Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 Have you chicken folks found the Black Austalorps to be a bit tough eating? When we slaughtered the boys some were like chewing shoe leather. Somebody told me that vinegar in the water will make chicken's meat more tender. Do you think the eggs will also be more tender? As in this is not a good thing to do? Belinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 Many breeds > of chickens that are excellent foragers, in my > experience, are also very difficult to handle and > contain when necessary, because they have excitable > dispositions I have a small flock (28 chickens, 3 geese, 1 duck) with lots of different old-fashioned breeds. They are all phenomenal buggers and hunters. When they were 3 days old they were already trying to eat ants, spiders and slugs. Some of them are more human-oriented, some more stand-offish. I have: Buff Orpingtons, very gentle and easy to handle Black Australorps, gentle and human-oriented to the point of being pet quality. My favorite was named Good Night, and she would sit on my shoulder or on my head whenever she saw me. We'd wander around the meadow together like that. Dominiques, a little less easy New Hampshire Reds, definitely not as easy The above are all heavy breeds, which means they are big and fat and thus will lay throughout the winter with NO supplementary lighting. And it's dark at 4:30 here on December 21! For smaller breeds I have: Araucanas, really friendly, they lay green and blue eggs, and they are the kind that Martha Stuart has. Some of my Araucanas will come and sit on me if I'm lying down outside in the grass. We take naps together. Brown Leghorn--friendly Anconas--not friendly, but very cute, black with white polka dots and jaunty combs that flop to one side like a French beret (spelling?) English Game Hens--I've got 2 of these, one a Red Quill, the other a gray one. These are beautiful chickens and INCREDIBLY shy. I have never touched one of them, and the other one I only caught because she got tangled up in some netting. What you don't want are the hybird chickens. Andy Lee in his book Chicken Tractor talks about the Cornish X Rocks, which have been breed to put on weight at a phenomenal rate, but even if you fill their food dish with bugs, they won't touch them! Also they can develop leg problems from growing too fast and also drop dead from heart attacks, as gaining that much weight that quickly strains their hearts. I know the Rodale Institute was doing trials with chickens in their organic orchards. I think they were using White Wyandottes. But I know the breeds I have are just as good. Another option is guinea fowl, which are true insectivores and will not hurt your garden. All they care about are the bugs. However, they are a bit noisy. See the book Gardening With Guineas. A great resource is the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog, free, at 800-456-3280. Okay, can you tell I am obsessed with my chickens? Don't even ask me about my duck... Lierre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 > > Okay, can you tell I am obsessed with my chickens? Don't even ask > me about my duck... > Lierre Hey, that's what I want to know about! Does your duck lay eggs? I've heard ducks have more personality than chickens. Someday I'd like to have a backyard chicken coup or duck coup or something. If your duck does lay eggs, how do they taste compared to chicken eggs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 If you want personality, try a goose. If raised and handled from hatching, they will bond with people and be very affectionate. Big, big eggs too. One egg makes a big meal. I had a pet goose once. Problem now is I could never eat one. > Hey, that's what I want to know about! Does your duck lay eggs? I've heard ducks have more personality than chickens. Someday I'd like to have a backyard chicken coup or duck coup or something. If your duck does lay eggs, how do they taste compared to chicken eggs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 I like to talk about my chickens, too, Lierre. I find the old-fashioned and heavy breeds to be good enough foragers. The ones I was referring to as having more difficult temperaments tend to be the smaller, more active, more high-strung kinds, like Buttercups or Lakenvelders. We have a Buff Orpington rooster right now who is wonderful, not aggressive towards people at all, but we had one Black Austalorps rooster who was a nightmare (he had to meet his maker because he was truly dangerous for little kids or slower old people). We had some Fayoumis for a while, and they were great foragers, very canny, would range all over the place busily looking for food, but we found them to be virtually impossible to approach, and they make the most awful noise. If we didn't let them out of the coop at the crack of dawn, they'd make an unbelievable ruckus, not just clucking but squawking, you could hear them all over the neighborhood. We gave them away to family in a more remote area, where they ended up as bobcat or coyote snacks, because eventually they refused to even come back to their coop at night and took to roosting in the trees and setting in the bushes. They're wild, fast and smart, but not faster or smarter than bobcats and coyotes. I really like the Polish crested breed, plan to get some more of them this spring. Also love Auracanas, will also be getting more of those, we had a couple before but lost them when the dogs got out and had a chicken-killing orgy one day. Aubin __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 I would like to know more about your duck as well. We currently have chickens and are thinking about adding ducks to our collection. Will they keep the slug population down in my garden without eating all the produce? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 > If you want personality, try a goose. If raised and handled from hatching, > they will bond with people and be very affectionate. Big, big eggs too. > One egg makes a big meal. > > I had a pet goose once. Problem now is I could never eat one. > > My geese are great! I have Pilgrims, which are a very sweet, quiet breed and getting rarer by the minute. If you want really tame animals of any species the best thing is to get yourself a 6 year old child and let her play with them night and day. > > Hey, that's what I want to know about! Does your duck lay eggs? I've > heard ducks have more personality than chickens. Someday I'd like to > have a backyard chicken coup or duck coup or something. If your duck > does lay eggs, how do they taste compared to chicken eggs? > > > My duck (her name is Miracle) is a Khaki , which are the best egg breed for ducks. Ducks have a lot to recommend them. In fact, Eliot in The New Organic Grower says he likes them better than chickens because ducks don't scratch up the ground and they are tougher in terms of disease. In my experience that's true. The chickens are prone to lung problems, the duck and geese never. But I live in a very cold place. If it's warmer where you are, it may not matter. The other nice thing about ducks is that they lay their eggs at night, right before sleep. So the eggs are always there in the nest box in the morning, in time for breakfast. The problem with free range chickens is that they can get sneaky about where they lay. So you end up hunting all over the woods trying to think like a chicken-- what little nook looks like a decent place to hide my family away in? With ducks it's not a problem. They go into their house at dusk, they lay their eggs, they fall asleep. If you get Khakis--which are the best egg breed--you will get more eggs over the life of the duck than you will out of a chicken. As to taste, I don't have a pond so the eggs taste like chicken eggs. I've heard that having a pond will change the flavor to something slightly fishier. My duck lays straight through the winter with no problem, but than so do my heavy breeds of chickens. Miracle is adorable. Everybody who sees her is quite taken with her. She's not as friendly as some of my chickens. She'll tolerate being picked up but she doesn't like it, and she never comes and sits in my lap of her own accord. However, if you want a more human-oriented breed, I'd try the Buff Orpington ducks. I have Buff Orpington chickens and they are very sweet tempered. The ducks are supposed to be the same. But, the Buff Orp ducks are not as prolific layers as the Khaki ducks. Whoever asked about Australorp meat--a friend slaughtered her extra Australorp roosters and said they were good. Maybe you waited to long and the birds were too old? Lierre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 Hi Lierre , Can a duck or two be kept together with a few chicken or do they need separate roaming areas? Carmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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