Welcome to the Chicken Ark
By · CommentsWe like these Chicken Ark Plans. There are three complete designs: a chicken ark (really easy to build) for three hens, a static mid-size hen house and large chicken coop.
The instructions are clear and complete, and the plans come with extras on where to site your chicken coop, how to keep it clean plus a comprehensive guide on Keeping Chickens. It’s very professionally produced and makes a complete starter kit - just add your chickens! Download your Chicken Ark kit here.
Buy Or Build Your Chicken Ark? What’s best For You?
By · Comments
Chicken Ark Image by podchef via Flickr
If you’re looking at Keeping Chickens then your research has probably told you that buying a chicken coop can be very expensive. A decent chicken coop can range from ?300 to a few thousand depending on the size and features you want.. You can cut your costs tremendously by simply building your own. All you need is the time, a plan and the cost of materials.
There are a lot of Chicken Coop Plans out there that are so easy that anyone can build one - take a look at our chicken coop plans - which include a mid size coop and a Chicken Ark you could easily build in a weekend.
Buying a chicken coop will save you time, especially if your looking at something with a little size to it. All you need to do is pay for it and you have a fully functional chicken coop ready for your chickens to move in. For some people this is simply the only way to go as they do not have the time or want to spend the time on building a coop.
One problem of buying a chicken coop is the cost. Depending on the coop you’re looking at you can literally spend in the high hundreds or even thousands. For many people that?s just a lot of money to spend on something they can build for a few pounds depending on the size.
It will definitely cost you less to build a chicken ark yourself. Materials are fairly cheap and easy to come by so you can build for very little initial investment. If you can use reclaimed wood for at least part of the construction, you will save even more.
Next there is the actual building process. There are many people that will build a chicken coop instead of buying one simply because that is something they love to do, build things. On the other hand there are some people that just do not like to build things and no matter how easy it may be to do and cost effective it may be, they would rather just buy it. It might be worth taking a look at some plans first, though, before you go out and spend hundred on something you could have easily made yourself.
There are a lot of chicken coop plans out there that are so easy that anyone can build one - take a look at our chicken coop plans - which include a mid size coop and a chicken ark you could easily build in a weekend.
A Chicken Ark Will Boost Compost Production
By · Comments
A chicken ark - the metal container is for the chickens' water
In an effort to be more earth friendly and know where our food sources come from, activities such as Keeping Chickens and composting is a great way to start to go green. But before you begin, check to make sure your city or town allows keeping chickens. A small number of chickens (say the three or four that will go in a Chicken Ark) is normally OK.
Some have rules as to the number of chickens you are allowed to have, some ban having a cock/rooster, and others ban chickens in residential areas altogether. in the US the city ordnances will tell you - and where keeping chicken is banned or restricted, there pressure groups gave often been formed to change the city’s policy.
In the UK, regulations seem to be? more relaxed.? When I phoned up to ask, the only restriction was on the size of the flock - but we are talking here about a number that would turn your flock into a mid-size commercial undertaking!
Years ago it was not uncommon for chickens to be seen, even in residential areas, wandering around the garden or backyard. Naturally they found their way to the dinner tables as they were, after all, a food source. My Grandfather kept chickens in the Second World War in a suburban back garden, when eggs and meat were scarce.
Over time keeping and owning chickens died out, but now there is a growing movement to take up backyard chicken raising and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. Wanting to know that the chicken on their plate was raised and fed properly, people are once again raising chickens in their yards and enjoying the results.
Composting is a great way to cut down on landfill waste, plus it creates wonderful soil that can be used in the garden. There are several types of ready-made composting bins, or you can build one yourself. You can even find books on composting at most bookstores. In some places, you can get compost bins at a subsidised rate from your local council.
If you have a flock of chickens in your backyard, you can toss some of your vegetable scraps to them, put the rest in the compost bin, then combine the resulting soil with the chicken waste from your coop, and you?ll have the best fertilizer in town.
If you are using a chicken ark, you can move it around and dig the chicken waste straight into the ground.
Natural Health and Homeopathy - eating well
By · Comments
As a practitioner of homeopathy for the last many years, hence, an observer of human health, I say it’s time to refresh history. This is a review of how people lived in the US before fast food. The moral is - grow your own vegetables and keep chickens, then you have the basis of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
I have observed that many people lived well into their nineties and even older in pockets of American society in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. My home is in an old farming community in Western New York that was settled by Germans. There is a lovely cemetery nearby, chock full of head stones with dates as a testimony to prolonged endurance of the folks in my area. Since I’ve been interested in the subject of longevity, I’ve meandered through other cemeteries in rural areas and have made the same observation time and again…people often lived into their late 80’s, 90’s and frequently over 100 in the last two centuries.
