Why organic and what is beyond organic?

In very short

Beyond organic is way beyond the regualtions that the us governmentt requires to get the "organic" stamp of approval.

In beyond organic gardening and animal keeping - you do so with deep respect and gratitude to the plants and animals. In this case, the chickens all deserve a chicken-worthy life - no matter what happens to them down the line. Their food is not contaminated with pesticides or GMO and they get to be outside on the fields/garden.

• I want true organic eggs from chicken who have been foraging around outside, not so called free range which means "access" to the outside. I will add a link to what it actually means in the commercial world to get organic eggs.

• b - I want to give the males at least somewhat of a life on this planet as chickens - not kill them right away at birth. Ethically, that is what I believe in - and it is beyond organic.

• c - those birds are loved, seen and given the space they need to express their "chicken-ness". This is part of the deal for me -  they MUST be respected and treated well.

And so that is beyond organic. For as long as I can, I will treat the animals in my care according to their needs.

Here is some of the journey to this:

An opportunity presented itself to work a small part of someone's garden and I got permission to have chickens there too. My initital thoughts about that was: have free range garden chickens and eggs that lay eggs, provide fertilizer and help with tilling and pest control - and - I LOVE birds.

My initial helper, and highly recommended - "The Small Scale Poultry Flock" by Harvey Ussery - a wonderful guide on why and how to keep chickens with and for your garden and food.

Because of ethical reasons I became a vegetarian in 2010 (what this video - If Saughter Houses Had Glass Walls) - simply because I could no longer support, by buying meat in any store, the cruelties done to animals. So I was not looking for meat birds either. 
I had read up on organic eggs and chickens from the store and didn't really like what that meant - I was looking for eggs form happy, free range chicken, at least free range enough to find grass and bugs and such things.

Organic: NOWHERE does it say that the animals had a good life - outdoor pastures, humane treatment, less overcrowding.

All that is mostly a myth that people want to believe because most people I know who eat meat  would rather have the animals treated well - and organic does NOT mean that ...wake up everyone. (see more of what organic means a little further on)


So then what chickens should I get? I started researching and reading about which chickens to get for what purpose and climate read.

One of the things I found out - and I never really fully "groked" that before - that because egg laying chicken breeds don't make enough money as meat birds - BILLIONS of 1 day old male chicks are gassed to death, thrown away to suffocate of chopped alive in some kind of huge chicken baby chopper machines. This is so unbelievably inhumane and cruel - so I opted to get straight runs from  Sandhill Conservation. They came recommened as having good healthy egg laying birds - and I have so far found that to be very true.

So I got 54 birds total ...32 of which are male ...all of which as organically fed and partly free range or pastured. The reason it is partly is because I don't have enough partitioned room for all those roosters .... Of the first birds, now 6 months old, there were only 9 females - 17 males. That just does not work. So as may be able to imagine - the conviction to go humane and organic can be costly - costly in time, energy and money. 

I got to know roosters - and I love them.
I got to know pullets - and I love them.

and I had to face some difficulot decisions, and I will write more elsewhere about them.

But my eggs are organic, my birds are organic - and because of all this love, care and energy that went into caring for them they truely are - Beyond Organic.

Organic simply means pesticide free, no GMO, 


The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) defines organic as follows:

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.


The USDA has identified for three categories of labeling organic products:

100% Organic: Made with 100% organic ingredients

Organic: Made with at least 95% organic ingredients

Made With Organic Ingredients: Made with a minimum of 70% organic ingredients with strict restrictions on the remaining 30% including no GMOs (genetically modified organisms)

Products with less than 70% organic ingredients may list organically produced ingredients on the side panel of the package, but may not make any organic claims on the front of the package.

NOWHERE does it say that the animals had a good life - outdoor pastures, humane treatment, less overcrowding

All that is mostly a myth that people want to believe because most people I know who eat meat  would rather have the animals treated well - and organic does NOT mean that ...wake up everyone.
Most animals on organic and free-range farms are still transported through all weather extremes and slaughtered in the same manner as animals on factory farms.

How much should you isolate chickens with injuries?

This morning after cleaning up

First of all, checking online and in my book, chickens apparently have astonishing, almost miraculous ability to heal from even grave physical injuries, contrary to actual illness and infection.
So yesterday one of my 10 week old Buff Catalana pullets somehow (and God only knows how) got into the orchard rooster only area. It was calling with the distress chirp and I found it, then it hid and I retrieved it. While it looked ok, I was totally taken aback when it bent its neck: the entire length of neck muscles and other structures lay bare. OMG. I still cannot believe it and even if I took a photo, it would need a big warning for graphic image.

Unbelievably had been running  and chirping though and, once I got it into a medium size dog crate, it took treats eagerly (thank goodness). I added a heat lamp in front of the crate because I had read that optimum temperature for a sick bird is 80-85 degrees. I probably did not get that, but at least it was not THAT cold. Taking her into the house was not an option for me -and - it would have put her in a strange environment and might have stressed her out.

So then it came time to roost for the night and she obviously got stressed out not being able to join the others. I had the crate inside in the coop, but that was not enough. The chicky literally STOOD there all night, at least every time I checked. I felt right about adding some warmth via the heat lamp, safely hung, and I even filled bottles with hot water --- and put it into a sock ...for a warm body substitute. But still I could not help thinking it would rather have roosted with rest of them.

So it got me thinking -  under no circumstances would you want ANY chicken even peck at the injury once, at the same time, stress hinders healing. Birds, at least chickens, are VERY social animals and want to move with and stay with the flock ...otherwise, sooner or later, they get stressed out.

So it made it through the night alive, still taking treats ...... so far so good. I could not bring myself to even look at the atrocious injury.
I didn't apply any salves or creams or dressing and I was not set up for suturing. I didn't know it then, but I didn't need any of that.

The next day, to start with, I decided to keep the 15 Buff Catalanas all in the coop for a while....after letting out the older flock, just to keep the chick company. When i went in at lunchtime, the baby had settled down finally inside the crate and some chickens were lying around the crate, one "sunbathing" in the warmth of the brooder lamp that I had re-hung.

