[dominiquer60]

BachelorFarmer,
I suspect that your “cowlick” bird has what is called the “frizzle” gene, because these birds look like they are having a “bad frizzy hair day”. This gene can occur in any breed, and is prized and encouraged by some poultry fanciers. This very well could have been the extra chick that they sent you. Hatcheries like Murray McMurray and others will throw in an odd ball as a thank you gift to use up some of the breeds that over hatched. Depending on the breed it could be a fine production animal, or it could earn top dollar as an oddity if you have a small animal auction around you to take it to. Although I am not really into poultry breeds that have little to no egg or meat value, I do enjoy the diversity that our feathered friends display.

Where did you find such interesting crosses and do you have the ability to post a picture of one? Do they have common names like “grey broilers” or are they advertised as these specific crosses. I like keeping purebreds, but I also enjoy seeing how the cross-breds compare in meat and egg quality, as well as feather pattern.

Thanks in advance for any info on these birds you might have,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

They contain a lot of Potassium and take a long time to break down. We sell some to a neighbor, spread some in our hay fields and burn some to supplement heat in our greenhouses. I like the mulch idea, but we don’t usually have enough at one time to make enough mulch to cover our 250′ vegetable beds.

[dominiquer60]

Robernson,
We are fortunate that young folks like yourself are out there in this crazy world that we live in. I think that you are fortunate to have a group like DAP to turn to. I was in your shoes 20 years back, I was the crazy kid that lived on a “farm” because I had chickens. It wasn’t a farm, but I wished everyday that it was. I wonder how different my life would be now, if the internet and DAP were part of my life then.

My life could be dramatically different, maybe I would have taken time off before college to work on draft powered farms, or any farm that didn’t involve show horses. Maybe I would have found a situation that gave me a good start in the farming world and I could have saved myself the $50,000 to learn factory farming. I have few regrets and love my life and the people and land that I am close to, but I would have loved to have had such a network to turn of good honest people when I was younger and not as crazy.

Robernson, enjoy your youth and keep it with you at all times, and know that you are not alone. Enjoy the luxury of having some of the best teamsters/farmers/loggers and aspiring folks at your fingertips. Even if your your family is not really into your interests, at least you don’t have leave home to find those of us that are.

Great post everyone.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I ate the 4 year old Red Broiler hen, I cooked her all day long in a crock pot and later added veggies and then added some dumplings. I brought her to farmer potluck and she got rave revues and no one would have thought the bird was an old hen. I will let you know how the 9 year old Rhode Island Red/ Brahma cross cooks up. I don’t know about cooking older water fowl, but with chicken, cook the bird all day long until the meat falls off the bones, and I know that you can even cook it further until the bones are soft enough to eat.
Good Luck and let us know how the old geese turnout.

[dominiquer60]

Joshua,
I agree, sometimes the mismatched are the best match for work. My polled beef mutts are both black and white and that is where their similarities end. The off heifer is sensitive, a little jumpy now and then, she is happy to come in from being turned out, she likes to size up new situations and overall seems to be the brighter one. The near steer is a little dull, he is happy to follow me, doesn’t think much on his own and turns the other way when I go out to get them, he is also rather steady when it comes to different situations and loud noises.

When I yoke them together they are pretty handy, I have to even them out now and then when she is either full steam ahead or sizing something up in the distance. They really come into their own with a load, I was surprised how fast they picked up walking in step together. We are all new at this but I am happy that this freebie team is matched in the sense that when it comes down to it, they work well together.

Good Luck with your Holsteins and finding some nice Dexters in the future,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Thank You Carl and Tim,
I have had a lot of fun and fortunately I am able to get one more week in with them because there is not enough work for me in FL this coming weekend. Carl we will see about the shorthorns, I am leaving that up to Dale. If I happen to be gifted a pair, I don’t have a way to move them. I suppose if small enough they may fit in the back of my extra tall pickup cap, then I would have to sleep in the office with Bazel. I can’t thank you all enough for your encouragement.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I’ve got a better shot of the finished product. I think the bows are snug enough but many of you may have a better eye for such things. The worst part of the whole project is that I have to leave soon to work for the winter, I can only hope that they settle back into a good routine when I return on 12 weeks. Thanks again for your support.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

P.S. The off calf is a heifer, I have to make due with what is available to me. Meanwhile we have discovered that there are at least 2 and maybe 3 farms with milking shorthorns in our area, so we will begin our search there. Dale’s father sells his calves every summer, so the joke is that I am taking the long approach to teaching these calves to lead onto the trailer easily.

