View Full Version : Variegated bananas, baby chicks, and new diet!
Clare_CA
02-28-2010, 04:27 PM
Hi All,
I am now on my way to becoming a vegetarian. I have given up all red meat, pork, and chicken for good. I actually can't believe how easy it is to do and how much better I feel physically. I'm buying soy milk and organic milk and mixing it in with my coffee in the morning. I bought a book entitled "The Kind Diet" after seeing Alisa Silverstone (author) on Oprah. Oprah was reviewing a book called "Food, Inc.," : Amazon.com: Food, Inc.: Eric Schlosser, Robert Kenner: Movies & TV (http://www.amazon.com/Food-Inc-Eric-Schlosser/dp/B0027BOL4G/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in) which illustrates the abuses and animal cruelty of animals produced for mass consumption. The camera went to a chicken farm -- the only one that would allow a camera in -- and the chickens were being kept in deplorable conditions. They've done this genetic breeding so the chickens have these huge breasts, but they can't move more than a few inches at a time before falling down, and they are crowded beyond belief. That was the extra push I needed to give up eating chicken. It's just a personal decision that I decided to finally make, and I feel really good about it.
Hope you are all having a great weekend! Thanks for letting me share.
Clare
LilRaverBoi
02-28-2010, 05:00 PM
Great pics, Clare!f Love the variegated naners and the chicks! I see some white crested black polish and other top-hat breeds in there! Yay! Those were always my favorite...I showed them at the county fair and won best of show 2 years even! Egg-wise, they're not the best...inconsistent layers and small eggs...but they're pretty, very docile and fun to raise!
srash
02-28-2010, 07:40 PM
Clare,
We are kindred spirits. I have an Ae Ae banana growing in my family room, waiting for it to get a little warmer here in Savannah (I think I must have bid against you several times on e-bay). We built a chicken coop last year and now have 2 aracaunas, 1 barred rock, 1 silver-laced wyandotte, and a rhode island red. We have been harvesting over 2 dozen eggs a week even through the winter. I was stumped the longest time trying to figure out what I would do with 25 chickens, until I found Meyer's hatchery that sends out smaller bunches.
The greenhouse and solar panels are both on my to do list.:nanadrink:
Clare_CA
02-28-2010, 07:58 PM
Thanks so much for your comments, Bryan and Srash!
Bryan, that's good information to know. That's neat that you won best of show for two years.
SRash, it's good to know that we are kindred spirits. I hope I didn't bid against you.
Clare
LilRaverBoi
02-28-2010, 10:14 PM
We built a chicken coop last year and now have 2 aracaunas, 1 barred rock, 1 silver-laced wyandotte, and a rhode island red.
Oooo...we had aracaunas for years too! The blue/green eggs are very cool!
cherokee_greg
02-28-2010, 11:17 PM
great I miss having chickens maybe I will get some more I love those bananas !!!!!! Great garden you will have blessed !!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting
novisyatria
02-28-2010, 11:38 PM
i also miss having chickens. they looks beautiful clare
kemistry
03-01-2010, 01:01 AM
aw the chics are so adorable, reminds me of the 'farmer life' during childhood :)
i'm also a meat-free eater, too. It's very easy actually :03::02:
CookieCows
03-01-2010, 10:06 AM
The pictures are great! I love varigated plants. My ae ae is a stuttgart canna. :ha:
I miss chickens too!! I love the different colored eggs. We used to have those. Still waiting on our chicken coop to get fixed. I know what you mean about commerical chicken farms and plants. We see it out here.
We aren't vegetarians but when we had chickens they were free range during the day and we like to take our meat from our property instead of promoting the commercial industry. We were happy knowing that the animals here were 'happy while they were alive.' We only have a few beef cattle right now. I miss the days of chickens and milk cow. It would be so cool to be as self sustained as possible.
Henry
03-01-2010, 10:17 AM
I just want to add that chicken drops are awsome fertilizers :woohoonaner:
Abnshrek
03-01-2010, 10:29 AM
I'm all for living healthy. I like getting locally grown products. I ended up with a bunch of colored chicks last year for easter thanks to the girls :^)( the local grain co. sells them that way). I have 3 Rhode Island Reds.. So I get 21 eggs a week from 3 chickens if not more. If I feed them grubs they lay 2 eggs a day (a plus of digging & planting stuff in the yard).