She was even drinking water once I got it all cleaned up

I had brought more treats, high protein and nutrient rich treats it learned to like (eggs, meat), plus crumble dust and very overcooked broccoli and zucchini (for added fluid).

I fed this in front of the crate door and the willingness of the other chickens to really go for the treats certainly helps with food intake. (I actually had to put most of the  treats elsewhere  to keep it somewhat controlled in front of the crate :)

All was well - and little chicky settled down again on a fresh bed of straw. A little later I decided to let the others go outside and into the coop run for a little outing. That was when little chicky got upset, pacing and chirping inside the crate, wanting to join the flock ...... ...so I coaxed a couple of chicks back inside the coop and closed the door. After a littel while, things settled down for the 3 of them.

So: YES, isolate right away for healing so re-injury cannot happen. It seems to be a natural instinct to eliminate obviously injured birds from the flock - and they will literally peck it to death if it acts at all sick or has visible woulds. - and NO,  if possible, don't separate the injured chick from the flock as it will stress out the bird. Extra warmth will also help.

Of course if you chicken is used to being in a crate inside your house, that is a different situation.

If you don't have a dog crate, maybe you have some other box or cage which can at least be partially darkened to help with resting. 

(Illness with risk of contamination may be is a different story, talking just about physical injury) This is my observation, and of course, we all just do the best we can under any given circumstance.

It seems to be though that even if it were to die - it would rather die not alone somewhere. In any case, the time this little chick got upset was when the flock moved on and it could not be with them as it was locked inside the crate. Here it had settled down again, though you can barely see her in there, with one of her flock-mates sunbathing under the brooder light. Keeping my finger crossed, praying and running karma wash orbs for the little girl - I named her Harriet. She still seems to have some trouble breathing - like if you were trying to breathe through a clogged up nose. It is possible that one of the nerves that runs along the neck got injured.

ADDENDUM: She was in there for a few weeks and then afterwards I gradually let her back out ...she was quite out of breath at first, but basically she healed well and got back with the flock after a few weeks. Since the others could always see her, I didn't have to go through a real reintegration, but I did transition by making a separate roost and section in the coop where she roosted for a week with a couple of others before she was free to go where she wanted.

I had another chick that got pecked on the head by a rooster and had a bad blood blister .... she seemed ok after a couple of days of isolation and when I could not longer see the reddish blister - she rejoined the flock.

Baby chicken got hurt

Tonight I am just tired and it is  mainly from an emotional toll. So this may or may not make sense.

She is in there - my attempt to keep her in the coop as well as somewhat warm

I had to go with someone to bring a dog to the vet this afternoon, and I got to the chickens late, not till 4 pm., which really isn't a big deal. Except today when i got into the run, I heard baby chirps from the rooster side of the baby run area wall. There really isn't a way from the pullet babies to get there and I thought one of the baby roos, (and they are all 9 weeks old now) had strayed ...I opened the door to the orchard run and a buff was trying to get through the barrier, then hid. I got it from there, the 4 orchard roos looking on. The baby buff seemed ok, UNTIL she bent her neck .OMG ...all open to the muscles ...the entire neck exposed. So I isolate it in a dog crate inside the coop. I feed it some mesh, eggs and chicken. And it eats with good appetite. She gets chirpy when all her siblings go to roost and she has to stay there. I heat up water, put it in a bottle and that into an old sock ...and put it next to her ...but she wasn't fooled. Later on I decide to dig out the heat lamp thinking it might help  to not be so cold ....despite the light, but it is the red kind. At that time, she eats crumble but I also see that there is some issue with breathing.
I have some antibiotics, but she refuses the overcooked veggie it it on ...
After reading up on things ...if i had the means, suturing and antibiotics might be of benefit, but then, chickens have amazing self healing abilities from physical injury. So here I am, hoping for the best.

But it is taking a toll - as I see myself unable to focus on work I have to do. It won't get done. I don't know which rooster is so rough on the babies, or how she even got out. I got  straight runs with a total of 54 chickens and have 34 be male - that posed a lot of management issues on the time and space.
But getting a sexed run would have meant the baby males had to be killed ...never a chance for a life worth calling it.

I recall: 27 chicks the first run, 1 died at 3 days. (post pasting). Of the 26, 9 are hens, the rest roosters. Of the 8 living in the orchard, 4 got gotten by predators (they were out there early, having roosted in the trees, which they since stopped doing). Of the mixed group, I had to go through deciding who needed to go and then the process of culling them. This was November 20. They were just 6 months old.. HORRIBLE to take the life of such a beautiful creature, but the orchard roos were all chasing the Golden Polish and those 2 in turn were making live difficult for the hens and their brothers. ...all the while just being roosters. My only consolation at this point is: they had a good rooster life, having done what a rooster does, they were seen and loved, served as food for folks who could never afford such a chicken and taught me big lessons. Then One of the baby buff males died ....I think neck injury too, this was about 2 weeks ago - but I don't know who did it. And today this one ...a pullet. She might still make it ...but it is taking a toll.....

It is difficult have so many roosters for the space and for the females. I am by now convinced that given enough space ...and more equitable rooster to hen ratio, that they will all arrange themselves one way or the other.

I don't know how it happened. There were some grey feathers there too ...and non of the orchard roos is grey. If i knew who did it - he'd have to go, but i can't get myself to cull them all ....but maybe that would be better ....?

I just want them to get out in the morning to forage and all get long. Let them out in the morning - feed them. Let them in at roost time - collect some eggs in between. Let them  walk around with me -...I love observing them. I know they don't like to be alone - which is why I put the dog crate inside the coop ...and I will be feeding the young ones right around the dog crate. The plan is to keep them inside the coop for a day....

I don't know why but it affects me so much when they are sick or distressed or seeing them dead - not compatible with being a farmer for sure, but then, I'm a chicken gardener and vegetarian and....


