.

The final step is to paint or stain the outside of the sheep shelter; there is no need to paint the inside. If you want to dress it up, you can add some fancy trim to the corners to make it more decorative. Have fun with this project and put your own stamp on it.

This mobile sheep shelter is a good option for those who are raising sheep on a small scale and are focused on pasture grazing. It can also be used as a goat shelter or for other small farm animals. This is an easy build that doesn’t require a fancy carpenter skill set.

Are you going to build a sheep shelter from these plans? We’d love to see your finished product!

Building a Mobile Sheep Shelter was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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A Free Choice Salt Lick is Vital for Livestock Health

Don’t laugh, I’m sure I’m not the only farm kid who’s done this. When I was a girl I remember licking the salt lick block in the barnyard. I told you not to laugh! I never considered germs or disease, who did back then?

Papa told me not to do it, but he wasn’t upset by it. Much of what we did and survived as kids is considered taboo today. In some ways, that’s sad.

If you have livestock on your homestead, then I’m sure you’re aware of the need they all have for salt and minerals. The lack of it affects the life of the animal and the products we receive from them. From goat milk benefits to meat supply, everything is affected. The dilemma seems to be over whether the best way to provide these is a salt lick block or loose minerals.

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Need for Salt

It seems farmers have always known about the need animals have for salt, just like we do. For thousands of years, salt has been a trade good for those in the livestock community. Ancient Greeks, Asians, and Africans have records of domesticated and wild animals traveling to salt deposits to meet their need for this necessary element. It plays a vital role in electrolyte balance.

We offer apple cider vinegar to our livestock at any sign of stress, illness and at the change of seasons. We do this for many reasons, one of them being to help maintain electrolyte balance. Sodium and chloride, which are in salt, play major functions in our bodies as well as theirs. From kidney function to muscle functioning, including the heart, they’re vital to life.

The requirements vary from animal to animal. Cattle eating a winter ration of hay or silage will require more than when they’re on grain and fresh grass. Sheep require more salt than most all other livestock. Lactating animals and those preparing for breeding season have different needs as well.

It’s not enough to use feed which has these elements in it because individual animals have individual needs. This makes a free choice salt lick a good husbandry choice.

What Happens When Livestock Animals Don’t Get Salt?

When livestock aren’t given access to salt and minerals either in a salt lick block or loose mineral supplement, there are dangerous risks to them. If we were to deny our bodies this necessary element we would suffer as well. It’s important to know the signs of a deficiency in your animals.

Urine output is decreased as the animal’s body attempts to conserve trace elements like sodium and chloride.

A loss of appetite leads to weight loss.

The ability to utilize nutrition from feed decreases which means it takes more feed to meet nutritional needs if the animal is still eating.

They develop a craving for salt. You may even see them eating or licking weird things like wood (even your barn), dirt, rocks, and places where they or other animals have urinated. This is called pica, an abnormal eating behavior. They’re simply trying to meet their need for sodium and other minerals.

A decrease in milk production.

The fermentation process in the rumen doesn’t happen properly.

6 Factors Which Affect the Salt Needs of Livestock

While there are certainly more than six, these are the ones a homesteader is most likely to encounter. Commercial cattle farming is a whole different world from us homesteaders. We don’t encounter many of the problems they do, thankfully.

1) The animal’s diet. Depending on how much foraging your animal is allowed or its breed actually is able to do, diet is a major factor in the need for a salt lick. The less commercially prepared feed you provide the more necessary it is to provide free choice of some kind.

Commercially prepared foods vary greatly in their mineral and trace element contents. This makes choosing a balanced feed important and offering either a salt lick block or loose minerals accordingly.

2) Production level of milk. Milk has a lot of sodium and chloride in it, around 1150 ppm (parts per million) chloride and 630 ppm of sodium. If your dairy goats or cows are in high production mode, the need for salt is high.

3) The environment. Humidity and temperature play a significant role in the sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and other trace element needs of your livestock. When we moved to the panhandle of Idaho, our friends told us to take extra magnesium for a while until our bodies adjusted. Until I had my first cramps, I didn’t take them seriously.

The climate and location play just as much a role for your livestock. Just like you, heat stresses your animals. Sodium is among the elements you and your animals sweat out so it has to be replaced by a free choice salt lick.

4) Stress. Yep, it’s a killer in humans and animals alike. This isn’t a real factor for most homesteaders, but there are always exceptions to every rule. There is also the reality of unforeseen things happening.

As homesteaders, we face it daily, don’t we? Disease, sudden changes in herd or flock members, predator attacks, poor housing, change of season, all these things can create stress in your livestock. Stress increases the need for salt and other minerals.

5) Genetics. There are basic genetic differences in all livestock, even within breeds. Those animals which are required to maintain high performance, such as milk cows or draft animals, require more calories, sodium, chloride…all those elements necessary for muscle, milk, and life maintenance.

6) The season. The new, green growth of spring is rich in potassium. This increase in potassium causes a loss in sodium in some livestock. You may see an increase in their craving for salt during this time of year compared to fall and especially winter.

University of Georgia Extension Specialist, Johnny Rossi, says sodium in salt is the only mineral for which he believes animals have nutritional wisdom. He says, “They seem to know when they need it and how much they need. Except for their drive to obtain water, there is no greater drive in them than to meet this need.”

He also advises, “If cattle have been without salt for a while, it may be wise to start them out again with plain white salt blocks. They can’t be consumed as quickly as loose salt, affording a measure of control over consumption. Neither will it allow them to over-consume minerals in a mixture. Once the animals’ heightened salt craving is satisfied, a block or loose mineral can be provided again.”

Just as important as providing salt and minerals to your livestock is the supply of clean drinking water. Your salt lick should be located close to a water supply. Salt toxicity is a risk when they aren’t provided with adequate water.

When Animals Don’t Get Enough Salt Factors that Affect Need For Salt Decreased Urine Output Diet Loss of Appetite Milk Production Weight Loss The Environment Develop Abnormal Eating Behaviors Stress Decrease in Milk Production Genetics Improper Fermentation in Rumen The Season

Form of Salt Supplied

Herein lies a controversy. Salt and mineral supplements come in two forms, a block the animal licks and loose granules. Both are considered free choice provision even though the loose minerals are often mixed in with the animals’ feed.

Some animals, such as the llama, don’t lick like cattle or horses so a loose mineral supplement would be better for them. Knowing your livestock and their eating behaviors will help you make the best financial and practical decision you can for you and the lives entrusted to your care.

The different colors among salt lick blocks and loose granules come from the differences in their compositions. White blocks, as you might guess, are strictly sodium chloride. Red blocks are salt with trace minerals and yellow is salt with sulfur.

Recommendations For Free Choice Salt Licks

1) You should always have a salt lick available for your livestock, block or loose – your choice.

2) Protect the salt lick from rain as exposure to water will dilute and deplete the trace minerals

3) Always make sure your livestock have access to clean drinking water close to the salt lick area. This seems a no-brainer, but it’s so important I couldn’t leave it unsaid.

4) Be familiar with the signs of salt and mineral deprivation in each of your animals. This will help you spot and meet any immediate need they may have.

I’ve included some resources for you below. As I’ve always said, “You’re responsible for the well-being of the lives entrusted to you. So don’t take one person’s word for it, not even mine. Do the research for yourself and make the best decision you can at the time.”

How do you provide a salt lick for your livestock? We’d value your experience and knowledge of the salt lick.

Save and Happy Journey,

Rhonda and The Pack

Sources:

http://www.seaagri.com/docs/salt_and_trace_elements_in_animal_nutrition.pdf

http://www.feedingandfeedstuffs.info/articles/traditional_feeding/supplements/0208_saltanessentialelement.pdf

http://extension.psu.edu/animals/camelids/nutrition/which-one-loose-or-block-salt-feeding

A Free Choice Salt Lick is Vital for Livestock Health was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Moving Beehives: What You Need to Know

When you first got interested in starting beekeeping, I know you did tons of research and thinking about where to put your hives. But sometimes things change and you need to change with them. And so, you find yourself moving beehives.

There are many reasons you might need to move a beehive. Maybe you have new neighbors and they are leery of your bees so you decide to move them across the yard. Or maybe your bee farming is doing great, and you decide to split a hive and give it to a new beekeeper. Or maybe an organic farmer asks if you would like to put some hives on his property. The reasons for moving beehives are varied but the procedure is pretty much the same regardless of how far you are moving them.

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The two most important things you need to do are to make sure you move all the bees in the hive and make sure they can find the hive once it’s moved. Fortunately, the queen is safe deep inside the hive so you don’t have to worry about accidentally harming her. If you’re wondering what happens when the queen bee dies, the whole hive can die.

How to Move a Beehive

The best time to move a hive, even just a little bit, is at night when all the bees are home. If you try moving beehives during the day, you risk leaving the foraging bees behind and that’s not a good idea.

Once the bees are all home, close any openings so the bees cannot get out. Some beekeepers use duct tape, which is fine as long as there is some other ventilation for the hive. A better option is to staple #8 hardware cloth over the main entrance which will keep the bees in and allow for ventilation. Once you get the hive to its new location you can uncover the entrance.

If you are moving the hive just a short distance, like across the yard, you can probably just carry it. If it’s large you might need some help or you might need to put it on a platform and carry the platform.

If you’re moving the hive to a new property you will need to take it on a truck or trailer. Since hives are not one solid piece, it’s best to use some cargo straps to strap the hive together and keep it secure. It would be terrible to get to your new location and find that the super shifted and the bees escaped.

Unless you moved your hive less than a couple of feet you will need to help the bees re-orientate to the new location.

How to Help Bees Get Oriented to Their New Spot

There is an old saying that you can move a beehive less than three feet or more than three miles without having to worry about the bees going back to their old home. So what do you do when you need to move them more than three feet but less than three miles? You have to help them get oriented.

Here’s the logic behind that saying. Bees are pretty smart and when they come home, they look for familiar sights to find their hive. If it’s only moved a foot or two, they’ll see the sights and find the hive. If the hives are moved more than three miles, the bees realize they’ve been moved and naturally reorient.

The very first time a bee leaves the hive she orients where she is and will always come back to that same area. Any time after that, she just leaves the hive and pretty much relies on her memory to get back—without really thinking about it; kind of like how we drive home from work at the end of the day.

Unless she’s been cooped up in the hive for more than 72 hours, or something is very different when she leaves the hive, she has no reason to change her orientation.

One way to help bees reorient is to keep the hardware cloth on the main entrance for 72 hours and keep the bees inside the hive. This option might be good if there is adequate ventilation and it’s cool outside.

