Self-Reliance: How do you?
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
That’s a nice coop. Having it wheels is great so you can fertilize where ever as-needed.
Bonus, It looks fairly predator - proof.Paul
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That’s a nice coop. Having it wheels is great so you can fertilize where ever as-needed.
Bonus, It looks fairly predator - proof.processhead just wait until you see the perimeter fencing! I’ll post next week on this when I get the pullets settled in their first paddock.
Matt W.
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processhead just wait until you see the perimeter fencing! I’ll post next week on this when I get the pullets settled in their first paddock.
RafterW said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
processhead just wait until you see the perimeter fencing! I’ll post next week on this when I get the pullets settled in their first paddock.
Sounds interesting. Will be interested to see what you have going.
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
RafterW nice chicken tractor. That is high end from what we used, bet it holds up better too.
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
RafterW This picture is right after Jonathan claiming he will escape the burbs and I thought it was a picture of land he was looking at. then I scrolled down to his planned house and wasn’t too impressed. Looks like it should work great for your chickens though.
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RafterW This picture is right after Jonathan claiming he will escape the burbs and I thought it was a picture of land he was looking at. then I scrolled down to his planned house and wasn’t too impressed. Looks like it should work great for your chickens though.
Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks
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Tex_77 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
bocephus I don’t think Jonathon would survive long outside the city. I’d give him 3 days, maybe.
Maybe Jonathon 's wife has better hunter/gatherer skills.
Paul
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Tex_77 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
bocephus I don’t think Jonathon would survive long outside the city. I’d give him 3 days, maybe.
Maybe Jonathon 's wife has better hunter/gatherer skills.
processhead she is a vegetarian forvthe most part, so she might know what plants to eat.
Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks
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processhead she is a vegetarian forvthe most part, so she might know what plants to eat.
Tex_77 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
processhead she is a vegetarian forvthe most part, so she might know what plants to eat.
I can envision meal time as being very interesting at the Trembley house.
Paul
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Tex_77 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
processhead she is a vegetarian forvthe most part, so she might know what plants to eat.
I can envision meal time as being very interesting at the Trembley house.
processhead do you think he would resort to eating those dinosaurs he calls dogs?
Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks
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processhead do you think he would resort to eating those dinosaurs he calls dogs?
Tex_77 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
processhead do you think he would resort to eating those dinosaurs he calls dogs?
Hah! That would be the equivalent of you or me eating our kids… lol
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processhead do you think he would resort to eating those dinosaurs he calls dogs?
Tex_77 Maybe the beast dogs could bring something home to eat and share with Jonathan.
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A sad morning. I lost four chickens to a predator overnight. I got them moved into the mobile coop yesterday. Last night was their first overnight in the mobile coop. It looks like a predator was able to get underneath and kill several through the wire, without actually entering the coop. Most of the four were intact, but a leg or so…there was one that was halfway consumed through the hardware wire.
I have an electrified perimeter net that I didn’t set up yesterday…bad judgement call on my end. I assumed the proximity of the coop to my shop and outdoor lighting would have been sufficient to keep predators less interested.
I’m still at 91% survival rate, going into week 4 of 11. Predator netting from premier 1 will be going up this afternoon, as well as a trap in the proximity.
Making a bad management decision sucks, live and learn…I suppose. One the bright side, it is better to lose a few early, rather than later as each bird has current consumed about 2lb of feed each, at this point, as compared to some 15 lbs of feed come processing time.
Matt W.
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A sad morning. I lost four chickens to a predator overnight. I got them moved into the mobile coop yesterday. Last night was their first overnight in the mobile coop. It looks like a predator was able to get underneath and kill several through the wire, without actually entering the coop. Most of the four were intact, but a leg or so…there was one that was halfway consumed through the hardware wire.
I have an electrified perimeter net that I didn’t set up yesterday…bad judgement call on my end. I assumed the proximity of the coop to my shop and outdoor lighting would have been sufficient to keep predators less interested.
I’m still at 91% survival rate, going into week 4 of 11. Predator netting from premier 1 will be going up this afternoon, as well as a trap in the proximity.
Making a bad management decision sucks, live and learn…I suppose. One the bright side, it is better to lose a few early, rather than later as each bird has current consumed about 2lb of feed each, at this point, as compared to some 15 lbs of feed come processing time.
RafterW what kind of predator are we dealing with here? Did you get the culprit on your cameras?
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The little guys are pretty vulnerable to injuries and trauma. At this stage, unfortunately it doesn’t take much to kill them. Good luck with the predator controls.
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A sad morning. I lost four chickens to a predator overnight. I got them moved into the mobile coop yesterday. Last night was their first overnight in the mobile coop. It looks like a predator was able to get underneath and kill several through the wire, without actually entering the coop. Most of the four were intact, but a leg or so…there was one that was halfway consumed through the hardware wire.
I have an electrified perimeter net that I didn’t set up yesterday…bad judgement call on my end. I assumed the proximity of the coop to my shop and outdoor lighting would have been sufficient to keep predators less interested.
I’m still at 91% survival rate, going into week 4 of 11. Predator netting from premier 1 will be going up this afternoon, as well as a trap in the proximity.
Making a bad management decision sucks, live and learn…I suppose. One the bright side, it is better to lose a few early, rather than later as each bird has current consumed about 2lb of feed each, at this point, as compared to some 15 lbs of feed come processing time.
RafterW my buddy was doing the same thing last week when I talked to him on phone. He was putting up fine netting on top, be sure you protect them from above. He told me owls were the #1 predator of his chicks before he started that.
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RafterW what kind of predator are we dealing with here? Did you get the culprit on your cameras?
Tex_77 no predator on camera lastnight. Guessing racoon. I’ve had several around the house in the past few weeks. The fence is up and it is hot! I’m going to keep the chicks in the coop for another day or two, before letting them out in the grass. The coop will keep them safe during the day and the fence/coop combo will for sure keep them safe at night. Dave in AZ I hope owls don’t become a problem during the daytime. I do have some owls around our property.
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A sad morning. I lost four chickens to a predator overnight. I got them moved into the mobile coop yesterday. Last night was their first overnight in the mobile coop. It looks like a predator was able to get underneath and kill several through the wire, without actually entering the coop. Most of the four were intact, but a leg or so…there was one that was halfway consumed through the hardware wire.
I have an electrified perimeter net that I didn’t set up yesterday…bad judgement call on my end. I assumed the proximity of the coop to my shop and outdoor lighting would have been sufficient to keep predators less interested.
I’m still at 91% survival rate, going into week 4 of 11. Predator netting from premier 1 will be going up this afternoon, as well as a trap in the proximity.
Making a bad management decision sucks, live and learn…I suppose. One the bright side, it is better to lose a few early, rather than later as each bird has current consumed about 2lb of feed each, at this point, as compared to some 15 lbs of feed come processing time.
RafterW Sorry to hear about the loss, but anything above >90% survival is a positive, so hang in there. Between electric fence and overhead netting the only problem I still have is chicken snakes and unfortunately I have just accepted that it will happen occasionally no matter what I do.
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Week 3 of the chick’s lives wrapped up today and we are onto week four. So far the 50 birds (46 now) have consumed 100 lbs of feed total, putting them at 2lbs of feed consumed each. At a maximum, I’m shooting for no more than 18 lbs of feed necessary for each bird to finish out. Hoping that the pasture will help supplement their forage needs to lower the feed cost. My feed cost calculation is $6.43/bird, which is just over half of the cost associated with raising each bird, which I’m currently estimating at $12.28/bird. Target carcass weight is 4.5 lbs on average…$2.73/lb.
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