Recent content by calamtykel

  1. calamtykel

    How to RAISE a good rooster.

    We've been hatching eggs to maintain our flock for about 10 years. Because I can't tell a chick's gender they all get raised the same: I don't coddle them but I do try to handle them occasionally and keep them familiar with me. I've heard of aggressive roosters but never had one until last...
  2. calamtykel

    Ducks and Tractor Supply Chicken Feed?

    I have three young ducks who have been raised on the regular mixed flock Grower feed. They are about three months old now. I also have two one year old ducks that are laying an egg a day, that I got from a farm recently. I would like to switch my ducks to organic feed but the only kind of feed...
  3. calamtykel

    Gardening in a former chicken run...need help....

    Thanks! I'm going to give it a try. This is a pretty small space - we used to open the gate so the cornish could come and go, so they weren't real confined - I do have a rototiller but I think it's too confined to get it through the fence! I'm using one of those tilling forks that you step on...
  4. calamtykel

    Gardening in a former chicken run...need help....

    I have a pretty large garden but this year I kind of ran out of space. I have a beautiful fenced square area where we raised 26 Cornish in a truck cap last year. The soil is loose and full of earth worms. We processed the chickens last October, so it's been empty since then. My problem is...
  5. calamtykel

    We did it ! OH my goodness! :D

    We had the laptop right out there with us (on a different table!) so we could look stuff up as we went. This blog was invaluable because of the pictures involved. http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ And the Youtube videos were helpful too. Made soup with my first one and it was...
  6. calamtykel

    Wanted to raise meat chickens next year?

    I raised Cornish this year and I was prepared for the inhumane existence - but I figured, let's see. Honestly, I don't see it. Mine are now 9 weeks old and they move around very well. Yes, they rest more than regular bird, but they can really move when they want to! Mine free range and when...
  7. calamtykel

    We did it ! OH my goodness! :D

    Unable to lock down a processor who didn't want $8 a bird, after my own processor backed out, I decided to tackle this project on our own. I really had no choice as they weren't getting any younger! I had 26 Cornish X and now 12 are done, cleaned and in the freezer! I just want to...
  8. calamtykel

    World record meatie? 22lb?

    I am astounded at the size the Cornish get to be. We were given two by a local wildlife sanctuary who had accepted them from someone who accidentally raised them as pets (??) - they were afraid they would die soon if they didn't unload them. They had good legs and were able to get around well...
  9. calamtykel

    looking for chicken processor for my broilers.

    I'm looking in the Penn Jersey area. My regular processor who did a few birds for us in the past copped out on me. This was after I confirmed with her before I bought this batch. ;( What I tried doing is emailing local farms - I went to a website that was a kind of food alliance for Penn...
  10. calamtykel

    Grain Mill in the Northern NJ Eastern Pa area?

    I'd love to find a mill to help cut my feed costs -- does anyone know of any in the Eastern PA Northern NJ area? I wrote to Moyer's as I was wondering if they might know but that would be a bit of a drive- any help appreciated! :)
  11. calamtykel

    About to get rid of my hens if I cant solve this FLY problem

    I was coming on here to post the same thing. I am raising the meat chickens near our sunporch in the back - they are in a small run and much much closer to the house than the other henhouse. (So they are true "backyard chickens!" :) I will say that the fly problem is horrendous! Our sunporch...
  12. calamtykel

    Bugs in coop - bugs on us - UGH!

    Oh - I forgot my point - I was wondering if I throw a couple of bales of cedar shavings in, would it help the problem?
  13. calamtykel

    Bugs in coop - bugs on us - UGH!

    Hi - I am having a bug problem and I'm wondering if it's my shavings! They are these teeny little bugs that are in the coop - I guess they can be mites, -they are REALLY tiny and light colored. They also seem to be residing in the feed bags - if we reach our arm in, they will be on our arms...
  14. calamtykel

    Moving Outside - I know it's been asked before but...

    thanks! I'll probably move them outside then this week unless they are talking about a huge drop in the temps. The brooder is disgusting...and I'm cleaning it every other day. I was afraid that since it takes them longer to feather out that you have to be careful. However, after having seen...
  15. calamtykel

    Moving Outside - I know it's been asked before but...

    I'm finding threads of people moving their Cornish outdoors at 3-5 weeks, but since we're all from different climates and seasons matter too, I was wondering for now, September in Northern NJ - temps at night in the 50's-60's and daytime temps 70's to 80's. They will be 4 weeks old this...
See more
Back
Top Bottom