Another option is to create a new “neighborhood” for the bees. This can be done by simply stacking branches in front of the main entrance. You don’t want to completely block the entrance, just block it enough that the bees notice something has changed and their hive has been moved. This is a great solution if you are moving beehives across the yard or moving beehives miles away.

Once a bee leaves the hive, she’ll notice the branches and it should trigger her to reorient for her new location. However, this might not happen with all bees and some may come to the old hive location that evening. If the new location is just a couple of feet away, she will find it. However, if the new location is further away and you see a lot of bees looking lost and disoriented, you can put an empty swarm box out for them for the night. Once they are all safely in the box, you can move it to the new location. You might need to do this for a couple of evenings but eventually, the bees will figure it out.

Moving beehives isn’t something you will probably do very often but just like knowing how to make fondant for bees, it’s a good skill to know.

Have you ever moved beehives? How did it go?

Originally published in 2016 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Moving Beehives: What You Need to Know was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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How to Make Laundry Soap at Home

Not long after I learned how to make homemade soap, I tweaked the recipe and learned how to make laundry soap. Those other “homemade laundry soap” recipes had flaws.

Homesteading mommy blogs claimed I could make my own laundry soap by grating a commercial bar that had an age-old recipe. Mix two parts borax, two parts washing soda, and one part grated soap. But that isn’t homemade as much as it’s home-mixed.

Why Use Homemade Laundry Soap?

Compared to boxes of powdered commercial detergent, homemade soap has advantages. “Detergent,” which is made with chemicals and has powerful surfactants, may have ingredients such as fragrance or color-brighteners which irritate skin or respiratory airways. It also may contain montmorillonite clay as a filler, an ingredient which can clog septic systems.

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The commercial laundry detergent industry may be another reason to switch. Have you noticed how so many companies now offer “concentrated” liquid detergents, so you use less? Basically, there is less water in each ounce. But, though you use less detergent, the bottle is more expensive and the price per amount of actual cleanser isn’t much different.

And look at that cap or scoop. Is it huge, while the line designating the maximum soap needed is halfway down? You’re not being scammed here because it’s up to you to look at your scoop and realize you’re adding twice as much detergent if you fill it all the way up. But how many people only fill to the line? Companies know people will fill the scoop and use more, necessitating another trip to the store.

And What About That Laundry Bar?

The biggest reason I researched how to make laundry soap wasn’t because that soap bar was bad. Other than containing a few ingredients I don’t need, such as titanium dioxide and a fragrance that doesn’t scent the laundry anyway, the product is good. But it’s not truly homemade.

I want homemade laundry soap, as “homemade” as possible, with complete control over my ingredients. I don’t want to search through stores, realize my town doesn’t carry that bar, and then have to search online before I can start. Perhaps I need a vegan product, not one containing “sodium tallowate,” the saponified product of lard or beef fat. Perhaps I need it to be kosher and don’t know if that “tallow” is from pigs. I have many reasons.

Why Can’t I Grate Down my Own Homemade Soap Recipe?

Beginning soapmakers learn how to make shea butter soap, a luxurious and skin-softening recipe, but make cosmetic mistakes resulting in ugly soap. So they grate it down for laundry. The first two loads come out fine then they realize their clothes feel tacky and have little oil spots. This is because the superfat level in shea butter soap, which gives those skin-softening properties and protects against a lye-heavy recipe, adds unnecessary oil to laundry. That oil has to go somewhere: either through the drainpipe or onto clothes. The same problem exists with goat milk soap recipes. It’s that superfat percentage, which makes a good body bar, that causes issues with laundry.

The solution is to use 100 percent coconut oil, which is so cleansing that soapmakers are warned to avoid surpassing 20 percent in a bath bar because it can dry skin. That cleansing factor lifts oils and odors from clothing, washing them away. And gets rid of that superfat.

Wait…superfatting avoids lye-heavy soap!

Yes, I know. Laundry detergents are already alkaline, as is that washing soda you’re going to add later in the recipe. Alkalinity counteracts the acidity of oil and bacterial byproducts. It’s good. Just don’t eat it or use it in the shower.

Follow the instructions regarding how to make coconut oil soap. With a lye calculator, reduce superfat to zero. And, since it doesn’t have to be pretty, hot process it in a slow cooker.

How to Make Laundry Soap, Crockpot Style

Hot processing soap reduces cure time. Soap is ready within a day or two. But the finished product can be chunky and doesn’t allow the beautiful swirls attained with cold process. That won’t matter with laundry soap.

Prepare your recipe. Check it with a lye calculator. Now check it again. Get a slow cooker, your lye and distilled water, coconut oil, a digital scale, immersion blender, and protective gear. Don’t add color because you don’t want it to come out on your clothing. A fragrance is optional, it won’t scent the finished laundry anyway.

In a slow cooker that will never again be used for food, melt solid coconut oil on low. When it’s almost liquid, measure water then add the lye. Stir until the lye dissolves. Carefully pour the lye water into the slow cooker, avoiding splashes. Use an immersion blender to stir until the soap reaches trace, the point where it thickens to look like vanilla pudding. This doesn’t take long at all with 100 percent coconut oil soap. Now place the lid on the slow cooker and let it cook, still on low. The soap will harden then start to bubble around the edges. When the bubbles fold inward like a reverse volcano made of petroleum jelly, stir then pour into a prepared mold.

Let the soap cool, but unmold and cut into individual bars while it’s still slightly warm or it may be too hard. Bar shape doesn’t matter; cutting is just so you’re not grating a huge loaf of soap.

After soap cures a couple days, “zap” test to be sure it’s not still lye-heavy. This involves touching your tongue to the soap. If you feel a zap, let it sit another day or so. If it tastes like soap, grate enough to pulse in a food processor. Measure one part ground soap, two parts washing soda and two parts borax (both available in the laundry department of most department stores) and pulse again, until well mixed.

Store in an airtight container, as this soap hardens if moisture gets in. If it does harden, simply loosen with a spoon or grind again in a food processor.

Use one to three tablespoons soap for each load of laundry.

Special Considerations when Using Homemade Soap for Laundry

Chemical detergents have one big advantage: they rinse clean, with very little effort. True soap can leave a residue. Reducing the superfat does reduce soap scum left behind, and a zero percent superfat coconut oil recipe has remarkably little to leave.

When choosing true soap over detergent, that residue can be a huge factor, especially in high-efficiency washing machines. Gunking up machines or septic systems may sway your decision to otherwise go all-natural.

Homemade laundry products are generally considered safer for septic systems than powdered detergents because they do not contain clay or other fillers. Avoid antibacterial additives, which can disrupt the bacterial process that breaks down waste within the tank. Many homeowners with septic systems run wash water directly into the tank, versus in the drain field, so the soap doesn’t clog pores in the field. To avoid washing too much soap into a septic system, scrape soapmaking residue into the trash before washing pans.

Avoid soap recipes that have pieces of anything, such as oatmeal or pumice, as they can get caught on any residue already on filters. Once in a while, clean your washer and drains by running a cycle without laundry but with a cup of distilled vinegar in the drum.

Now that you know how to make laundry soap at home, will you be giving it a try?

How to Make Laundry Soap at Home was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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5 Rare Sheep Breeds to Save from Extinction

Raised for their hides, meat, milk, and wool, sheep are versatile. In addition to providing a local source of food and fiber, small flock owners are looking to support livestock conservation by venturing into raising rare sheep breeds. By choosing one of these five critical breeds you can help preserve a historic breed that our forefathers raised. Heritage breeds tend to have better disease resistance, are well-adapted to their environments, and thrive in pasture-based settings.

Florida Cracker

Heat tolerant and parasite resistant, the Florida Cracker is one of the oldest breeds of sheep in North America. Possibly originating from sheep that the Spanish brought in the 1500s, these sheep developed mainly through natural selection from Florida’s humid semitropical conditions. According to The Livestock Conservancy, prior to 1949, this rare sheep breed could free range in the pastures, palmettos, and piney woods. Ranchers would round them up twice a year for shearing and to mark the lambs. Like many critical livestock stories, the Florida Cracker population diminished as the result of consumers favoring larger sized animals that produced more wool and meat. These new breeds were high input and were hard on the environment. Luckily, with renewed interest in low-input sustainable agriculture, interest in Florida Cracker is increasing.

Currently, there are only four breeders registered with The Livestock Conservancy, making it a bit difficult to find purebreds. Florida Cracker sheep are active and vigorous. They are a friendly breed. The ewes, which can weigh 100 pounds, can breed one month after lambing. The ewes can produce two lamb crops per year, and usually, bear twins. Rams can reach 150 pounds, depending on how well they are fed. The sheep can handle harsh conditions and low-grade forages.

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Gulf Coast / Gulf Coast Native

Laura McWane of Pippinarrow Cottage Farm chose Gulf Coast sheep because of their ability to handle the heat in central Alabama and their reputation of being disease and parasite resistant.

“I don’t use chemical de-wormers, so the parasite-resistance was important to me when choosing a breed,” said McWane.

McWane has observed Gulf Coast sheep are calm and gentle-natured, including the rams.

“They grow a decent wool and produce a fair amount of milk for the average homesteader. They are easy to handle, thrifty, and well-suited to the Southeastern climate.”

Gulf Coast sheep. Courtesy of Joyce Kramer.

Joyce Kramer of Granpa K Farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, has found the GCN to be the perfect breed for her small New England farm.

“They handle our cold New England winters and the transfer to our hot, humid summers perfectly. Although our ewes have the option to lamb in the barn, most choose to lamb outdoors. Even in the coldest months of January and February. Low maintenance and easy lambing make them an excellent choice for a novice shepherd.”

Kramer’s interest in Gulf Coast sheep began when she was gifted with two unregistered ewes, from a family member. With much research and traveling to multiple states, she was able to add some new “old” lines into her flock.

“At this point, there is a total of under 3,000 animals registered, with the Gulf Coast Sheep Association,” says Kramer.

In addition to meat lambs, Kramer occasionally has small starter flocks for those interested in breeding. She has supplied several starter flocks to other farms. Her plan is to broaden the New England gene pool by bringing other lines up from the South in the future.

Although she has not spun herself, Kramer has had several people comment on the Gulf Coast sheep’s amazing fiber.

“They have an irresistible, mild, tender meat and we have also starting milking some of our small flock and making some basic cheeses,” she said.

Photo Credit: Aaron Honeycutt

Hog Island

Laura Marie Kramer is the owner of La Bella Farm and has been raising Hog Island sheep for two years.