These were often not urban dwellers, but those who lived simply in small villages and rural areas where the air was clean, food more nutritious, sanitation more individually controlled and dependence on the medicaments and practices of hospital and city doctors minimal to none. These hearty folk ate the fruits of their labor such as fresh eggs from chickens that wandered in the garden, fresh, raw milk and heaps of butter from the family cow and of course meat from the well fed barnyard pig, including bacon and lard. There was an abundance of fresh air and loads of direct sunshine to work hard in. There was family, often three generations in a single house… an abundance of humanity, all related, coming together under one roof for the common good of all. No, not communism or socialism, but family, with many, many children. And they were birthed at home and nursed with mother’s milk, not Carnation’s. There was no sunscreen, microwave, fat free, or margarine. No purple pill, Viagra, birth control pill, no porn sites, drug abuse, divorce rates or Planned Parenthood. There weren’t even taxes to pay for all of the above! Was there stress? You bet. The stress was whether the family, as a unit, could work hard enough to get food on the table, get to church and achieve pride.
And today we’re condescendingly informed that we live longer, happier lives due to modern science and modern medicine. Yet, I have noted that while on the modern medicine’s watch, there has not been a single disease cured and many more created. We have simply traded one disease for a tenfold of others. Childhood asthma, ADD, teenage suicide and violence, allergies, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, diabetes, personality disorders, cancer, endometriosis, chronic ear infections, Lou Gehrig’s disease, MS, lupus, autism and heart disease. Elderly parents are condemned to live in nursing homes, propped up by so many meds they don’t recognize that they might indeed be 80 years old! Children are considered a financial burden, hence, limited. And disease has taken a turn for the worse while modern medicine puffs itself with acclaim for keeping us all healthy and longevitous.
Take polio, for example. When modern medicine touts its accomplishments, it smugly recalls polio as the triumph of the last century. But as epidemiologists know, all infectious diseases have a bell curve which they will follow and finally die out on their own. This is why flus, colds and chicken pox come and go. Drs. Sabin and Salk, the developers of the polio vaccines, admitted independently and publicly that the disease was already on the decline when their vaccines hit the market and that the reason for the decline in polio in the US was due to the natural order of things, not a vaccine. Interestingly, polio was spread in pockets of the country where children were given candy, cookies and pop, not locales where an apple or berries off the bush were the daily sweet. It has been shown that polio only seriously afflicts children who have a diet including processed sugar. Why has this not been divulged to the public?
Now take homeopathy. Unlike modern medicine, it has a record of cure. During the flu epidemic during WW1 that killed more people than the war itself, homeopathy was on the forefront in the homeopathic hospitals with relatively few deaths, while the other hospitals couldn’t keep up with the corpses. Even before that , “In 1900 a comparison of mortality rates among homeopathic and conventional medical patients throughout the US and Europe showed that two to eight times as many homeopath patients with life threatening infections diseases survived, as compared with those receiving conventional care of the day.” (Thomas Lindsay Bradford, The Logic of Figures of Comparative Results of Homeopathic and Other Treatments) Yet, the AMA launched a rigorous and well funded campaign to eliminate homeopathy from the American scene. And it continues to do so.
As we line up for the bastion of modern medicine’s medicaments, such as vaccines, birth control pills, antidepressants, high blood pressure meds and chemo, perhaps we ought not marvel at the wonders of today’s medicine, but consider, perhaps, it is as a direct cause of these diseases.
Today the world clamors for simple, inexpensive, cartel free medicine. Medicine of the values of old. Of the standards of hearty folk. Hearty of mind, sound principles and sound nutrition. The next time you look down on a grave stone, note not only the dates, but what those dates represent. They are likely a representation of a life worth living, free of the modern entrapments of today’s medicine.
Joette Calabrese
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/gravestones-horse-sense-natural-health-and-homeopathy-716950.html
Current health studies show that our population is growing bigger and getting fatter each year. More than 50% is overweight! Obesity has now reached pandemic proportions and has become a serious problem to our personal health, making it a burden on our health system.
There are many health problems and diseases associated with being overweight and obese, for example: skeletal problems, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and sleep apnea to name a few. Studies have also shown that a relationship exists between excessive bodyweight and increased mortality. Increasing one’s body weight by 10kg will directly affect their lifespan by decreasing their living years. Obesity is a serious problem, however it can be fought and its effects reversed.
