Recent content by montyhp

You need to give them a source of water that they can wash in. Mine have a kiddie swimming pool that they can get in. They keep themselves very clean.

Yes, I bought from: Cando, LLC ([email protected]) Highly recommended, fast shipping and the kit was well made. I paid 354.00. The plucker works well. Montyhp

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 ended up with 13 roos and 11 hens. Kept the hens for egg laying and butchered...

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 meat held together and was great tasting.

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 some of the meat, too. If it looks like it has been played with but not...

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 slaughtered 14 roos last weekend. The plucking took about 30s to 1min per bird and they came out...

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, the brand is Greenlight if I recall. You should be able to ask about it...

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, although only one of the chickens was affected. These were not cornish rocks. They...

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 organs (liver, etc...) because I don't know what was wrong with him. Montyhp

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 where the proper sleeping roost is. Once the 3-4 weeks is over, they will...

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 on laying. In the batch of heavies I got two ameraucana roos. I...

I got this one as part of an ideal variety pack. Can't tell if male or female. S/he is 14 weeks old. Montyhp SoTX

I know the kill isn't the most pleasant part of raising chickens. But, you do it humanely and quickly, you know where your food comes from and what it eats, and you give the birds a lot of joy while they are alive by letting them run around and eat bugs (especially as compared to factory...