I must say you have some very nice looking plants, and healthy looking chicks :^)
djmb74
03-01-2010, 12:33 PM
thanks for sharing Clare!
We are eating fresh eggs everyday now with my flock of egg layers. Eventually going expand the flock as I have a lot of interest from friends and family in getting fresh eggs weekly.
Also its great having the chickens because they are great composter as well. They get most of our dinner scraps and give back some great fertilizer!
I have one Brown Leghorn that has been laying two eggs a day everyone once in a while as well. She lays one mid morning and another right before they go to roost. No mistaking its her because she is my only white egg layer....
She doesn't even look tired does she....
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/bosskids/Chickens/IMG_0588.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/bosskids/Chickens/IMG_0513.jpg
Clare_CA
03-01-2010, 12:41 PM
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone! I enjoyed reading them.
jeffreyp
03-01-2010, 01:03 PM
I had a couple orpinton hens and they were alot of fun raise. In the evenings they were very docile and you could pick them up and hold them like a puppy dog. I've since moved but I hope one day to again get some hens.
djmb74
03-01-2010, 01:11 PM
I have a few hens that love to tell me its time to come get the eggs. They cluck lick nobodies business until I come and get them.
As far as banana plants my chickens love eating them. So I cannot keep any where they can get to them, they even figured out that they can peck at the stems and get to yummy mushy stuff in the middle. They dig into the roots as well eating any worms they find as well as any roots they get a hold of.
I started 2 raised beds just for them with New Zealand spinach and tons of collard greens. I have a patch that I grow wheat grass for them as well...
They killed three snakes and every lizard and frog they could get as well... The one I took a picture of is the reptile hunter. She is so fast, its funny every time she gets a hold of one all the other chickens chase her around trying to steal it from her.
Here is a great forum all about chickens...
BackYardChickens Forum (http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php)
Clare_CA
03-01-2010, 01:53 PM
Oh no, Martin! Thanks for that info. I have bananas plants planted everywhere! Ugh. That could be problematic. I'll have to figure out what to do about that -- maybe a fenced off area. Thanks for that link. I'll check it out.
djmb74
03-01-2010, 02:01 PM
You definitely will want a fenced off run for them, they will eat anything growing that they find yummy after they take a taste. And once they eat everything yummy they will eat everything else that was kinda yummy...
jeffreyp
03-01-2010, 03:20 PM
they really are sweet animals. It's good to have a rooster as a watchdog they really have a keen sense against predators. In my case I had only hens because I didn't want to annoy my neighbors with morning cokadoodledooos
LilRaverBoi
03-01-2010, 05:30 PM
You definitely will want a fenced off run for them, they will eat anything growing that they find yummy after they take a taste. And once they eat everything yummy they will eat everything else that was kinda yummy...
Yes, very very true! In fact, I don't know of many (if any) things that they WON'T eat. Most people think of chickens as vegetarians...eating corn and grass, etc...but they are definitely omnivores that will eat pretty much any other animals they can catch from bugs and mice to frogs and reptiles.
Jack Daw
03-01-2010, 05:46 PM
Interesting. If I had a few spare acres, I would make it into organic food farm combined with free outdoor farm for several types of animals, such as chickens. If, if, if... :)
Good luck with those chickens, they look so fragile. Are there any cocks or just hens?
Actually, I would create a new ecotop, if I had the time, space and money. :D
djmb74
03-01-2010, 06:33 PM
09 was my first year of raising chickens. Never been around them before but I just love all my little girls! They are entertaining and all of them have different personalities, things they like and don't like. All of mine are very tame, one of them even jumps in your lap to hang out when you are sitting down. They are not hard to take care of at all, as a matter of fact most animals kept as pets are a whole lot more work and trouble than the chickens. The best part about it is its the first pets I've had that have a fricken job! They actually contribute to the household, they feed us, keep the bug population down, and they fertilize my yard! They do a pretty good job of tilling soil too!
LilRaverBoi
03-01-2010, 07:48 PM
Are there any cocks or just hens?
Actually, since they're under a year of age, they would be defined as 'pullets' and 'cockerels.' :ha::ha: Sorry...just the smart-alec in me coming out.
