Recent content by seanengler

Ta This is what has me so confused, the roosters are SO different than the hens I figured it would be so easy to tell by now. They were hatched April 22, almost 8 weeks.

Thanks! Second guessing what I heard now :idunno

My existing flock is all hens and the blue ameraucanas I got with the SF I'm certain are pullets. Now I'm doubting what I heard this morning haha! I haven't heard anything since the couple crows this morning.

Hey everybody, thanks in advance for your answers. I bought four salmon faverolles, one didn't make it, I have three left. Out of the three, they all look a little different so it's hard for me to say with certainty who I heard roosting this morning. Two have beards, one does not. One with a...

$6.50 per bird and a 100 bird minimum! I have to find a processing day when someone else with birds is going so I can get mine done. I swear they charge us more just to breathe here in California. Due to all the regulations, the only USDA processor that I am aware of in the state that does...

Hey everybody I’m sure it’s been asked an answered but hey why not start a new thread haha. So, for all of our adult layers we’ve fed 18% layer crumble. Recently the feed store advised us to switch to a 16% cage crumble due to them all being 4 or 5 years old and that the lower protein would...

Thanks!

We have black bears around here but they are rare at my elevation. I've never known black bears to kill for food, while I'm sure there are exceptions, I look forward to reading some first hand information on here, good post!

Hey welcome to BYC! Thanks for the tip, we've had someone do our processing but when we graduate to doing our own, I will definitely be into the heat shrink bags. They look so much easier and quicker than the vacuum bags. We got our bird back from the processor and since I have them all out I...

I don't know your neighbors or the situation so I don't want to stick up for them, BUT, where I used to live and where I have friends living still, animal control/animal services regularly regularly walks neighborhood and peers over block walls and fences to see what pets are in the yards...

Good to know! I didn't notice any distress in any of the birds which is why it surprised me, oh well. Thank you!

I found A LOT of varying information out there on feeding the freedom rangers. I started with a 24% starter until week 3, bumped them down to a 20% crumble until week 7 and then bumped then down again to an 18% crumble. All feed from a local mill here, pretty cheap compared to the TSC and...

Ha! I think at most the 26 FR went through 4ish gallons in a day at their thirstiest on an 80 degree day. Side note for all, I did a taste test tonight. Cooked two leg quarters.....WOW! Such a difference from the store bought cornish birds. (I won't knock the home raised cornish because I...

I look forward to it! And I was expecting mine to drink a lot more water. They never drank more than 5 gallons a day, and I kind of expected them to drink more.

---FINAL UPDATE--- Ok so the final numbers are in. I went a couple days over 9 weeks. So in summary: Largest bird live weight 9 pounds, dressed weight, 6 pounds. Smallest bird live, 5.25 pounds, dressed weight, 3.61 pounds. Average bird live weight, 6.93 pounds, dressed weight, 4.72...