October 23, 2024 • 24 mins
Experience the art and science of chicken care as Gary Vallery from CENLA Backyard Chickens reveals how to craft the ultimate dust bath for your flock. Ever wonder how chickens keep parasites at bay while frolicking in the dirt? Discover how sifted dirt, wood ash, and diatomaceous earth can transform your chickens' grooming routine into a year-round wellness practice, ensuring they remain vibrant and parasite-free, even in tricky climates. Whether you're just beginning your chicken-keeping journey or you're a seasoned pro, these practical tips will enrich your backyard experience.
Preserving the past for a sustainable future, we shift gears to spotlight the formidable work of the Livestock Conservancy. Founded in 1977, this organization is a guardian of America's heritage livestock breeds, from the resilient Carolina Marsh Tacky horse to the American rabbit. Listen as we unravel the tapestry of genetic diversity that these breeds contribute to our ecosystems and food security. With a keen eye on adaptation and sustainability, we discuss the critical importance of these breeds in a world leaning towards fast-growing hybrids. Learn why safeguarding these genetic treasures is vital for agriculture's future and how you can play a part in this mission.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Are we ready, pawpaw?
Hello friends and welcome toChicken.
Every Day, a podcast for you,the backyard chicken enthusiast,
and mine.
Your host is my Pawpaw, gary,Gary Valerie of Senla Backyard
Chickens.
Here we have fun while sharingideas and learning how to care
for our foul-feathered friends.
Check out our videos at Senlathat's C-E-n-l-a backyard
(00:24):
chickens on youtube, tiktok andfacebook.
So, without further ado, let'sstart today's show.
How was that?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
hey guys, a quick interruption here.
This podcast was actuallypulled off of a video that I did
on youtube and tiktok, but Ithought it was relevant relevant
enough that you guys could getsome good out of it.
You hear me talking about ascoop of this or a scoop of that
.
The amount that you put in forthis dust bath that you're
getting ready to listen to isnot all that extremely important
(00:56):
.
However, if you want to take alook at the video on YouTube or
TikTok and watch me as I putthese in and get an idea of what
I do, please feel free to.
But don't think that this is aformula that has to be adhered
to strictly when it just comesto the amount.
Obviously, just use your goodcommon sense for that.
So let's continue.
(01:17):
You know, when I was a boygrowing up in Dry Creek, our
chickens had 20 acres plus tofree range on.
Inevitablyably, they seemed tolike the yard more than they
liked anything and from that tomuch to my mother's chagrin and
dismay, they liked the frontporch as well, and of course, we
all know what chickens like todo when they're on your front
porch, but one of the thingsthey would do in our yard is.
(01:38):
They would dig holes and theywould wallow in these holes for
just all all the time, and Ireally never knew what was going
on, as a boy Probably was ayoung teenager when somebody
finally said, yeah, this is howour chickens take a bath every
day and this bath helps cleanthem, keeps them safe and
healthy.
Well, today we call this a dustbath, and this is very
(01:59):
important for the bird's health,their overall well-being, and
it even relieves stress, anddust baths are made to kill
these parasites, lice and miceand different things that get on
your birds.
This is something that isneeded year-round for them.
If you live in a northernclimate, this is coming on
winter.
This time of the year you mayhave snow on the ground and your
birds can't dustbath out there.
(02:21):
Over here in Louisiana, winteris usually our wet time of the
year, so it's hard to make adust bath whenever it's wet Dust
uh, you know we need dust to dothat.
So I keep a dust bathyear-round inside my chicken run
and it actually goes under mychicken coop, which is a couple
of feet off the ground, and itstays 100% dry.
Doing that, the birds alwayshave access to dust bath.
(02:44):
This is something you need todo for them year-round, and if
you're a seasoned chicken keeper, you know this.
But if you're just getting intochickens, this is something you
may want to consider.
What we can do nowadays is wecan create our own dust bath
with the ingredients that wewant for the birds to make it
even more effective for them, tomake what we do for them last
(03:04):
longer, make it more healthy forthem, more able to kill insects
and bugs and mites and lice andthings like that, and even
smell better for the chickens.
So I'm going to give you a listof ingredients and the way that
I like to do a dust bath.
So stay tuned, I'll get going.
(03:24):
Obviously, to create a dust bath, ingredient number one is
always going to be dirt.
If you don't have access todirt, don't have a place to go
get it.
You can go to the hardwarestore or the home store, pick up
dirt, what you want to makesure of.
So many bags of soil that youget, even if they say top soil
are going to have a lot ofsticks in them.
Sticks are not good.
(03:44):
Your birds are not going todust bathe in something that
they always get poked in withsmall twigs and sticks.
So if you have to get thatstuff, make sure that you sift
through it.
I created my own sift righthere.
This is just a screen.
This is quarter inch hardwarecloth and I attached a wood
frame to it to make it good,nice and strong.
This way that I can siftthrough my dirt.
(04:05):
Make sure that I don't havesticks and what have you in it?
The next ingredient is wood ash, and this is ashes out of our
fireplace.
We burn firewood, so if youdon't have access to that maybe
you have a neighbor that doesthey can give you some ashes out
of the fireplace.
The last thing you can possiblydo is actually buy some good
Kingsford, that is all naturalcharcoal, and you can burn that
(04:26):
charcoal down into a pile andhave your own ash.