...  it is so hard for me. I LOVE these chickens. I adore them, the way they move and talk and look and I am amazed at their social structure, curiosity, ability to learn. There is a lesson here about the preciousness and uniqueness, about the purpose for each life - 2 or 4 legged, winged or swimming companions. About care and respect for each and every life entrusted to your care.

Because: once you create (as in ordered eggs to be hatched) or take in any animal into your care - you carry the responsibility for its life and owe it a  life that is in accordance with its beingness. Not everyone will agree or understand, for others this is not far enough.

I don't want to force my views on anyone. There is such a wide span between the meat-eaters (and there is a range there too) and the  vegans (with their own range). What I hope all animals get is this:  respectful treatment in life and death - that they are being allowed to live  a good and artengerechtes animal life.

In the meantime - there is a 2 month old Buff Catalana girl in the coop with a bad injury.  Her name is Harriet. It hurts. ...and she does not understand why she can't be up on the roost .... Whether she stays or goes on - I don't want her to suffer. Sending love to you, baby chick.

read the next post for what happens next - I named it: should you isolate chickens with injuries

Buttercups - the sweetest chickens I know

4 buttercup chick (front) - day 1

Instead of the Buff Catalanas, which were sold out, I got a batch assorted light chickens - 4 Golden Polish, 6 Buttercups, 6 Egyptian Fayoumis and 11 Blue Andalusians.

This is about the Buttercups .

I LOVE them - and I won't hesitate to get more if given the chance.

I treated all the chicken babies the same - and from day 1, the buttercups seemed to want to come close or sit on me. While some of the other 3 breeds warmed up too, the Buttercups seem to naturally gravitate towards people. They also seem to be gentle in general. It is not that the males don't have little stand-offs with other chickens - but not once have i seen any relentless chasing of any other chicken - much unlike the Blue Andalusian males. The buttercups, at least to 3 months of age, seem to leave the Golden Polish chicks alone, not something you can say of the others. They are good foragers too.

Day 8

Time will tell how they do in the mating season - and btw, the females seems horrified at the chasing advances by the Blue Andalusians.

I love the sweet, gentle and curious nature of them and I hope the males will dance for the females.
Even if they end up not being top layers, I love their temperament so much so far - I will get some more when the Buff Catalanas come in next year.

day 18

day 33

9 weeks

12 weeks

Chicken Chick blog - for raising chicken help

Day 31 - they were such babies still

When embarking on an adventure that includes live animals, you will inevitably encounter - issues. Whether  behavioral, health related or  other - you wish you had a friend with 30 some years of experience you could call up. Well, for those of you who don't have such a friend who can help you with your chickens, try this one: The Chicken Chick at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/
It is not that there are not other helpful sites, like backyardchickens.com, what I like about this one is: she researched her topics well - The Chick researched keeping chickens in general for that matter - and posts about relevant topics with great pictures and lots of personal experience. I find this can help newbie people like me with potential chicken problems. NVM all the social stuff on facebook and the side bar advertisements, that is just being efficient and good - but the chicken keeping posts are well worth reading.

Is it all inclusive - no - like there is nothing i found on the multiple rooster issue I am dealing with :) but really, great helpful articles. Check it out.

Roosters & the meaning of life - update August 2012

Oh dear - roosters - so much testosterone - but I love them - they are beautiful.  The May roosters are now 3 months old, and I have them separated from the hens for the past 3 days with a couple of mild behaving roosters staying with the hens without any issues. In the meantime, their foraging areas have grown pretty big, about 1/4 acre if they wanted to. I have the (not so secret) hope that I will be able to keep 4 or 5 roosters even through the mating season next year. Compared to the hen group, the roosters are starting to forage a bit more and further out in the orchard during the day. I would have thought they would be all over the place, but no - they are very careful and seem to be staying close to "home". Maybe I spoiled them too much? It looks soo good to see the birds foraging in the garden.

There is a crowing "concert" a few times a day, I don't mind it, just a little worried about the neighbors, though this IS zoned agricultural. I had to separate the Golden Polish chicks from the Blue Andalusian roosters as they were just being chased all over the place. It seems though that the lowest chick in the pecking order will end up getting chased, now it is a splash blue Andalusian that has that honor.

It is quite a challenge to get them into and out of the chicken coop into their separate day ranging areas. It takes me about an hour or 2 each time, and I am hoping things will get a lot easier when i have built a roo hatch box/coop and they have accepted it. I have modified the hen-coop section again so maybe the Golden Polish will be content to stay there at night - and not insist to roost in the old spot - with all the roosters .....

Ok, back from tonight's cooping up:

As much as the females run from the roosters in the day - at night, they all want to roost together given the option. I just tested that, after 3 nights of keeping them separate. So until I actually have a separate rooster hutch, I let them roost together again, starting tonight - and see how that goes. For daytime tomorrow, since there are there are so many different run areas now ...the females might have enough space to hide. I'll see tomorrow.

Long story short: if you are getting a straight run and plan to not kill your roosters (either yourself or by giving them away) - have 2 coops and forage areas far enough away before you get them. And remember, straight run NOT 50/50.

From a farming and economical perspective - keeping all the roosters makes little sense, especially as the 50/50 is not the case ...it is more 70/30, and talking to my chicken keeping neighbor - that seems to be the case for those he knows who have gotten straight runs. Also organic soy free feed is incredibly expensive.

Getting a sexed run means: you get the females and the males have been gotten rid of some other way.

You can argue: getting a straight run means all of them have had a chance of life on earth - and now their time is up. Would it have been better not having a chance at life at all?

I can hear the more militant vegans already - but what they maybe have not faced are the thousands of animals killed during commercial vegan food harvesting - AND - in case you are not aware - plants are conscious too. You might be able to feel it yourself, or, do a search on the latest about how trees communicate with each other and transfer nutrients.

