Use the rest of the nettle. The greens boil up, and lose their sting; resulting in one of the most nutritious pot greens ever. Dried, nettle make an herbal tea, that I drink every day. It is Very good for lung health!
Your pig escape problem is like my dachshund escape problem, I finally solved it with an electric fence. There are a lot of parallels, the dachshunds are short legged piggies....
My Brother in law in Texas, told me the best thing coming out of Texas is I-35 North...I haven't verified that, LOL! Hollar if you get up Tulsa way. I hope you have a good trip!
You ought to consider giant quail. They mature in 6 to 8 weeks, and begin laying eggs. I get a dozen eggs a day from ten hens, and that is breakfast for my wife and I. I got them to eat ticks, but they are showing good egg and meat production. I plan to increase the flock to 30 hens when we get out on the homestead. That will allow me to begin releasing a dozen birds a month, to build a wild population. It will also allow me to can a pressure cooker load every other month. These eggs are about a half to a third the size of regular eggs, and they taste good!
Good luck on your chicken eggs.
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Thanks, I'll let you know if I get up that way!
I've been thinking about quail, they're kind of a cross between chickens and rabbits. I want to see some setups in person, I just haven't made time to do so. Perhaps this summer after spring planting is done. I've got many friends in my local communities that have quail and speak wonders of them for both eggs and lean meat production. I like your idea of building a feral population too...
There is always something that must be done, LOL! I'm adding a storage container, and have to remove a tree to prepare the pad.
Quail are impressive, and tasty; you will be pleased. I got them for the tick control, they are quieter than guinea hens so they don't attract preditors. Releasing them will fill this vital link. There are so many deer here, that ticks are a problem.
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