I bought 25 "heavy breeds" from ideal in December. Just slaughtered last week. These birds are barred rocks, rhode island reds, orpingtons, and easter eggers (All brown/colored egg layers which is what I prefer). I...
I agree with others. We processed our 2 year old Roo last week. Cooked him in the crock pot for 8 hours (coq au vin), and he was delicious. Usually I don't like crock put chicken because they get so mushy, but his...
Do a lot of reading in the predator forum. You can tell what kind of predator by the type of damage. If it is just the entrails it may be a skunk (usually you will smell it). Raccoons will also eat the entrails, but...
Looks real good. MUCH better than plucking by hand if you have a lot of birds to do.
I just finished building a whizbang. bought a kit off ebay for (I think) $375. Worth every penny. We...
This a bit of an old thread, but I wanted to say that the fire ant baits that are made of bacteria should be harmless for animal or human consumption. I heard the garden guy on the radio talking about it. In south Texas,...
I may have answered my own question:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204601.htm
I appears ascites syndrome is not uncommon in chickens. I am thinking maybe clostridium infection,...
I slaughtered 14 roos today. One had an abdominal cavity full of yellowish fluid, looked like cooking oil. It also had a liver about twice normal size. Any idea what that might be? I didn't save any of his...
Yes, they probably have to be taught. They should be locked in for 3 or 4 weeks so they learn what home is. At night, they should be moved to the roost where you want them to sleep. They will learn in just a few days...
This weekend is processing weekend for all the males from the batch of straight run heavies I got from Ideal on 7 December. I will process the old rooster and some of the old hens from our current flock that has slowed way down...
