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  1. vonrow

    Hatchery choice?

    For the most part, yes, they are all roosters. Over the years we have found an odd pullet or two tossed into the mix. Weather those are the packing peanuts or not I can't say. The girls we do find can be counted on one hand. This year we only had 2 hens in the whole 100+ shipment. An owl...
  2. vonrow

    Hatchery choice?

    How old were they... oh, good question. We also raise our own birds starting with hatches around April-ish. The ones from Cackle were shipped to us on the end of May this year. We started processing sizeable birds at the end of July and all through August, doing a couple dozen each weekend...
  3. vonrow

    Dual purpose Breeds

    Our trick to making dinner out of older birds is low heat, and slow cooking times. Usually 280-320 degrees F. for about 3 hours. Lay a few strips of bacon and a couple slices of raw onion, carrots, and celery over the bird and cover while cooking. We use a roaster pan with a lid, or a dutch...
  4. vonrow

    Hatchery choice?

    We've been working with Cackle Hatchery. We opt for the "fry pan" special; 100 birds -4 different breeds usually, with 5 random (freeby) exotic chicks tossed in. This year we ended up with a pair of Cochins, a Spitzhauben, a Sultan, and some other hen I have yet to ID. We are pretty stoked...
  5. vonrow

    Shrinkwrapped and eggbound...

    I know there are a plethora of stories that are similar to this one. And I know there are definitely some strong opinions on weather you should or should not, and when or when not to do one thing or another. Everyone has their methods and that's just cool. Here is how we do things at our...
  6. vonrow

    Silver Laced Wyandotte Sexing-7 weeks old

    Looks like a bunch of young ladies, er pullets. By this age, roosters look quite different on the wings, shoulders, and neck, and tail feathers.
  7. vonrow

    Chick identification help

    Yup, sure looks like a young Wyandotte -assuming it's not a cross-breed. If the down is more brown/tan in color then perhaps a Golden Laced. If it's more grey/silver/black then it might lean towards the Silver Laced.
  8. vonrow

    Ended Official BYC Caption Contest - 4/4/2016 - Pic by Sally Sunshine

    "You think YOU have problems? Buddy, lemme tell ya... this aint a hat on my head..."
  9. vonrow

    Sponsored Post I'm incubating - what do I do if the power goes out?

    Last year we lost two incubators full of eggs due to power outages in our area. All together we lost almost 100 eggs. Thankfully not all in one shot as it happened on 2 different days and more than a month apart. This year I have a pair small generators that I picked up from Harbor Freight...
  10. vonrow

    Black australorp 5.5 weeks old gender?!

    We had to wait until our Austros were about 3 months old to figure out the guys from the girls. By then you could see the spurs on the feet and the combs were certainly much larger then the girls. Nice birds too. Great disposition, friendly, and ooooohhh so tasty! The hens we kept are doing...
  11. vonrow

    Silver Laced Wyandotte Sexing-7 weeks old

    If I had to hedge a bet....I'd say pullets/hens for all of them. Roosters, by that age -and for this particular breed, tend to have what I call a "collar" around their shoulders/neck. It's usually a band of darker colored feathers around the neck, followed by predominantly white feathers all...
  12. vonrow

    "Springing in the Chicks" 2016 April Hatch-a-Long Hosted by Mike & Sally

    We finally set up an incubator today with 45 eggs. (4 mottled Houdan, 8 olive eggers, and the rest are a mix of Wyandotte and Austrolorp brown eggs.) We have 4 different roosters: Blue Polish, Golden Wyandotte, Silver Wyandotte, and one mystery Rooster with feathered feet and bright red eyes...
  13. vonrow

    LG still and forced air

    It's April 11th now and we just set down 45 in our first run of this year. How many did you put in "the box" so to speak?
  14. vonrow

    can anyone help me fix Turner motor?

    Just a quick note though, most of the turners use a motor that is paired up to a gearbox. Due to the gear-reduction in the gearbox, you might not be able to actually spin or turn the motor by hand at all. (at least the ones I have in my turners can not be spun by hand) We check our turners...
  15. vonrow

    First time with incubator help!

    One of our 4 units is the same model that you have described here. I set all of our 'bators up for 99.5. We actually have 2 thermometers in each unit, one of them is set right on the egg cups and nestled in with the eggs. Why 2? Redundancy....I've seen the built-in thermies give off a wrong...
  16. vonrow

    Question about a failure to thrive chick

    If it's eating, drinking, and running around and overall looking "good" then things don't sound bad. Some breeds develop faster/slower than others. We had one case this spring where one particular chick (one of mystery chicks from the hatchery) just never ever ever got "as big" as the rest...
  17. vonrow

    Shrouded Hen-- Should I be Worried???

    "Wrapped" in anything sounds more like an attempt to hide from something.
  18. vonrow

    Question about a failure to thrive chick

    From personal experience I can say that if you are beyond 4 days and the little one is not making much if any effort, then it's likely not going to make it. We hatched out several hundred chicks this year. It seemed like every other hatch there was that one or two chicks that just wouldn't...
  19. vonrow

    Canning question

    At our farm here, we work up a decent appetite while processing our birds. So much so, that we end our day by taking 3 or 4 birds straight from processing and right on into a roaster pan. Or two. hehe. We slow roast them until the meat falls off the bones. ( for us that's 285F for just a...
  20. vonrow

    Pen sized for pastured broilers on a rotational program

    Your math doesn't seem that far out of wack from my experience. We have just over 1/4 acre set aside for our broiler birds. Our pen is stationary. We found that the grass doesn't get enough of a chance to regrow fast enough with 100 birds running around over it all the time. Next year we...
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