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  1. smilingcat

    Found something really different in butchering and deboning X.

    So we've been raising and butchering meat birds for too many years to count, besides I only have 8 fingers and two thumbs to count years. :rolleyes: We butchered our chicken 3 days ago and they've been resting in a commercial fridge all that time. Today, we decided to break apart the chicken and...
  2. smilingcat

    Good experience with Bresse Farms in Pototoc MS

    What I wrote on their facebook and google map: Prompt, courteous and great customer service. Didn't have enough birds for us so called us for substitution if it was okay. Got a Bresse instead of legbar. Ordered bunch of pullets and chicks. Chicks were very well packed with ample heat pad, still...
  3. smilingcat

    grrr my coop and run is supposed to be secure.

    Well this morning I went and checked on my layer coop and run. All chicken are accounted and safe. They go into the coop at night and the hatch is locked down tight. Only things that can get inside it are flat bugs. The attached enclosed run is also secure, I thought. Never had problems until...
  4. smilingcat

    stuff you can use and stuff you SHOULD NOT in your coop.

    I just decided to post this so some of you have better idea on what to use and not to use. Some of the threads I saw made me very alarmed at what people had to say so this is off the top of my head, and you can add to the list if you are 100% sure but do check with others first. Yes go ahead...
  5. smilingcat

    uit's pouring bucket out here and my partner tells me coop is leaking.

    grumble grumble grumble... Well I guess it could be worse like in middle of the winter when the temperature is around freezing with gale force wind. We get such days, week at a time. So i should consider myself lucky that its only pouring buckets at reasonable temperature in the low 50's, no...
  6. smilingcat

    hook line and sinker... Old farmer eaten by his hogs in Oregon.

    Pretty amazing... how this story keeps coming back in different reincarnation. Usually the story goes "the family only found the old farmers dentures in the pen..." http://www.katu.com/news/local/Hogs-eat-Oregon-farmer-172185591.html The other story I get a good laugh is about a family bury...
  7. smilingcat

    common sense where has it gone?

    Was at a feed store this morning, looking for few things for our new puppy, some bird seeds for wild birds for our property... I always like to drop in their "chicken room" to see what they have and overheard a couple asking, "Well we are planning to keep our chicken underneath our deck. Do you...
  8. smilingcat

    bad layer --> dog and cat feed!

    We've been trying to figure out if our suspected bad layer is indeed a bad layer. We think we've figured it out that she has not laid an egg in several month. She has also been bullying my good layers, hogging the nest boxes and not let the other hens into the box to lay their eggs, attacking...
  9. smilingcat

    sunrise and my trusty alarm HENS!!

    Portland area has been cloudy/overcast/drizzly for far too long and I could sleep in. And all of sudden, someone turned on the Sun switch, Temperature has FINALLY starting to hit into the 80's and one day managed to make it to 90 I think. Along with it, bright sunrise at around 5:00AM. Coop...
  10. smilingcat

    are cornish x natural?

    Okay so my partner and I got into a discussion. We grow heirloom varieties including our chicken. Then we come to Cornish X. I realize they are the result of careful breeding programs to develop this Franken bird of sort. Grows much faster than normal birds... The qualities we want for a meatie...
  11. smilingcat

    "stewing hen" When to butcher?

    I have several hens who are ready to be "retired" One has not laid an egg in over three month and back to molting in less than six month. She has been a poor producer. Does molting have effect on the taste and the quality of the meat? The hen is only 2 yo so should be good for another few...
  12. smilingcat

    Trying to figure out what is wrong..

    One of my 2+ yo chicken became sick. wouldn't stand up. Comb pale pink. beaks open and seems to be breathing fast. thought it might be gapeworm so managed to have a really good look down her throat and its clear. Her eyes are looking normal no discharge no sign of occular Marek's besides bit...
  13. smilingcat

    coop for three 9 pics total.

    heh! finally had some time to post some pic. Not completely decorated and still missing glass for the window. so its almost done. frame for the coop jump to window open (just the window frame is popped down. Couldn't see very well on the finished pic so before the paint. then we jump to the...
  14. smilingcat

    insulation for my coop.

    I was planning on using insulation board (those styrofoam like material with aluminum on both side) instead of blown insulation or the roll of fiberglass insulation. I thought I could just cut the boards to size and "pop" them in. Then my partner said "Don't be stu**. They are chickens. They'll...
  15. smilingcat

    "standard" chicken door size and my brahma chicks... ooops!

    I read and read, searched some more and read some more about the coops on this site. It seemed that a standard coop door size is about 10 inches wide and about 12 inches high. My chicks were looking normal size and tad smaller than my aruacana chick. How much bigger can my brahma get?? Didn't...
  16. smilingcat

    rats and mice

    my next door neighbor planted whole mess of bamboo. grr... invasive to say the least. Not only that, they harbor rats and mice. source of food, source of nesting material, source of cover. Years ago, when I only had cats, rats were no problem. My two cats back then were really good mousers...
  17. smilingcat

    3 week old chicks and earwigs.

    my chicks are three weeks old. And today was the first day I put them in one of their "runs" 6 feet by 6 feet area. Inside it, we have extra tomato plants growing. Places for them to take cover if they get scared. We are organic so no pesticide, herbicide or petrol chemical based fertilizer...
  18. smilingcat

    intro from socal

    Hi, I been dropping in on BYC and reading for several months with great interests. We have been involved in serious gardening, not just victory garden of sort. It's more of a urban homesteading. Front yard is a veggie and flower garden, veggie garden in backyard and on the side. Soo its only...
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