SC - Ruzzige cake, BvgS #52

[TG]

Johann von Metten,medieval poultrier, writes:
 Sorry for the length of this post, but it has been awhile since I
posted anything here and I've lately been asked offline for an
update,
so here it is!!
 Well,as of this past week my flock of about 18 chickens(15hens,
3cocks) are laying about 2dozen eggs a week! More than 1/2 of them
are
brown eggs with a wide range of shades from dark cherry red to light
pinkish tan. I have one or two white egg layers and three that are
usually white with a bluish tint.
 I pretty well know whose NOT laying which color though a few of them
I can't rule out for laying which tint. We haven't yet 'caught' any
in
the act of laying yet, though we have witnessed the fact that they
are
probably fertile eggs!! (such a wonderful teaching experience!!"Whats
he doing to her!!!") Despite some crazy ideas, fertile eggs ARE just
as safe to eat as unfertile ones and Brown eggs taste the same as
White ones. It is the DIET of the birds that determine flavor, not
color of the shell.
 I am gradually proving or disproving some ideas about old breeds of
birds and how to raise them.
 1. Diet and lifestyle are everything!!!
 2. Breeding is important, but only as far as the above statement
goes.
 3. Egg shell matters not in performance
 4. Given a stimulating enviroment, chickens can be quite canny and
intelligent "cats with feathers"!
 5. The flavor and quality of the meat on a real free-range bird
cannot be compared to that insipid stuff in plastic!!! Don't let
anyone tell you different!!
 6. Free-range means just that, not vegetarian, not'organic' it means
the bird eats what it wants in a naturally clean, but not sterile
enviroment! Bugs, seeds, berries, small animals, the whole bit!

The two Great White Embden ganders are about 20lbs each and have a
wing span of about 6ft! They should put on another ten pounds before
they are adults at 2yrs of age.
 We have counted about five Fletching quality feathers on each wing
and about the same number of scribal quality quills, though the
scribes seem to be able to use smaller feathers for some of their
illuminations. We are gathering all the feathers as they moult.
 The ganders each have the walking,pulling strength of a medium to
large dog, each quite happily pulling Baroness Gwendolyn across the
lawn like a rag doll!! They can graze about a 1/4 acre in a 3-4 days,
though they insist that they REALLY NEEEEEEED that wheat treat at the
end of each day, or whenever they see you!! She has them very
spoiled!!
 Despite some of the wishes of local artisans we will probably not
obtain hens(females) for the geese next year. Keeping them as
celibates allows them to be worked more easily, while allowing them
to
breed might encourage them to become too independent to work well.
NOW, if someone else amongst the weird Constellation apprentii(or
anyone else) wants to raise celibate, egg laying females, just let me
know and I know where they can be obtained.
 So far the geese have also proven and disproven some interesting
points.
 1. They are not mean, but they are protective of what they see as
'their flock' ie, their humans.
 2. They love to be petted,ie groomed, preened, by others in their
flock, but not by too many others!
 3. They are strong!!!
 4. They are not stupid, but they are WILLFUL!! They may not do what
you want them to, WHEN you want them to, but when THEY want to, Look
out!!

On another note, I find it amusing that at the last two events in our
area, one of which I planned to attend, but couldn't and another
which
I did, I had reports of people talking about someone 'smuggling'
chickens on site without permission of the autocrat!! It
was(naturally
I suppose)assumed that this was ME!! I have had some rather
interesting(embarrassing) encounters with people who have heard this
rumor and have really wondered what others were thinking of me when
they heard it, or spread it!
(Give me cerdit/blame when it's due, but otherwise...?)

While I might like to show off the birds and take them to SOME events
doesn't mean I would EVER take them to a site without asking
permission AND obtaining it!! It also doesn't mean I'm going to
travel
six hours with a crate of birds for a one day lark! Now, I would and
have traveled that far for a show or class, where I'm actually doing
something with them, but other than that, no, its not fair to the
birds.

Johann,Poultrier