Why I think a stocking density (birds per square foot) of between 1.5 and 3.0 sq ft per bird is hogwash. Here is the original content in my email newsletter that sparked this article: Several times this week I’ve been asked a variation of this question: “How many birds can I fit in my coop?” […]
2017 Homestead Heritage Fair Introduction to Sustainable Poultry – Part 3
In Part 2 we talked about flock size and the water needs of chicks, now we finish looking at meeting the nutritional needs of the chickens. Now let's look at the other nutritional requirements. First. Chickens are omnivores, they like a variety of feed. When they are foraging, they are happy. When they are full, they stop. [...]
2017 Homestead Heritage Fair Introduction to Sustainable Poultry – Part 2
In Part 1 we talked about the importance of the soil, now we dig deeper into using the birds to improve the soil and meeting the nutritional needs of the chickens. After the animal impact we no longer have a sterile hard pan field, we are able to grow a very diverse cover crop to [...]
2017 Homestead Heritage Fair Introduction to Sustainable Poultry – Part 1
2017 Homestead Heritage Fair Introduction to Sustainable Poultry At one of my Sustainable Poultry talks at the Homestead Heritage Fair, the pictures were not showing. Here is the talk with the pictures in place. Once you've begun to raise poultry, another important question is how to raise them more sustainably. This brings up questions like: [...]
What Goes Around
Sarah and I have time together each day milking. The grandchildren and I spend time each week working with the chickens. Today’s story comes out of all that time together. What goes around comes around. Maybe a year or so ago, someone decided that we needed a calico kitten, and so one appeared unbidden at […]