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*nods* My nascent project is just that sort of thing. I think that Silver-Laced hens are the prettiest birds around. But there is no Silver-Laced breed that's well-suited to hot climates. So I've gotten some Silver-Laced Wyandottes to cross with my Australorps in order to, after a number of...

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: I didn't buy the "children starving in Africa" thing when I was a kid and even less so now. Here, today, in the US, soybeans and field corn are indeed grown specifically as animal feed.

It is irrelevant to the point I was making -- that my worst layer today was, nonetheless, performing within the target range for flock improvement a century ago. This despite the fact that she was a Brahma, a breed noted for mediocre if not actually poor laying, and that the target flocks were...

I fail to see where the phrase "at least" changes anything about what I said. My worst layer, of a breed not known for strong egg laying performance, laid more eggs than the 100-egg target. Even the higher number of 144 eggs per year is PATHETIC compared to the modern production of a Leghorn...

My DH knows a farmer who grows specifically for the animal feed market. I've only met him once and don't know if there are extra hoops to jump for crops intended for human consumption or not.

No, it's grown specifically for animal feed. And I buy it cheap-per-pound at the feed store not $$-per-lb at the grocery store.

When you have the appropriate land and setup for not having to buy feed keeping more hens makes sense. I'm working toward larger eggs, because my preliminary research into farm egg sales indicates that my potential customers want large and extra-large. I don't weigh them all the time, but I...

I would strongly suspect that a number of the "I'll NEVER cull a bird!" pet chickens are over-fed fatty treats and die early from the effects of that diet. :) Production-oriented people probably cull at the first or second molt because of the drop-off in laying. Show breeders would be culling...

I personally have 3 acres. But they aren't good acres -- that impoverished ecosystem thing. Also, they are partially-covered with houses and outbuildings. They are also laid out as a skinny rectangle which would be ridiculously expensive to fence. We're pressed to come up with the money for...

The historical chickenkeeping book in this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/poultry-for-the-farm-and-home.1443907/ Poultry for the Farm and Home, was written in 1921 with the goal of teaching farmers how to get a then-profitable 100 eggs per hen per year -- from LEGHORNS. The...

In an urban environment they undoubtedly have an abundant supply of human garbage, pet food from animals fed outside, seed from birdfeeders, rodents, roaches, etc. In a way, that would hearken back to the diversified farm situation where birds weren't specifically fed, but were fed on farm...

Not an idiot -- but a newbie who has no real knowledge and a lot of romantic ideas about "grandma's chickens on the farm". OR a person who has read about free-ranging in superficial, feel-good articles and has no idea of the limitations of the concept or about the fact that only certain chicken...

Well, I'm working my way into egg sales so yes, I need production. In re: Eastern Wild Turkeys in my state: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/wild-turkey "In the Southeast, wild turkeys require extensive forest lands that include nesting cover, brooding cover, roosting sites, and year-round foods...

Unless the local environment is proven capable of supporting a year-round flock of feral chickens, yes. Or unless they are being kept on a diversified farm with free access to other animals' pens/pastures where they can eat spilled feed, pick undigested grain and bugs out of the manure, forage...

They'll eat the broadleaf plants and the grass seeds first. The grass itself is the last thing to go when I move the fence.

P.S. I am in an area that allows 3 crops per year.

In my area soybeans are commonly grown in a rotation with field corn and winter wheat. I don't know what rotations are used in other parts of the country but I do know that it's rare to plant the same crop back to back due to land fertility and pest issues.

As long as the plant is green the beans are still growing and maturing. Killing the plant prematurely would serve no purpose. The fields *seem* to die overnight but that's because the seed is bred to mature at the same time -- just like the determinate tomato varieties all bear their fruit at...

This is not true. They dry naturally in the proper time when the beans have reached full size. There would be no profit in killing them before the beans have matured and grown to their maximum size and weight.

Win-Win! My own yard generates enough pine straw and we invested in a used lawnsweeper so I don't have to rake it by hand.