100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[aoxa]

Freezer burn is when the moisture moves from the muscle and skin to the area of air in side the bag. I dream of having the opportunity to use vaccum packaging, but for now use plastic bags for short term storage.

I do have some lamb that is packek in plasatic and then in freezer wrap--suorprizingly most of the meat is still good at 10 years in the deep freezer. I'm not recommending meat be stored that long, lol, just that the years got away from me when I had kids!! lol Well sealed wraping paper does a great job.

Okay, not freezer burn than.. it is like snow all over your bird if you don't pat it try. Looks bad.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Trying!!! 


Oldest was swinging a hatchet about age 5, with close supervision: I held the stick , a looooong thin stick on the chopping block, and wham wham wham. After a few strokes, told him to rest. If aim is off or arms getting shaky-- rest. Fatigue makes for louzy aim.  And as a clean whack to part a length from the stick was the most pleasing event for a 5 year old, he listened. He can swing an ax now, and split the wood; not a lot, but it is a start!!

( I am very concerned about the obesity of our childrene very poor eating habits and no exercise-- something that we are all paying for  in poor health and high medical costs from issues that are totally preventable. arggh. ok I"ll stop here. )

Good job on the whacking with the hatchet!

I totally agree with you on the obesity problem. Don't get me started on that topic.

 

[kuntrygirl]

My broilers are all doing good. They will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. I'm amazed that I have only lost 1 and that was due to it being smashed near the heat lamp. I am on my 8th bag of feed. WHEW! The amount of feed that they are eating has increased tremendously. They are getting bigger and bigger. They have outgrown their pen in the garage and now I have to come up with another idea. :/ They are mean!!! When I stick my hand in there, they continue to attack me and want to rip my hand off. :/ I hate to see the little buggars go in 3 weeks but it is what it is. Then my life can return to normal (whatever that is). I don't think I"ll miss mixing feed and feeding 2 - 3 times a day in addition to watering.


As far as storing them for the freezer, I know most people use the vaccum seal bag method. Is there anyone that just puts them in freezer bags along with freezer paper. With all of my meat from the yard (lamb, chicken, duck, turkey and rabbit), I have always just placed the meat in freezer bags and wrapped freezer paper around the freezer bag and taped it up. I have never had any problems at all. I"m trying to decide if I want to put the broilers in large freezer bags or should I use the vacuum seal method.


Any suggestions?

I wrapped in parchment paper when I cut them up into pieces. This helps keep them from sticking together in the freezer bag. I do not use a vacuum sealer, and have never had an issue. 

I use big zip lock bags. Make sure they are dried off before putting them in though, or they will get freezer burnt. 

This is great to hear. Thanks for the tip about making sure they are dried off.

I have used freezer bags for so many years and I have never had a problem. So, I just wanted to be sure.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Gotcha . . yes it looks bad , doesn't it? I just look past it now!! lol SOme shrimp are purposely dipped in water and frozen with a layer of ice to preserve freshness. So I don't mind the extra water personally. Defrosts in the oven.

Patted dry and vacuum packed would look lovely.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Freezer burn is when the moisture moves from the muscle and skin to the area of air in side the bag. I dream of having the opportunity to use vaccum packaging, but for now use plastic bags for short term storage. 

I do have some lamb that is packek in plasatic and then in freezer wrap--suorprizingly most of the meat is still good at 10 years in the deep freezer.  I'm not recommending meat be stored that long, lol, just that the years got away from me when I had kids!! lol  Well sealed wraping paper does a great job. 

Same here. I don't think I can afford that right now. So, since freezer bags work, then freezer bags it shall be.

I pack my lamb meat the same way as you do and it's good for as long as it's in the freezer. I usually eat all of the lamb meat up in a year. It's so good, I can't stop cooking it.

 

[kuntrygirl]

 
Freezer burn is when the moisture moves from the muscle and skin to the area of air in side the bag. I dream of having the opportunity to use vaccum packaging, but for now use plastic bags for short term storage. 

I do have some lamb that is packek in plasatic and then in freezer wrap--suorprizingly most of the meat is still good at 10 years in the deep freezer.  I'm not recommending meat be stored that long, lol, just that the years got away from me when I had kids!! lol  Well sealed wraping paper does a great job. 

