➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[CindyinSD]

It was. I bought 4 more silkie bantams. Plus got 42 free chicken eggs to hatch more of the coloring I liked because they came from my friends.

I even sold 4 of the bantams I wanted to keep, but not my porcelain d'uccle because it's a Pullet and I'll never find one again.

If you're selling out that fast, you might not be charging enough.

 

[R2elk]

Oh my...will you be growing them all out?

I certainly hope not.

How long would you let those eggs sit down there before you wouldn't set them?

The first dozen are at that point right now. I have no intention of setting even the ones I collected today.

 

[BantyChooks]

I am taking notes...so I can get it to sink in.
I can not keep track anymore it seems.
Maybe I need a cigarette.
View attachment 2103382

Nooo. No cigarettes!

 

[RUNuts]

The new bunch.

 

[NanaKat]

Can you buy pork fat? I've never tried other than the rare tub of lard (which the last time, they hid with the shortening. On a shelf.) The store lady thought it odd that I was looking in the refrigerated section. I suspect they did something ill-advised to it. I guess maybe from a dedicated butcher shop... I don't think I've ever been to one.

Lard won't work in sausage. It is rendered pork fat. Same goes for tallow (rendered beef fat). Both rendered fats are great for soap making.
Best fat is the "leaf" fat that is found surrounding the kidneys and organs. It is thicker and clean.
Your local butcher is your best source. If a butcher customer want an animal processed, that customer either gets the fat as part of the processing or the butcher gets it to sell.

View attachment 2100621

Hubby filled the trucks and car the other day for $.99 a gallon...regular.

I have two live, hatched ducks and 5 eggs incubating. I lost my other Call to a hawk this winter and sold off a few of the LF this spring.
I have surprisingly few birds right now. If you do not include quail, this might be my lowest number since 2015 or 2016.

I'm hatching from my Columbian Wyandotte breed pens and gathering eggs from the layer flock for family and neighbors.
Every week, I set eggs and pull chicks from the hatcher.
Easter hatch was 53 chicks. And layer flock produces 18 to 24 eggs daily.

The professionals have not even started yet. They are still laying eggs.

If I was a professional, I would be setting the 6 doz. turkey eggs that are being stored in my basement. I hope to remove temptation by giving them away as eating eggs tomorrow or the next day.

Rumor has it that a couple of beautiful young ladies from the dentist's office will be here to rescue Johnny Jump Ups from the garden before the monster that lives here destroys them in favor of vegetables.

I'm not professional either, but hatching is necessary to maintain the color pattern of my breed. And it helps some local families with chicks to raise for meat birds when I go thru the selection/culling process. 5 hatches so far and three more in the cabinet incubator. Will have another two sets before June 1.
Easter hatch tray and chicks in the brooder room and run...

 

[CindyinSD]

Lard won't work in sausage. It is rendered pork fat. Same goes for tallow (rendered beef fat). Both rendered fats are great for soap making.
Best fat is the "leaf" fat that is found surrounding the kidneys and organs. It is thicker and clean.
Your local butcher is your best source. If a butcher customer want an animal processed, that customer either gets the fat as part of the processing or the butcher gets it to sell.


Hubby filled the trucks and car the other day for $.99 a gallon...regular.


I'm hatching from my Columbian Wyandotte breed pens and gathering eggs from the layer flock for family and neighbors.
Every week, I set eggs and pull chicks from the hatcher.
Easter hatch was 53 chicks. And layer flock produces 18 to 24 eggs daily.


I'm not professional either, but hatching is necessary to maintain the color pattern of my breed. And it helps some local families with chicks to raise for meat birds when I go thru the selection/culling process. 5 hatches so far and three more in the cabinet incubator. Will have another two sets before June 1.
Easter hatch tray and chicks in the brooder room and run...
View attachment 2105197View attachment 2105196View attachment 2105198View attachment 2105195

Thanks so much, NanaKat! I'm wondering... do you think fat from turkeys/chickens/ducks/geese would work? I save it in the freezer to render later and haven't gotten to it yet.

I'm going to be processing turkeys soon and I'm planning on grinding the breast meat. Would it be good to add the fat to the ground turkey? I'm afraid it could be kind of dry otherwise.

 

[sdm111]

 

[NanaKat]

Thanks so much, NanaKat! I'm wondering... do you think fat from turkeys/chickens/ducks/geese would work? I save it in the freezer to render later and haven't gotten to it yet.

I'm going to be processing turkeys soon and I'm planning on grinding the breast meat. Would it be good to add the fat to the ground turkey? I'm afraid it could be kind of dry otherwise.

Putting turkey fat in with your ground turkey will help keep it moist.

But putting poultry fat in with beef or pork for sausage is not a good idea....the melting point for those fats is lower than that of pork and beef fat. And salmonella is more likely from poultry fats. When smoking the sausage to cure it, the poultry fats will melt out. Better to use beef or pork fat.

Rendered goose and duck fats are wonderful for cooking. They need to be either frozen in ice cube trays and stored in the freezer until ready to use or kept refrigerated.

I once tried to use rendered chicken fat in a soap recipe because it was listed on my saponification chart...FAILURE...the chicken fat separated in the soap mold and made a huge mess on the table. I had to rework that batch of soap.

 

[CindyinSD]

Putting turkey fat in with your ground turkey will help keep it moist.

But putting poultry fat in with beef or pork for sausage is not a good idea....the melting point for those fats is lower than that of pork and beef fat. And salmonella is more likely from poultry fats. When smoking the sausage to cure it, the poultry fats will melt out. Better to use beef or pork fat.

Rendered goose and duck fats are wonderful for cooking. They need to be either frozen in ice cube trays and stored in the freezer until ready to use or kept refrigerated.

I once tried to use rendered chicken fat in a soap recipe because it was listed on my saponification chart...FAILURE...the chicken fat separated in the soap mold and made a huge mess on the table. I had to rework that batch of soap.

Good to know. I haven't tried soap (except from premix) yet, but it's on my list.

 

[NanaKat]

Lovely birds!
How do you keep from wearing holes in your tarps over the hoop house?
I notice the end panel is connected to the hoop side....is it spot welded?