Mob 3 Miscellany, Beginning of Week 2

CRX 1 week old, under the brooder

Mob 3 turned 1 week old yesterday, and as of this writing, are still 42 birds strong.  Even our dizzy chick seems to have assimilated and is doing well.  As you can see from the pictures they're growing quickly and putting on feathers.

Notice the beginnings of white feathers on the wing

I wanted to note a few things we do with our chicks that seem to help in terms of lower mortality rates and overall health.  Some of this stuff we picked up from other backyard chicken aficionados or from research or by pure dumb luck.  And while this has worked for us thus far, we certainly can't guarantee we've discovered the magic bullet for successfully raising Cornish Rock Cross.  Honestly I think we've just been incredibly lucky but maybe a few of these tips will be helpful to someone else.

1. Buy your chicks from a reputable hatchery near where you live.  As we've said before, we love Jenks Hatchery in Tangent, Oregon because in our experience, their CRX stock is outstanding - healthy, good feed conversion, smarter than the average CRX - and because they're geographically close.  As we've seen with both Mobs 2 & 3, even one day less transit time makes a huge difference in early mortality rates.  (Mob 1 which had 2 days transit to us had 2 out of 35 chicks die in the first 2 weeks, Mobs 2 & 3 each had 0 out of 42).
2. We use the deep litter method for our nursery. 
3. While in the nursery, we offer water mixed with poultry electrolyte.  This was recommended to use by a chicken farmer as helpful for hydration and for keeping the chicks "regular." 
4. Speaking of regular, we watch for vents getting plugged and clean as needed.  Yep, nothing like wiping a chick's little hind end.
5. As I mentioned in the last post, we don't offer food immediately upon arrival.  We encourage the chicks to hydrate first after their journey to us.
6. We feed them good food.  Spoiled babies.

Patriot Farm Feed

Speaking of good food, here's a picture of the feed we get from Patriot Farm and Bison (left) compared to the bagged crumbles usually found in most feed stores (right).  You can see the actual grains in the Patriot feed versus the dry, hard pressed pellets of the other stuff... in fact, once the chicks get the good stuff, they turn their little beaks up at the other and will let it sit in the trays.  I have a feeling it's a little like eating a gourmet meal compared to cold fast food.

The ladies, taking a rest

Just a quick update on the youngest's hens.  They're growing quickly, feathering out and are in general getting along famously.  The husband, after losing time the previous weekend, is maniacally building the hen house in hopes of reclaiming his garage.  He's using a lot of reclaimed materials including an old pallet for the base and leftover flooring from a bathroom remodel, though he did buy a a sheet of plywood for the roof and floor plus some siding for the walls.  We're hoping to get the whole thing built for about $100.  Once finished the six ladies will have 16 square feet of floor space plus nesting box and perch, maybe a loft area if it seems warranted. Pretty plush digs for our little feathered friends.  

Beginning of hen house

Environmental Working Group's 2013 Dirty Dozen-Clean Fifteen List

OK, it's Tuesday which means I'm totally swamped with carting kids hither and yon.  But I wanted to get this out to you all since in my humble opinion, EWG's Dirty Dozen-Clean Fifteen list for fruits and vegetables is an invaluable tool in the quest for clean eating (and the pdf is free).  You can find the summary of it here, as well as donate to their worthy cause and sign up for their emails.

The Ultimate Gluten-Free Fast Food Guide (FREE!)

With all my talk of chickens and whole foods lately, today's post marks a definite departure from what has become the norm around here.  Not that I'm meaning to shirk discussion of gluten-free eating, but we've really been all about the chicken at our house.  So when I got this email from Gluten-free Saver about this FREE (free is good!) offering of The Ultimate Gluten-Free Fast Food Guide, I felt I needed to pass it along.