In my own sensing, and feeling - we all - every being and thing - are expressions of the ONE -  the one Consciousness that IS. In that sense, EVERYTHING that you do matters. Everything you do affects the whole. Everything is an outpicturing of divine mind.  Life IS a circle - and life force expresses in constant birthing and dieing, and all you (and that is for those who are at all interested in that side of Being) can ever hope to do is not to have contributed to the suffering of WHAT IS - and maybe, to have relieved some suffering in some way on some level. It too makes sense, that if it is within your means, to prevent others from doing harm - for they own sake and for the sake of BEING. It makes sense to not allow dogs to do harm to people or other animals, to not allow people to do harm, if it is within your power to recognize it and prevent it.

I have cried over plants being mutilated by unconscious actions of others - like mowing over baby trees and bushes. I can't even clear blackberries before their "babies" have not matured .....  but I did tell them that after that, and accepting the berries gratefully, that they will have to go. And I do tell them that I love them and their beingness - same as the roosters - acting out their hormones. Some day, unless I get 100 acres and natural wildlife population control, the roosters will likely have to go. The few hens just can't deal with that many. But there is 1 thing: those birds have been loved. In my world and mind - that means something, that is worthwhile - and it is more than can be said about many peoeple, animals and things. Those chickens are loved, seen, appreciated, admired and cared for.  I spend time with them just in awe of how they move, sound and what they do and try to give them what they need within the means I have.
May they be blessed, and with them, the divine beingness itself.

Oh - do you think there are dogs who would give their lives for their owners -- not thinking - just doing? Let us not take away from the divine mind that has some animals and plants being in service of love, awakening and helping humans to grow - physically and otherwise. On the task of : what I learned from keeping chickens: it is way beyond the practical chicken keeping. This project, the endeavor, is deepening my feeling for life, the deepening realization for the sanctity of life and the mutuality we have with everything in it, absolutely everything and everyone. For the most part,  I do not actually have access/skill/experience to LOVE through people, - adult humans (children are a different story),  like some of you might have - I nonetheless am beginning to get that this, the working with animals & giving over the top of 100% to what I am capable of,  is a path with which to access love of humans (who hurt life and beings so much everywhere). With the realization of the ONENESS and its expression through all beings and things - it would include humans. I do know that I am not there yet. There may be compassion, or pity, but LOVE for all humans, even if they are expressions of the divine oneness - I am not there. 

Tonight, I am exhausted from the  work and trying to manage "them chicks" and do right by them. I wish there were someone really in on this project with me.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.
I still think the roosters could roam in a separate area and live longer ....that too we'll see.

Some say creation is like a giant video game. It is a game in which beings feel. - A 3d manifestation of G-D.

Roos and Hens in separate pens

Males are behind the division in the roo-run - going for function atm :),
not enough time to worry about aesthetics for too long
when you got screaming pullets to listen to ....

Ok, the May chicks are 12 weeks old now. 2 days ago I started keeping them separate during the day, the run for the roos not even properly finished. However, 2 of the seemingly premature roos started chasing the sweet buttercup hens all the time (I should say: pullets and cockerels), which were running screeming and even trying to escape the runs. So now, out of sight, out of mind and all is well.

A friend of mine, who has been keeping chickens for years, says they will all do that when the time comes, as long as the hens are around - in which case they will also fight each other. I want the roos to be gentleman roos - the kind who dance for the hens ....:) we'll see if one of them at least turns out like that.

So, plan is: keep them separate and the roos will be foraging in the large garden soon. We should be ok till mating season at least. I might buy separate feed for them too. I do need to make a night roosting box so I don't have to manage the coop so much. Right now the hens are spending the night inside the old brooder box, conveniently empty as I never got my buff catalanas due to the heat - no hatchlings. I do have to put them in by hand though, but at least they are safe till I come to let them out inti their separate runs.
Here are some of them, though so far it is only a couple of blue andalusians doing the relentless chasing, the top 2 being the ones :)

The male chickens - what to do with roos?

There is something here for all of you: whether you eat meat or are vegan, Buddhist or a hunter. It is about us - us humans and animals in this world together - and this issue is just something that is coming up as I started gardening with chickens.

Cockerels - still getting along

I love my chickens. They are beautiful and happy. They are now 8 1/2 weeks old and at this point, not only the Egyptian fayoumis, but also the buttercups and blue Andalusians have crowed. Most likely they will all be ok together during the summer months, but sooner or later, there will be the issue of 16 males and 10 females - not a viable solution for either one.  Everywhere I read - it really is not an option to keep more than a few roosters, and that is if you have adequate space.

As a functioning homestead and possibly conscientious breeder of chickens, culling would be done so that only the best and healthiest 10% of each mating will make it each year. I don't know what happens to all the rooster in the natural world. I guess some get eaten by predators, the weak don't make it, but  what about the rest? In any case, the fraction of an acre available to me at this time is not gonna support a flock with many roosters.

So, I know a friend who keeps chickens who will take them - most likely to eat them. So when I look at those guys, happy as they are, some of their lives will be short, no matter how many months I manage to keep them here.

So then I think: why do this? But then, if you eat eggs anytime, they are all from hens, and wherever they are, there were roosters that got culled, (just that someone else killed them for you), and most never saw the light of day or got a worm, a grub or had a dustbath. These guys here have it good - they had the chance of experiencing life here on earth, outside, foraging, hanging out and they have even heard music - and I love them and appreciate them. The domestication of chickens  was not a one-sided exploitation, but a mutually beneficial arrangement. They have life because of it -is is just that some of them will need to go - or so everyone says.

I do not eat meat, so that part of why many homesteaders keep chickens is not a reason for me.
But lets face it, I need fertilizer and compost if I am gonna grow vegetables in this soil. Trucking in amendments and fish-meal each year is not really sustainable and not even vegetarian. Since a mayor part of their lives here was meant to do tilling and composting/fertilizing, I would say: if the males can get along, they can all stay. But NOWHERE have I found evidence that more than a couple of roosters will be manageable in  this kind of flock. They fight and hurt, if not kill, each other. Apparently the males can really have a miserable life with other males in the flock. Is it possible that breeding them for a few generations choosing only the non-aggressive males that there will be a time when roosters just work it out and you can keep them all with a minimum footage of space per bird - without any problem? I am tempted to go that route, as most of the predator warding off will be handled by me. But maybe that is how they die in nature: trying to defend the flock? And if I let all of them live from each year, without any predator selection - they there will be too many altogether.