Just be forewarned if you usebarbecue charcoal, your chickens
are come out want to come outalready smelling like barbecue
chicken, so kind of be awarethat you're going to have this.
And then we use diatomaceousearth and there's a lot of
things that people worry aboutwith diatomaceous earth.
And there's a lot of thingsthat people worry about with
diatomaceous earth, but it'sreally not as scary as you think
(04:49):
.
Diatomaceous earth is thefossilized remain of tiny little
aquatic organisms calleddiatoms, and they lived and died
and reproduced over eons oftime, and their skeletal remains
are known as silica.
And silica is one of the mostcommon minerals that we have
here on this planet.
They make up 26% of the Earth'scrust by weight.
(05:10):
We have two different types ofdiatomaceous earth that we use
food grade and non-food grade.
They both contain thecrystalline silica, which is not
the really good kind that youwant, but small amounts of it.
But the level of filtration iswhat makes the difference.
And the food-grade diatomaceousearth is exactly that.
(05:30):
It's food-grade and you canactually use it in cattle feed
and animal feeds and it's a lothealthier all around.
So that's what we want to usefor our birds as well.
Also, we put in there some sand.
I like to use fine sand, so Iwill go to the hardware store,
to a Lowell's Home Depotsomeplace like that, and just
pick up a big 50 pound sack ofthe play sand, and that 50 pound
(05:52):
bag will last me most of theyear whenever I use it.
I mean it really, really goes along way.
So now we're going to put allthis stuff together for y'all
and we're just going to make usa nice dust bath for our
chickens.
We have the dirt in right here.
My next is going to be the woodash that I put in.
Now I don't have specificamounts that I use.
Okay, you can just look at itand see what looks good when you
(06:14):
mix it up.
If you want more, you want less.
Use that I don't have.
You know, I'm going to use somany scoops of this or so many
scoops of that, but I also wantto use my screen on wood ash,
because not all the bark isgoing to cook down whenever you
have it.
So I put that on here and youcan look and see.
And look, right here, this isthe bark that's left over.
I don't want that.
(06:34):
It's off to be in there with mybirds and they're not going to
like it either.
We'll sift that.
That's a couple of scoops rightthere.
Look at that, that big oldpiece right there.
Birds are not gonna like this,so we get to sift all that good
stuff out.
So now I'm not gonna need thisanymore.
Next I'm gonna add the sand,and again I'm just kinda
(06:56):
eyeballing how much I think Iwant you know, and whenever I
stir it up if it doesn't seemlike it's sandy enough, I'll put
more sand.
If it doesn't seem like it'sgot enough ash in it, I'm going
to put more ash.
So I mean, this is all subjectto what you think looks good and
you'll learn over time.
Then we get to the food gradedioptomaceous earth.
(07:17):
I'm going to put that in thereand again, that's about a pretty
decent scoop that I have.
Then.
Now we get to start mixing allthis stuff up.
My dirt is going to turn from areal hard, dark, dark brown to
almost a gray color, and that'skind of what I look for.
(07:37):
I look for something that'seasy for the birds to sift
through and if I like it,generally they're going to like
it as well.
And you can see all of myingredients are starting to come
into play here and I keep thisfor them year round.
Now, this much right here isprobably going to last half a
(07:58):
week.
You know it lasts pretty good.
I like a big container to putit in, because the smaller the
container, the easier it is forthem to kick it out, because
they're going to scratch in here, they're going to dig
themselves a little hole in here.
They're going to shake, rattleand throw, use their feathers,
you know, and dust is going tofly, and dust needs to fly
(08:20):
because it's going to get all upinside their feathers and their
skin.
It's going to help keep the oilout, help keep all those
insects down and look at herestarting to get a lovely dust
bath just with that little bitof work.
Right there there's a littlechunk.
You want to keep it ground upand of course, like so many of
us do, I spoil my birds as well.
(08:42):
I put some of this right inhere and this is a botanical
bath, is what they call it.
It's got some essential oils,it's got peppermint in it, it's
got some dioptomaceous earth init as well.
It's got other you knowessential oils and stuff and
it's, you know, just kind offancy.
I'll put a couple of scoops ofthis in.
(09:02):
It helps them smell nice andyou can just kind of sprinkle
that on top right there and justkind of leave it like that Next
step that you want to do, goout and put it in the pen.
And look, folks, I'm tellingyou it's a lot easier, as I'm
sure you know, to preventillness, to prevent stress, to
(09:23):
prevent lice and things, than itis to have to deal with these
things.
So a dust bath goes a very longway in helping to prevent that.
It makes the chickens happy ontop of everything else, and it's
not expensive and it's good forthem.
Right now I'd like to talk aboutsomething that's very important
to me and also to you guys aswell, especially if you know
(09:44):
about them, and it's anorganization known as the
Livestock Conservancy.
This was formerly known as theAmerican Livestock Breeds
Conservancy, the ALBC.
Prior to that it was called theAmerican Minor Breeds
Conservancy.
This is a nonprofitorganization and they're focused
(10:09):
on preserving and promotingrare breeds, also known as
heritage breeds and that's aterm that you'll hear a lot from
a lot of poultry people, andit's both poultry and livestock.
You know other animals as wellcattle.
Founded in 1977 through theefforts of livestock breeding
enthusiasts concerned about thedisappearance of many of the
United States heritage livestockbreeds, the Livestock
(10:29):
Conservancy was the pioneerlivestock preservation
organization in the UnitedStates and remains a leading
organization in that field.