Let's face it, real life happens and sometimes your choices for gluten-free sustenance in a hurry may be limited to fast food.  Now granted, we prefer to find the healthier options but when hunger has taken the driver's seat and Scary Clowns hawking golden french fries and double tall burgers are your only option, you want to be sure you're making the best choice for yourself in an effort to avoid minefield of potential gluten exposure.  So CeliAct (nutritional supplement company specializing in vitamins and such for people with Celiac Disease) put together The Ultimate Gluten-Free Fast Food Guide which profiles the 50 most popular fast food chains in America in terms of their gluten-free offerings and safety.  I've downloaded a copy and after a quick perusal was impressed with the information.  You will need to provide your email address to claim your pdf download.




*This is an unsolicited recommendation.  I am receiving no compensation for the opinions expressed here. 

Mob 3 is in the house!

Introducing Mob 3

Under the hover brooder

The new nursery set-up

Mob 3, aka our newest flock of 42 Cornish Rock Cross, surprisingly arrived TODAY.  Considering it was only YESTERDAY that I finalized the order with Jenks Hatchery in Oregon, I think this qualifies as a minor postal miracle.  We're quite thankful to have the barely one-day old chicks here since, in our all be it somewhat limited experience, shorter transit time and earlier access to food and water seem to result in lower mortality rate.  One of the chicks seems a little off it's game after it's trip through the mail but the rest of the mob are extremely active and healthy.

As you may notice from the pictures, we've changed up the nursery a little.  We moved it to another section of the garage so they have a bit more room, and we centered the hover brooder.  In addition we put the food and water stations at opposite ends of the nursery and are using a towel underneath in an effort to keep the wood chips and poo out.  So far so good.

I'm always amazed at how incredibly small the chicks are.  I never remember from time to time how really tiny they seem to be... or how much spunky personality they possess.  Within a few minutes of being introduced to their new home, these little buggers were running races from one end of their enclosure to the other and were peeping madly.  When we initially place the chicks in the nursery, we only present water to them so they have the chance to fully hydrate prior to eating any solid food.  They're not big fans of this method but it seems to work well.

Checking out the new digs

Chickens on my counter, part deux

AKA:  The hens have landed!

Chicks on my counter

With the youngest's birthday this past weekend, we decided now would be an auspicious time to get our first batch of laying chicks.  If you've followed our blog in the last few months you will have noticed extensive debate about breed, number and gender of the our proposed laying flock.  Ultimately, we decided on 6 hens (no roosters) since 6 will probably fulfill most of our family's egg needs and won't be too crazy expensive to keep.  After finding a local (as in our hometown) source (Craigslist FTW!), we narrowed breed down to Buff Orpington and Cuckoo Maran since both breeds tend to be fairly docile and friendly and produce a decent amount of eggs.  Plus the husband loved the idea of the dark chocolate brown egg color of the Maran, and I love that the Buffs are a steady year round egg producer.  The boys just love that they make good pets.

We had a fantastic experience choosing our chicks.  The farmer we purchased from runs a little hobby farm that for him represents a true labor of love.  He happily showed us all of his hens and roosters of which he has nine purebred breeds, including a few more unusual kinds, and his set-up for insuring purity of each breed.   We observed his incubators and watched a newly hatched chick adjust to life outside the egg.  The boys were also entertained by his goslings, goats and piglets.

Chicken lovers

After our fun afternoon, the final result turned out to be a plastic tote full of chicks of three different breeds on my kitchen counter.  I think we've been here before.  On final count, we came home with three Buff Orpington (the golden yellow chicks), 2 Cuckoo Maran (the black and white chicks) and one Ameraucana (the brown striped chick) all 1-2 weeks old.  The Ameraucana was a last minute, spur of the moment choice, but she has rapidly become the boys' favorite.  Youngest has been mis-pronouncing her breed to everyone as "A-mary-juana" which has led to some explaining by us and the shortened name of Mary.  The rest of the babies are still waiting to be christened, but I'm sure once it's a bit easier to tell them a part, they'll soon be bestowed with appropriate titles.