Granted, by entering the domestication, the chickens agreed to a mutually beneficial relationship, and, as a species, they surely prospered much - being fed and protected, they survived everywhere. So culling some humanely and honoring their spirit (and I have seen it done) and allowing them the final gift of nourishing you would be reasonable. They had a good life here - and it is part of their contract.

It just that - I don't want to kill them - unless it really is for pure survival.
I don't want to even feed them other live things, like worms. Even the grass hurts - but that is live on this planet - it literally is ALL alive - just that we attribute a certain sentience to some beings and not others.

Can you see the dilemma though: what to do with all the roosters?
Am I too wimpy, not accepting the give and take reality on this planet, the circle of life and death in nature?


And going vegan may not be the answer. Soy or other mono-cultures are not doing the earth a favor, just as an example. And harvesting huge areas of planted acreage apparently kills a LOT of animals living there too. In addition, anything you have to truck in from far away carries a high environmental price tag. So the answer really is: grow your own, even in a community, grow locally. And for that, you need fertilizer.....and for that, you need animals, and of those, when bred, roughly half will be males.

da capo al fine

and - it is doing something to me - having to deal with this - not sure what the effects will be. It does bring up a larger picture though of live, life on earth, how it all works out in the einsteinian universe and quantum universe.

Right now I am still hoping the roos all stay non-aggressive - but if not, they got to go.

But when they do, they deserve respect, humane treatment and deep gratitude. And this I know they will get from those who have agreed to take them, whether for breeding or as food.

Being food - for the soul

This title is likely not gonna read for any google searches, but that is what I mean.

The other I noticed how little I am actually eating and working with the chickens and in the garden has made my body thinner and stronger.

While I have not really had much of any food at regular meals on an ongoing basis for years (I would be fairly inexpensive to have as a house guest that way :),  I do frequently now find myself asking for meal leftovers from others and meal prep kitchen compost - for the birds. Friends of mine make special town trips to get greens from stores or restaurants for their chickens.  This I cannot do, but I now do understand why they do it. It is actually recommended as part of healthy nutrition if you can't truly free range, for the making of compost and vermi-bins and such. And there seems to be something else that is worth noting:

The chicks are 8 weeks old today, and they still get their chicks starter crumbles, but for some reason, they leave that in a heartbeat if really veggie stuff is available. The seem to LOOOOVE the real foods. And I notice I love giving it to them and that there is real food for me when I see them eating yummy kitchen vegetable stuff - and I am so happy to share what I do have with them. Their happy sounds are food for my body and soul.

And  I realized the other day that I am being fed, though not through organic food,  when I feed them good stuff and they are happy and well fed. It is Being-food, and it does feel like a substance to me. I am happy when they are and it is food for my soul -  "being-food". I am sure a lot of you have experienced something similar, maybe with your child. This "being-food" is worth more to me than an organic meal.

I know they are "just" chickens - and - caring for them provides being-food  -  could be you only get that when you stop seeing them as "just" chickens. -

They are a living part of who you are, on all levels - and so are the veggies - but that is another story.

Building the chicken coop - things to consider

At this point, here is what I have to say about chicken coops if you build from scratch:

Give it 4-5 square feet per bird and then add some more because you will get more chickens.
Ventilation ventilation ventilation - without it being drafty.
Make sure the roof extends far enough out so it does not rain in.
If you build from scratch -  use cement blocks 2 feet deep at the bottom and the deep litter method
Make sure your coop is absolutely pretator proof, this includes against weasels and diggers.
For wire, use hardware cloth.
Don't put stuff along the edges of have spaces rodents can hide.
Nest boxes off the floor gives the birds more floor space. slant the roof.
Make the roost higher than the nest boxes.
Make a safe covered outdoor run.
If you plan to do gardening - consider letting the chickens out in section, rotating so plan ahead on where you build.
Shade is good.
Don't use cedar.
Allow for option to partition into a main coop and rooster section with separate exists into separate outdoor areas,  and a broody section if you ever intend to raise your own. If you have young birds, it helps to have another section for them.
Have a way to separate a sick looking bird.

Getting help with building the chicken coop Easter weekend April 2012. And more videos about chickens and gardening here 


 

Chickens can change your World - HCCML 3

... and so can anything you love enough - or that has touched you deeply enough.

Having fun, doing what you love is compatible with respecting the earth and it's beings!

So, they (them chickens) got me writing again. Why am I doing this? - This writing about this particular topic  - again ? Because I had some inspiration earlier this morning, as in an entire post in my head, and now I can't quite remember but started to write anyway in case it all comes back to me.

I think part of wanting to write again about why I am going this is because I have not yet internally solved (ie accepted) this dilemma of the general unconsciousness of humans and what they do to this planet and each other. I still believe that humans can wake up and start caring and stop abusing ....  if only enough would --- or that at least those in power could and steer it all with true knowing and compassion and without GMO foods and mega pollution. I still envision a world in which humans live in harmony with nature. At least get your life and the animals close to you on track of health and happiness.

So here I am doing this chicken gardening project and there are some very practical reasons why -  which most people can understand or value and which can change their world & perception.

• get chicken help providing fertilizer and tilling help in a vegetable garden.
• making sustainable use of land, which I do not own, that is otherwise just laying there unused.
• getting the best eggs - and proven more nutritious than any supermarket egg can ever be - healthy food for you and your family.
• learning about what it really takes to provide for your own food - at least some of it.

I am learning more and more how big money has used and misused large sections of land and people,
to walk my talk the best I can - but at least being consistent.
Keeping chickens for you  might be a means to get your children in touch with animals - to get to know them so they may have a change to love them - to make them aware that eggs do not grow in the store and maybe even that hot dogs were made from tortured animals in most cases.