“I wanted to raise a heritage breed of sheep and when I learned about Hog Island Sheep, I loved that the breed was developed on Hog Island which is a barrier island for the Delmarva Peninsula, where my farm is located. When I learned how few of these sheep remained, I felt our farm could really make a difference in helping the breed recover.”

From the 1700s up until the 1930s, residents of the island tended their sheep. In the 1930s, an uptick of hurricanes discouraged the residents from continuing island life. 15 years later all of the residents migrated to mainland Virginia, many took their sheep. Some sheep remained on Hog Island and were sheared annually. This was the only time the flock and the shepherds would interact. The sheep survived by consuming the marsh grass and drinking fresh water from small pools.

In 1974, the Nature Conservancy purchased the island and all the sheep were to be removed. Four years later, Virginia Coast Reserve agents found a thriving flock of sheep on the island! The Livestock Conservancy says this is a testament to the extreme hardiness of these animals.

Photo Credit: Laura Marie Kramer

The breed is a true dual-purpose breed, that produces great wool and meat. The wool varies in color, is used for spinning, and can be felted. Kramer says that Hog Island lamb is a real treat, with its tenderness and flavor. She adds that the meat has a cleaner taste than most lamb with a sweet grassy finish.

“Hog Island sheep are a great fit for experienced and inexperienced homesteaders; they are hardy and would be a great breed for someone that is new to raising sheep. Our flock is very self-sufficient and they are great foragers.”

She raises her flock on 100 percent pasture with free choice minerals and has experienced no problems maintaining body condition.

“They are very calm but have unique personalities and they don’t mind being pastured with other animals. The ewes make great mothers, twins are normal, and they lamb on pasture with very few problems. The rams are very docile and sweet. We shear our flock but they do slowly shed,” said Kramer.

Photo Credit: Laura Marie Kramer

Romeldale / CVM

If you are interested in raising sheep for wool the Romeldale is a great choice. Romeldale is an American fine wool breed, and the California Variegated Mutant (CVM) is its multi-colored derivative. Both are considered rare sheep breeds and are unique to the United States. Romeldale sheep are primarily white, although a Romeldale with coloring on its face or legs is still referred to as a Romeldale. To be registered as a California Variegated Mutant, a Romeldale must have a badger-marked face and colored body or a colored head and body (no badger face) with darker legs and underbelly. The Romeldale breed provides the breeder with the opportunity to raise a wide range of colored sheep, as well as white sheep — providing an opportunity to market both white and colored fleeces to hand spinners.

Robert C. May, the owner of Swayze Inn Farm located in Hope, New Jersey, was immediately drawn to the breed’s docile personality and its soft, fine, crimpy fleece.

His farm was the first registered breeder of Romeldale sheep in New Jersey back in 2002.

“My wife Diane and I purchased Swayze Inn Farm in the summer of 2001. With more than ample room for our flock of Jacob Sheep, and being aware that many shepherds often raise more than one breed of sheep, I started thinking about the possibility of adding another sheep breed. I stumbled upon the Romeldale breed when doing an internet search for rare sheep breeds.”

Today, their flock of Romeldales includes 20 breeding ewes and five breeding rams.

“Romeldales are a medium-size breed with mature rams weighing between 175 and 200 pounds and adult ewes weighing in the 120 to 150-pound range. Ewes typically twin (with occasional triplets), are good mothers, and produce ample quantities of milk for their lambs. Lambs are hardy, and grow quickly,” says May.

“At four months of age, most of our Romeldale lambs weigh around 80 pounds. The breed does extremely well on pasture (spring to autumn) supplemented with good quality hay in winter. I use only a minimal amount of grain to supplement the ewes during and after lambing.”

May says that Romeldale Sheep typically produce eight to 12 pounds of wool per sheep. Their fleeces sell quickly to an increasing number of hand spinners who appreciate the fine, crimpy fiber.

May holding Romeldale wool. Courtesy of Parashoot Productions.

“I always hold back some of our Romeldale fleeces for processing as roving and yarn, to fill orders from spinners, weavers, knitters, and others who crochet.”

May suggests raising Romeldales as it doesn’t cost any more to raise them compared to more popular breeds, like the Dorper sheep, that are among the fastest growing breed.

“The addition of a Romeldale ram to ewes of another breed with coarser fleeces will result in offspring with better fleeces and fast-growing lambs. Each year I cross a number of our Jacob ewes with our CVM rams and consistently have cross-bred lambs with finer fleeces than their Jacob dams. The cross-bred lambs also grow more quickly than our Jacob lambs do, with both breeds fed exactly alike.”

“In addition to selling Romeldale lambs as breeding stock, I sell a number of Romeldale freezer lambs each year and have the pelts processed by a local tanner. Romeldale pelts provide us with another source of income from our flock.”

May enjoys being able to help keep the breed from becoming extinct.

“With less than 200 annual registrations of Romeldales/ CVM Romeldales with breed registries, in a small way, we’re doing our part to help ensure that the Romeldale breed is around for another century.”

Romeldale sheep. Courtesy of Parashoot Productions.

Santa Cruz

Jim and Lynn Moody, owners of Blue Oak Canyon Ranch located near San Miguel, California, have been breeding Santa Cruz Island sheep for eight years. They chose the rare sheep breed to help preserve the breed’s heritage and unique story.

The sheep are named after one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California. Sheep lived on the island for between 70 and 200 years. When some sheep escaped, they went unmanaged for some time and the Santa Cruz sheep breed evolved into an exceptionally hardy breed, with virtually no birthing problems, a high survival rate, and an ability to thrive on marginal forage.

Santa Cruz ram. Courtesy of The Inn at East Hill.

“This breed is drought tolerant and will forage on shrubs as well as graze, and since they are small sheep, they are thrifty and easily managed,” Moody says. “Their small size should make them excellent for grazing in orchards and vineyards, with proper management.”

Kristen Bacon of Tranquil Morning Farm in Connecticut chose the breed because of her family’s involvement in 4H.

Photo Credit: Kristen Bacon

“We are in a position to reach a lot of people with our rare sheep. We exhibit them at fairs, fiber festivals, educational forums, schools, and more. We bring them anywhere we can find an audience interested in learning about these amazing sheep.”

Bacon says Santa Cruz sheep are a great choice for a homestead.

“Their fleece is unique. While it has a short staple length, it is extremely fine and has an amazing elasticity that you just don’t find in any other wool. Being so rare, it can bring more money per fleece than other breeds.”

The pros for this rare sheep breed are that they are more disease, foot rot, and parasite resistant than many breeds. The con is that because of their isolation they can be flighty compared to modern sheep breeds.

Santa Cruz sheep. Courtesy of Michael Kearney.

Homesteaders should consider raising critical breeds to help save genetic diversity. As a bonus, these breeders can produce and sell unique food and fiber for a niche market. In addition to Sheep! magazine, The Livestock Conservancy lists breeders of rare sheep breeds for those that want to get started.

A little over a year ago, Mike Kearney, owner of Little Flower Farm located in Pennsylvania, did just that. After consulting with The Livestock Conservancy to map the overall genetics of the Santa Cruz sheep, Kearney went on a sheep expedition. Collecting sheep from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Oregon, Kearney started a genetically significant flock.

“Our next step is to hopefully work with the very limited number of breeders to complete our cross country genetic exchange and then hopefully get more breeders interested in first helping us to preserve the breed, and then ultimately helping to bring the breed back in greater numbers.”

Do you raise rare sheep breeds? If so, tell us about your experiences in the comments below.

5 Rare Sheep Breeds to Save from Extinction was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Want Blue Eggs? Pick These Chicken Breeds!

Let’s face it, having backyard chickens is popular, but still pretty unique for most folks. Why not step up the unique a notch and go beyond the standard brown and white eggs by adding blue egg layers to your flock? You’ll have a colorful egg basket all year round and a fun talking point when you give eggs to family and friends.

Blue Egg Myths

If you have blue eggs, the first question folks will ask is whether they taste different than “regular” eggs. The quick answer is no. But it’s important to understand why. All eggs are formed in the same way, but the nutrition a hen gets on a daily basis is what gives her egg its taste and gives the yolk its color. There is a significant debate about whether backyard eggs taste better than store-bought eggs. Personal opinions aside, if your backyard chickens are fed a quality layer feed and allowed to forage for grasses, insects and anything else they can find, you can be assured your eggs will be fresh and taste good.

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In the same vein, blue eggs do not contain any more or less cholesterol than eggs of other colors. The quality of an egg’s nutrition is determined by diet.

How Blue Eggs are Formed

Once a hen ovulates and a mature yolk is released to form a complete egg, the total process takes about 25 hours. About five hours into the process, the forming egg moves into the shell gland where it spends the next 20 hours with the shell being formed around the inner contents.

Here’s an interesting fact: all eggs start out white because they are formed of calcium carbonate. If you have a white egg laying chicken, like a Brown Leghorn, then no additional pigment is added to the egg. If you have a blue egg laying chicken, the blue pigment, oocyanin, is added after the white shell is formed and it sinks through the entire shell.

So What About Brown and Green Eggs?

Brown eggs get their color from a pigment called protoporphyrin. Recent research suggests bits of this pigment are found in every layer of calcium in the shell. But those bits of pigment do not influence overall shell color. So, if you open a brown egg, you’ll see brown on the outside but the inside of the shell is white. The solid outside color that we see is applied fairly late in the shell-forming process.

Green or olive eggs are a little more complicated. First, the blue pigment is applied, followed by the brown pigment. The pigments mix on the surface to form a solid green color. The darker the brown, the deeper the green color.

Blue and Green Egg Laying Chickens

When talking about chicken breeds it’s important to understand the difference between breeds and hybrids. A breed is a group of animals that have the same characteristic and predictably reproduce that characteristic when bred to together. A hybrid is made of a mix of breeds. Hybrids can breed and reproduce, but their characteristics will not necessarily breed true or consistent.

There are two breeds in the blue egg laying world currently accepted by the American Poultry Association — Araucanas and Ameraucanas.

Araucana Chicken

When you see Araucanas in person they look unlike any other chicken. They are rumpless — without the profusion of feathers on their back end — and it’s hard to miss the distinguishing tufts of feathers sticking straight out on both sides of the neck. These feathers can take different shapes and sizes and form curls, balls, rosettes, and fans.

Araucanas were created from imports from South America to the United States in the 1930s. These imports were a cross between two Northern Chilean breeds, the Colloncas (a rumpless blue egg layer) and the Quetros (a chicken with tufts and a tail but not a blue egg layer). The first imports paved the way for breeding that led to two distinct breeds — the Araucana and the Ameraucana.