There are a variety of ways of combating obesity and preventing / reversing the health complications that arise from it. Obesity prevention can occur through a number of factors including 1.Dieting 2.Lowering Fat and Cholesterol. 3.Exercise.
1.Diet
Dieting can be extremely difficult, as a matter of fact, in the long term, more diets fail than succeed. So what is the secret to a sustainable and successful diet plan? The answer is lifestyle change. Change the way you eat and change the way you live. If you are seriously thinking of dieting, then think about the foods you eat on a daily basis and substitute them with healthier alternatives. Substitute the fast foods you would normally eat with fresh meats, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Keep score of your daily calorie intake and remember to exercise for at least 30 minutes per day.
2. Lowering Fat and Cholesterol
Inactivity, poor diet and lack of exercise lead to an increase in body fat and a rise in cholesterol. Cholesterol is a type of fat that is essential to the human body, however an excessive buildup of cholesterol in the blood and arteries can lead to serious health complications. Cholesterol is a major contributing factor in the cause of coronary artery disease which can lead to heart attacks. There primary cure for lowering the cholesterol levels is through dieting and reducing the amount of fat in your diet. A change of lifestyle and eating habits is also needed to have an overall impact in reducing and sustaining cholesterol. Below is a list of high cholesterol producing foods that should be avoided:
*Dairy intake – Reduce you high fat dairy consumption by substituting high fat cheeses and milks with low fat ones. You will find many 99% fat free dairy products are now on offer in supermarkets.
*Avoid meats that are high in visible fats and substitute them with lean cut meats and skinless chickens.
*Use healthy cooking oils and margarines. Choose oils that are low in saturated fats such as virgin olive oils and margarines that include plant sterols which help the body absorb less cholesterol.
*Minimise your fast food intake such as pizzas, burgers, fish and chips, and deep fried foods in general.
When combating high cholesterol, changing poor eating habits is only part of the solution, you also need to reduce the amount calories you consume on a daily basis, and that can only be solved through proper dieting and exercise. If unsure about your cholesterol level, it is always advisable that you seek the medical attention from your local physician.
3. Exercise
Exercise is a vital and essential part to our wellbeing. Whether riding a bike or walking 30 minutes a day, mobility is the key to a healthy lifestyle. Regular physical exercise is essential in preventing many bodily disorders including coronary heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Exercise is also vital in the building of healthy bones, muscles and in bolstering the human immune system.
Dieting, exercise and healthy eating plans are essential factors in maintaining strong and healthy bodies. They are all however interrelated and should be practiced in conjunction with one another; reducing a high cholesterol level depends on healthy eating habits and proper dieting. A proper diet should also be supported with regular and frequent exercise in order to achieve weight loss and an overall healthy lifestyle.
Jason Sands
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/the-essential-facts-to-keeping-healthy-93933.html
What is Organic Chicken?
By · Comments
People must have heard about the nasty conditions which broiler chickens - which are bred for their meat - are raised in? These chickens have no more floor space than a sheet of A4 paper. Chickens are over-fed to reach slaughter weight in six weeks, when it would normally take four months.
Modem intensive systems of poultry production have produced cheap meat for the consumer - but at a price. Inside the intensive chicken houses, which are appearing in increasing numbers in the countryside, up to 40,000 birds are crammed, at 2 birds to the square foot, into a single windowless building, with almost continuous low levels of artificial light, they are then given drugs to speed up their rate of growth. Keeping so many animals packed together in such a stressful environment can only contribute to their rates of infection. It seems logical that the Chinese flu infections that we were seeing transmitted to humans comes from this same intensive farming. It isnt necessary to produce food in this way.
Organic farmers do a number of things to ensure that chickens are reared as naturally as possible. For starters, antibiotic growth promoters cannot be used but sick organic birds must be treated with appropriate veterinary medicine, so they can be given antibiotics if theyre very poorly. But they cannot be given drugs on a regular and routine basis, something that almost all non-organic poultry have to endure. Organic poultry is reared on a specially formulated feed containing only cereals, vegetable protein, a small amount of fish meal, and a vitamin/mineral supplement. These chickens are often guaranteed to be fed on feed which is free from genetically modified feedstuffs (GMOs). To be fully organic, chickens must be fed a diet containing grain which has been grown organically, without artificial fertilisers or sprays. Such feed is expensive, and therefore organic chicken is more expensive as well.
