Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

I finally updated my build thread with all the coop photos! Run photos coming up soon, too.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...st-coop-progress-thread.1329119/post-22799115

Preview:

 

[K0k0shka]

Woke up to this today

Our favorite smartass somehow got the lid off and had himself a feast. Not sure how long he spent in there, but he wasn’t distressed at all - on the contrary, he was happily scratching and stuffing himself... WHY do these feeders not come with lids?!? I tried a few pot lids but they are all just a little too big. Or rather, they fit the opening perfectly, but the little lip catches on the feeder’s handle and won’t fit all the way. I made a custom lid out of wood, but clearly it’s not secure enough

The solution:

 

[aart]

I wondered about that lid.

WHY do these feeders not come with lids?!?

Not sure, but they are available.

 

[K0k0shka]

I wondered about that lid.


Not sure, but they are available.

Oh, interesting... I did a search but used “lid” instead of “cover”... Good to know that somebody has given it some thought. I’ll get one. Thanks!

 

[K0k0shka]

Mowing day! The chicks’ favorite. They get to have their very own fresh “lawn” for a day.

 

[K0k0shka]

And then there were 10...

The first boy met his inevitable end today, after the a-hole neighbor reported us for "roosters crowing". I wouldn't call it crowing - more like a pathetic croak - but they're still waging war on me and looking for any excuses, so... Dude had to go. I used a cone and a pair of large wire cutters, and am very pleased with how everything went. It was instant - BAM and the head dropped into the bucket. No struggle, no pain. The kids wanted to watch but I kept them away... Maybe next time. They did help with the rest of it though. We made a pot of excellent chicken soup - the first home grown chicken soup I've had in many, many years. Now I'm thinking I want to add a few meat chickens to the flock every spring and do more of this! We can have our designated pet chickens, and our designated food chickens

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

And then there were 10...

The first boy met his inevitable end today, after the a-hole neighbor reported us for "roosters crowing". I wouldn't call it crowing - more like a pathetic croak - but they're still waging war on me and looking for any excuses, so... Dude had to go. I used a cone and a pair of large wire cutters, and am very pleased with how everything went. It was instant - BAM and the head dropped into the bucket. No struggle, no pain. The kids wanted to watch but I kept them away... Maybe next time. They did help with the rest of it though. We made a pot of excellent chicken soup - the first home grown chicken soup I've had in many, many years. Now I'm thinking I want to add a few meat chickens to the flock every spring and do more of this! We can have our designated pet chickens, and our designated food chickens

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That looks great! I'm proud of you sticking to your guns and seeing this through to the end. I don't like butchering if I can wriggle out of it but I've learned to roll up my sleeves and suck it up. We're going to start processing out own pigs on site within the next year. That's going to take it to. Whole new level. Until then we've just done birds. All other animals get set to a butcher.

That soup looks fantastic! Excellent way to utilize young birds.

Now for the kids question. We have 3. The 2 oldest are old enough to know what happens here. I've never shielded them from it but I don't force them either. They have had completely different reactions to it based on their temperaments and personality.

My 8 year old son calls it "murder" and doesn't eat homegrown meat. He's at the point now he barely eats meat at all. He'll be a full vegetarian someday. I have no doubt. He's a very empathetic, gentle and soft type of kid. If I say I'm cold he takes off his tiny little jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. He's that kind of kid. Others always come first. Even the animals.

My daughter embraces it completely. She wants to be right in there. Learning the names of the different organs, how to kill and eviscerate, skin, breaking down the carcass, all of it. Her curiosity over rules the sadness that comes with taking a life. She's been participating in breaking down animals since she was probably 5. By the time she was 8 she could kill and process a rooster entirely on her own. The largest animal she's helped with was a deer.

My husband had a troop of boy scouts come by for processing awhile back. Mostly city kids and again mixed reactions to the killing/processing.

Explain to your kids exactly what is going to happen with clear concise words they can understand. If they're still on board encourage them to come watch. Also have a back up plan in place if it's too much. Have your partner or family around for childcare. So you can keep working with the birds without breaking stride to chase or console upset kiddos.

 

[aart]

Kudos!!
How old?
Did you rest the carcass?
How was the meat texture?

 

[K0k0shka]

That looks great! I'm proud of you sticking to your guns and seeing this through to the end. I don't like butchering if I can wriggle out of it but I've learned to roll up my sleeves and suck it up. We're going to start processing out own pigs on site within the next year. That's going to take it to. Whole new level. Until then we've just done birds. All other animals get set to a butcher.

That soup looks fantastic! Excellent way to utilize young birds.

Now for the kids question. We have 3. The 2 oldest are old enough to know what happens here. I've never shielded them from it but I don't force them either. They have had completely different reactions to it based on their temperaments and personality.

My 8 year old son calls it "murder" and doesn't eat homegrown meat. He's at the point now he barely eats meat at all. He'll be a full vegetarian someday. I have no doubt. He's a very empathetic, gentle and soft type of kid. If I say I'm cold he takes off his tiny little jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. He's that kind of kid. Others always come first. Even the animals.

My daughter embraces it completely. She wants to be right in there. Learning the names of the different organs, how to kill and eviscerate, skin, breaking down the carcass, all of it. Her curiosity over rules the sadness that comes with taking a life. She's been participating in breaking down animals since she was probably 5. By the time she was 8 she could kill and process a rooster entirely on her own. The largest animal she's helped with was a deer.

My husband had a troop of boy scouts come by for processing awhile back. Mostly city kids and again mixed reactions to the killing/processing.

Explain to your kids exactly what is going to happen with clear concise words they can understand. If they're still on board encourage them to come watch. Also have a back up plan in place if it's too much. Have your partner or family around for childcare. So you can keep working with the birds without breaking stride to chase or console upset kiddos.

Thanks! I don't particularly like butchering either, but I signed up for this, so I've gotta take responsibility. Pigs - ow, that's so much harder. We had pigs when I was growing up, too. I don't know what people do now, and if there are faster/better/more humane ways. The knife always seemed too slow and cruel to me. I don't know if I could slaughter a pig, but, like with the chickens, I have done all the rest of the processing before and actually quite enjoy it. I've always loved anatomy.

The kids... It's so true that a lot depends on their personality. Mine are 4 and 6 years old and have always known where their food comes from, so there was no big shock there. My son (the younger one) is the more emotional one, and he was definitely sad, but also very curious. My daughter is my little warrior woman. She couldn't wait for me to get on with it, and really wanted to watch even the killing itself. I had the kids wait inside for the beheading only, and my husband kept an eye on them to make sure they weren't sneaking out (they tried). They watched everything else though, and were fine.

 

[K0k0shka]

Kudos!!
How old?
Did you rest the carcass?
How was the meat texture?

Thanks! The chick was 10 weeks old exactly. What do you mean rest the carcass? With the exception of the cone and the wire cutters (my improvements), all the rest of it I did the way I used to do it back in the day, the way grandma taught me Chicken processing was a chore for the kids back then. I let it bleed out for a few minutes, then scalded, plucked, singed (to burn the little hairs off that are hard to pick - this step also gives it a very nice smoky scent that I really missed), then gutted, cut it all up and threw it in the pressure cooker - head and feet and everything. The soup was delicious, just like how I remembered it! The meat was gamier than store-bought chickens, understandably, because this guy had an active life and used his muscles more. But the pressure cooker took care of that and it was fine. The chicken was small, but not too small to be worth cooking at all. The 4 of us had a good dinner yesterday and there's some left over, too. If the next one to crow is an Orpington, we'll have a lot more because those are HUGE compared to this Barnevelder guy.