It has initiated programs thathave saved multiple breeds from
extinction and works closelywith similar organizations in
other countries, including RareBreeds of Canada.
With 3,000 members, a staff of11, and 19 board of director
(10:55):
members, the organization has anoperating budget of just over a
million dollars.
The Livestock Conservancymaintains a conservation
priority list that dividesendangered species or breeds
rather of horses, asses, sheep,goats, cattle, rabbits, pigs and
(11:15):
poultry into five categoriesbased on population numbers and
historical interest.
The organization has publishedmany books and works on breed
registries and other groups ofseveral aspects of breed
preservation, including genetictesting, historical documents,
animal rescue and marketing.
Preservation of geneticmaterial is of special interest
(11:38):
to the Conservancy, and for aperiod of time it maintained a
gene bank that was latertransferred to the United States
Department of Agriculture.
It has also developed andpublished several heritage
definitions, includingparameters for heritage breeds
of cattle and poultry.
In large part due to theefforts of the organization,
(12:00):
heritage turkey, populationshave increased more than tenfold
in a little over a decade, andseveral breeds that once stood
on the brink of extension nowmaintain healthy populations.
The organization also sustainsprograms that deal with
preserving and promotingendangered cattle and pig breeds
, as well as breed-specificprograms relating to many of its
(12:23):
livestock categories.
Breeds that the LivestockConservancy has assisted in
saving include Carolina Marsh,track Horse, the Rodale or
Randall R-A-N-D-A-L-L cattle,red water hogs and the American
rabbit, just to name a few.
(12:45):
Livestock Conservancy has amission, and that mission is to
protect America's endangeredlivestock and poultry breeds
from extinction.
And if you ask yourself, well,why do we really want to worry
about that?
Many of America's once commonfarm animals face extinction if
we do not take action, and takeit now.
Rare farm animals represent anirreplaceable piece of Earth's
(13:09):
biodiversity and offerincredible variety that may be
needed for future farms.
Robust health, motheringinstincts, foraging and the
ability to thrive in a changingclimate.
These farm animals are a vitalpart of ensuring food security
for our planet, both now and inthe future.
(13:30):
And, guys, if you don't know,let's just say for a minute, you
go down to the grocery storeand you buy a package of chicken
and there are just a couple ofbreeds out there a Cornish Cross
is one of them that are meatbreeds and we've bred these
chickens to grow extremely fast,to get fat, to have large
(13:54):
breasts, to be very, very meaty,and we've bred all of the
characteristics out of them, ormany, many of the
characteristics out of them, ormany, many of the
characteristics out of them thatmake them chicken.
These guys cannot live two orthree years because their bones
cannot support the weight.
They get diseased.
They are not built and they'renot genetically engineered to do
(14:17):
that.
We have genetically changedthese animals over time to
satisfy our needs and meet thedemands of a growing public, and
that is to grow out quick andto get butchered and and be
consumed by the Americanconsumer.
The same thing with eggs.
Leghorns are a good example.
(14:37):
These chickens were bred to bethe highest producer of eggs
that we could get, and leghornsdo not have all of the
characteristics that theirforeparents once had foraging
capability, the ability to bebroody and broody is when a hen
wants to be a mama and sit on aclutch of eggs.
(14:58):
Leghorns don't do that.
That has been bred out of themover time.
So this is just one of thereasons, or couple of the
reasons, that we really need tosave these heritage breed
chickens, because this is whatthey do.
These are the genetic diversitythat was used to create these
other ones in the first place,and if we lose these chickens,
(15:18):
then we're going to losesomething that's extremely
important to us.
The livestock conservancy has afairly long history, but it's
not as long as what we wouldthink it was.
They were started, I think, in1977.
They had some foundingdirectors that started all of
this and they've been workingever since then to make sure
that we have what we need as faras the diversity goes.
(15:42):
They're a nonprofit membershiporganization and their mission
is to protect endangeredlivestock and poultry breeds
from extinction.
And if you ask yourself whyconservation matters, heritage
breeds of livestock protect ourfood system now and in the
future.
By securing genetic diversitywhat we were just talking about
(16:04):
we enable healthy agriculturaldevelopment while preserving
heritage, history and culture.
These animals represent anirreplaceable piece of earth's
biodiversity that, once lost, isalways lost.
It will be gone forever.
Heritage Breeds Conservationretains animals well suited for
(16:25):
sustainable grass-based systems,which gives some small farms a
competitive edge and alsobroadens the market with diverse
fiber and flavor foods.
Their unique genetic traitsoffer an incredible variety that
may be needed for future farms,including the robust health,
mothering instincts again, thebrooding that we talked about,
(16:47):
foraging and the ability tothrive in a changing climate.
If you ask yourself, you know,many of you guys know.
But what are heritage breeds?
These are traditional livestockbreeds that were raised by our
forefathers.
These are the breeds of abygone era, before industrial
agriculture became a mainstreampractice.
These breeds were carefullyselected and bred over time to
(17:09):
develop traits that made themwell adapted to the local
environment.
They thrived under farmingpractices and cultural
conditions that are verydifferent from those found in
modern agriculture.
Traditional, historic breedsretain essential attributes for
survival and self-sufficiencyfertility, foraging ability,
(17:32):
longevity, maternal instinct,ability to mate naturally and
resistance to diseases andparasites.
