Recent content by R_Chickens

  1. R_Chickens

    Starting a meal worm farm

    I'd really like to see more details on this subject ;) We changed the layout of our coop recently and will have some room inside the coop for feed. We have electricity on the outside and a frost free water hydrant close (soon to be connected to water supply). We're thinking about starting a...
  2. R_Chickens

    Short term use coops for meat chickens? Need coop advice!

    And a sample image. If you're interested, I'll upload them all.
  3. R_Chickens

    Short term use coops for meat chickens? Need coop advice!

    I have a google sketchup and pics that show the notches and such for mine, which was based on his. Here is a preview.
  4. R_Chickens

    Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator

    Update: So far one chick did break out of the egg and so far looks good :ya We removed the extra water as it brought it back up to humidity quickly and we didn't want the chick to drown. A second egg is wiggling, but after the bad rotation it hasn't pipped again. Fingers crossed! I tried to be...
  5. R_Chickens

    Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator

    We are on our SECOND Brinsea Mini. As some of you may recall, on Day 11, our brand new Brinsea Mini was toast. The electronics were all buggy, jumping almost 20F from moment to moment, heater on/off and completely flaking out. My daughter's first (very anxiously awaited) batch died waiting for a...
  6. R_Chickens

    Vinyl Flooring - Is it too slippery?

    A key thing to remember about pine shavings over linoleum is that if it isn't deep enough, it will be slippery. We start out with about 10" as a base. It will pack down quickly, so be sure to keep at least 6-8" on the floor. If it smells and you aren't skimping on the pine shavings, add some...
  7. R_Chickens

    Brinsea Mini Advance Problem

    Count us as another with a bad power supply. 11 days old and the temp started jumping all over the place. Plugging and unplugging made little difference. I've emailed the company, so we'll see what they say. You'd think for $170 they could at least send the $5 power adapter, not the $1.50...
  8. R_Chickens

    Vinyl Flooring - Is it too slippery?

    We used a sheet of thick vinyl flooring on our coop and are quite pleased with it. However- use caution for slippery surface. A few tips. 1. When putting it down, we stapled it in spots throughout and on the sides (ran edges up the wall about 6"-8" as that was the size with no cutting). Be...
  9. R_Chickens

    Where to get hog ring / loxit without insane shipping?

    Thanks for the tips! I'll check Home Depot and TSC. I was hoping someone online would have them without the extra "sneaky" charges ;)
  10. R_Chickens

    Where to get hog ring / loxit without insane shipping?

    Okay, the title says it all. Tried to order 5 lbs of rings and a pair of deluxe pliers. Here are the places NOT to get them. 1. randallburkey.com - Added a couple of handles and shipping on that ~ $50 order was $38 for UPS ground !!! Only shows shipping in the cart, after you enter in all...
  11. R_Chickens

    Chicken plucker

    From an earlier post when we finished it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/681877/need-plucker-spacing-help-and-qs-in-the-middle-of-a-build#post_9273230 (you have to copy and post the link, sorry) Hope this helps! - JC
  12. R_Chickens

    Approximate Pounds of Feed/Bird: X-Rocks

    Just butchered 48 of 54 Cornish X a few weeks ago. 1/2 were about 8-9 weeks, 1/2 were 10-11 weeks. 14 bags of feed, 50 lbs each. Came out to just over $2/lb for the feed. Our feeding system wasn't very efficient, but there wasn't much waste. At the end we were feeding 3x per day.
  13. R_Chickens

    Chicken plucker

    We have one sort of like the whizbang. As a matter of fact, it's mostly the same except for our custom steel frame and we used the top of the barrel for the spinning base. Scalding temps and times and then spinning times are CRITICAL to pluck the feathers and not tear the skin.
  14. R_Chickens

    Need plucker spacing help and Q's- In the middle of a build

    Update! Well, finished up the plucker about 1230am Wed and started butchering Wed am. It works great, but the scald and procedures are CRITICAL! Scalding 145F-155F for 20 secs, then 20secs, then either 20 secs or 10 secs (check by pulling pin feathers), put in running plucker, count to 8...
  15. R_Chickens

    Need plucker spacing help and Q's- In the middle of a build

    Thanks again! Your info is quite helpful ;) All the preps for our first butchering (tables, water, electric, etc) have been taking more time than expected (surprise!), so going to finish it tomorrow eve. It will *really* help having measurements instead of trying to figure everything out. We're...
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