Okay, not freezer burn than.. it is like snow all over your bird if you don't pat it try. Looks bad.

I've seen that before many years ago when I would buy store bought meat.

 

[kuntrygirl]

So, do you all pack your broilers in freezer bags that are larger than 1 gallon or will the 1 gallon bags be ok. I guess it depends on how big the bird is? So what size broiler fits in a 1 gallon freezer bag. I don't think I have seen larger bags in the store.

 

[LindaB220]

Thank you.

This is what my daily schedule consists of:

Monday – Friday
4:30 AM – 5:30 AM:
Wake up and change into my old worn out work clothes. I open the garage door and let out the cats that want to go out and let in the outside cats so that they can eat. I am currently house sitting 2 cats (since November 2013 until April 2014), so I feed and water them. If I am incubating any eggs, I check temps and humidity to make sure eggs are ok. If I have any new hatches, I have to check brooders, give feed and water and change bedding. If I have to bottle feed any new lambs, I have to prepare bottles, go outside, grab a chair and feed any rejected baby lamb. Now that I have broilers, I feed and water all of them. I have to fill up their (6) gallon waterers and put down about 35 lbs of feed now. I slip into my rubber boots and grab the flashlight and I head outside to check on the animals. I feed (grains) all of the sheep and make sure their water is ok. I check on all of the pea fowl (9 peas in 2 different pens on the property) to make sure they are ok and their food and water is ok. I then go and check on the goat (Blue Boy) to make sure that he is ok and that his food and water is ok. I acquired 2 new ducks about a month ago, so I go out and let them out of their house and make sure that they have food and water and their pool has clean water in it for the day. I then open up and peak into the chicken house to make sure everything is ok and make sure no snakes or other predators have broken in during the night. If any birds are broody and sitting on eggs, I check on them to make sure that the eggs are ok. I have 5 chicken coops and 5 chicken stalls that I shine the light in to make sure all of the birds are ok. I also have to open up the chicken coops to let the birds out for the day. I try to make sure all feeders are full of food the night before, so that I don’t have to feed in the morning. This saves me a lot of time. I make sure that all of the waterers are full and that the ducks and geese didn’t have a splash party the night before and splashed all of the water out of the waterers. If there was a splash party, then I have to refill waterers. I have about 20 waterers placed in different locations in the chicken yard and I have 10 pools that are dumped and filled with fresh water daily. I then go to the feed storage building to make sure that no predators are in there trying to get into the feed. I then go to the rabbit shed and make sure all of the rabbits are ok with their feed and water. I try to make sure that I fill everything up at night but I still check to make sure no accidents happened overnight. I then walk around the property to make sure that no predators hit the night before and are not still on the grounds. When I’m done with all of morning chores, I go in and take a shower.

5:30 AM – 6:00 AM – When the weather is bad or daylight savings brings the dark morning, I go to the gym.
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM – Workout at the gym. (When daylight savings time changes and it gets light outside, I will run or bike for an hour in the morning on my street. My street is exactly 1 mile long, so twice back and forth and I’m done.)
7:00AM – 7:30 AM – Shower and dress at the gym and head out to work.
8:00 AM – 4:30 PM – I work a full time job Monday – Friday. I have a 30 minute lunch break, so I will sometimes conduct my farm business during my lunch break (customers pick up eggs, fertilizer, wine, etc.) I may also pick up my Craigslist finding during this time if it’s not too far from my job. I will also answer emails on my cell phone during this time from customers who want eggs, animals, farm tours, etc.)
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM – I will sometimes go back to the gym to get either a 30 minute workout or 60 minutes.
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Gym
6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Travel home from the gym
6:30 PM - until I’m done. This can be as early as 8:30 PM to as late as 10:30 PM – I will do the same thing that I did that morning. Feed cats, clean litter boxes, feed broilers, fill up waterers for broilers, go out to the chicken yard and fill up feeders for all of the animals. Dump out any dirty or soiled water and give them fresh water. Dump out pools and give them fresh water. Make sure sheep and goat have hay. . If not, I get the wheelbarrow and haul hay to their pens and put in their hay feeders. I pick eggs in the chicken house and a few other locations that they sneak and lay eggs. I check on broody birds that are setting on eggs. If it’s incubating/hatching season, I have to check on eggs and new hatches. After everyone is fed and waterered, I lock up the chicken coops.