Heritage animals once roamedthe pastures of America's
pastoral landscape, but todaythese breeds are in danger of
extinction.
Modern agriculture has changed,causing many of these breeds to
(17:52):
fall out of favor, and it'sunfortunate because if you can
raise a chicken that is marketready in seven weeks or you can
raise a chicken that is marketready in 24 weeks, which one is
going to give you the mostprofit?
So that's what farmers do.
You can't fault them for that.
(18:13):
It's that competitive edge thatis needed and that's the only
way that the farmer himself cansurvive himself can survive.
Heritage breeds store a wealthof genetic resources that are
important to our future and thefuture of our agricultural food
system.
So if you're interested inhelping these organizations and
(18:34):
conserve these breeds, you knowthe Livestock Conservancy has a
packet called Getting Startedwith Heritage Breeds in their
website and it can really helpyou to pay attention, help you
to learn more about them.
Heritage is largely a term ofart and not science, but the
Livestock Conservancy is workingto define heritage for various
(18:56):
species in order to codify theterm in the marketplace.
Thus far, the Conservancy hasdefined heritage for chickens,
turkeys, cattle and swine.
If you look up for thedefinition of a heritage chicken
, they have to be part of theAmerican diet.
Well, they have been part ofthe American diet since the
arrival of the Spanish explorers, and that was some several
(19:18):
hundred years ago.
Since that time, differentbreeds have been developed to
provide meat, eggs and pleasure.
The American Poultry Associationbegan defining breeds in 1873
and publishing the definitionsof the standard of perfection.
These standard breeds were welladapted to outdoor production
in various climatic reasons.
(19:38):
They were hardy, long-lived,reproductively vital birds that
provided important sources ofprotein to the growing
population of the country.
Into the mid-20th century, withthe industrialization of
chickens, many breeds weresidelined in preference for few,
rapidly growing hybrids.
The Livestock Conservancy nowlists over three dozen breeds of
(20:00):
chickens in danger ofextinction.
List over three dozen breeds ofchickens in danger of
extinction.
Extinction of a breed wouldmean the irrevocable loss of the
genetic resources and optionsit embodies.
Therefore, to draw attention tothese endangered breeds is to
support their long-termconservation, to support efforts
to recover these breeds tohistoric levels of productivity
(20:21):
and to reintroduce theseculinary and cultural treasures
to the marketplace.
The Livestock Conservancy isdefining heritage chickens.
Chickens must meet all of thefollowing criteria, which I'm
going to go over now.
A heritage chicken must adhereto the following APA standard
breed Heritage chickens must befrom parent and grandparent
(20:45):
stock of breeds recognized bythe American Poultry Association
prior to the mid-20th century,whose genetic line can be traced
back multiple generations andwith traits that meet the APA
standard of perfection.
Guides for the breed.
Heritage chicken must beprovided and sired by an APA
standard breed.
Heritage eggs must be laid byan APA standard breed.
(21:09):
Naturally mating Heritagechickens must be reproduced and
genetically maintained throughnatural mating.
Chickens marketed as heritagemust be the result of naturally
mated pairs of both grandparentand parent stock.
Long productive outdoor lifespanHeritage chickens must have the
(21:30):
genetic ability to live a long,vigorous life and thrive in the
rigorous of pasture-basedoutdoor population systems.
Breeding hens should beproductive for five to seven
years and roosters three to fiveyears.
Slow growth rate Heritagechicken must have a moderate to
(21:52):
slow growth rate, reachingappropriate market weight for
the breed in no less than 16weeks.
This gives the chicken time todevelop strong skeletal
structure and healthy organsprior to building muscle mass.
Chickens marketed as heritagemust include the variety and
breed name for that label.
(22:12):
Terms like heirloom, antique,old-fashioned and old-timey
imply heritage and are notunderstood to be synonymous with
the definition provided here.
So please understand thatLivestock conservancy does have
success.
Since its founding, theconservancy has never lost a
breed ranked on its conservationpriority list to extinction.
(22:37):
Right now I'm looking at a partof that list that are breeds
that have graduated from theconservation priority list, in
other words, breeds that wereonce on it but now are not.
The Astralarp chicken is one ofthem.
Brahma is another Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island, red Ashire
cattle that's a cattle breedOrpington chickens, wyandotte
(22:58):
chickens so there are many ofthem that are a success story,
that have grown away from beingclose to extinction and are no
longer on the conservationpriority list.
This guys is very important, asyou can imagine, and hopefully
you might want to think aboutgetting involved, and the best
way to do that is just go to thelivestockconservancyorg website
(23:21):
and there's places that you canbecome a member, you can donate
, you can learn about theirhistory, you can share these
animals and they even have astore.
If you want to go to the onlinestore, they have T-shirts, mugs
, caps, all kind of neat stuffon there, so it's really a
worthwhile thing to do andthey're out there to help you.
I'm kind of looking at thestore right now, as I'm talking
(23:43):
about this, if they have thingsabout horses and sheep, lots of
stuff about chickens and geese,all kind of things on the store,
and all of these go right backinto the livestock conservancy
to help keep this mission alive.
So if you're kind of thinkingabout, well, and what's another
way that I can help, well,that's to get some of these
(24:03):
chickens that are on theseconservation lists, that they
have endangered lists, that andthey have priority lists and
they, you know, list of, okay,these birds really need to be
looked at, but maybe not quitemake that mark yet, and you can
look these up at the livestockconservancy website and say, oh,
I think I want to get some ofthis breed and some of that
breed, and all of this helps tokeep these birds from going
(24:26):
extinct.
