I've never been overly concerned about my chicken feed. They eat probably better than any other critter here. I'll see about Muenster's poultry rations, though. I DID solve the problem about my (new arrivals) cannibal pullets. A friend wanted 2 - 3 new hens, and has an established flock. no young birds recently. By the time I'd talked to her about her buying them, the rocs had already killed off one of their own.
She didn't LOOK like she should have died. They plucked out vent feathers. the one I have in the house is in a lot worse shape, and taking it quite cheerfully. Ameraucana, placid but obviously, TOUGH birds. They're so lovely, I'd like a whole flock of them. The lady I got them (the rocks) from kept talking about how muddy and awful her back pens were, and how muddy the chickens were going to be when I got them. Now, I'm wondering if when one died, she didn't just leave it and they learned to eat them because of that. I had wanted a couple of guineas again just for the noise factor. I don't like them, but it's something else for the fillies to acclimate to, besides, they're death to grasshoppers. So, I ended up hauling the (now 3) Barred Rocks for 2 guinea hens. I paid $5 each for these pullets. They killed one and I pretty much gave the other 3 away. I could have saved myself a lot of work and just tossed $20 out the truck window. But the lesson learned was so enormous, I can't say it was actually money wasted. GOATS: Yesterday, Fiona gave birth to twins, and this morning, Mocha had triplets! (We're talking about dairy goats, Oberhasli at that.) Fiona has a doe kid (tentatively named Finesse) and Mocha has a black doe kid, I still need an "M" name for her. The rest are boys. I usually don't keep the buck kids unless I have them presold. Mocha's larger one is so nice (and she's an 8*milker doe), I may hold him over in case someone needs an excellent sire replacement. So, it's been a busy and productive weekend around the farmstead. I'm about to (belatedly) start tomato seeds into flats. What would be the first good moonsign day for it? What does everyone use for seed starting? What type of medium and what kind of containers? I have a lot of old terra cotta pots I like to use, and I also have been trying newspaper 'pots' this year, too. What works, and what would you try/avoid?
