We're trying out new ways to keep the poultry healthy and happy without the need for any drugs, including wormers, or vaccinations. One of the ways is to mix and match different animals and birds as most parasites are species-specific. This is a natural way to break the worm, or other parasites', cycles. I've often seen the pintades on top of the sheep picking insects out of their fleeces.
Another new method we're starting this year, is keeping the meat chickens in a large 3 m x 5 m cage which will be moved everyday. This way they get to go onto fresh pasture everyday and also they help to "clean" the fields and manure them as they go.
Another new method we're starting this year, is keeping the meat chickens in a large 3 m x 5 m cage which will be moved everyday. This way they get to go onto fresh pasture everyday and also they help to "clean" the fields and manure them as they go.
It's amazing how much poultry graze - it makes their egg yolks an almost luminous yellow too. Every now and then the sheep get into the orchard and usually push the trees over or break them. It's on the to-do list - make strong tree guards - it's only taken 3 1/2 years to get round to it.