So I hope this has kind ofgiven you a little bit of
information and maybe you'llwant to kind of get involved too
.
I certainly am.
So until next time.
Thank you guys so much forlistening in.
Have a great day.
Bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That's all we have time for today.
I really hope you enjoyedlistening to the podcast.
Be sure to watch our videos.
So, on behalf of my Papa, gary,and me, sylvie, thanks for
listening.
Are we ready, pawpaw?
Hello friends and welcome toChicken.
Every Day, a podcast for you,the backyard chicken enthusiast,
and mine.
Your host is my Pawpaw, gary,Gary Valerie of Senla Backyard
Chickens.
Here we have fun while sharingideas and learning how to care
for our foul-feathered friends.
Check out our videos at Senlathat's C-E-n-l-a backyard
(00:24):
chickens on youtube, tiktok andfacebook.
So, without further ado, let'sstart today's show.
How was that?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
hey guys, a quick interruption here.
This podcast was actuallypulled off of a video that I did
on youtube and tiktok, but Ithought it was relevant relevant
enough that you guys could getsome good out of it.
You hear me talking about ascoop of this or a scoop of that
.
The amount that you put in forthis dust bath that you're
getting ready to listen to isnot all that extremely important
(00:56):
.
However, if you want to take alook at the video on YouTube or
TikTok and watch me as I putthese in and get an idea of what
I do, please feel free to.
But don't think that this is aformula that has to be adhered
to strictly when it just comesto the amount.
Obviously, just use your goodcommon sense for that.
So let's continue.
(01:17):
You know, when I was a boygrowing up in Dry Creek, our
chickens had 20 acres plus tofree range on.
Inevitablyably, they seemed tolike the yard more than they
liked anything and from that tomuch to my mother's chagrin and
dismay, they liked the frontporch as well, and of course, we
all know what chickens like todo when they're on your front
porch, but one of the thingsthey would do in our yard is.
(01:38):
They would dig holes and theywould wallow in these holes for
just all all the time, and Ireally never knew what was going
on, as a boy Probably was ayoung teenager when somebody
finally said, yeah, this is howour chickens take a bath every
day and this bath helps cleanthem, keeps them safe and
healthy.
Well, today we call this a dustbath, and this is very
(01:59):
important for the bird's health,their overall well-being, and
it even relieves stress, anddust baths are made to kill
these parasites, lice and miceand different things that get on
your birds.
This is something that isneeded year-round for them.
If you live in a northernclimate, this is coming on
winter.
This time of the year you mayhave snow on the ground and your
birds can't dustbath out there.
(02:21):
Over here in Louisiana, winteris usually our wet time of the
year, so it's hard to make adust bath whenever it's wet Dust
uh, you know we need dust to dothat.
So I keep a dust bathyear-round inside my chicken run
and it actually goes under mychicken coop, which is a couple
of feet off the ground, and itstays 100% dry.
Doing that, the birds alwayshave access to dust bath.
(02:44):
This is something you need todo for them year-round, and if
you're a seasoned chicken keeper, you know this.
But if you're just getting intochickens, this is something you
may want to consider.
What we can do nowadays is wecan create our own dust bath
with the ingredients that wewant for the birds to make it
even more effective for them, tomake what we do for them last
(03:04):
longer, make it more healthy forthem, more able to kill insects
and bugs and mites and lice andthings like that, and even
smell better for the chickens.
So I'm going to give you a listof ingredients and the way that
I like to do a dust bath.
So stay tuned, I'll get going.
(03:24):
Obviously, to create a dust bath, ingredient number one is
always going to be dirt.
If you don't have access todirt, don't have a place to go
get it.
You can go to the hardwarestore or the home store, pick up
dirt, what you want to makesure of.
So many bags of soil that youget, even if they say top soil
are going to have a lot ofsticks in them.
Sticks are not good.
(03:44):
Your birds are not going todust bathe in something that
they always get poked in withsmall twigs and sticks.
So if you have to get thatstuff, make sure that you sift
through it.
I created my own sift righthere.
This is just a screen.
This is quarter inch hardwarecloth and I attached a wood
frame to it to make it good,nice and strong.
This way that I can siftthrough my dirt.
(04:05):
Make sure that I don't havesticks and what have you in it?
The next ingredient is wood ash, and this is ashes out of our
fireplace.
We burn firewood, so if youdon't have access to that maybe
you have a neighbor that doesthey can give you some ashes out
of the fireplace.
The last thing you can possiblydo is actually buy some good
Kingsford, that is all naturalcharcoal, and you can burn that
(04:26):
charcoal down into a pile andhave your own ash.
Just be forewarned if you usebarbecue charcoal, your chickens
are come out want to come outalready smelling like barbecue
chicken, so kind of be awarethat you're going to have this.
And then we use diatomaceousearth and there's a lot of
things that people worry aboutwith diatomaceous earth.
And there's a lot of thingsthat people worry about with
diatomaceous earth, but it'sreally not as scary as you think
(04:49):
.
Diatomaceous earth is thefossilized remain of tiny little
aquatic organisms calleddiatoms, and they lived and died
and reproduced over eons oftime, and their skeletal remains
are known as silica.
And silica is one of the mostcommon minerals that we have
here on this planet.