In the Araucana, the gene for blue egg color is dominant. This means that when an Araucana is bred with another breed of chicken, the offspring will produce blue or tinted eggs. Because of this, if you look at current hatchery catalogs you’ll often see this breed offered in the listings. But beware, what you are getting is not a true bred Araucana. In reality, the Araucana is a difficult-to-find breed that often only comes from specialized breeders.

Araucanas are friendly birds that do fly easily, so accommodations should be made to keep them safe.

Araucana chicken. Photo by Pam Freeman

Ameraucana Chicken

The Ameraucana’s origins are recent and straightforward. This breed is directly linked with the Araucanas that were imported in the 1930s. Ameraucanas were developed in the 1970s by breeders that liked the blue or tinted eggs of the Araucana but wanted closer head feathering and a plump, well-feathered body. Ameraucanas were admitted to the American Poultry Association’s Standard in 1984. This is a dual-purpose breed that can be used for both meat and eggs. Unlike the Araucana, Ameraucanas have a tail and they have muffs and beards, not tufts.

Ameraucana chicken. Photo by John W. Blehm

Easter Egger Chicken

This is the bird you’ll most often find in hatchery catalogs as a blue egg layer. Some hatcheries accurately call their stock by the Easter Egger name. Others, as indicated, call their stock Araucana, Ameraucana, or Americana.

This is a hybrid bird that lays blue, green, rose or even brown eggs. It’s impossible to know what color egg your Easter Egger will lay until it lays its first egg. Although the name refers to a holiday basket of colored eggs, your Easter Egger will not lay different colored eggs each time it lays an egg. Whatever color egg it lays first is the color it will continue to lay for a lifetime.

Easter Eggers are a fun bird to have in a backyard flock. Each hatchery has a “special sauce” for breeding their Easter Eggers so you often get birds that all look different and lay slightly different colored eggs.

Easter Egger chicken. Photo by Pam Freeman

Olive Egger Chicken

Olive Eggers are beginning to build in popularity as people like to have all sorts of egg colors in their baskets.

They are a hybrid chicken that can come from a variety of breeding combinations. Most hatcheries use Marans (dark brown egg layer), Ameraucanas, Welsummers (dark brown egg layer), and Cream Legbars in their pairings. Crossing a brown egg layer with a blue egg layer can result in an olive green egg. And depending on the depth of the brown egg layer used, the deeper the olive color.

Like the Easter Egger, Olive Eggers come in many different feather color combinations. Some can have crests, some can have feathered legs, some have pea combs, and others have single combs.

Cream Legbar Chicken

This is a rare and relatively new addition to the blue egg laying scene in the United States. They are not recognized by the American Poultry Association. Cream Legbars were created by R.C. Punnet, a renowned geneticist, in the United Kingdom in the 1930s. These are unusual birds that have a single comb followed with crest feathers. Some say their crest feathers look like they’re wearing a beret. They are friendly birds that love to free range and forage.

What makes Cream Legbars special is they are an autosexing breed so males and females can be determined by color at hatch. This makes owning Cream Legbars a nice way to add colored eggs to your flock without the risk of getting a rooster if you don’t want one.

Cream Legbar

The world of blue egg layers has a rich and fascinating history and science behind it. Do you have any of these birds in your flock? What are your favorite blue egg layers?

Want Blue Eggs? Pick These Chicken Breeds! was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Keeping Goats With Chickens

Keeping goats with chickens is possible and can benefit both species.

So you’ve had chickens for awhile and are enjoying those awesomely flavorful homegrown eggs. Now maybe you’re thinking about getting dairy goats to round out your backyard homestead and start raising goats for milk.

A lot of people, including me, keep both chickens and goats as a significant step toward self-sufficiency. But as picturesque as it may be to keep chickens together with goats, housing them together may not be the greatest idea. Let’s look at the pros and cons of keeping goats with chickens.

Surplus Milk

To keep up milk production, goats must be milked every day. I, along with a lot of other goat keepers, milk once a day. Most goat keepers milk twice a day, and some milk three times daily. Since a doe’s body produces milk in response to an empty udder, more frequent milking results in more milk. Even at once a day, I get more milk from our Nubians than our family can use.

So what do I do with the surplus? I feed it to the chickens. Goat milk benefits them, as well.

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Whenever I clean out the goats’ manger, or hay feeder, I save the fines — those bits of plant leaves and seeds that accumulate at the bottom of the manger. Whenever I have extra milk, I mix in a handful of fines and let the milk ferment overnight. By morning it has turned to a soft cheese-like consistency with a divinely herbal odor. As tempting as it smells, I’ve never tasted it, but my chickens mob me when they see the milk bucket coming. The fines are nutritious, the fermented milk is nutritious, and the combination helps reduce the cost of buying commercial layer ration.

Clean-Up Crew

To my knowledge, no one has found an easy way to “housebreak” goats so they don’t mess up their bedding with manure and urine. My goats, in fact, will come in fresh from the pasture and promptly “do their duty” the moment they step inside the door — the more so if the stall was recently cleaned. Chickens help reduce the resulting population of flies and other pesky bugs. And they will eat any slugs or snails that wander through the grazing area, helping protect the goats from the nasty parasite known as deer worm. For more on deer worm in sheep and goats, see the Sept/Oct 2015 issue of Countryside.

Chickens also enjoy playing keep-away with any hapless mouse that might be attracted by the nesting possibilities provided by hay, as well as free meals of goat chow. Another way chickens discourage mice is by cleaning up spilled goat ration.

Dairy goats, being notoriously finicky eaters, may suddenly turn up their noses at the same goat chow they’ve been bolting down for months. Chickens, on the other hand, are much less fussy and are more than happy to clean up any leftover or spilled ration. While goat feed isn’t a balanced ration for chickens, eating it occasionally, along with everything else the chickens glean by foraging, adds variety to their regular layer ration.

The real trick is to keep the chickens out of the goat barn, and the goats out of the chicken coop.

Chickens Are Messy

On the downside, chickens are not particular about where they poop, and if they happen to be perching on the edge of the goat manger, their deposits are liable to land in the goats’ hay. Being picky eaters, the goats will stop eating hay until the manger is cleaned out (and, if necessary, scrubbed clean) and fresh hay is furnished. Not only is a lot of hay wasted, but you end up having to deal with all that waste hay. Composting is, of course, a sensible option, but trucking out wheelbarrow loads of hay, rain or shine, gets old fast.

The water bucket is another potential source of contamination. A chicken will get poop into the water by roosting on the edge of the bucket with its tail hanging over the water or will drop poop from its feet by standing on the rim of the bucket to drink. Dairy goats need lots of fresh water to produce lots of milk, but if the water is the slightest bit off, they stop drinking.

Chickens don’t just contribute their own poop, they soil the bedding by stirring up the goats’ contributions. While eating from the manger, my goats pull out occasional bits of hay and drop them in the stall, giving themselves a clean bedding surface to lie on. But in scratching through bedding for bugs and their larva, the chickens churn up soiled bedding from underneath. And, if they are allowed to roost in the rafters during the night, the chickens will rain down poop on the sleeping goats. P.U!

Hens Lay Eggs

Yes, that’s what you keep them for. But given the choice between laying their eggs in the nests you furnish or laying in the hay manger, hens will choose the nice soft hay in the manger every time. If you’re lucky, you’ll gather up the eggs before any get broken.

Who breaks the eggs? Who knows. Sometimes they get broken by two hens squabbling over a choice corner of the manger. Sometimes a layer gets nudged in the butt by a curious goat and accidentally smashes the egg she just laid. Sometimes a goat upsets the eggs by rummaging in the manger for the finest bits of hay. Broken eggs make a mess. Messy hay means more hay wasted.

Goat Behavior And Misbehavior

Goats, especially young ones, can get pretty frisky. Any chicken that is unfortunate enough to be in the way when a goat literally bounces off the barn wall may get landed on. Luckily, chickens are pretty nimble, minimizing the chance of incurring lameness or any other serious injury. In 30 years of keeping goats with chickens, I have never had a chicken injured by a goat — to my knowledge.

However, not all chicken and goat keepers have been so lucky. Baby chicks are especially in danger of being stepped on. But even a grown chicken can get trampled by a herd of goats romping across the yard.

A playful goat may head-butt a chicken. The goat does it in fun, but for the chicken it can be lethal. Most goats wouldn’t deliberately harm a chicken, but accidents can and do happen.

Turnabout is fair play. Goats, being eternally curious, might want a close look at a hen that’s foraging in the bedding or laying an egg in the manger. For its trouble, the goat may get a sharp peck on the muzzle.

One of the biggest issues of keeping goats with chickens is that goats love chicken feed. A goat will stretch its neck and reach with its tongue trying to empty a just-out-of-range chicken feeder. A goat that’s small enough to fit will squeeze through a pophole door to clean out a feeder inside the coop. Eating a little chicken feed once in a while won’t hurt a goat, but goats don’t know when to stop, and eating a lot of chicken ration can cause serious health issues.

Shared Diseases

Goats and chickens are both susceptible to the devastating protozoal disease coccidiosis. However, coccidiosis is host specific, meaning the protozoa that infect chickens do not infect goats, and conversely, the protozoa that infect goats do not infect chickens. So contrary to common belief, chickens cannot get coccidiosis from goats, and goats cannot get coccidiosis from chickens. However, other diseases are of potential concern.

One such disease is cryptosporidiosis, caused by the protozoan cryptosporidia. These intestinal chicken parasites affect both birds and mammals. Unlike coccidia, they are not host specific, meaning chickens can get crypto from infected goats, and goats can get crypto from infected chickens. Crypto is not uncommon in confined young chickens and can be disastrous for baby goats.

Another potential health issue of keeping goats with chickens is salmonella bacteria, which live in the intestines of chickens (and other animals). Since chickens are not particular about where they poop, a doe’s udder can get filthy when the goat rests in soiled bedding. A kid that subsequently nurses from such a goat can get a lethal dose of salmonella. Not only that but if you’re not meticulous about cleaning your does before each milking, some of that poop may end up in your milk pail.

The Solution

Despite all these problems, lots of people have managed keeping goats with chickens. The solution is to provide them with separate housing, encourage the chickens to sleep in their own quarters at night, but allow them to share the same pastures during the day. The real trick is to keep the chickens out of the goat barn, and the goats out of the chicken coop.

Unless you have a big enough yard to entirely separate the chicken area from the goat area, keeping chickens out of the goats’ quarters is no easy task. Somewhat helpful is confining the chickens to their own quarters until they know where they’re supposed to sleep at night. When they are eventually let out to forage during the day, they will return to their own coop at night. That, at least, solves the problem of chickens sleeping in the goats’ manger or up in the rafters.