[dominiquer60]

Thank you Howie and Tim for the advice, I couldn’t get to the internet as fast as I was able to get to my father’s shop of infinite tools. We went with 2.5 times the bow width. I will try to post a photo for you, they seem comfortable and happy so I am glad that I went with Tiller’s suggested measurement, instead of listening to the farm smart, but not Ox smart men in my life.

The cracks did not extend into the finished yoke and I filled a few worm holes with epoxy and covered all the surfaces with danish oil (linseed). My father was really into this project and is hunting for a piece of maple in his collection that he wants to set aside for a 6″ yoke. My boyfriend, Dale, gifted me a ring and staple for Christmas, when we get home from the farmer’s market today we will install it. The calves have pulled some branches around and will have plenty of work to do in the neighbors woods. Their logger left many limbs after he harvested fire wood and we are welcome to collect all that we want for our wood furnace.

I hope everyone has had a good and safe holiday season.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

I helped a friend with her market garden/CSA for 4 years. We started in June and ended the last day in October, plus we had an additional storage share in November before thanksgiving. On Monday we dropped off at a farmers market. Pro, we were going anyway and killed 2 birds with one stone. Con, CSA customers would be upset when something on the market table that they wanted was not in there share and market customers were frustrated that something that they wanted on the CSA table was not available for sale. Wednesdays we had a pick up at the farm and one member came and worked with us all day and brought several shares to the city where he lived. Since I have left they added a Wednesday delivery to the same “city” where the monday market is. With a Monday and Saturday market Wednesday CSA was nice because it provided a market for crops that ripened mid week. We also had egg and whole chicken shares from our farm.

We choose what they got every week and would sometimes given them some variation (ex. choose 2 winter squash from large bin of mixed varieties) The members that picked up at market would have more choice (ex, 1/2 lb salad, arugula, mixed greens or lettuce mix) and we would sometimes allow substitutions. Members that didn’t pick up at the market had individual pre-boxed shares. Members at the market could purchase extra and farm pickup people were lucky if they saw us. In 2008 she was up to 80 members and dropped to 50 this year. Many people dropped out because they were back CSA members that expected too much and acted like consumers rather than members. This years 50 where the cream of the crop and easy to deal with because they are the folks that love the idea of a young single woman farmer and embrace the ups and downs of seasonal food and being a CSA member.

I also did an apprenticeship at Roxbury Farm (they have a good website). We had 680 members in NY’s Capital District and NYC from June through November with a winter/xmas option. We chose what was in the share and offered a fruit share for 12 weeks from a local IPM farm. We also offered Salsa, Tomato Sauce and Pesto packages that were extra. Members that picked up on the farm u-picked there own high labor crops (strawberries, cherry tomatoes, herbs, flowers, peas, beans, etc). The on farm members also had access to items from other farms through a local food distribution network, non farm items were pre-ordered and pre-paid, we were just a distribution site.

Hope that helps. If you are looking for other ideas, google local harvest and browse what all the different CSAs have to offer.

[dominiquer60]

Putting a number on something can be dangerous, I still feel young at 31. My father said that I have had an agenda ever since I was old enough to help in the garden and do chicken chores (about 2 yo). Maybe it was too much PBS and all creatures great and small, but I have wanted to be a farmer for as long as I can remember. When I was 7 my aunt gifted me a few riding lessons and I have been involved with horses ever since. I took draft horse courses in college and did vegetable farming apprenticeship after school. Draft horses are not part of my everyday life and I am thankful for every opportunity to be around them and the skilled teamsters that keep them. Last year I got the Ox bug at NEAPFD and my fall tour of New England. In November 2008 I had the great fortune of driving a young team owned by Jim Hawkes at the Low Impact Forestry workshop in Unity,ME. I have been obsessed ever since. Fortunately my boyfriend’s father has encouraged me to fiddle with a pair of beef calves (steer and heifer team) and they are coming along well. We are in the process of making a yoke for them, but I wager I won’t be able to work them with it until I get back from my winter job. I look forward to hearing from a local farm when there is a pair of Shorthorn or Normande bull calves available.