Abnshrek
03-01-2010, 09:14 PM
Are there any cocks or just hens?
She'll know what she has in a month or 2, 3 @ the latest... They grow pretty quick. :^)
CookieCows
03-01-2010, 10:02 PM
Actually you can sex baby chicks as early as a day old.
1aday
03-01-2010, 11:29 PM
Those are really cute chicks, I'm sorry you lost your top hat one. The little striped ones look just like my Bantam did as a baby. He is the sweetest thing, but his gray brother is the meanest thing!
Your AeAes look great too. Congrats on getting them for a good price.
djmb74
03-02-2010, 09:29 AM
Really? I thought you aren't supposed handle day old chicks much and vent sexing isn't as easy as some people make it seem. Even the experts get a certain percentage wrong as when you place a large order of pullets you usually end up with a few roo's. Some breeds are sex-linked and they are born one color or another to tell male and female apart. Such as my golden comet.
And if your gonna try and tell me the old wives tale of holding a chick by the scruff of the neck and let their feet dangle to see if they pull it up or not I am going Laugh at you! :ha:
Actually you can sex baby chicks as early as a day old.
sunfish
03-02-2010, 09:53 AM
YouTube - How it's made - Hatchery chicks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuohLV2u0k)
djmb74
03-02-2010, 10:12 AM
The way they do it in the video is only for sex linked chickens... its called feather sexing and only mostly commercial breeds are breed for those traits of fast growing feathers. Some are bred for color others are bred for the wing feather trait...
Sex-Links (http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html)
YouTube - How it's made - Hatchery chicks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuohLV2u0k)
Clare_CA
03-02-2010, 12:35 PM
Thanks for the comments everyone. That's true, Martin, about their having a job!
Thanks for the video, Tony. I don't have any sound on this computer so I'll have to watch it on my other computer later so I can hear the audio.
djmb74
03-02-2010, 12:51 PM
The ones with the stripes and look kinda like chipmonks are EE's
Easter eggers - a cross between araucana's and americana's
I have 2 of them... named Sunset and Pocahontas
Thanks for the comments everyone. The chicks are all doing great. I got all female because I don't want more baby chicks and because I don't think I could handle the announcement all day. There is one down the street that makes an announcment all day long. I got the female ornamental layer collection at McMurry Hatchery.
I too had four chickens before when I lived in Buellton and loved them. We tried to bring them with us to Camarillo when we moved, but it wasn't possible. Now we own our own home and are on a half an acre. I think we'll have to fence off a large area for them and take them out on excursions every once in a while to the outlying areas. I have 35 bananas in the ground here and would rather that they not be pecked at. I will want to protect them from predators (mainly my cat and future dog) so this work work out better.
That's true, Martin, about their having a job!
Thanks for the video, Tony. I don't have any sound on this computer so I'll have to watch it on my other computer later so I can hear the audio.
Thanks, 1aday, for the condolences. That made me really sad to lose one. I am watching the smallest ones carefully to make sure that they are eating and drinking enough. Oh, I hope those striped ones are Bantams. That would be neat. They don't tell you what you will get in the collection, but they say that there are 8 different kinds.
Here are some updated pictures. I transferred them to a big plastic tub so that they could be on wood shavings.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/Clare_CA/030210007-1.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/Clare_CA/030210006.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/Clare_CA/030210005.jpg
Jack Daw
03-02-2010, 12:58 PM
Very nice pics Clare! Thumbs up! They will grow really fast, so try and enjoy every minute you spend with those babies. There's nothing like the first time. :woohoonaner:
Actually, since they're under a year of age, they would be defined as 'pullets' and 'cockerels.' :ha::ha: Sorry...just the smart-alec in me coming out.
I'm always happy to learn something new. ;)
She'll know what she has in a month or 2, 3 @ the latest... They grow pretty quick. :^)
Well, I've read somewhere that u can sort this out really quickly. Many farms eliminate cockerels, because they are more aggresive than pullets. Typical chicken on a farm lives 28 days, so they would never reach a point when they could say what's what. ;)
Actually you can sex baby chicks as early as a day old.
I've read that too! Somewhere...