My chickens have their own coop at one end of the barn, while the goats live at the other end. When I start each year’s new flock of layers, sometimes the hens will take the better part of a year to find their way into the goat’s quarters; other years they make the discovery in a flash. Many times one exploring hen or rooster discovers the goat stall, and in short order shares the exciting find with numerous flock mates. Catching that first bird in the act and finding it a new home can delay mass migration by others.

Keeping goats out of the chicken coop is the easier part of the deal. Most mature goats can’t fit through a pophole-size doorway. Where miniature goats or young kids are involved, some engineering may be required — for instance, making the pophole just wide enough for one chicken at a time to squeeze through, or elevating the doorway with access via a series of perches designed to defy a goat’s notorious climbing abilities.

Bottom line: Although housing chickens and goats together is a bad idea, keeping goats with chickens on the same property, and letting them share the same foraging areas, can be successfully done. By using a little creativity — to encourage the chickens to stay out of the goat’s quarters, and the goats to stay out of the chicken’s quarters — chickens and goats can and will coexist peacefully.

Are you keeping goats with chickens? Tell us about your experiences.

Gail Damerow is the author of The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals as well as several volumes on chicken keeping including The Chicken Encyclopedia, The Chicken Health Handbook, Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks, and the classic Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. Gail’s books are available from our bookstore.

Originally published in Backyard Poultry October/November 2015 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Keeping Goats With Chickens was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Baby Chick Health 101

Chick season is fun, but make sure you're prepared to welcome new chicks to your backyard and keep them healthy. Good baby chick health early on gives your birds the building blocks they need to become healthy adults.

Be Sure You’re Ready One of the most important steps you can take for your birds is to be prepared and know what type of commitment you’re making before you purchase your birds. “These birds are your pets. This is an investment for the long term. People should consider not just buying them at the holidays and think that this a short-term situation. These birds can live for two to three years or up to eight years. It’s not just to get the birds for maybe teaching children about chicks when they’re young and then, in essence, discarding them,” said Dr. Sherrill Davison, director of the Laboratory of Avian Medicine and Pathology at Penn Vet.” Just as if you would purchase a dog or cat, horse or cow, or any other animal, it truly is important to understand that these are animals and that they need care and that care could be a long-term situation. They need to understand that before they go into this.” While the cost of purchasing an individual baby chick is relatively low, there’s more to consider. “I’ve had people say to me that it only costs a few dollars for this bird and they put the value of that animal’s life based on the monetary value, and I think people need to understand that that’s not the way you should be looking at this before you go in. And to truly understand the costs that you may incur with the coops, the feed, the care, and that it does take work to keep the chickens clean and to be able to feed them,” said Davison.

Getting Your Birds and Vaccinations Lots of folks get their day-old chicks from their local feed store and others purchase directly from a hatchery. If you’re making that direct purchase, you’ll have some choices about order minimums, heat packs if you’re shipping in cold weather and available vaccines. If the birds come from a feed store, those choices have been made for you, but don’t be too shy to ask where the birds have been purchased and whether they have been vaccinated or not.

What is Marek’s Disease? Marek’s disease (MD) is a viral, tumor-causing disease that is found worldwide and is so common that most people consider their birds have been exposed whether they show symptoms or not. Only a small portion of exposed birds actually develop the disease. Marek’s disease is highly contagious and is transmitted from bird to bird contact, especially through feather dander and dust. There are four forms of Marek’s disease — skin, nerve, eye, and internal organ. Marek’s disease is nearly always fatal.

For many, the question of whether to vaccinate or not can be tough. Dr. Davison recommends choosing to vaccinate for Marek’s disease. “The only vaccine I would do would be the Marek’s vaccine. That’s given at the hatchery at a day of age,” she said. “I get concerned. You’ll have flocks of birds that never have Marek’s and will potentially never get it. But my concern is the many clients that come here with birds that have to be euthanized because they’re paralyzed and they didn’t get the vaccine. I would prefer them just to have gotten the vaccine and not have to worry about the heartbreak of losing the bird.” Whether your birds are vaccinated or not, proper sanitation is the key to baby chick health and long-term health. “It’s not just getting the vaccine, the second part of the control of Marek’s disease is the sanitation of the coop. If you don’t clean the coop properly and you let things build up, that virus can build up and actually overcome vaccination. So it’s a two-fold approach, you need the vaccine, but you also need the sanitation.”

Getting Set Up and Proper Sanitation Once you’re ready to take the plunge, it’s best to have everything ready and waiting for the day your new chicks arrive.

Baby Chick Health Essential Equipment Brooder Space needed will increase as chicks grow. A minimum of two to three square feet is needed, per chick, from hatch to six weeks old. Six to 10 square feet per chick is needed from six weeks and up. Heat Source Heat lamps are commonly used. Beware of the fire hazard. Brooder plates use less electricity and have less fire hazard threat. Thermometer The temperature should be measured on the brooder floor where chicks are located. Feeder and Waterer Special chick-sized equipment for water and food is available. Bedding Wood shavings work well. Place four to six inches on the floor of the brooder.

“I think the key problem that I’m seeing with baby chicks is they don’t truly have the proper set up with the appropriate heat and the appropriate enclosure. The important thing is to start these birds off correctly,” said Davison. In addition to the right equipment, cleanliness is a must for good baby chick health. “Proper cleanliness of the brooder area is essential because they (baby chicks) can get bacterial infections or the fungal infection, aspergillosis. And they’re very susceptible at a young age to those two diseases. They’re very small so the dose of what they could breathe in could overcome or overwhelm them at a higher rate than an adult would,” said Davison.

What is Aspergillosis? Aspergillosis is sometimes called brooder pneumonia. This is primarily a lung and air-sac disease of chicks. Affected chicks will gasp, lose their appetite, and look sleepy. The disease spreads through the mold, not from chick-to-chick. There is no effective drug treatment or vaccination. Chicks must be nursed back to health and the mold must be removed.

Feeding Your Chicks One of the first decisions you’ll need to make for your chicks is what to feed them. Chicks should be fed chick starter until they are of laying age, usually around 18 to 21 weeks. If you have a flock of mixed ages, everyone should be switched to starter feed. The starter feed won’t hurt the adult chickens, but the added calcium in layer feed can hurt the chicks. There are choices with chick starter — medicated or non-medicated. The difference between the two feeds is the addition of amprolium in the medicated starter feed. This reduces the number of coccidia eggs that can live in a baby chick and reduces the chance of young chickens developing coccidiosis.

What is Coccidiosis? Coccidiosis is caused by the microscopic coccidia parasite that, unchecked, can damage the gut wall of a chicken when it multiplies to overwhelming numbers in the digestive tract. Outward signs of this disease include chicks that are pale and droopy with ruffled feathers and a lack of appetite. Sick chicks will pass bloody or watery diarrhea. Coccidiosis can lead to poor growth and death.

Medicated feed has its opponents, and not all choose to use it, so it’s important to understand how to prevent your chickens from getting coccidiosis. “The key here is dry litter and making sure you keep things dry and clean because what will happen is coccidia like to multiply in warm, moist areas. And a chicken coop is a wonderful environment for it to multiply in because of the warm, moist environment,” said Davison. “Coccidia is picked up by the chicken eating pieces of litter, which they will do, and then the coccidia goes in and starts multiplying and then they’ll (chicks) excrete more coccidia in their feces and then they’ll pick up more and it just keeps building up and building up until the birds get sick. A little coccidia is ok. Because it will, in essence, immunize themselves against the coccidia, too much is bad.” Some believe bringing dirt from outside into the brooder allows baby chicks to develop gradual immunity. “You don’t know what too much is if you’re bringing dirt in. And you also have the potential for other problems. Are you bringing dirt in or are you bringing in salmonella? If you bring dirt in, are you bringing in E. coli? You’re bringing in things that you may not want to bring in at such a young age because the baby chicks are more susceptible to multiple diseases at that age. What you do is you slowly introduce them to the environment when they’re older and then they have more of an immune status and they can handle more of the coccidia and handle more of the E. coli or whatever else is in the environment.” Heading Outside The ultimate goal for your chicks is to live in the backyard and as they get older, you’ll want them to go outside. But when is that possible? “The birds during the first couple weeks of life cannot maintain their temperature. And so you do want to keep them in for at least the first three to four weeks of age. You want to keep them in, keep them warm, and make sure that they’re eating and all that,” said Davison. “Then when they’re about five to six weeks of age, if you want them out for a brief visit, that’s great.” Davison recommends the temperature outside for first visits should be at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit. “Watch carefully, see how they’re doing, if they’re shivering and huddling with each other, then it’s too cold for them. And I think that’s key. The birds will tell you whether they’re uncomfortable. If they’re huddling in an area, that means they’re cold. If they’re spread out, then they’re doing ok. You have to watch the attitude of the bird,” she said. Chicks hatched in the spring can begin to live outside full-time around nine to 10 weeks of age, but it may take longer if you’ve gotten chicks in the winter. Davison advises to carefully watch the night temperatures which can be fickle in the spring. “With the young ones, because they just don’t have a lot of body mass, I would suggest no lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s sort of my breaking point,” she said. ***Originally published in Backyard Poultry magazine April/May 2018 and updated as needed.*** Baby Chick Health 101 was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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What’s in Your Beekeeping Smoker?

When our son first started keeping bees I had no idea what a beekeeping smoker was used for or what to put in the smoker. The smoker is really a beekeeper’s best friend but there is a learning curve to using it. There is also a wide variety of items you can use in your smoker; many of them are probably already growing on your property.

The beekeeping smoker hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years. It’s basically a metal can which is called the fire chamber. The can has a hinged, directional spout which acts like a chimney and bellows for circulating air through the fire chamber.

Why a Beekeeping Smoker is Important

Smoking a beehive allows a beekeeper to work in the hive in relative peace. That’s the reason for the smoke. Honeybees communicate by releasing pheromones which are chemical substances that have a distinct odor. The smoke covers up the odor and the bees cannot communicate.

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When the beehive is being smoked, some bees will retreat into the farthest corners of the hive away from the smoke. For some bees, the smoke will cause them to find uncapped honey and start eating. That way if the hive is destroyed the bee will have some food for survival. The guard bees will usually just fly around over the hive.

The smoke will confuse the bees for a while but after some time they’ll start flying again. Try to keep the hive open for no more than 10-15 minutes, even less if the temperatures are below 55° F.

