Arizona Chickens

[Billiam]

Hey Everyone! When do you decide a hen is broody? it's been two days for one of our girls. Does anyone have a few day old chicks for sale or fertile eggs? This is a first for us!

 

[City farm]

Hey Everyone! When do you decide a hen is broody? it's been two days for one of our girls. Does anyone have a few day old chicks for sale or fertile eggs? This is a first for us!

Yes we have fertile eggs.. We live in Tempe swing on over.. Tuesday is good... Not Wednesday or Thursday to much,

 

[Demosthine]

Hey Everyone! When do you decide a hen is broody? it's been two days for one of our girls. Does anyone have a few day old chicks for sale or fertile eggs? This is a first for us!

I was just thinking about it today, as a matter of fact, in regards to having a broody. Everyone is constantly getting fertile eggs or baby chicks, and then later having too many fuzzy butts running around or posting them on Craig's List. Why not get a half dozen Cornish Cross chicks and then having the broody raise them? In about two months or so, after the broodiness has gone it's course and the broilers are large enough, they should be ready for slaughtering. This way, you're not putting the money in to the feed without getting something back.

I happened to have called Pratt's today and they said they carry the Cornish Cross on a regular basis, including having them in right now. They are only $1.99 each. This is the story up here on my side of town, but I can't imagine yours would be any different.

 

[GreatWhiteAfro]

Let me know when you come down. I still haven't ridden at Fantasy Island. I've only lived here 30+ years.

I'm way outta shape because of lower back issues, but a FI ride would be awesome. There's a great little chain of trails out here on Casa Grande mountain too.

 

[Demosthine]

Well, today I went down to my local Hallmark Store to pick up the Squakin' Egg Droppin' Hen we were discussing yesterday. Since they are an Easter special, they were all half price. It was $15.48 instead of $30.99. When I saw that, I decided to get two. My mother-in-law lives out in Louisiana and they are always sending my wife and girls stuff. I think she'd love it. But when I went to check out, she rang them up and then gave a discount on the second one. I walked away with two of them for $15.48 plus tax! You can't beat that! I may go back for another two tomorrow. One of our neighbors is a chicken addict, too, and she was hoping her kids would get her one last year, but they didn't. And then maybe have the last one as a door prize for our next barbecue...


Tonight I started sewing up the large sheets of cloth for my wife's garden cover. It's not necessarily going to be a green house, just more of an animal deterrent. We found this nice, big roll of cloth at Goodwill for $6.99 and just guessing, I figured it was 40' long. Turns out, it's only about 36', which isn't quite long enough to do all four sides of the green house, but I'm hoping it'll wrap all the way around, less the space of the door. If not, the front wall will be a different color. Based on the thread color I picked out, which matches beautifully, the cloth is a "Natural" color and I think it's polyester, so it should last a good while. A lot of flags are made out of that and are specifically rated for outdoors. I'll probably have to added a sealant of some sort for added water protection, though. Regardless, you can't beat $6.99 for that amount of fabric!

I used 3/4" PVC as the green house frame, so I'm sewing a loop all the way down each side. I'll carefully cut out the loop where the couplers go for the vertical supports. I don't know who here sews, but I'm very new at it. It should be quite interesting to see how well this looks when I'm done. I'll post pictures when it's installed.

Then, I'll have to figure out how to do the shade cloth for the roof. My main goal is to keep the chickens out at the moment. Time to shut the house down for the night.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I'm way outta shape because of lower back issues, but a FI ride would be awesome. There's a great little chain of trails out here on Casa Grande mountain too.

Thats ok, I'm fat and out of shape. We can ride the easy loop.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Of course they would...


That is in my opion the best way to cook chicken.. Skin on bone in!! Delish...

I am hoping to have one last BON fire out front next weekend...

Last nights fire was a bit warm... However after dinner we all enjoyed ourselves by the fire..

Dinner menu is as followed:

Prime rib cooked to perfection, with a Montreal seasoning rub, red potatoes.

Garlic mash potatoes

Actually, it was skin off. I brine it for at least a few hours if not overnight. Then I marinate in a special sauce for an hour before it hits the grill. Then every time I turn them, I brush on more sauce.

The brine:
1gal water
1cup sugar
1/2cup Kosher salt
1/2cup apple cider vinegar
spices and herbs of your choice ( I used chives, garlic, black pepper, thyme and coriander)

The sauce:
Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce
a few shots of Makers Mark bourbon
a couple spoons of brown sugar
a couple spoons of honey
lots of black pepper
bunch of garlic

The grill;
I only use lump charcoal and pieces of real wood. This batch had some Mesquite and Hickory.

