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  1. vermonster

    Shelf life in the refrigerator

    I should also add that my processor vacuum seals the birds.
  2. vermonster

    Shelf life in the refrigerator

    The USDA guideline is the recommendation for how long to store after purchase, and takes into account the time it takes to process, transport and store BEFORE you take it home from the grocery store. I'm trying to understand how long a chicken can be stored refrigerated between slaughter and...
  3. vermonster

    Shelf life in the refrigerator

    I'm wondering how many days after slaughter a chicken can sit in the fridge before it goes bad. My Cornish Xs are being processing next Thursday. We are hosting a large party the following Friday (8 days later), where we will roast some of those birds. Am I safe to let them sit in the fridge...
  4. vermonster

    predator-proof tractor?

    I second the call for a combination of - Hardware Cloth - Predator Guard Apron. Mine is 18" all around. I also lay board and/or rocks on the apron to keep it on the ground. Having a dog around helps, too, even if it spends the nights inside. My dog spends a lot of time hanging out around the...
  5. vermonster

    Keeping the flow with homemade bucket/saucer feeders

    Bigger holes. Mine has 2-1/4" holes, and the feed flows just fine.
  6. vermonster

    slugs

    Lay old boards around your garden, particularly around the plants that really attract slugs (lettuce, cabbage family, etc). In the mornings the slugs will seek protection on the bottom of those boards. Just take the boards in the coop, flip it over, and let the girls have at it. The one thing I...
  7. vermonster

    Hay vs. Straw in the run

    My approach: Use the hay (it's cheaper than straw in most part of the country), and clean it out and replace when it gets nasty. The soiled hay you take out goes in the compost bin to make some fantastic compost.
  8. vermonster

    Nipple waterer for three girls?

    Get an 11/32" drill bit, a 3 gallon plastic bucket, and 3 of these: http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10052&storeId=10001&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&productId=17664 You can make yourself a waterer in about 10 minutes for around $20.
  9. vermonster

    Does anyone use the nipple water drinkers?

    I just got the push-in version from Farmtek, and they work great. I have a 5 gallon bucket with three of them with the layers, and a couple of 3 gallon buckets with 2 each in the tractor with the meat birds. I don't have tops on the buckets. All the chickens seemed to have figured them out...
  10. vermonster

    How long can a bird go between dispatch and butchering?

    Game birds are often 'hanged', blood, entrails, feathers and all, for days to soften the meat and enhance the flavor. Common practice with farmed poultry is to let it rest after butchering. I doubt it actually makes much of a difference whether you take the approach of letting it stand/hang...
  11. vermonster

    When to go outside?

    My Cornish X's turned 2 weeks old yesterday, and spent their first night outside in the chicken tractor. My tractor is half open, half enclosed, so they have shelter on three sides (and a top) on one end. I put a heat lamp in there, and will keep it there for the next week or so. Nighttime temps...
  12. vermonster

    Meat bird tractor

    I figure that if I need to add ventilation, I will just take a drill bit and start turning the wood siding into swiss cheese. I'm waiting at this point, though, to see how they do with it 'as is'. The summers are pretty cool up here -- it is very rare that we hit 90, and the nights can get...
  13. vermonster

    Tractors and Cornish X

    I just posted mine over in the Coop section: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=348918
  14. vermonster

    Meat bird tractor

    Meat bird tractor, using mostly salvaged materials, built in a day. Size is 10X4X2. There is a door/lid on each end, and hardware cloth predator guard to keep the critters out. I still need to add latches, and a handle for moving it. The wheel assembly is from a kids' tricycle wagon. Frame is...
  15. vermonster

    Are store-bought poultry (chicken and turkey) fed medicated chick feed

    To answer the original poster's question (and hopefully avoid the political discussion): Unless it is labeled as organic, chicken (as well as beef, lamb, pork, etc) that you buy at the grocery store was almost certainly fed various medications throughout most of its life. Same goes for the...
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