Lighting the Beekeeping Smoker

When you light the smoker you want to have fuel in it that will produce smoke, not something that just catches on fire and burns up quickly. You will want the smoke to be cool and not hot when you smoke the bees.

To start with, you need something that will act as tinder and light easily. Some people like to use a bit of newspaper, hay or dried pine needles. Put the lit newspaper or a handful of lit dried pine needles into the smoker and give the bellows a couple of puffs. You can also use sawdust, leaves or punk wood which is rotted wood that will crumble in your hand. Untreated burlap or bailing twine are also good choices.

Once the tinder is lit, put something in the smoker to act as coal. It doesn’t need to be big. It can be twigs, wood chips or even a pine cone. This will help it burn slower. Make sure that you give the bellows a couple of puffs after adding anything into the smoker. This will keep oxygen running through the smoker and keep the fire lit.

Lastly, pack the smoker tight with something like leaves or pine needles. Allow the smoker to sit for five to 10 minutes, puffing every few minutes. Once the smoke is cool, it’s ready to use.

Resinous materials will also help the smoker burn longer, you can use pine needles, eucalyptus leaves, rosemary, lavender or even orange peels.

Some people like to add herbs to the smoker for the pleasant aroma. Herbs such as basil, oregano, sage, rose, fennel, dill or coriander are great choices. So, make sure to include planting herbs in your beehive plans, not only will they be great for the forager bees but you can also use them in the smoker.

If the smoker was packed tightly it should smolder for quite a while. If it seems to go out, give it a few rapid puffs which should get the smoldering coals going again.

There are some things you should not ever use in a smoker. You should not ever use anything that is synthetic or has been treated with chemicals. If you use burlap or bailing twine, make sure you know if it’s been treated against rotting quickly. Be sure not to use treated wood or wood from pallets unless you know for sure it’s untreated wood. Don’t use gasoline or any kind of petroleum product.

Using the Beekeeping Smoker

Once the smoker is lit and is producing cool, white smoke it’s ready to use.

It’s best to use slow, long puffs instead of short, quick puffs to smoke the bees. First, smoke the opening and then raise the cover and smoke the top of the hive.

It should only take a few puffs to subdue the bees. It is possible to use too much smoke and wind up with smoky honey and smoky comb. Not over smoking is especially important if you are using a DIY honey extractor and crushing the comb. Heavy smoking can cause soot particles to stick to freshly capped comb which will mix with the honey when it’s crushed.

You can also puff some smoke on yourself if the bees are a little too interested in you.

When learning how to start a honey bee farm, it’s easy to overlook the need to learn new skills before we actually need to use them. Lighting a smoker and keeping it lit can take some practice so if you don’t get it right the first time, just dump out the contents of the smoker and try again. It’s best to practice a few times before you need to use the smoker so you know you can keep it lit for at least 10 minutes when you need to.

When you’re done working with the smoker and it’s still lit and smoking, you can snuff it out by putting a cork in the chimney. Without oxygen, the fire will go out in few minutes. Once the smoker is completely cooled off, you can safely empty the smoker and put it away.

As you can see from the photos, we use pine needles and pine cones since that is what we readily have on our property. What do have on our property you can use in your beekeeping smoker?

What’s in Your Beekeeping Smoker? was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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How to Shear a Sheep and Other Fiber Animals

Learning how to shear a sheep takes practice and time. Before you head out to buy sheep shearing supplies try to observe a professional sheep shearer and ask questions. The first few times are going to be a little frustrating unless you learn the basics of handling the sheep, what shearing supplies to purchase, and how to use them. Skilled sheep shearers make flipping a sheep look easy because they do hundreds of sheep a week during peak shearing season. Shearing is something that cannot be avoided when you raise sheep unless you are raising the hair breeds such as Barbados Blackbelly, or Katahdin sheep. Even those who raise Suffolk sheep, primarily for market lambs, still need to shear sheep yearly for the health and well-being of the flock.

Most sheep are shorn in the early spring before the heat builds and the flies hatch. There are reasons why early spring shearing is the time most shepherds choose.

Wool continues to grow if not shorn, making the sheep uncomfortable. The heavy wool begins to pull on the skin and can lead to skin sores. Those sores can attract flies, leading to possible fly strike.

Unshorn sheep become itchy in the heat and begin rubbing on hay racks, fences and each other. This can lead to fence damage and damaged fleece. Rubbing the wool causes the fleece to felt on the sheep’s body.

Flystrike. The dirty unshorn wool invites flies. Shearing the wool before the flies hatch, gets rid of the dirty soiled fleece. Any cuts or abrasions that occur during shearing will heal quickly before fly season.

Early shearing gives the shepherd a chance to assess the animal’s condition after the winter. Condition refers to the animal’s weight, and also health. Check eyes, ears, body mass, feet, and tail area. Check for redness or irritation in the genital and urethra area.

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Unless you are trained, sheep shearing is better when performed by a skilled professional. This does not mean you can’t learn! There is much that can be learned by shearing with a skilled shearer by your side to guide you. Observing would be the first step in learning how to shear a sheep. Remember that the skilled shearer will make the job look rather easy. The job is quite taxing physically. If you don’t feel able to handle the physical requirement of the job, it might be better to hire a professional.

Having Supplies Ready will Make Shearing Day More Pleasant

Whether you hire a professional or choose to do the job yourself, get all your shearing supplies ready before you start. Have a favorite treat for your animals nearby too. Lay out a large tarp to work on. You can learn how to shear a sheep with a shearing machine, or with manual sheep shears. Learning how to shear a sheep using different equipment will make you an even better shearer.

Equipment and Supplies to Gather

Large tarp to cover the ground and catch the fleece as it falls

Plastic bags for temporary clean storage

Animal treats

Water for you

Broom for sweeping between animals

Extension cord for the shearing clippers

Blue-Kote, Swat, Cornstarch in case of accidental cuts or scratches

Scissors for cleaning up around ears, tail other small areas

The Shearing Clippers

It is important to note and discuss that the clippers used to shear wool-yielding animals are not the same as clippers used on dogs, horses or other pets. Sheep shearing equipment is expensive and care should be taken of the clippers during shearing day and after. The clippers require a cutting blade and a shearing comb. Often the combs are designed for particular types of fleece. Before purchasing, learn which fleece type you have and then purchase the combs that most closely match your animal’s fleece.

Young farmer shearing sheep for wool in barn

How to Shear a Sheep

The optimal result for a fleece that will be sought after by spinners and crafters is one that is removed in one piece. Often referred to as “unzipping” the fleece, the shearer will begin by flipping the sheep onto its backside so it is sitting like a dog, but leaning back onto the shearer’s legs.

The brisket or chest area is sheared first. Stay close to the animal’s body while avoiding going over the same area twice. That is called second cuts and those will reduce the value of your fleece. Hand spinners do not want the short second cuts as they spin and the commercial machines often can’t make a good roving out of fleece with second cuts in it. After the chest, and lower neck area, the shearer will work down one side of the animal, the flank on one side and then part of the back. The fleece is still in one piece as the shearer shifts the sheep to the other side and repeats the process, eventually leading to a release of the full fleece. After removing the fleece from the area the shearer will go back over the lower legs, dock area, and crotch to remove the soiled wool. This is usually discarded.

Sheep shearing jobs are often plentiful in the spring. Learning how to shear a sheep may be a good way to supplement your income.

Now you have your beautiful, homegrown fleece, ready to be further crafted into roving, felted mats, clouds of fiber and a wide variety and styles of yarns. The fleece will need some processing first, however.

Shearing Other Wool-Bearing Animals

Once you understand the basics of shearing and how to shear a sheep, you won’t have any problem learning to shear other fiber animals. Llamas, Alpacas, Angora and Pygora goats also require an annual or twice-yearly shearing. The process can be similar although quite a few professional shearers use a mat system when shearing the goats and alpacas and llamas. This system stretches the animal out on its side for shearing, the animal is flipped to the other side and the process is completed.

Another method uses a stand similar to a milking stand. When shearing this way, the animal is sheared down both sides individually. Since goat fiber is not usually released as a single fleece anyway, this works out well if you are not able to flip the animal and handle the animal while shearing.

Steps for Cleaning The Fleece

If you are having the fleece commercially processed by a fiber mill, you only need to remove large pieces of debris from the fleece before rolling it up and storing it.

Selling the fleece yourself will require a few more steps to make it attractive to the hand spinning community. Washing the fleece is done in a really large tub. You need room for the fleece to soak in the water without it being agitated which leads to felting. I recommend a 40 gallon or larger tub. Use hot water for the first wash with your choice of wool detergent. When rinsing and draining the fleece be careful to not twist or scrub the fleece. Gently press the water out. Refill the tub with slightly warm water and repeat the process. Repeat the process until the water is clear. Using a cup of white vinegar during one of the final rinses will help remove some soap residue. Lay the fleece out on a screened table to dry. Occasionally fluff the fleece to help the air circulate. When the fleece is completely dry it is ready to be sold or stored for further processing. Storing in a cloth bag is better than a plastic bag. Adding some fresh lavender in a mesh bag while storing will help repel pests and rodents.

What Can You do with the Wool Fleece?

Many craft styles are possible from this point. Learning to spin, felt, knit, crochet and weave are a few skills to try. At some point, you may want to try your hand at using natural dyes for wool. So many colors can be found in nature. Perhaps you will want to start a garden specifically as a dyers garden and harvest beautiful colors for your yarns. The journey from sheep to yarn has been extremely enjoyable for us. There are unlimited directions and paths to take when starting the journey of raising sheep and learning how to shear a sheep for your fiber needs.

Originally published in 2016 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

How to Shear a Sheep and Other Fiber Animals was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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An Overview of What to Feed Chickens

When you first get a flock of backyard chickens, it’s natural to wonder just what to feed chickens. You grab a bag of starter feed, but what happens next?

It’s important to understand that commercial chicken feeds now are nothing like commercial feeds from the past. Many of the old feeds contained things you just don’t want to explore. But today’s feeds contain clearly stated ingredients that support a well-balanced diet and should make up the bulk of your backyard chicken’s feeding routine.

Chick Starter Feed

Let’s begin with starter feed. You went home with a bag of it, but what’s really in it? Starter feed is a higher protein feed that’s designed to support the growth needs of a chick. Most starter feeds are around 18 percent protein. It’s recommended that chicks stay on starter for 16 to 18 weeks.