Really? I thought you aren't supposed handle day old chicks much and vent sexing isn't as easy as some people make it seem. Even the experts get a certain percentage wrong as when you place a large order of pullets you usually end up with a few roo's. Some breeds are sex-linked and they are born one color or another to tell male and female apart. Such as my golden comet.
And if your gonna try and tell me the old wives tale of holding a chick by the scruff of the neck and let their feet dangle to see if they pull it up or not I am going Laugh at you! :ha:
Most of the farmers actually treat them worse than mosquitos, throwing them all over the place, overcrowded sheltered farms are no exceptions... yet 98% of those cute little things survive.
CookieCows
03-02-2010, 01:27 PM
Clare your chicks are the cutest!!
Speaking of old wives tales, what our neighbor told us when we had ours was that if the egg was pointed or round at the top it was either a male or female, can't remember which. We used to hatch about 40 eggs each summer in an incubator and I wanted to check that one out for fun but never did. I've never tried to sex a chick as we didn't need to. The chicken coop is far enough away from the house that the noise of the roosters was just a nice, faint farm noise.
We're going to get busy fixing the chicken coop as this thread has really got me missing it all! We have to pour cement around the bottom edge of the outside as we had a predator problem.
This is a great thread Clare! I can't wait to watch your ae ae's grow too! I hope you get striped bananas. Wouldn't that just be the greatest!
Deb
Most of the farmers actually treat them worse than mosquitos, throwing them all over the place, overcrowded sheltered farms are no exceptions... yet 98% of those cute little things survive.
Boy that is so true! There is nothing worse than getting stuck behind a truck hauling chickens. I used to turn my head as I couldn't stand it.
djmb74
03-02-2010, 01:54 PM
So true of the commercial farmers...
Over the last few years though there has been such a huge resurgence of people raising backyard flocks as well as small farms raising chickens the right way.
Clare_CA
03-02-2010, 03:10 PM
Thanks Jack, Deb, and Martin!
Those farms that produce the chickens for mass consumption have them in horrible, deplorable conditions. Some chickens live in the dark for their whole lives, but fortunately, people are being made aware of it, and some object to it while others ignore the problem. It's one of the reasons that I decided not to eat chicken anymore, but if I were going to, I would rather eat one that has been raised humanely. There are so many hormones and antibiotics going into meat sources these days that I think we all need to be more mindful of what is going into our bodies if we care about our health, and I think we all do care about our health.
Martin, when I picked up my chicks at the post office -- they called me on a Sunday, bless their hearts -- there were many other boxes of chicks going all over the area from Ojai to Oxnard to Santa Paula. I think it's true that more and more people are raising their own.
Deb, that's a good idea about the concrete as a base. I'll have to remember that and suggest that to my husband. I think, when he made a coupe the last time, he buried about two feet of fence, and the fence went up about 8 or 10 feet. I've heard horrible stories of night-time predators, such as racoons, that will kill a chicken for food. We've got a six-foot perimeter fence here, and they will be in a fence inside that so they should be well-protected. I'll make sure of that. My neighbor told me that she had a pet turkey for a long time, but he drowned in the rain. I was saddened to hear that. I guess she didn't know to protect him when it rains.
Thanks so much for the encouragement with my AeAe's. You're right that striped bananas would be so awesome. I love the plantings that Greenie and other members have here of their AeAe's and hope to have something like it. This will be the first year planting them in the ground, and I'm a bit nervous about it. They will be going in a full sun sloped area. Hopefully, the AeAe won't get too sunburned. The other variegated ones are supposed to do better in full sun without burning as much. I'll keep you posted on their status! Thanks!
Forgot to say, thanks for the EE identification, Martin! Now I know that I have top-hats, EE's, Bantams, and white crested black polish thanks to Bryan and you.
Jack Daw
03-02-2010, 03:35 PM
So true of the commercial farmers...
Over the last few years though there has been such a huge resurgence of people raising backyard flocks as well as small farms raising chickens the right way.
Yeah, in the end we will end up just the way our great great great great grandparents started. :ha: Evolution. :bananas_b
LilRaverBoi
03-02-2010, 03:40 PM
LMFAO! Chicks grow up so fast these days! Look, this one is talking on its cell-phone already!