[dominiquer60]

Thanks for sharing Jason. I don’t wish to be effected by the government especially with the invasive manner that the NAIS promises. I run a large poultry show in NY and the state vets and I have a good relationship and I enjoy our time together. The second that they try to get me to enforce anything is the day that I am done. I won’t partake in government programs, unfortunately this does interfere with activities that I used to be involved with, but my life is just as full without them. The food traceability act is another “great” piece of legislation that will without doubt embrace the NAIS and other such nonsense. I think ignoring the problem will not be the answer, I may not do much about it, but I like to know what is lurking around the corner. My dog is not licensed anywhere, but that is not because I am ignoring the state law, I am making the decision to not comply. In the mean time keep on farming, or keep being supportive of small local agriculture, we can always use the support of fellow humans.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

You should always rotate all of your crops, but with that said the late blight spores can have little chance for survival to next year. Late blight is very temperature sensitive, it stops spore production if it gets too hot or cold. If we all do a good job at killing our infected tomato and potato plants, effectively removing the fungus host, mother nature (heat and winter freeze) wil take care of what spores remain.

We lost all 700 tomato plants to the blight, we managed to get 100 pounds of tomatoes that hopefully covered the cost of seeds and growing our our starts, but a real loss to our winter rations and our pocket books. Our potatoes are also suffering from the blight. We brush hogged the tops to stop the spread of the fungus to the tubers. If we wait 2 weeks for most of the spores to die and then flame the potato patch before we harvest we may have potatoes that we can store in the cold cellar, maybe. It is a tough year but we are thankful that we can take the loss gracefully, the winter may be hard without homegrown tomato sauce but things could still be worse.

[dominiquer60]

Joshua,
I have a 3yo Red Broiler hen that is an educational demo/pet. I am personally amazed that she is still alive given her massiveness. She is not quite the chunk that a 2 year old cornishX broiler hen can be, but she has the grace of pregnant woman at the end of her third trimester and her size is impressive. My guess is that the red broiler is a hybrid of sorts and it would be hard to duplicate its vigorous growth keeping some on to breed. I am not sure if this is your intention or not. I think that they make a great meat bird and if you do any breeding involving the red broiler to its self or another breed I would be very interested to hear what your results are. I would also like to hear about your Chantecleas, how well they breed and what their carcass is like. I do know a couple folks that raise heritage breed turkeys and their big advice is to start them much earlier than a commercial hybrid for Thanksgiving. I wish you success.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Joshua,

The Red Broiler is a nice alternative to the cornish cross, they do lay, not very well, but some and they produce a more modern meaty carcass than most heritage breed. The older hens make great meaty flavorful soup hens. They have a lot of New Hampshire genetics in them but are not a heritage breed if that is what you are really looking for.

I used to raise Dominiques, the oldest American breed that can be classified as heritage, heirloom or an antique breed by all accounts. Many lines have a good deal of Barred Plymouth Rock infused into them, but since rocks have been around since 1874, they are a heritage breed too. I really like the Dominique, they are thrifty birds that can survive on little grain (if pastured or free range), produce a good amount of eggs (if you can find them) and make great stew hens.

The thing to keep in mind about heritage poultry is that you have to recalibrate your standards of what a good meat carcass is. I don’t want to use the word never, but I can’t picture a heritage breed coming close to the carcass of a cornish cross as far as amount of meat. However I also can’t imagine a cornish cross ever having the firm texture and excellent flavor that a heritage bird has the potential to produce.

When the time is right I plan on establishing a Dominique flock for egg and breeding purposes. I will sell some hatching eggs and young stock and raise breeding culls for meat and eggs. I have an idea of a heritage hybrid that will be unique to our farm, an accidental crossing in my childhood flock inspired this. It will be tough keeping 2 lines to make a hybrid, but I see this flock as a hobby that pays for itself, I don’t plan on making a profit but I am open to the Dom’s making a little extra cash too.

I believe that when marketing hertiage breed poultry meat, we need to stress the quality of the meat and not the quantity. A heritage carcass is going to be what we may consider scrawny buy modern standards, but what someone in the 1930’s and 1940’s may consider prime. I plan on marketing mine as yesteryear chicken or the chicken that grandma would have served for Sunday dinner. Another problem is that the meat is perceived as tough. We have to remember that free running birds don’t produce mushy meat. Heritage birds need to be cooked carefully, they take less time to cook because they have less water content. I refer to these types of birds as having texture rather than calling them tough. If the bird is a stew bird it takes all day to cook it tender, but well worth it for some of the best soup or chicken and biscuits. Customer education is key when selling something that a grocery store would never carry anymore.

I wish you luck with your search for the right heritage breed(s).

Erika

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