Also, on Soil Association registered farms, the number of chickens housed in a single shed is restricted to 1,000. A non-organic intensive chicken farm may have as many as 40,000 in the same shed. Organic birds are kept free-range, having continuous daytime access to clean pasture, except in adverse weather. Non-organic birds are almost always locked up night and day.
In addition, the Soil Association insists on full and clear labeling of processed chicken products. They are able to trace back to the farm all ingredients used in any Soil Association chicken products. Their organic certification standards state that food must undergo as little processing as is practical.
Organic standards are legally binding. All organic businesses must be licensed by law, and are fully inspected at least once a year. So if you want to see for yourself how organic animals are reared, why not visit an organic farm?
Find Organic Farms in the Organic Directory.
Davinos Greeno
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-is-organic-chicken-84145.html
Diet - Keep eating eggs and organic chicken
By · Comments
Enclosed we have outlined the 3 most important tips to lose weight fast that can be incorporated into any sensible diet and are guaranteed to speed the weight loss process.
To lose weight fast you have to first be on a sensible diet and by this we mean:
1.Calorie intake is sufficient for your height and build.
2.Your diet is balanced ( no fad diets ) you will be eating protein, carbohydrate and healthy fats.
3.You will not be starving yourself and eating 3 - 5 portions a day.
The above are the 3 basics of any healthy diet and following the 3 tips below will ensure those extra pounds fall away even quicker!
Here then are the 3 most important tips to incorporate in a balanced diet to lose weight fast:
1. Drink Water
Let’s start with the most important, but often neglected tip for losing weight fast drinking lots of fresh water. Still or sparkling it doesn’t matter, but you must drink plenty of it. Why drink water?
1. Fends off hunger pangs
It acts as a natural appetite suppressant by keeping your stomach full and fending off dehydration. Many huger pangs are simply thirst signals linked to de hydration, so by drinking lots of fresh water throughout the day you will avoid these hunger cravings
2. Metabolizes fat
More importantly water helps your body metabolize stored fat by helping the kidneys flush out toxins waste.
When the body receives in sufficient water the liver which works to provide stored fat for energy switches to helping the kidneys, because of this extra burden becomes less efficient at metabolizing fat.
3.Burns calories
Drinking two liters of iced water a day burns about 60 calories.
The body has to work to raise that waters temperature to your body’s temperature and this burns fat.
Don’t like the idea of drinking lots of water? If this is the case go for sparkling and naturally flavored waters to make them more appealing.
2. Fiber Intake Just like water, fiber rich foods bulk you up and make you feel full and are another great way to lose weight fast.
The average person could lose 10 pounds in one year just from doubling their fiber intake.
Fiber is found in plant foods. Our bodies are unable to digest it so it goes through the body without being digested.
When eaten fiber also eliminates calories by attaching to some of the protein and fat that you eat removing it from the body as well cutting your calorie intake in the process.
In addition, high fiber foods are typically low calorie and filling, so this will stop you reaching for foods with high calorific intake that will see you put on weight.
The average person consumes around 8g per day but 25g per day is optimum and there are plenty of choices.
Start with high fiber wheat based breakfast and make sure you have baked potatoes and brown rice as part of your diet, then supplement with the following foods:
Strawberries, apples, figs, chickpeas, broccoli, beans, and nuts a whole host of vegetables and fruits are good so up your intake.
3. Increase Lean Protein Consumption
Notice we said lean protein NOT Just protein. By this we mean generally avoiding to much red meat and meat that has high fat content.
With today’s modern farming methods try and go organic and eat as naturally as possible:
Foods that have had the opportunity to grow naturally i.e free range chickens, non farmed fish etc.
These organic natural sources of protein will help you lose weight fast, but not intensively farmed varieties.
To lose weight fast, try eating these sources:
Low fat cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, skim milk, egg whites, any fish, prawns, chicken and turkey ( without skins ), lean beef ( keep in mind that lean only and not to much ), lentils, kidney beans and any soy products.
The benefits when eaten are:
1. Helps you feel fuller for longer
Lean Protein is a great help in losing weight fast, as it makes you feel full and satisfies your appetite for longer.
2. Prevents hunger cravings
Lean protein also prevents insulin spikes that lead to lack of energy, sugar and hunger cravings cravings.
2. Helps maintain muscle mass
Protein also helps maintain muscle mass which is crucial in the body’s overall fat burning process.
Around 20 - 25% of your intake of calories can be in the form of lean protein.
So there you have 3 tips to help you lose weight fast that can be incorporated into ANY sensible balanced diet.
There are other foods and ways to help you lose fast but these are probably the 3 best in helping you lose weight longer term and keeping it off.
