{"id":1642,"date":"2016-07-02T10:24:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T17:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plamondon.com\/wp\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2016-10-09T10:26:28","modified_gmt":"2016-10-09T17:26:28","slug":"chickens-july-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plamondon.com\/wp\/chickens-july-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Chickens in July [Newsletter]"},"content":{"rendered":"

News from the Farm<\/h2>\n

We couldn’t ask for better weather: warm but not too warm, encouraging us to spend time outdoors. The only fly in the ointment is that our tractor is still in the shop.<\/p>\n

Publishing News<\/h2>\n

Poultry Breeding and Management: 100th Anniversary Edition<\/h3>\n

A big milestone in the Golden Age of American poultrykeeping (roughly 1910-1960)\u00a0was the publication of Professor James Dryden’s\u00a0Poultry Breeding and Management<\/a> in 1916. Working just down the road at the Oregon Experiment Station in Corvallis, Dryden accomplished a lot, It’s not clear whether he\u00a0was more respected for being the first to prove that you could breed hens for higher production, or because his simple, effective management methods made\u00a0two generations\u00a0of farmers\u00a0far more successful.<\/p>\n

On the breeding side,\u00a0Dryden was the first person to demonstrate conclusively\u00a0that you can\u00a0use selective breeding to increase egg production. Others had tried and failed (too much inbreeding, too little out-crossing). In 1913, one hen, dubbed “Lady MacDuff,” produced 303 eggs in 365 days. This was in an age where the average farm hen produced fewer\u00a0than 100 eggs per year. Not only did Dryden prove this, he proved it three times over, producing three improved breeds simultaneously (Barred Rocks, White Leghorns, and a hybrid of the two called “Oregons”). And these weren’t just successful on paper: demand for breeding stock was so high that sales of these birds paid for many of the buildings on the Oregon State University campus.<\/p>\n

Dryden’s book remained in print for about 30 years, and Dryden is\u00a0the only poultryman ever inducted into the\u00a0National Agricultural Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this is a great book, full of ideas you can still use: some directly, and some with s few\u00a0modernizing twists. I’m calling it the “100th Anniversary Edition.”\u00a0Check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n

Win a Free Book!<\/h3>\n

I’m trying out Amazon’s “giveaway” feature, so if you’re quick about it, you can win a free copy of Poultry Breeding and Management! How? Use the following\u00a0link to\u00a0enter the giveaway<\/a> (or sweepstakes, or whatever the right word is). Basically, if you enter, you may or may not win a book: free, gratis, and for nothing. You don’t even pay for shipping. The link expires in a week, so do it now! You need to have an Amazon account to enter, and it’s one entry per customer.<\/p>\n

July\u00a0Poultry\u00a0Notes<\/h2>\n

If your flock consists of laying hens, July\u00a0is an easy month. Pretty much like June, only hotter.\u00a0You need to be ready for the\u00a0hot weather. Remember that chickens don’t like heat very much and really love shade<\/i> in sunny weather.<\/p>\n

Don’t let their drinking water get hot; they may refuse to drink it, and this can kill them on a hot day. Keep the waterers in the shade.<\/p>\n

Hot weather also means that things spoil more quickly. Get those eggs into cool, shady places (preferably a refrigerator) as soon as they’re collected, and avoid feeding the chickens perishable feeds in quantities that they can’t gobble down in 20 minutes or so.<\/p>\n

Predators may be getting a little hungrier, so keep your eyes open.<\/p>\n

To do in July:<\/h3>\n