Inspire others to become not only more aware, but take action where they live.

and THERE is is beginning to touch on the first point again - inspire others, help folks to wake up just a bit more and feel empowered to change their own life and world towards health and happiness to include the living earth - wake just a bit more from where they are.

I have seen what others do both online and in person. A lot of people do a lot of good - but when you look at what is happening to the planet - many more need to come on board, many more need to start taking action to the best of their ability - locally. Think, feel and connect globally - act locally.

I got raised roman catholic and I (sort of) remember this parable: the master had to go out of town and he gave his servants money to work. One got 1 dinar, one got 5 and the other one got 10. When he came back, the one with 10 dinar came to him and gave him back 20, the one with 5 dinars gave him back 10 - and the one with 1 dinar gave him back 1. So the master asked what happened: and the servant said he buried it to keep it safe but didn't use it to prosper.
So ...ehm - I don't know what the master did ...but the message was: you MUST use what you have and what god gave you. By this are meant your talents and means. Those who are given much, return much, and those who are given little, return little - BUT ALL ARE CALLED to use what they are given and double it and prosper. So for me this means: DO WHAT YOU CAN WHERE YOU ARE with the means available to you to the degree you can take it today. Burying things is like this: Albert Einstein. “The world is a dangerouss place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”

Or, to speak with gxaaxx: "Just say no to apathy". 

Have you ever considered that you are depressed or angry because your are NOT doing what you are supposed to do? Because your scope does not include your love, your purpose for being here?


Find the passion which opens your heart. Ask the universe/God with all you have to show you what that is - if you don't know it already - and give it a few weeks, never forgetting what you asked for - and be prepared to give it all you got when it is shown to you.


Some say if you do what you love that is wnough - I say: do what you love for the benefit of all beings everywhere.
It adds a twist to do what you love that is needed by the world.

It is not enough anymore to just do for yourself. If you read this, you got the means - even if you only got 1 dinar. The whole world is available to you via the internet. You can do something - find out what - and it does not cost you any money either.

I happen to love nature, dogs and birds especially, and trees and plants and  ....don't get me started :). I love other things too, but it is different.

So there are lots of folks loving other things, but let us just stay with those who have a bit of conscience and consideration or who consider themselves on a spiritual path and those who are wanting to awaken.

Awakening happens in stages for most folks, it includes the mind heart and body and willingness, drive  - your soul has to actually want to. You can push the river there - but - you never know who you can reach with what you do - and a tiny shift in this Universe may have huge consequences elsewhere, even if you never know it.

So if you open your heart - and you can do this by watching a number of videos about what happens in commercial animal food production and allowing to feel that pain -  you know your heart is open when you FEEL - so open you heart and then get your mind involved to check out the truth and numbers and environmental impact your supermarket egg production have on the earth and your health and your wallet (hint: taxpayer subvention) for example. ...


I guess the question is: at what point will you change what you do? At what point are you awake enough to not be happy and fooled or satisfied with pretty pictures alone? At what point do you feel enough to not want to just go along but find passion which also contributes to well being the earth - What will it take to want to leave a world for your grandchildren that can still be inhabited?

At what point is it not just about YOUR better life and health, or YOUR family's property and vacation - but at which point do you care enough to include the larger you in who you are?

Because, between spiritual realization and scientific discoveries - we ARE all connected - it is all one.

Now is that what had popped into my head earlier? No, but I'll work with it.

Water and our dependency on electricty

scary - more soon

The importance of water - and chicken ignorance?

One day old chicks at the waterer

This is a somewhat comic one. I was reading in the one book I can recommend without any hesitation that speak about keeping chickens: the small scale poultry flock. In there Harvey U. talk about the importance of water for your chickens - and to make it available where they actually are needing it. He gives the example of cornish hens who would rather DIE than walk 10 feet  to water that is sitting in the sun.

So I believed him and I have water in the 3 areas the chickens can spend their time. I observe where they actually DO drink, and change the location if they never go there or if there is no water missing after several hours. I did also notice, when they were 4 weeks old and we had a real hot spell,  that they were laying panting in the heat of the afternoon. I sat in the coop/shade and decided to feed them water with a dropper. I say their learning process and also, many of them seemed to love taking the water from a dropper. .....  even as they were standing right next to the water. Some also started drinking after getting a taste of the water from the dropper. Not sure what it is about their thirst mechanism -  and that is so I don't say that chickens are water-supply stupid or lazy :). Maybe it is some kind of thing where only the one with the strongest drive are meant to make it in case of a drought? Who knows, but whatever the reason, there is something to be said about keeping very vigilant to provide water where it is needed at all time. Nat only do chickens drink a lot - they also need to have water in pretty close proximity of where they are being kept.The special attention on drinking and available water did bring home something else too.

Observation is the key - HCCML-2

Observation - you can learn so much just be observation. For example: for 2 weeks now the chickens have been happy in the greenhouse run and never bothered to go to the door or tried to follow me. However, in the last 2 days, and they are 5 weeks today, they seem interested in following me out  of that space. Luckily I planned the next enclosure and started working on it, though there is quite a bit more to do. Coincidentally, they are growing into the needed size not to so easily fit through the fence which is going to be out there. In fact, I am gonna try to stretch it for another week.

The point is, observe and listen - it might tell you more than any verbal explanation ever can. Because, let's face it, all generalized information might not precisely apply to you and your flock. But your flock will tell you when it is time.

Bald spots underneath - you can see it in certain movements

Another point for observation: for the past few days, the chicks look pretty much fully feathered, but when I get a look underneath the outer layer of feathers, I can see bold spots, like on the neck and some under the wings. At first I only saw it on 1 chick, but now it is many of them. It seems that the baby feathers fall out before all the others are in. Since they get chick starter, worms, eggs and greens, I seriously doubt that is it nutritional. The reason I mention it is because I read on a blog post, where someone asked if his 4 week old chicks can go outside (it was COLD out there) and he sent pictures of his chicks - they looked like mine, miniature fully feathered chicks - but - when you observe them move - the bald spots shine through. LOOK underneath - and you'll see the bald spots. I cringe when he was told they are ready to go out there ...and out of the brooder/coop they were gonna get thrown. It could be that the cold exposure will speed up the feathering out process, but chicks that age can also still easily die from exposure.