Mesquite and Hickory are very different profiles, cool, your brave. Your marinade and BBQ sauce would have to act as a bridge. I love food. BBQ is at the top. I am more of the Texas BBQ person, the rub and the smoke, sauce on the side. But I have had great Kansas/St. Louis style. I like to open my mind to the experience, force out any expectations, that way new foods flavors can be enjoyed. If you are, or anyone else ever on I-10 going thru Texas, stop at Juction, Texas and try Cooper Restaurant. I have had people take my advice, oddly they are impressed by a clean open restaurant, it was not what they expected. They have all loved their ribs and their brisket is everything I said it was. THE BEST. Their sauce is very unusual in that it is very watery but it is loved by many, for me a little heavy on black pepper. The second best is on I-30 just into Ark. Across from the Flying J trucks top. This is a typical no frills BBQ, her it is the ribs over the brisket. Their sauce is nothing to write home about, to me it had a heavy store bought taste

Oh my, I did it again, I told you have can talk a lot...

I am embarrassed to say I have trouble remembering names, G. Clinton, I will have to look up to see if I'm familiar. I have a very wide taste in music. By the way have you ever heard of Leon Redbone?

 

[kacklinkelly]

I was just thinking about it today, as a matter of fact, in regards to having a broody. Everyone is constantly getting fertile eggs or baby chicks, and then later having too many fuzzy butts running around or posting them on Craig's List. Why not get a half dozen Cornish Cross chicks and then having the broody raise them? In about two months or so, after the broodiness has gone it's course and the broilers are large enough, they should be ready for slaughtering. This way, you're not putting the money in to the feed without getting something back.

I happened to have called Pratt's today and they said they carry the Cornish Cross on a regular basis, including having them in right now. They are only $1.99 each. This is the story up here on my side of town, but I can't imagine yours would be any different.

I went to Pratts last week and picked up 4 of my first ever meaties. Didn't have an accurate scale to weigh them when I got them. But weighed them tonight and they are all
around .25 lb. (give or take) I really couldn't tell that much difference in size until I looked at last weeks video compared to tonights. They have grown a lot. Also, I have
been keeping my hands off so as not to get attached... until tonight. One needed a butt bath and so I ended up spending some one on one time and ... Now I have to re-program
myself. Ugh. Oh yeah, they STINK. I'm not talking a little bit. I mean they poop ALOT and their brooder box needs to be cleaned often. They are in our garage and our daughter complained that she left her car window open a bit and her car smells.

. DH is concerned that I won't want to do "the deed" when the time comes. So far, I'm committed. Can't wait to see if there is actually a difference in texture and taste.

 

[City farm]

I'm way outta shape because of lower back issues, but a FI ride would be awesome.  There's a great little chain of trails out here on Casa Grande mountain too.

Yeah well we are almost 50 years old, out of shape over weight.. But we still get out.. our boys love to camp,ride and just hang out..
Fantacy island is my favorite place to ride... We will let ya all know... Our bike rack is in route.. So it will be st least a few weeks..

 

[Demosthine]

I went to Pratts last week and picked up 4 of my first ever meaties. Didn't have an accurate scale to weigh them when I got them. But weighed them tonight and they are all
around .25 lb. (give or take) I really couldn't tell that much difference in size until I looked at last weeks video compared to tonights. They have grown a lot. Also, I have
been keeping my hands off so as not to get attached... until tonight. One needed a butt bath and so I ended up spending some one on one time and ... Now I have to re-program
myself. Ugh. Oh yeah, they STINK. I'm not talking a little bit. I mean they poop ALOT and their brooder box needs to be cleaned often. They are in our garage and our daughter complained that she left her car window open a bit and her car smells.

. DH is concerned that I won't want to do "the deed" when the time comes. So far, I'm committed. Can't wait to see if there is actually a difference in texture and taste.

Are you fermenting their feed for them? From reading the Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds thread, it seemed that was the single best way to keep the smell of their poop down. And if that smell says down, the coop won't need to be cleaned as much. Not saying they still won't stink to a certain extent, but perhaps nowhere near as badly? I also read that adding garlic to their diet neutralizes the ammonia content, thus reducing the smell, although that has been a truly debatable argument among the threads. Take that one with a grain of salt.

I've been feeding my clan fermented feed since very early on and I can say their coop and poop really doesn't smell at all. The only time I get the smell is when I water the yard or I spray down the litter in the coop to minimize dust when I do a thorough turning. It isn't an ammonia smell, just a poop smell. I'm working on the deep litter method in there, so I have to turn it myself about once a month to make sure I get down deep. I just don't want to be breathing in all of that.


I don't understand the emotional aspect of getting so attached to them. I guess, personally, I've always viewed them as providers of food first and foremost. I absolutely love watching them in the yard and having them come running when you even approach the back door, but I'll have no problem "doing the deed" when the time comes. I guess I'm emotionally stunted that way. My wife has become so attached to a few that I'm not allowed to send them to Camp Freezer, so she's on your side here!