Depending on what time, I come in from the chicken yard (could be as early as 8:30 PM to as late as 10:30 PM); I come in and prepare any egg orders for the next day. I check my email again to see if I have any emails or text messages from customers needing anything. If I have to ship any hatching eggs to anyone, I have to package up the eggs to take to the post office the next day on my lunch break. Have to check on my wine batches and do whatever I need to do with that. If I have to start new wine, I get my fruit and ingredients together and start my new buckets of wine.

Take my shower.
Prepare for bed
Watch TV until I fall asleep.

Saturdays and Sundays
I try to sleep in late (6:30 AM). Depending on the weather, I may go run or ride my bike or get on my elliptical machine for an hour. When I’m done, I go out in the chicken yard do everything all over again. If it’s a cleaning weekend, I clean all of the chicken coops. I bag up the fertilizer and let it sit in the rabbit shed until it’s time to sell it. The weekend is a busy day because I have customers that like to drop by to buy stuff or just talk. I also have parents that stop by that want their kids to see the animals. I have a group of mothers that have children with learning disabilities (Autism, Down’s syndrome or other learning disabilities) and they regularly come over so their kids can get the mental, physical and visual stimulation that they need to make their day and have an impact on their lives. The kids run or walk around and sometimes just roll all around on the ground in the chicken yard but their moms are okay with it because their child is having a good time, so they don’t let a little dirt or poop get in the way of what may be their only smile or laugh for the week.

Once a month I get 1 ton of feed from the feed store. I come back and I unload all of the feed into my feed storage building in my 55 gallon plastic trash cans. If hay is needed, I pick up hay and bring it back home and unload it. If I have too much to do, I will call my brothers or male relatives and ask for a hand. They enjoy coming out and seeing the animals, so they are always up for whatever it is I need for them to do. On weekends, I will also go to the local farm implement stores or glass companies, and get the extra lumber or pallets or shipping crates that they set out to be thrown away. I will load it up in the truck and take it home. This salvaged lumber is saved for any upcoming projects I may think about.

In between all of that, I find the time to clean my house, wash my clothes, eat, drink, catch a matinee at the movies, stalk Craigslist for FREEBIES or other good deals, log on to BYC and chat with some good people with great conversation. It seems like a lot of work and sometimes it can be but for the most part, it’s ok. Being able to workout at the gym keeps me sane. It relieves any stress from my full time day job or from the farm. The gym provides massage chairs and hydro massage tables and I take full advantage of it EVERY single day. Oh and the home made wine helps me sleep at night.

Honey, I had to take a break after reading this because it totally tired me out. Do you ever just sit and contemplate life?

 

[Arielle]

So, do you all pack your broilers in freezer bags that are larger than 1 gallon or will the 1 gallon bags be ok. I guess it depends on how big the bird is? So what size broiler fits in a 1 gallon freezer bag. I don't think I have seen larger bags in the store.

I gave up and put them in plastic grocery bags-- double bagged.

You might need the 2 gal size-- when I had the heritage types from the hatchery processed, they were weanie and thin. , and only 1 to a 1 gal bag. Sorry it's been awhile since that event so I don't really know if the 1 gal MIGHT work. Depends on the final weights and if you cut them up.
My 10 month olds are about the size of a small turkey.

edited to correct my math-- they will be 1 year in May.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Honey, I had to take a break after reading this because it totally tired me out.  Do you ever just sit and contemplate life?  

Believe it or not, yes I do. When I work out at the gym or take a run or ride my bike in the country, is when I think about life, goals, next thing I want to do, etc. etc. etc. That is my stress reliever. I work with people all day, so when I get off from work, I"m ready to work out the stress and have a free and clear mind.

I think when I'm done with the broilers, my life will be back to as normal as normal can be. I don't plan on hatching too much this year. The last few years have been too much for me. I may hatch a few peas and a few turkeys. The muscovys are already setting on eggs without me knowing about it, so nothing I can do about that. :/ I think 4 of my ewes are pregnant. I wish it wasn't so but oh well. Nothing I can do about that either. I'm hoping for all boys so that I can take them to the butcher so that I can stock the freezer. If all of them have twins, I will just die!

If I can lessen the number of hatches this year, I want to venture off into making fragrance free and perfume free soaps and deodorants. I think I'll like that better.