Wed, 11 May 2005

Still Learning

Every time I start feeling like a "chicken expert", the little bastards turn around and surprise me. But I can be taught, and am learning, if seemingly a bit slowly.

We received our first order of bulk feed yesterday, and discovered that what I thought was a ton and a half capacity bulk tank is really a six ton tank! The ton of feed that I ordered barely filled to the top of the bottom cone... but it's' going to be used for the laying hens as well as the meat birds, even though it's about a 20% protein mix, supposedly way too "hot" for laying hens.

And it is, too - if those hens are confined. But since mine are totally free range, they eat a lot more low protein vegetable matter (grass and the like) as well as the "scratch" grains that Hammer or the goats drop, and consequently need a bit more of a protein boost than is available in standard layer mash feed. Just boosting the feed has really stabilized egg production.

I may have to revert to a lower protein mix when the bugs come out in full force this summer, but we'll wait and see on that. How does one calculate the protein available in a Japanese beetle, anyway?

We cycled the cattle around yesterday: all of them (my herd and Kevyn's) are here on our pasture now. It was really ready for them - we need to get the sheep back over here too, but that'll have to wait until the lambs are secure enough to travel. A couple of weeks, perhaps.

And I discovered that the old adage "you get what you pay for" is true even when applied to me! I used a new supplier this time for meat chicks, as it was over $100 cheaper than my usual source, and promised a slightly different, faster growing breed. They were right on the latter count: I've already lost about 15 birds to overeating (they gorge themselves and drop dead from heart attacks) out of this batch, whereas last fall's last batch I didn't lose a single bird. The retail value of 15 dead chicks: $150. Live and learn.

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