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz186/LilRaverBoi308/NewBitmapImage.jpg?t=1267562213
LOL...just messing...probably a thermometer, but it looks kinda like a blackberry or an ipod or something.
Clare_CA
03-02-2010, 04:29 PM
:ha:You're funny, Bryan! Yeah, it's a thermometer.:ha:
djmb74
03-02-2010, 05:33 PM
That's statement is probably so close to the truth it ain't even funny!
Yeah, in the end we will end up just the way our great great great great grandparents started. :ha: Evolution. :bananas_b
Clare, make sure to spend some time on that site backyard chickens so you can learn the best ways to make your coop to protect your birds. Some people have chain link fence but raccoons will reach right in ant grab chickens.
Lots of awesome ideas on that sight and no need to go anywhere else to get information on everything chicken!
Looks like the making of a great blackberry commercial. HAHA
LMFAO! Chicks grow up so fast these days! Look, this one is talking on its cell-phone already!
http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz186/LilRaverBoi308/NewBitmapImage.jpg?t=1267562213
LOL...just messing...probably a thermometer, but it looks kinda like a blackberry or an ipod or something.
My goal by 2012 to be be getting close 80-90% of our food on my own property.
Jack Daw
03-02-2010, 05:45 PM
My goal by 2012 to be be getting close 80-90% of our food on my own property.
That must be one big property. :bananas_b
Clare_CA
03-02-2010, 05:47 PM
Thanks, Martin. I will definitely return to it and read as much as I can. I also bought a book entitled "Storey's Guide toRaising Chickens" that I've got to return to also. Yesterday, I found some good information on that site. Thanks very much again for letting me know about it.
I think that is a great goal to have. Being self-sustained is a worthy goal in my mind, and since you will be getting food from your own property, you will know exactly what is going in your body and your family's bodies. I now understand the importance of organic more than ever and am a believer. I feel that, if you can depend on yourself for your own survival, you are leagues ahead of the vast majority of people.
Yeah, I did hear that about reaching in to grab a chicken. Yikes! They'll be tucked in at night and unreachable, and I'll make sure that the fence is really tight fencing and not real open.
djmb74
03-02-2010, 05:54 PM
We are on 5 acres and can accomplish it just fine here but I am looking to move soon to a bigger piece of land.
My oldest son and wife want to start an animal rescue for birds and small exotics and farm animals.
That must be one big property. :bananas_b
CookieCows
03-02-2010, 05:59 PM
That must be one big property. :bananas_b
You'd be surprised at the quanity of fruits and veges you can get in a small area by switching over to edible landscaping!
We're doing that little by little too. The big leaves from squash looked nice and tropical near the pool last summer!
Patty in Wisc
03-02-2010, 07:45 PM
Hope you put a cover over the coupe. Racoons wil climb over the top. Martin, you have a cover don't you?
Abnshrek
03-02-2010, 07:50 PM
Yeah, in the end we will end up just the way our great great great great grandparents started. :ha: Evolution. :bananas_b
So that must be Tech-Savy Reverse Evolution :^) btw some folks only use 1000 sq. ft. to provide all the veggies they need to eat for the year.
djmb74
03-02-2010, 10:47 PM
Yep they have a front door that gets closed every night. After loosing one to a raccoon I learned my lesson...
Hope you put a cover over the coupe. Racoons wil climb over the top. Martin, you have a cover don't you?
Abnshrek
03-03-2010, 12:12 AM
Yep they have a front door that gets closed every night. After loosing one to a raccoon I learned my lesson...
I have a guard pig :^) to keep my chickens safe.. Ole pork chop runs that area.. :^)
CookieCows
03-03-2010, 01:09 AM
I have a guard pig :^) to keep my chickens safe.. Ole pork chop runs that area.. :^)
OMGSH I thought a pig would kill a chicken! Obviously yours doesn't .. and it sounds really cute! :ha:
Abnshrek
03-03-2010, 01:48 AM
OMGSH I thought a pig would kill a chicken! Obviously yours doesn't .. and it sounds really cute! :ha:
He might have if he didn't grow up with them.. I believe they were twice his size at first and didn't take long before he was having fun scaring them. Now he just gets them away from his food or eats they're food as it drops from the coop (its elevated to where he can chill out under it). :^)
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