It all just confirms: look and listen, observe and trust your intuition to do the right thing for your chicks, no matter what anyone tells you. learn from the best  and even then, how do you know "they" know better? Just like any other path, do your due diligence, verify for yourself.

How has that changed my like? I don't know, only that I need to spend time observing - and that, because I want to do what is best for them, I will take that time. And here is where you realize an inner strength which no one can take away from you. You do the best you can for your chickens, and to do that, you spend time with them, you observe them. There is no substitute for that. In fact, I am now convinced that had I looked more closely on day 2 and 3, I would have caught the pasting earlier and the runt Fayoumi would not have died. Can you do that as a farmer who has hundreds of chickens? I don't know - but that is that farmer's life :). Maybe his chickens are giving him/her other lessons .....

How chickens changed my life - HCCML-1

A visiting friend's first experience with chickens on her back :)

1 - Someone suggested to me yesterday to write a blog, like a book,  about: "How chickens changed my life" because he'd never seen me this happy. I recalled how it started, and reminded him - "You know, it started with Skye". "Yes yes, but still write about it". Just the day before while working in the kitchen and then collecting kitchen scraps for the 4 weeks old chickies - I heard myself say: my current happiness is derived from seeing the chickens happy. And by happy I am not trying to put human emotions and such on them. Happy chickens are are doing chicken things in a healthy, non crowded way, like foraging about in the designated yard. They make happy noises, they are healthy. Yes, they are only 4 weeks old, and puberty has not hit them, nor has breeding season, therefore, so far, they are trusting, curious,  love what I bring them as well as roost on me. Are there other things to make me happy?  Yes, when a dog in the shelter finds a good home, when there are news of a habitat being protected, when folks wake up and their lives are more free - and they can possibly turn to include the earth and her creatures in their awareness. When people get a lot out of a workshop to make their lives easier - or to wake up a bit more

But it is the everyday chicken exposure, that is pure delight and energizing - and in fact - makes me happy. I should say that I LOVE birds, have loved birds since I can remember. To sit there are just observe them move -  could do it for hours. I suppose most people nowadays would think that is crazy and a waste of time, Most people get bored regularly - I never do. There are not enough hours in the day to do a fraction of the things I am interested in. Like a friend told me a LOOONG time ago: "Life is like a supermarket. You get a cart to fill up. You can get anything you want - but you can't have everything".
And boy oh boy (girls too) - is that ever true.
A few years ago I learned, though did not practice, that serving others, working for the benefit of sentient beings - can be fun. having been raised in Germany, this "having fun" thing was a bit alien to me. But that notion has crept up periodically and again very recently. It is not the essential necessity of humor - no, it's actually fun. And strictly speaking, it is still not about having fun - except that is is fun - and I LOVE working with chickens. So far, I have not yet had to deal with the rooster overpopulation - I'm working on it.

So far, when I sit with them - I am happy. Nothing is missing or amiss. I love those chickies. I LOVE them.

So welcome to this label thread of the chicken garden adventure.

4 Chicken breeds - some observations

Forage dish in the brooder, day 2

When deciding which type of chickens to get, I asked for a recommendation from someone in the area and I went online as well.

Here are the characteristics I was looking for to start with:

heat tolerance
good forager
egg layers
not too broody

The first chicken breed that was
recommended was: Buff Catalana, however,  they were already sold out till July from the place I was going to get them, so I started with assorted light chickens, Mediterranean if possible, which I originally thought to get as the second batch mostly for fun and variety with at least some of the desired characteristics.

I got 4 different kinds of chicks, 25 in a straight run (they sent 2 extra), and I am still discovering which is male or female. They are currently 4 weeks old:

11 Blue Andalusians (4 black, 4 splash, 3 blue)
6 Sicilian Buttercups
5 Egyptian Fayoumis (1 died at day 4, after pasting)
4 Golden Polish

I wanted the chicks not to be freaked out every time they saw me - so I spent a lot of time in the coop, where the brooder was and hand-fed them treats.

Buttercup  chick

Buttercups -  from day 1, they wanted to be close to me and did

Baby chickens - things to know

this brooder for 27 chicks lasted 1 week -
then we moved them to a bigger space, about 4 times the size.
they are still in that space at 1 month, but at 3 weeks
 also got to go outside into a covered run during the day. - and they love that!!!

drinking - when you bring them home, and as you take them out of the box one by one, dip their beaks gently into water - get them to drink , before setting them into the brooder. always make sure they have access to water where they are.

your brooder - a predator safe,  enclosed and ventilated space with water (not deep, they can drown) and food (chick starter and semi cooked veggie treats are good, little insects too), litter (kiln dried wood chips, no cedar), a warming bulb in a brooder lamp - red is good, and things for the feet to get exercised ...branches of various diameters, nothing slippery or flat to prevent injury to their legs. give them some grass with earth on it, give them a forage tray to scratch around in. you might want to put the food and water not directly under the lamp. if your chicks explore about all over the brooder - your doing good. temp should be 95 the first week, go down 5 degrees per week after that - though it seems they feather out faster if they get to go outside early on.

after a week or 2, move them into a bigger space, or, if your brooder is big to begin with, you can wait 3-4 weeks. if the weather is warm enough - they will be ready to go outside for part of the day at 3 weeks.(if not before) - caution - chicks are very small and will find any opening to a larger or unsafe space. not only that, while they are good at getting out - they mostly will not find their way back in.

keep it interesting for them, spend time observing them.

