Recent content by RoosterGeek

  1. RoosterGeek

    Anyone who has built a whiz bang...?

    I dipped the ridged end in vegetable oil and that really helped. It doesn't take much and it's not as messy as dish soap. You can also used a small piece of 2 X lumber for leverage and it makes it SO much easier. Remember to start in the center!
  2. RoosterGeek

    New Girl On the Block

    It's ideal to keep the meaties separate from your older layers. The meaties are just too dumb, lazy, and fat to fend for themselves against older layers in my opinion. They are good and pooping, drinking tons of water, and eating tons of feed. Don't expect them to be as active as your other...
  3. RoosterGeek

    Do you make meat bird customers pay in advance, or just order.

    I take a 50% deposit on my ducks (sold per bird) and $5 deposit per chicken. I sell the chickens by the pound. Without a website and lacking a way to take credit cards, it's kind of a PITA. By taking the deposit, I have a large portion of wood shavings, feed, and chick order expenses taken care...
  4. RoosterGeek

    Free range alternatives to broiler pens, tractors, and coops

    Salatin addresses the issue of broiler stocking rates in one of his books. He mentioned something about having too few birds per pen and having reduced weights. I may be remembering that incorrectly though.
  5. RoosterGeek

    Guacamole deviled eggs

    Oooo. I'm from Texas originally and your version of deviled eggs soothes my Tex Mex craving. What's the recipe?
  6. RoosterGeek

    The Problem I've Found With Cornish Cross.

    That pretty accurately describes my experience thus far. I have made a 3' X 8' brooder so it's pretty easy for me to block off one end while they chill out on the other. I have found that they love to chase the red dot from my IR temp reader over to the other end.
  7. RoosterGeek

    How do Freedom Rangers do in hot weather?

    I would say that the FR that I raised did alright into the 90's, but they didn't like it. I would be hard pressed to raise any sort of meat bird in temperatures that high.
  8. RoosterGeek

    85*F outside and cornish X are already panting

    I have 11 day old cornish X broilers from Welp and those suckers are already panting from the "heat." I turned off the brooder lamp yesterday and kept their brooder door open to help keep them cool. This is my first year raising cornish X broilers as I have typically raised the Freedom Ranger...
  9. RoosterGeek

    Adjustable auto chicken waterers (nipples)

    They are designed for low pressure, so your garden hose wouldn't fit the bill. You can buy a regulator to go between your hose and the watering system. Good luck!
  10. RoosterGeek

    Soy-Free Organic Broiler Starter Prices

    Out of Curiosity, I called around my middle TN area for prices and they wanted around 40 bucks per 50 lb bag. That's about 80 cents a pound. Holy Schmokes! If I were to grow out a bird to 8 weeks that would be about 14 dollars in feed cost alone per bird. I think I'll just stick to feeding my...
  11. RoosterGeek

    meat ducks -- breed suggestions?

    For meat duck production, it's hard to beat Pekins. I raised about 50 out last summer for some Chinese families and their growth is astounding. I'll be raising some more this summer. For feed conversion on ducks, you can't beat Pekins. And they were very hardy! Townline is the cheapest place I...
  12. RoosterGeek

    Looking for a Breed for Non soy Ration

    Whoa, I would definitely jump on that! My quoted price for non-soy formulation went from around 11/12$ per 50 lbs to around 19$. I backed off of the non-soy idea pretty quick after that.
  13. RoosterGeek

    cheapest/best place to get some meat birds, either by local farmer or online hatchery. . .

    I have a spreadsheet up listing the most common hatcheries and their prices per quantity brack (25, 50, etc) with shipping. I'm in the process up updating it soon, but the prices should be pretty current still and can be used as a spring board for research. This is assuming shipping to...
  14. RoosterGeek

    Recipies for Feed

    I'll second Big Red's comment. My local feed mill warned me against using too much fish meal as they will have a fishy taste and smell.
  15. RoosterGeek

    Looking for a Breed for Non soy Ration

    Big Red you are braver than me. I got a quote from my mill for soy free broiler starter and, Oh MY! The price was significantly higher than the soy formulation. My customers would not have paid for that premium and I certainly could not have made a profit for it. Of course, this was last...
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