What Are Organic And Free Range Eggs?
By · Comments
Britons are buying record numbers of Free Range, Barn and Organic Eggs. Research shows shoppers bought 2.04billion of them last year, up from 1.64billion in 2002 (Article from the Daily Mail - 09/08/2006).
The Benefits of Eating Eggs
Eggs are low in calories and could actually protect against heart disease, breast cancer and eye problems and even help you to lose weight. Eggs are actually good for you. They are rich in nutrients, one egg provides 13 essential nutrients, all in the yolk (egg whites contain albumen, an important source of protein, and no fat). You should keep eggs in the fridge in their box and eat them by the use-by date.
We now know the benefits of eating eggs but does the welfare of the chickens matter? Davinos Greeno investigates the eggy world of production systems.
Eggs are produced in 3 types of production systems.
1) Laying Cage System. Laying cages are the most common method of commercial egg production in the UK - representing around 66% of eggs produced in 2004.
Typically a laying cage system consists of a series of at least three tiers of cages. The cages have sloping mesh floors so that the eggs roll forward out of the reach of the birds to await collection. Droppings pass through the mesh floors onto boards, belts, the floors of the house or into a pit to await removal.
2) Barn system. Around 7% of eggs sold in the UK are produced in the barn system. In the barn system the hen house has a series of perches and feeders at different levels. In the deep litter system the birds are kept in Hen houses in which all the floor area should be solid with a litter of straw, wood shavings, sand or turf.
3) Free range system. The free range system accounts for around 27% of eggs produced in the UK. And the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive stipulate that for eggs to be termed free range, hens must have continuous daytime access to runs which are mainly covered with vegetation and with a maximum stocking density of 2,500 birds per hectare. The demand for free-range eggs is also growing by 10 per cent a year. Somerfield will be the first supermarket in the country to switch to selling French free-range eggs. Tesco is also understood to be lining up suppliers on the Continent if it is not able to guarantee supplies at home due to this rising demand. The cost of opening a free-range unit can be as much as
Davinos Greeno
Chicken Arks – How Often Should They Be Moved?
By · CommentsChicken Arks are designed to give your hens new ground to graze and scratch while keeping them enclosed and safe from predators – or from straying into your neighbours’ gardens.
If you don’t plan to feed your chickens much extra food, then they will need fresh ground frequently. Once it is pecked clean, you will need to move your chicken ark. If you want to preserve the ground, (for example if you keep your chicken ark on your lawn so the chickens just graze, rather than clear the grass), then make sure you move the chicken ark every day.
On the other hand, you can use a Chicken Ark as a fixed chicken house and simply let your chickens out to roam around freely. They should naturally come back to the coop in the early evening, so you can tuck them up safely for the night.
If you do this, there may be no need to feed the chickens much extra food – you will need to make sure they can access a variety of weeds and grubs and are scratching up fine grit, so they get a good diet. You can treat them with some grain and they will enjoy kitchen scraps too.
In winter, they will certainly benefit from additional rations, and do need access to good natural light, so letting them out is a good idea. Chickens are normally hardy and don’t mind cold weather – but they do need access to shelter from damp conditions and somewhere warm and dry, where they can roost.
The design of chicken arks gives the chickens roosting space that keeps the chickens off damp ground and provides protection from rain and cold weather.
For two to three chickens, a chicken ark is a very flexible solution – and surprisingly easy to build yourself from a good set of Chicken Ark Plans.
Chickens have distinct personalities, so their names reflect what we observed going on with our three. So let me introduce you to the residents of Fawlty chicken ark:Sybil is the boss – a little bigger, a bit bossy and overbearing, with good plumage and she’s does seem to be forever preening. She’s also first at the feeder, so top of the pecking order.
Manuela is eager and pecks around busily, but sometimes seems a little lost. She’s a good layer though, as sometimes happens with chickens lower down the pecking order. Sybil isn’t too impatient with her, but Sybil obviously reckons Manuela is lower in the pecking order.
Polly is sensible and good at finding grubs and insects. She just seems to get on with life. She tolerates Sybil and organises Manuela, leading her around the garden as she finds new areas to explore.
If we had a rooster, I guess we’d have to call him Basil! I doubt if it would be as rude and bad tempered as his namesake though. You don’t need a rooster, and they can be noisy and disrupting, so we won’t be completing the cast.
When they’re not free ranging (under supervision) their Fawlty Towers is a chicken ark we made from downloadable plans. It works well for us - although Orpingtons are large birds so we are working up to building the larger hen housethat is also included in this good set of plans.