pasting: little chick's vent can get poop stuck on it making it impossible to poop any more. this is deadly, meaning they will die and even if you catch it, the chick might be weak and not make it. once weak at such a young age, it is difficult to recover. this is mostly something in the first week of life.
be vigilant and use warm water to help get things unstuck.

pecking - chicks peck out of curiosity, heat stress, not enough space stress, boredom and establishing pecking order. nothing need to be done about the curiosity other than have only chick safe things around, nothing much can be done about them establishing a pecking order - as early as 2 weeks, everything else - observe and handle it. chicks can be pecked so badly they can die.


getting wet - dying from exposure after getting wet can be deadly - no rain or morning dew early on.

handling - establish a sound, like gently banging a metal pot or something, before you call them with your chicky chicky sound to give them treats. this conditions them  to that sound = treats/food and makes it easy for another person than you to later call them for feeding. offer food from your hand early on, and handle them gently. once  on the ground, walk around them  with your tai-chi chicken walk. fond a phrase/sound that will mean: it's ok. you might want to do stuff around them and then give them treats - positive association.

feeding - chick starter and other stuff. after about 3-6 weeks, grower feed is ok, or - continue chick starter and let them forage till they start laying, then layer feed or make your own. imo - if you feed organic, and expose them, as much as possible, to things a mama hen would - medicated feed should not be required for the homestead and pet chicken. immunity to coccidiosis happens naturally and is desired.

grit - small stones necessary if you feed anything other that chick starter.

hygiene - clean is good, sterile not only not necessary - it is not desired.

dusting -  something chickens do to keep clear of mites and lice and such - and they seem to like it too. if no dusty ground is available, provide a dust box.

nothing wrong with playing music for them, even if they will be outside and free range ;)

remember - chicks LOVE to scratch and dust-bathe - giving them a chance for both will make for happier chickens. giving them something else to explore other than each other will make for healthier and happier chicks.

Helpful websites

Trying to figure out the new and not so improved blogger workings for tagging and labeling - so i added all my categories to this post


Back Yard Chickens - very good on many topics

The Small Scale Poultry Flock is a book - LOVE it. It is comprehensive, practical and organic with a 30 year background. Best book if you want to combine poultry and gardening - here is the website themodernhomestead.com poultry main page


Sandhill Preservation chicken catalog - i got my chickens from them and love them. You do need patience, and THEY ALSO HAVE HERITAGE SEEDS - I am happy with the chickens and wish to support them too, so I think eventually I will order seeds from them also. Here is a review site

Chickens at the post office

 Until I got involved with chickens in 2012, I did not know they can be shipped. They do quite well for a day or 2, and even thought there can be losses apparently, mine arrived well. I did pay for express mail thought - for the chicken baby's sake :). Here they are at the post office.
Sandhill Preservation has a detailed list of what types of poultry can be shipped where and how (best to ship)

WOAH - The chickens are at the post office - May 22, 2012 - ready or not, here they come.

Chicken coop supplies and building help

Today - supply arrives and help 

Thank you Dick for getting stuff in your truck and Dan, Jaz, Tito and Ken for carrying it and digging those pole holes. It was a good afternoon.

Here is a link to the album - telling of women who yesterday  (I think) went into an "egg farm"

Four women from Animal Liberation Victoria, on bail for a battery hen rooftop protest, locked down to battery hen cages at 4.30am this morning, defying their bail condition and facing almost certain prison for their actions in defence of hens.

Once we have a working chicken coup and pasture - I would not mind giving a few resqued hens a few good years foraging.

10 reasons to raise chickens in your backyard garden

01 - you get the healthiest, antibiotic and pesticide free best tasting eggs.
02 - the provide natural bug pest control in your garden.
03 - your chickens will forage your garden until it is ready to be planted - saving you time and backaches.
04 - you get fertilizer you could not pay for.
05 - they eat your vegetable scraps
06 - your children and any visitors will learn about animals and their beingness and respect for nature.
07 - they make cheap pets
08 - you get hours and hours of entertainment (and relaxation) from watching them.
09 - they keep your brain young and healthy through learning and your body by being outdoors more.
10 - healthy tasty meat from chickens that had a good life (if you eat meat)

and not to forget -  they are an almost endless source of joy.

Why am I getting chickens?

At this time I think I am getting chickens for  help in the garden with getting beds ready to be planted, for the eggs and for having a reliable food source.

I also happen to love birds and I am suspicious that I will simply love being around them.

What chickens to get for your homestead backyard chicken?

What chickens to get?

Chick and Weeds on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicks-and-Weeds/261323850623341

What chicken breed should I get?

How I chose the chicken breed to start out with.

I agreed to work a piece of land as best I could for food - and suggested to be able to get some chickens after having read "The small scale poultry flock". Finally I got the go-ahead. Being a total noob on chickens, I wondered which chickens should I get?

The decision on which chickens to get depends on what you want the chicken to do or mean for you.

Do you want them for eggs or do you want them for meat or both? Do you want to breed and show them? Do you live in a hot or cold climate? Do you want them as pets? Do you want them to work the soil?

I wanted: high egg layers, the climate here is mostly hot, I preferred friendly if possible, color does not matter, not to prone to flying away, not to inclined to want to sit on the nest to have baby chickens (called broody) but rather working the land.

I asked a friend in the area what I should get: and he said: Buff Catalana.
I also found the interactive decision maker help below, and got Buff Catalana when I chose: dual purpose together with high egg laying and seldom broody and hot climate.

Otherwise, there were a couple of other breeds. One consideration: heavier meat chickens are less prone to fly. I was told the buff catalana work the soil well.

So I ordered buff catalana chickens, from a recommended source and that meant a straight run. Most on that the next post.That is, I sent off the order - because as of today, I have not heard from them. They only do snail mail orders, prepaid.

Here is a very good page to find out about which chicken is best suited for you 
You can click the boxes which apply to you and it will show you the chicken breeds that will fit that characteristic..
and here is a page for Buff Catalana's

Below is an image taken today while looking at a friend's chicken set up and structures.

The light brownish hens are the Buff Catalanas