They make up 26% of the Earth'scrust by weight.
(05:10):
We have two different types ofdiatomaceous earth that we use
food grade and non-food grade.
They both contain thecrystalline silica, which is not
the really good kind that youwant, but small amounts of it.
But the level of filtration iswhat makes the difference.
And the food-grade diatomaceousearth is exactly that.
(05:30):
It's food-grade and you canactually use it in cattle feed
and animal feeds and it's a lothealthier all around.
So that's what we want to usefor our birds as well.
Also, we put in there some sand.
I like to use fine sand, so Iwill go to the hardware store,
to a Lowell's Home Depotsomeplace like that, and just
pick up a big 50 pound sack ofthe play sand, and that 50 pound
(05:52):
bag will last me most of theyear whenever I use it.
I mean it really, really goes along way.
So now we're going to put allthis stuff together for y'all
and we're just going to make usa nice dust bath for our
chickens.
We have the dirt in right here.
My next is going to be the woodash that I put in.
Now I don't have specificamounts that I use.
Okay, you can just look at itand see what looks good when you
(06:14):
mix it up.
If you want more, you want less.
Use that I don't have.
You know, I'm going to use somany scoops of this or so many
scoops of that, but I also wantto use my screen on wood ash,
because not all the bark isgoing to cook down whenever you
have it.
So I put that on here and youcan look and see.
And look, right here, this isthe bark that's left over.
I don't want that.
(06:34):
It's off to be in there with mybirds and they're not going to
like it either.
We'll sift that.
That's a couple of scoops rightthere.
Look at that, that big oldpiece right there.
Birds are not gonna like this,so we get to sift all that good
stuff out.
So now I'm not gonna need thisanymore.
Next I'm gonna add the sand,and again I'm just kinda
(06:56):
eyeballing how much I think Iwant you know, and whenever I
stir it up if it doesn't seemlike it's sandy enough, I'll put
more sand.
If it doesn't seem like it'sgot enough ash in it, I'm going
to put more ash.
So I mean, this is all subjectto what you think looks good and
you'll learn over time.
Then we get to the food gradedioptomaceous earth.
(07:17):
I'm going to put that in thereand again, that's about a pretty
decent scoop that I have.
Then.
Now we get to start mixing allthis stuff up.
My dirt is going to turn from areal hard, dark, dark brown to
almost a gray color, and that'skind of what I look for.
(07:37):
I look for something that'seasy for the birds to sift
through and if I like it,generally they're going to like
it as well.
And you can see all of myingredients are starting to come
into play here and I keep thisfor them year round.
Now, this much right here isprobably going to last half a
(07:58):
week.
You know it lasts pretty good.
I like a big container to putit in, because the smaller the
container, the easier it is forthem to kick it out, because
they're going to scratch in here, they're going to dig
themselves a little hole in here.
They're going to shake, rattleand throw, use their feathers,
you know, and dust is going tofly, and dust needs to fly
(08:20):
because it's going to get all upinside their feathers and their
skin.
It's going to help keep the oilout, help keep all those
insects down and look at herestarting to get a lovely dust
bath just with that little bitof work.
Right there there's a littlechunk.
You want to keep it ground upand of course, like so many of
us do, I spoil my birds as well.
(08:42):
I put some of this right inhere and this is a botanical
bath, is what they call it.
It's got some essential oils,it's got peppermint in it, it's
got some dioptomaceous earth init as well.
It's got other you knowessential oils and stuff and
it's, you know, just kind offancy.
I'll put a couple of scoops ofthis in.
(09:02):
It helps them smell nice andyou can just kind of sprinkle
that on top right there and justkind of leave it like that Next
step that you want to do, goout and put it in the pen.
And look, folks, I'm tellingyou it's a lot easier, as I'm
sure you know, to preventillness, to prevent stress, to
(09:23):
prevent lice and things, than itis to have to deal with these
things.
So a dust bath goes a very longway in helping to prevent that.
It makes the chickens happy ontop of everything else, and it's
not expensive and it's good forthem.
Right now I'd like to talk aboutsomething that's very important
to me and also to you guys aswell, especially if you know
(09:44):
about them, and it's anorganization known as the
Livestock Conservancy.
This was formerly known as theAmerican Livestock Breeds
Conservancy, the ALBC.
Prior to that it was called theAmerican Minor Breeds
Conservancy.
This is a nonprofitorganization and they're focused
(10:09):
on preserving and promotingrare breeds, also known as
heritage breeds and that's aterm that you'll hear a lot from
a lot of poultry people, andit's both poultry and livestock.
You know other animals as wellcattle.
Founded in 1977 through theefforts of livestock breeding
enthusiasts concerned about thedisappearance of many of the
United States heritage livestockbreeds, the Livestock
(10:29):
Conservancy was the pioneerlivestock preservation
organization in the UnitedStates and remains a leading
organization in that field.
It has initiated programs thathave saved multiple breeds from
extinction and works closelywith similar organizations in
other countries, including RareBreeds of Canada.
With 3,000 members, a staff of11, and 19 board of director
(10:55):
members, the organization has anoperating budget of just over a
million dollars.
The Livestock Conservancymaintains a conservation
priority list that dividesendangered species or breeds
rather of horses, asses, sheep,goats, cattle, rabbits, pigs and
(11:15):
poultry into five categoriesbased on population numbers and
historical interest.