Though the hens started on counter, they're now happily ensconced in a garage enclosure.  The husband is busily constructing a hen house which if I get my act together, I'll record the progress of its construction.

Stay tuned for more adventures with chickens as we've made our Cornish Cross order and will have more chicks arriving this week.

Our top 10 reasons for growing backyard chickens

Monday in our home means roast chicken on the menu.  I know, I know, Sunday in the United States is traditionally equated with chicken dinner and all the fixings, but for whatever reason, we tend to do this differently at our house.  The lovely thing about Monday chicken is the wonderful leftovers for the rest of the week and the yummy soup made from chicken bone broth on Wednesday. Mmm-mmm.

Anyway, preparing the chicken for the oven today plus a recent conversation about our chicken hobby got me thinking about why we do backyard meat birds.  Initially it started out as a bit of a lark, sort of a challenge to see if we could really do it, but now I would say it has become a way of life.  I mean, there was no question in our minds that we would raise a Mob 3 this spring and probably a Mob 4 in the late summer.  In chatting with some longtime friends over the weekend, the "why" was the question that kept coming up.  Why would you do this?  Why go through all the work?  Why incur the expense?  Why not just continue buying from the grocery?

So why do we raise meat chickens, if not for the challenge?  Here are our top 10 reasons:

1. They taste better.  Seriously, they do.  We get a lot of skepticism from others on this one but pastured raised chickens have a different, more meaty flavor than their limp grocery store counterparts.  The meat is firmer, darker and more juicy.  
2. We know where our food came from.  Our chickens do not hail from an anonymous large scale factory farm.  We raise them cradle to freezer so there is no question about their health or their care.
3. We know what went into our food (and what didn't).  This is a big one, especially considering the recent stories about "additives" such as antibiotics, growth hormones,  and waste product from human food production in livestock and poultry feed.  Our birds receive high quality, properly balanced feed in addition to being on pasture where they readily avail themselves of grass, weeds, garden scraps, and any creepy crawlies that venture into their paths.
4. Our birds lead better lives.  Factory farms are not pretty places, even the organic ones.  Birds on these farms are confined to small cages where they are stuff full of questionable feed in an effort to grow them fast.  Disease is often an issue. Injuries often result.  Birds are not allowed to roam, graze or exercise.  In a word, it's unnatural.  Our birds are well cared for, well-fed, babied if injured, and enjoy fresh pasture daily.  They are also socialized, cooed at, and in general, have a fuss made over them daily.  In a word, they're spoiled in the very best way.
5. Their deaths are more humane.  I won't go into detail on this one, but we care for our birds even in death.
6. The meat is healthier.  Studies have shown livestock of every kind, including poultry, benefit from living more natural, pastured lives.  This equates into healthier meat higher in omega-3's, lower in fats and calories, and higher in vitamins and minerals.  See Eat Wild's Health Benefits of Grass Fed Products for a detailed synopsis.   
7. It's fun.  If you haven't gotten this from the number of times I've waxed poetic about our Mobs, I'll just say it outright.  It's fun to raise chickens.  
8. We're teaching our children about the food cycle.  Our boys are well aware of where their food comes from now, and the process that goes into producing a single chicken.  They have a much greater appreciation and respect for the meal on their plate.
9. It's good for our land.  Our yard benefits greatly from having the chickens work it over and then deposit fresh-made fertilizer on it.  You can definitely tell the areas where we pastured the chickens compared to those areas where we have not yet.
10. Our meat is organic, pastured poultry for less money.  Now while I could get conventional non-organic grocery store chicken for less money than it takes to raise our Mobs, as I've demonstrated in a previous post, there is no way we could buy organic pastured chicken for what it costs for us to raise them.  Even on sale.  And if you want to start talking what organic chicken goes for at the farmer's market (often $5/lb or more around our area) than we're saving serious money.