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The big choice with starter feeds is whether you feed one that’s medicated or not. This is a hotly debated subject in the chicken world and it centers around what is widely regarded as the number one killer of baby chicks, coccidiosis. This is a highly contagious parasitic disease that kills quickly and moves through a flock at high speed. It’s important to understand the difference between the feeds and make a choice that’s comfortable for you. Plain starter feeds contain no medicines, just feed. If your chicks have been vaccinated for coccidiosis, then this is the feed for you. Medicated starter feeds usually contain Amprolium which is a coccidiostat that reduces the growth of coccidia oocysts. This lets unvaccinated chicks get past a vulnerable time and keeps the coccidia oocysts from overwhelming them as they grow into adults and develop their immunities. Some folks are strongly against giving any type of medicine to their chicks. They prefer a natural approach and say that if you keep the brooder clean, there’s no need to worry. Others say no need to use preventative measures, but treat for the problem if it arises.

Layer Feed

After 16 to 18 weeks, your chicks move into their egg laying cycles. They need a little less protein and more calcium to support healthy egg development. If you’re wondering what can chickens eat at this stage, this is when you switch from starter to layer feed. There are many choices in this area; you can find feeds with marigold extract for a stronger yellow egg yolk. You can find feeds with extra calcium additives for strong egg shells. No matter what brand you choose, there are two main feed forms – pellets and crumbles. Pellets are said to reduce waste around the feeder as food gets dropped. Crumbles are said to be more messy. In the opinion of my flock, they prefer crumbles. In fact, they are insistent about their preference! The only time I can feed them pellets is when I give them a feather fixer feed that comes only in pellet form. They’ll eat those pellets, but no others. There is a third, less popular, form of feed called mash. This usually comes directly from your local feed mills and is a more powdery crumble. If you can find a good local mill, it’s a great place to get ultra-fresh chicken feed. I have one nearby and my chickens can’t get enough of their feed!

It’s important not to stress about what form of feed to use. They all fit comfortably under the heading of what to feed chickens for a balanced diet. Let your flock guide your choice. If you’re just starting out, grab a couple bags and see what your flock prefers. There’s no right or wrong answer. And frankly, food messes can be handled in many different ways so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If you’re wondering how much should I feed my chickens, it’s best to leave feeders out throughout the day letting the chickens eat as they need.

Treats and Supplements

Laying hens use the calcium from their bodies to form eggs. It’s important they get enough in their diet so they don’t have to deplete themselves. If you’re using an ultra-specialized calcium fortified feed, then you may not have to worry about supplementing calcium. If not, then it’s good to offer calcium free choice. You can buy oyster shells, but my chickens just don’t like them. I’ve had chickens for years and none of them will eat oyster shells. So, I feed my chickens their own shells. I save the shells after I’ve used the eggs. I rinse them and then microwave them for a few seconds to make them crunchy. Then I crumble them up and offer them in a separate bowl or mix them with their layer feed.

Treats from the kitchen are a great way to recycle your leftovers. They are fun for your chickens and for you, just make sure they don’t become the bulk of your chicken’s diet. A good rule of thumb is treats should be no more than 10% of a chicken’s total diet. Other products such as dried mealworms and insects make a great protein boost and boredom buster. Extra protein is especially important during molt to help your chickens stay healthy and grow new feathers and in winter when your chickens may not get out as much and pickings are slim in the yard.

Today’s commercial feed and treat choices take much of the guesswork out of what to feed chickens to help backyard flocks be more healthy and productive.

What form of food do your chickens prefer; pellets, crumbles or mash? Do you feed mealworms and other treats to your flock? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

An Overview of What to Feed Chickens was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Driveway Graders For Small Farm Tractors

A driveway grader implement is one of those often forgotten but surprisingly useful compact tractor implements. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have homesteads with any appreciable amount of acreage can agree; long dirt driveways can be challenging. Erosion, traffic, rutting, and the effects of snow plowing can wreak havoc on your dirt or gravel driveway.

The only way to keep these surfaces in traversable condition is to maintain them, which requires the right tools. Like any job, some tools work better than others and your needs will largely dictate which tool you choose. Let’s talk about some tractor implements available and which job they fit best.

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Chain Drags

If you don’t have a tractor with a three-point hitch, this is likely your best method of grooming your driveway. A chain drag (or drag harrow) is a driveway grader that you quite literally drag behind your tractor, or truck if need be. Many farmers make a simple one from a section of chain link fence. It’s a simple tool, but it’s limited in what it can do.

Much like taking an army of rake-wielding landscapers to your driveway, a chain drag effectively rakes the ground lightly. A chain drag is not a particularly aggressive implement, which is why it will take several passes to accomplish the desired result. Chain drags don’t handle heavy ruts or severe crowns well, so groom your driveway regularly to keep ahead of it.

Landscape Rakes

Three-point rakes are a versatile implement that I find myself using often. From tidying up the driveway to raking freshly cleared land, the landscape rake is my go-to tool.

Your standard landscape rake is a simple affair, consisting of flexible tines attached to a bar. That bar can angle from side to side to allow the operator to cast material to one side of their path. All other adjustments of a landscape rake come from your tractor, such as pitch angle and downforce.

York rakes make for a great multi-purpose implement and do a great job of resurfacing loose material. Most dirt and gravel driveways are easily resurfaced with this type of driveway grader, but particularly hard surfaces are not easily dealt with.

Grader Blades

Much like the professional road graders used by your town or state Department of Transportation, three-point grader blade implements feature an adjustable blade that can aggressively cut dirt or gravel surfaces. When you have a severely damaged or neglected driveway, this is a great tool to have.

Just like a York rake, you have the option to angle these blades side to side. Your pitch, downforce and all other adjustments are still handled by your three-point hitch. Unlike the York, this style of driveway grader features what looks like a short snow plow instead of rake tines. When you trade flexible rake tines for a stiff blade with a proper cutting edge, you gain a more aggressive cut, which may or may not be a great choice for you.

If your driveway simply needs a little grooming then this driveway grader is likely too aggressive for you. If you have big stones lurking under the immediate surface of your driveway, you may catch one big enough to stop your machine dead in its tracks. If your driveway has a tendency to develop big potholes, pronounced crowns between tire ruts, or you see sections getting washed out a lot, then this is a great tool for you. Also, if you need to pitch your driveway surface or add drainage ditches, then a grader blade will do wonders.

Scraper Boxes

If you think grader blades make for an aggressive driveway grader, then you’ve never met one of these monsters. Scraper boxes are an aggressive earth-moving device that does the job very well, likely too well for most people.

Scraper boxes look much like they sound; it’s a big box of unforgiving steel. Grader boxes have no angle adjustments with exception to the pitch your three-point hitch gives it. Imagine a grader blade that’s been boxed in, then a set of really aggressive tines are set in front of that blade and now you have a pretty good idea of a grader box.

If your driveway is soft dirt or relatively loose gravel, then this is the wrong tool for you. Scraper boxes are king when it comes to hardpan and clay. The aggressive nature of the tines makes it easier to break the surface, unlike a rake or drag harrow which would simply skate across a hard surface.

This style of driveway grader is yet another option. It features two blades and tines like a grader box. This style of driveway grader is slowly catching on but is not widely popular yet.

Driveway Grader Options

Before blindly buying an implement, ask around. Someone in your area is bound to have one of these implements, so ask how well they perform. Is your driveway soft and sandy? If so, a driveway drag harrow will probably do just fine.

Do you have stiff dirt or stone? Do you need the tines to give way to big rocks lurking in the surface? If that’s the case, then a landscape rake will be a great start for you.

Does your driveway have some severe crowns? Do you need the ability to pitch the surface one way or another? Do you have drainage ditches you need to re-carve? Then a grader blade sounds like the right tool for the job.

Lastly, if you have a really hard surface like clay or some sort of hardpan material, then you probably need to reach for the big guns. A scraper box will prove to be an aggressive implement, but with practice and finesse, you can achieve some great results. If you do need such a tool, consider using a York rake in conjunction with it to smooth things out after roughing it all up.

Do you have a favorite driveway grader? Found the system that works best for you? Let us know in the comments below and share your experiences with us!

Driveway Graders For Small Farm Tractors was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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Pregnant Goat Care

It’s that time of year when many goat owners focus on pregnant goat care, as they’re either preparing to breed or have already bred their does. Spring kidding is one of my favorite times of the year on the farm and there is much to do to prepare yourself and your doe for the new arrivals. Some of that goat pregnancy preparation should have started before your doe was even bred. Goat gestation may only be five months, but pregnant goat care really begins months before your doe ever meets the buck! Below I’ve put together a timeline with the most important things to remember as you prepare for having a pregnant goat. Care needs to be taken at every step of the process. While this article is geared toward dairy goats, most of the principles will still apply for meat, fiber, and pet goats.

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Prior to Breeding:

Pregnant goat care begins before you even breed your goat! First, be sure she’s at a healthy weight before you have her bred. Overweight goats have a harder time getting pregnant and may have a more uncomfortable pregnancy while underweight goats will have difficulty putting on any weight once they are growing a baby, and even a harder time gaining once they are in milk. So your best bet is to get them to an optimal weight before you breed them. I, personally, like to have a little excess weight on my heavier milkers before I breed them because I know once they are in milk it will be nearly impossible to increase or even maintain weight.

Always important for your goats is adequate shelter from the wind, rain, or snow as well as from extreme sun and heat. But it’s even more important to be sure they can stay comfortable during the five months they are pregnant. In addition to adequate shelter, you’ll also want your doe to be as healthy as possible before she is bred. Keeping her up-to-date on vaccinations and worming is especially important before her body goes through the stress of a pregnancy.

I’ve made the mistake before of not handling my yearlings quite enough before they are bred, and then once they kid I find it really hard to work with these new mamas with their raging hormones and confusion about having a little one (or more) to care for. I’ve found it’s really worth the investment of time to be sure my young does know how to lead and get handled, jump up on a stand for foot trims, clipping, and other procedures, and in general that they are calm and well-behaved. And speaking of foot trims, this is incredibly important for breeding goats. Trim your goats’ hooves every 6-8 weeks from the time they are kids so that their foot grows properly and can support the added weight that will come with bearing kids.

It’s also a good idea to track your doe’s heat cycles so you know when she’ll be ready to breed and can plan the timing of the kidding dates to fit your needs. You’ll also start to know how that particular doe behaves when she is in heat — some are loud and obvious and others are a bit more sly. By tracking the heat cycles you’ll be ready to breed when the time comes.

Once Bred:

It is important not to stress your does out between 2-3 weeks post-breeding as this is the time when the embryos are implanting and pregnancy is beginning. Try to limit stressful changes to your doe’s routines and avoid any travel with her during this time.