The organization has publishedmany books and works on breed
registries and other groups ofseveral aspects of breed
preservation, including genetictesting, historical documents,
animal rescue and marketing.
Preservation of geneticmaterial is of special interest
(11:38):
to the Conservancy, and for aperiod of time it maintained a
gene bank that was latertransferred to the United States
Department of Agriculture.
It has also developed andpublished several heritage
definitions, includingparameters for heritage breeds
of cattle and poultry.
In large part due to theefforts of the organization,
(12:00):
heritage turkey, populationshave increased more than tenfold
in a little over a decade, andseveral breeds that once stood
on the brink of extension nowmaintain healthy populations.
The organization also sustainsprograms that deal with
preserving and promotingendangered cattle and pig breeds
, as well as breed-specificprograms relating to many of its
(12:23):
livestock categories.
Breeds that the LivestockConservancy has assisted in
saving include Carolina Marsh,track Horse, the Rodale or
Randall R-A-N-D-A-L-L cattle,red water hogs and the American
rabbit, just to name a few.
(12:45):
Livestock Conservancy has amission, and that mission is to
protect America's endangeredlivestock and poultry breeds
from extinction.
And if you ask yourself, well,why do we really want to worry
about that?
Many of America's once commonfarm animals face extinction if
we do not take action, and takeit now.
Rare farm animals represent anirreplaceable piece of Earth's
(13:09):
biodiversity and offerincredible variety that may be
needed for future farms.
Robust health, motheringinstincts, foraging and the
ability to thrive in a changingclimate.
These farm animals are a vitalpart of ensuring food security
for our planet, both now and inthe future.
(13:30):
And, guys, if you don't know,let's just say for a minute, you
go down to the grocery storeand you buy a package of chicken
and there are just a couple ofbreeds out there a Cornish Cross
is one of them that are meatbreeds and we've bred these
chickens to grow extremely fast,to get fat, to have large
(13:54):
breasts, to be very, very meaty,and we've bred all of the
characteristics out of them, ormany, many of the
characteristics out of them, ormany, many of the
characteristics out of them thatmake them chicken.
These guys cannot live two orthree years because their bones
cannot support the weight.
They get diseased.
They are not built and they'renot genetically engineered to do
(14:17):
that.
We have genetically changedthese animals over time to
satisfy our needs and meet thedemands of a growing public, and
that is to grow out quick andto get butchered and and be
consumed by the Americanconsumer.
The same thing with eggs.
Leghorns are a good example.
(14:37):
These chickens were bred to bethe highest producer of eggs
that we could get, and leghornsdo not have all of the
characteristics that theirforeparents once had foraging
capability, the ability to bebroody and broody is when a hen
wants to be a mama and sit on aclutch of eggs.
(14:58):
Leghorns don't do that.
That has been bred out of themover time.
So this is just one of thereasons, or couple of the
reasons, that we really need tosave these heritage breed
chickens, because this is whatthey do.
These are the genetic diversitythat was used to create these
other ones in the first place,and if we lose these chickens,
(15:18):
then we're going to losesomething that's extremely
important to us.
The livestock conservancy has afairly long history, but it's
not as long as what we wouldthink it was.
They were started, I think, in1977.
They had some foundingdirectors that started all of
this and they've been workingever since then to make sure
that we have what we need as faras the diversity goes.
(15:42):
They're a nonprofit membershiporganization and their mission
is to protect endangeredlivestock and poultry breeds
from extinction.
And if you ask yourself whyconservation matters, heritage
breeds of livestock protect ourfood system now and in the
future.
By securing genetic diversitywhat we were just talking about
(16:04):
we enable healthy agriculturaldevelopment while preserving
heritage, history and culture.
These animals represent anirreplaceable piece of earth's
biodiversity that, once lost, isalways lost.
It will be gone forever.
Heritage Breeds Conservationretains animals well suited for
(16:25):
sustainable grass-based systems,which gives some small farms a
competitive edge and alsobroadens the market with diverse
fiber and flavor foods.
Their unique genetic traitsoffer an incredible variety that
may be needed for future farms,including the robust health,
mothering instincts again, thebrooding that we talked about,
(16:47):
foraging and the ability tothrive in a changing climate.
If you ask yourself, you know,many of you guys know.
But what are heritage breeds?
These are traditional livestockbreeds that were raised by our
forefathers.
These are the breeds of abygone era, before industrial
agriculture became a mainstreampractice.
These breeds were carefullyselected and bred over time to
(17:09):
develop traits that made themwell adapted to the local
environment.
They thrived under farmingpractices and cultural
conditions that are verydifferent from those found in
modern agriculture.
Traditional, historic breedsretain essential attributes for
survival and self-sufficiencyfertility, foraging ability,
(17:32):
longevity, maternal instinct,ability to mate naturally and
resistance to diseases andparasites.
Heritage animals once roamedthe pastures of America's
pastoral landscape, but todaythese breeds are in danger of
extinction.
Modern agriculture has changed,causing many of these breeds to
(17:52):
fall out of favor, and it'sunfortunate because if you can
raise a chicken that is marketready in seven weeks or you can
raise a chicken that is marketready in 24 weeks, which one is
going to give you the mostprofit?
So that's what farmers do.
You can't fault them for that.
(18:13):
It's that competitive edge thatis needed and that's the only
way that the farmer himself cansurvive himself can survive.
