This batch of Australorp #chickens is putting themselves to bed reliably. Now I just have to move them into the coop with the old flock. This should not be too hard. I may just leave them in the pen around the coop for the first day.
With them moved, I will finally be able to raise a flock of breese chickens. I just had too many poultry projects up to this point.
If you want to produce nutritious food on your land, chickens are about the easiest way to make that happen. A good dog is the best way to keep them from being killed by predators. So how dou you feed the dog? ( #dogstr )
Ultimately, my plan is to have enough poultry and rabbits to take care of the bulk of what the dogs need. They also do very well on the guts of larger animals like pigs, sheep, and deer. I am still feeding kibble right now, but the price is getting to the point that the additional infrestucture to do all of this is starting to look more reasonable.
I will not have rabbits until my willows are producing enough fodder to provide the bulk of their diet. Chickens can be free ranged to a point, but it is possible to have more than is healthy for the land. If I raise them in pens for hatching eggs/chicks/poults, I will still have roosters. Since we really would only eat about one chicken per week, every rooster past number 52 is potential dog food.
#permies don't like to raise birds in pens, but some comprises are worth considering for a time while developing better systems. Normies can break the bank selling eggs for less than the cost of feed. #permaculture requires that one attains a yield. In this case the yield is money, replacement birds, #realfood, dog food, fertilizer, and the useful traits of chicken behavior.
So does it make sense for me to raise more birds? Yes.
Am I going to order 200 birds tomorow? Maybe, but the shipping date would be closer to September or October.
Always remember to stack things in appropriate ways across time. Too much too soon leads to too many problems. That is no excuse to do nothing. It is the time to lay the necessary groundwork.
Grow chickens! #grownostr !