Search results for query: *

I ordered my cone from Amazon, but I live in an area where there are not a lot of sources for cones or other processing equipment. If you can't get a cone, you can use a road cone, one of the orange ones, by cutting off the end to make it large enough to easily pull the chicken's head through...

At a bar later that day, a pale and shaking man says: "I'm telling you, man, it was like Jurassic Park! These huge birds came running at me, and I couldn't get the car started! Finally they went after some other people, and left me alone! It took me a half an hour to stop shaking enough that...

I am so with you on this, Tomtommom! Right now I have 23 8 - 9 week olds, and I am so ready for them to go into the freezer. They are not cute anymore, and there are too many of them running all over the place. And the coop reeks. this weekend I am moving them into the big chicken run, and...

You are definitely not the only one. Today I told one particularly large chick that he was going to look pretty on a plate.

I totally agree that everyone needs to find what they like. And please do not interpret my dislike of CX's as disapproving of anyone else raising them! I am just not a fan of the end product. When I first started doing my own chickens a couple of years ago, I was afraid that my mother, who...

I did a few Cornish X last year, and I was not impressed. Sure, you get a lot of meat fast, but it was bland and soft to me. I like more flavor and texture to my meat. I am raising my meat birds only for myself, and I can afford to spend a little more on feed, so I am sticking with dual...

Sally, it is all yours. I am sure that Sir Walter Scott would be honored to know his words have brought comfort, if reverted here today.

I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time? Sir Walter...

I could not have said it better. Right now I have an egg eater in my layers, and as soon as I figure out who it is, I am going to make a big pot of old hen soup. For some reason killing hens is harder on me than killing cockerels. Maybe it is because I always have it in the back of my mind...

Some days it seems that long.

I totally agree. And at some point all of the analysis and fretting just becomes an excuse for not taking action. Over the (mumble mumble) years I have been in Human Resources, I have seen this so many times. People will allow things to get really bad before they take action, and then after...

Beekissed, I agree with you that avoiding the truth is not a good option. I would probably start by killing the chicken out of sight and having the child participate in the rest of the processing the first time. I grew up in earthquake country, and I was always amazed at the people who...

I weigh just the carcass. The rest is put directly into separate bags as I process, so it does not get weighed. Below is a picture of the 9 week old's carcass. He was healthy and running around my garden up until the end. That is a 2-liter bottle next to him, and a full sized, 11 inch...

Wow, your CX's were much smaller than the ones I raised this spring! I raised 5, and the smallest dressed out at just over 3 pounds at 5 weeks - I did him earlier than planned because he seemed to have chronic bronchitis or asthma, and kept having episodes of wheezing. The largest dressed out...

Tautness makes a huge difference. I hold the chicken's head with my thumb around the back of the comb, and my forefinger under the lower mandible. Kind of a pistol grip. I then tilt the head back so that the throat is pulled taut. The skin is tight sothat the knife can make a quick, clean...

Except for the sheer joy of it...beating a dead horse, that is. Sorry, I have not had a day off in a couple of weeks, and I think I am a little punchy!

Don't knock it until you try it. The blutwurst I get from the German butcher near me is excellent. I don't usually brine meat because, to me, it dilutes the flavor. When I am baking poultry, I prefer to loosen the skin and rub salt and seasonings on the meat under the skin. Let it set in...

Triple Willow, whether having blood in the meat will impact quality is a matter of taste. Having eaten plenty of game, which usually cannot be completely bled out in the field, I don't think it makes as much of a difference as some would have you believe. My mother hates to see blood clots in...

Contact me when you are ready, and I will hold your hand through it. In my last batch of mutt roosters there was one who got under my skin. I really liked that bird, but I could not have a rooster, and he had a broken beak and was not eating very well, so I butchered him. It was a sad day...

undine, I am in the LA area, and I am going to be processing a rooster soon. If you want to bring your roosters over to my place the day I am processing, I can help you.