Heritage breeds store a wealthof genetic resources that are
important to our future and thefuture of our agricultural food
system.
So if you're interested inhelping these organizations and
(18:34):
conserve these breeds, you knowthe Livestock Conservancy has a
packet called Getting Startedwith Heritage Breeds in their
website and it can really helpyou to pay attention, help you
to learn more about them.
Heritage is largely a term ofart and not science, but the
Livestock Conservancy is workingto define heritage for various
(18:56):
species in order to codify theterm in the marketplace.
Thus far, the Conservancy hasdefined heritage for chickens,
turkeys, cattle and swine.
If you look up for thedefinition of a heritage chicken
, they have to be part of theAmerican diet.
Well, they have been part ofthe American diet since the
arrival of the Spanish explorers, and that was some several
(19:18):
hundred years ago.
Since that time, differentbreeds have been developed to
provide meat, eggs and pleasure.
The American Poultry Associationbegan defining breeds in 1873
and publishing the definitionsof the standard of perfection.
These standard breeds were welladapted to outdoor production
in various climatic reasons.
(19:38):
They were hardy, long-lived,reproductively vital birds that
provided important sources ofprotein to the growing
population of the country.
Into the mid-20th century, withthe industrialization of
chickens, many breeds weresidelined in preference for few,
rapidly growing hybrids.
The Livestock Conservancy nowlists over three dozen breeds of
(20:00):
chickens in danger ofextinction.
List over three dozen breeds ofchickens in danger of
extinction.
Extinction of a breed wouldmean the irrevocable loss of the
genetic resources and optionsit embodies.
Therefore, to draw attention tothese endangered breeds is to
support their long-termconservation, to support efforts
to recover these breeds tohistoric levels of productivity
(20:21):
and to reintroduce theseculinary and cultural treasures
to the marketplace.
The Livestock Conservancy isdefining heritage chickens.
Chickens must meet all of thefollowing criteria, which I'm
going to go over now.
A heritage chicken must adhereto the following APA standard
breed Heritage chickens must befrom parent and grandparent
(20:45):
stock of breeds recognized bythe American Poultry Association
prior to the mid-20th century,whose genetic line can be traced
back multiple generations andwith traits that meet the APA
standard of perfection.
Guides for the breed.
Heritage chicken must beprovided and sired by an APA
standard breed.
Heritage eggs must be laid byan APA standard breed.
(21:09):
Naturally mating Heritagechickens must be reproduced and
genetically maintained throughnatural mating.
Chickens marketed as heritagemust be the result of naturally
mated pairs of both grandparentand parent stock.
Long productive outdoor lifespanHeritage chickens must have the
(21:30):
genetic ability to live a long,vigorous life and thrive in the
rigorous of pasture-basedoutdoor population systems.
Breeding hens should beproductive for five to seven
years and roosters three to fiveyears.
Slow growth rate Heritagechicken must have a moderate to
(21:52):
slow growth rate, reachingappropriate market weight for
the breed in no less than 16weeks.
This gives the chicken time todevelop strong skeletal
structure and healthy organsprior to building muscle mass.
Chickens marketed as heritagemust include the variety and
breed name for that label.
(22:12):
Terms like heirloom, antique,old-fashioned and old-timey
imply heritage and are notunderstood to be synonymous with
the definition provided here.
So please understand thatLivestock conservancy does have
success.
Since its founding, theconservancy has never lost a
breed ranked on its conservationpriority list to extinction.
(22:37):
Right now I'm looking at a partof that list that are breeds
that have graduated from theconservation priority list, in
other words, breeds that wereonce on it but now are not.
The Astralarp chicken is one ofthem.
Brahma is another Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island, red Ashire
cattle that's a cattle breedOrpington chickens, wyandotte
(22:58):
chickens so there are many ofthem that are a success story,
that have grown away from beingclose to extinction and are no
longer on the conservationpriority list.
This guys is very important, asyou can imagine, and hopefully
you might want to think aboutgetting involved, and the best
way to do that is just go to thelivestockconservancyorg website
(23:21):
and there's places that you canbecome a member, you can donate
, you can learn about theirhistory, you can share these
animals and they even have astore.
If you want to go to the onlinestore, they have T-shirts, mugs
, caps, all kind of neat stuffon there, so it's really a
worthwhile thing to do andthey're out there to help you.
I'm kind of looking at thestore right now, as I'm talking
(23:43):
about this, if they have thingsabout horses and sheep, lots of
stuff about chickens and geese,all kind of things on the store,
and all of these go right backinto the livestock conservancy
to help keep this mission alive.
So if you're kind of thinkingabout, well, and what's another
way that I can help, well,that's to get some of these
(24:03):
chickens that are on theseconservation lists, that they
have endangered lists, that andthey have priority lists and
they, you know, list of, okay,these birds really need to be
looked at, but maybe not quitemake that mark yet, and you can
look these up at the livestockconservancy website and say, oh,
I think I want to get some ofthis breed and some of that
breed, and all of this helps tokeep these birds from going
(24:26):
extinct.
So I hope this has kind ofgiven you a little bit of
information and maybe you'llwant to kind of get involved too
.
I certainly am.
So until next time.
Thank you guys so much forlistening in.
Have a great day.
Bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
That's all we have time for today.
I really hope you enjoyedlistening to the podcast.
Be sure to watch our videos.
So, on behalf of my Papa, gary,and me, sylvie, thanks for
listening.
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