Once your doe is bred it will be more important than ever that she has high quality hay or alfalfa as well as free-choice minerals. Healthy mamas make healthy babies! If you want to confirm your doe’s pregnancy you can do this at 30 days with a blood test (sample sent to a lab) or with an ultrasound at 40 days post-breeding. I like to do the blood test at 30 days and at the same time have the lab run a CAE test. If you’re not familiar with caprine arthritis encephalitis, this is an incurable disease that is eventually fatal to goats. The only way to get it out of your herd is to prevent it in the first place. CAE is primarily passed through the mother’s milk so I test everyone when I run pregnancy blood tests so that I know that they are all clear and we don’t accidentally pass the dreaded disease on to new kids if it should happen to occur in a doe.

Two months prior to kidding:

If your doe is still in milk when she is bred, it’s fine to continue milking her for two or three more months, but she should be dry for the last two months of her pregnancy so that all that energy can go to babies. Many breeders like to dry treat does with an intra-mammary infusion to prevent mastitis upon kidding. If you do this, just remember to consider the milk and meat withdrawal times for this medication. And since pregnant goat care includes good conditioning, this is also a good time to adjust her food intake depending on how her weight looks at this stage. If a little underweight, you may start adding a bit more to her diet. If she’s looking extremely large, don’t cut her diet back too far, but don’t overdo it either as this will add to her discomfort and can make for large babies that may be harder to deliver.

One month before kidding:

If your doe has not been eating grain up to this point in her pregnancy, this may be a time to gradually introduce it. Once she is in milk, she will need a lot of extra calories to maintain her milk production, but adding too much grain at one time can lead to bloat or other problems, so use the last month to gradually get her used to a higher volume of richer food. It’s also a good idea to give your doe a CD&T vaccine at this point. Not only is she probably due for her own semi-annual booster, but giving it about a month before kidding will give her kids an added immunity boost until they are old enough to get their own vaccinations.

Don’t forget to include hoof trimming as part of your pregnant goat care plan! I like to trim my does’ hooves about a month before the due date as it will be increasingly difficult for her to jump up onto the stand for trimming the heavier she gets. Growth hormones during pregnancy can make the hooves grow faster, and the added weight she is carrying while pregnant make it all that much more important that she is standing on healthy feet. Another thing I like to do about a month or so before kidding is to trim the long hairs around her tail and back of legs. This makes cleanup after kidding a little easier for everyone!

One week before kidding:

These next few tips are less about pregnant goat care itself as they are about getting yourself ready for the upcoming kidding. The better prepared you are the more likely that your doe will have a calm and successful kidding experience. First, be sure to clean and prepare a kidding stall so that she is comfortable and the kids are born in a somewhat sanitary environment. I prefer not to use shavings as the bedding for the stalls as the babies can inhale the fine wood chips and the shavings will also stick to the wet newborns. Instead, use clean fresh straw for your bedding. You’ll also want to be sure your kidding kit is stocked with all the items you might need, including your vet or a trusted goat mentor’s phone number in case of emergency. It’s also a good idea to have some powdered or frozen colostrum on hand just in case there is any problem with the mother’s milk during the first few hours after birth when it is crucial for the newborn to receive this life-sustaining substance.

A day or two before kidding:

Once you’re within a day or two of your doe’s expected due date, your pregnant goat care shifts to housing. It’s wise to move your doe to a private stall or kidding area with a goat companion for company. She will feel less stressed and the kidding itself will be less chaotic if the whole herd isn’t in her stall pushing and shoving! But since goats are herd animals, you don’t want her to be all alone as that may stress her out. Once she’s settled with a friend, it’s time to start watching for behavioral and physical goat labor signs.

By preparing both yourself and your doe before and throughout her pregnancy, you will be setting her and her new kids up for a healthy and successful start. Soon you’ll be ready for the excitement of the kidding itself and will be welcoming some new little additions to your farm!

Prior to breeding:

Make sure your doe is at a healthy weight

Make sure your doe has adequate shelter

Make sure she is up-to-date on vaccines and if necessary, worming

Work with your doe to be sure she can be easily handled, jump up on milk stand, etc.

Keep feet well-trimmed

Begin tracking heat cycle

Once bred:

Don’t stress her out 2-3 weeks post-breeding

Feed high quality hay and/or alfalfa

Provide free choice minerals

Confirm pregnancy with blood test or ultrasound

Do CAE test

Two months before kidding:

Dry doe off if in milk

Optional: dry treat with intra-mammary infusion

Adjust feed/hay amounts if over or under weight

One month before kidding:

If not currently getting grain, start to gradually introduce grain

Give CD&T vaccine

Trim hooves

Trim long hairs around tail and back of legs

One week before kidding:

Clean/prepare kidding stall

Make sure kidding kit is stocked

Have powdered or frozen colostrum on hand

Have your vet and/or goat mentor’s phone numbers available

A day or two before kidding:

Move doe to a private stall or kidding area with a goat companion for company

Watch for behavioral and physical changes that indicate labor is near

Originally published in the January/February 2019 issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Pregnant Goat Care was originally posted by All About Chickens

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josephkitchen0 · 5 years

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How to Expand Your Flock with the Best Broody Hens

By P. Allen Smith – It’s a great day in Poultryville at Moss Mountain Farm when chicks are running around! I have a soft spot for those baby Henriettas and Amoses, my beloved Buff Orpingtons, and it’s rewarding to see the flock grow.

There are a couple of different ways you can expand your flock, but my go-to is using the best broody hens in my flock. For those who don’t want to expand their flocks, you will have to break the hen of her broodiness. If you’re like me and want to hatch eggs, a broody hen can be your best friend.

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Keep in mind that not all breeds are created equal. Some are more broody than others. Heritage breeds are more broody than hybrids and often make the best broody hens. I have over 60 breeds of heritage poultry at Moss Mountain Farm, and I use certain breeds to take care of the hatching. My Silkies and Buff Orpingtons are broody. The Blue Andalusians and White-Faced Black Spanish … not so much.

These are my top five picks for broody breeds:

Silkies – Who doesn’t love Silkies? They’re the most adorable breed of chicken at the farm (Shhhh! Don’t tell the others.). They’re docile and friendly, making them great pets. Silkies are not prolific egg producers, but they are known for being broody hens and good mothers. As an added bonus, Silkie chickens don’t make a lot of noise, which is ideal if you live in an urban environment.

Orpingtons – I’ve raised Orpington chickens for a long time and highly recommend this breed to people starting a backyard flock. Amos and Henrietta, Buff Orpingtons, are favorites among visitors to the farm. Originally developed as excellent meat birds, these dual-purpose chickens are also good producers of medium to large brown eggs, are good brooders, and excellent mothers. They are hardy and early maturing, adaptable to free range, adaptable to confinement, docile, affectionate, and easily handled.

Cochins – Cochins are popular show birds and excellent brooders. They are good mothers and foster mothers. They are medium producers of brown-tinted eggs and are adaptable to confinement or free range. They’re peaceful and easy to handle.

Australorp – Australorp chickens are known for being good brooders and mothers and excellent producers of medium-sized brown eggs. They mature early and are very cold hardy. They adapt well to confinement or free range and are quiet, docile, and easily handled.

Modern Game – This game bird is a low producer of white to lightly tinted small eggs. They are broody and are protective mothers. They are hardy in heat and are less tolerant of close confinement than other breeds. They need to be active! Originally developed for exhibition, these birds have style!

Buff Orpingtons, like Henrietta, are good brooders and excellent mothers. Credit: Beth Hall

Broody Hens

If you’ve raised chickens long enough, you know a broody hen when you encounter one. There are a few tell-tale signs. She’ll usually start spending most of her time on her nest and will only get up a couple times a day. This is when she’ll eat, drink, and poop. She’ll be eating less than usual, and she will eliminate a lot of waste at one time. You may notice that she is more aggressive with other birds and animals, and with you, especially if you reach for her while she’s on the nest. If you notice that your hen is plucking off her own breast feathers, you’ve got a broody hen on your hands!

We separate broody hens from the rest of the flock to keep the other hens in the flock from settling into the nest and laying, potentially breaking the eggs.

A Silver Spangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben and chicks. Credit: Mark Fonville

The Eggs

You have a couple of options when it comes to getting your hen to sit on fertilized eggs. If you have a rooster, that shouldn’t be a problem. If you don’t, then you need to get eggs that are already fertilized. We have set turkey, duck, and peafowl eggs under chickens with good success.

Now, if this is your first time learning how to hatch chicken eggs with a broody hen, I recommend a trial run. Before committing your best hatching eggs, let her sit on ordinary hatching eggs to see how she does. Sometimes a broody hen will abandon her nest. The best broody hens won’t. It’s best to know what you’re working with, so get to know your hens!

Candling

I recommend checking on the eggs to see how they’re developing on the 10th day. You can do this with an ovascope or special candling flashlight. Even a bright flashlight will do just fine. You’ll want to do this when it’s dark. Holding the egg, shine the light on the bottom of the egg until you can see what’s inside. You should see the embryo with a network of blood vessels extending from it. If not, you can check back after a few more days. If you still don’t see any development or if the egg smells bad, you should remove the egg from the nest.

After day 16 or 17, I recommend that you no longer handle the eggs. They need to be left alone leading up to the hatching day.

Hatching

Once you have the fertilized eggs, wait for the hen to get off the nest and switch out the infertile eggs for the fertile ones. You can expect her to sit on them for exactly 21 days until they hatch. Hatching day is very exciting, but try not to interfere. It’s best to let the mama do her thing! The best broody hens know just what to do.

Once the chicks have arrived, I usually leave them with their mom and the rest of the flock. I find this to be the easiest way for the mother hen and babies to adjust. Some people choose to remove the chicks and raise them in a brooder or to remove the mother and chicks into a separate brooding pen. It’s a matter of personal preference and weighing the pros and cons. If you choose to leave the mother hen and chicks with the flock, be sure to switch the whole flock over to starter feed, since layer pellets are not safe for chicks.

Credit: Jason Masters

The hen will usually take care of protecting her chicks and will make sure that they learn to take care of themselves. When the chicks are ready to live on their own, the hen will usually abandon them and start roosting with members of her flock.

Sometimes a chick and its momma will stay bonded for a long time, and it’s fun to see that bond in action.

This year, at our Spring Poultry Workshop, we’re focusing on heritage breeds. Poultry enthusiasts of all levels will learn how to raise happy, healthy flocks. You can find out more at www.pallensmith.com. We’d love to have you join us.

I wish you success as you expand your own flock of heritage poultry!

Do you have breeds that make the best broody hens in your flock? Let us know in the comments below.

How to Expand Your Flock with the Best Broody Hens was originally posted by All About Chickens

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