Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

so you brood them outside right off the bat? interesting!!

Yep, I've been kicked out of all buildings for brooding. So I brood them from Day 1 in a small coop outside. Our temps are usually fine to do this.

 

[tommysgirl]

Great job! How nice to have a plucker available.

A word of advise if you are feeling squeamish about eating it right now. Put it in a ziploc freezer bag and freeze for a few days until you get over the emotions of processing. Then pull it out and cook it.

Thanks for the advice. All three are still sitting in an ice chest in my kitchen. I think I will cook the first tomorrow. That will have given them 3+ days for aging. Since these three were broody raised, I stopped trying to friend them when I figured out they were cockerels. I never got attached to them which doesn't make it easy but does make it easier


The plucker is a home made one and it worked like a charm. We scalded until the feathers came free pretty easily, dropped them in and kept water from the hose running over them. There were a few pin feathers left but they came away like lint off of a sweater. Two of these guys were Silver Penciled Wys so were BLACK feathered the other had a light grey cuckoo pattern.

 

[Beekissed]

so you brood them outside right off the bat? interesting!!

I do too...I can't even imagine brooding meaties inside!

I brood all my chicks outside now, even with night temps in the 20-30s.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I do too...I can't even imagine brooding meaties inside!

I brood all my chicks outside now, even with night temps in the 20-30s.

Are they in a barn? How cold does the building get?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote: I have brooded them down in the 20's as well. And HUGE ditto on brooding meaties inside.

I started brooding in the garage, then the well house and my DH kicked me out of both due to chick dander. He's a huge NO on brooding any chicks indoors.

The little coop holds heat really well. I had to move the meaties down to a 100 watt heat bulb, they were getting too hot otherwise. There were day old chicks in my brooder coop when this was taken:

 

[Beekissed]

I have brooded them down in the 20's as well. And HUGE ditto on brooding meaties inside.

I started brooding in the garage, then the well house and my DH kicked me out of both due to chick dander. He's a huge NO on brooding any chicks indoors.

The little coop holds heat really well. I had to move the meaties down to a 100 watt heat bulb, they were getting too hot otherwise. There were day old chicks in my brooder coop when this was taken:

Oh, how I wish every person on the board could see this and read it!

They really need to see that it can be done, even in that kind of weather and the chicks seem all the more healthy and hardy for it. They fledge earlier and are much more active, grow quickly, etc. This post needs to be a sticky on top of the chick forum.

 

[Arielle]

Ok Bee and Happy CHooks how did you accomplish this????? How do you protect those little babies from the elements ie cold??

 

[Coralietg]

I do too...I can't even imagine brooding meaties inside!

I brood all my chicks outside now, even with night temps in the 20-30s.

I had ours inside for 5 days… it was terrible. Lol. Only problem is I've put them outside now under the carport, hardware cloth top, and I toss and turn all night worrying about them being harassed by cats.

 

[Beekissed]

Ok Bee and Happy CHooks how did you accomplish this????? How do you protect those little babies from the elements ie cold??

For me I used insulation below and around the brooder. Below I placed a very thick piece of cardboard that had wrapped an appliance, then placed the bedding on top of that...plenty of bedding. The walls were hay bales and the cracks between them were stuffed with hay. Then the top was covered with plywood and I used a heat lamp to heat that space. For the smaller batch I kept the brooder proportionate, so the lamp wouldn't struggle to heat the space for half the amount of chicks, but they also had a "cool" end to the brooder in both brooders.







That insulation under the bedding seemed to really matter as much as the thick, insulated walls. Those heat lamps are incredibly powerful and throw off a good deal of heat. You can also put some bricks or rocks under the heat lamp so the mass of these can soak in the heat and then radiate heat from underneath the birds. That's what I did under my feeder, though it wasn't directly under the lamp, it still stayed pretty warm.

This next batch will be out in the coop in a brooder with only a heating pad for a brood heater and we are still having temps in the 20-30s and we are expecting some more snows. I'll report their progress.

Here's an interesting video about a lady doing just that with temps in the 40s...

 

[JerseyHen]

For me I used insulation below and around the brooder. Below I placed a very thick piece of cardboard that had wrapped an appliance, then placed the bedding on top of that...plenty of bedding. The walls were hay bales and the cracks between them were stuffed with hay. Then the top was covered with plywood and I used a heat lamp to heat that space. For the smaller batch I kept the brooder proportionate, so the lamp wouldn't struggle to heat the space for half the amount of chicks, but they also had a "cool" end to the brooder in both brooders.

That insulation under the bedding seemed to really matter as much as the thick, insulated walls. Those heat lamps are incredibly powerful and throw off a good deal of heat. You can also put some bricks or rocks under the heat lamp so the mass of these can soak in the heat and then radiate heat from underneath the birds. That's what I did under my feeder, though it wasn't directly under the lamp, it still stayed pretty warm.

This next batch will be out in the coop in a brooder with only a heating pad for a brood heater and we are still having temps in the 20-30s and we are expecting some more snows. I'll report their progress.

Here's an interesting video about a lady doing just that with temps in the 40s...

I love this heating pad idea. I might have to figure out a way to put my brooder outside by my outlet so I can give this a try this spring.