BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[chickadoodles]

Quote: There are some local farmers that advertise in the weekly ads for 1/4 or a 1/2 or a whole side of beef and his prices are not to bad. But we have not checked into that. We have a small farm and a few cows but it takes so long to grow them that we just feed them and keep them for an emergency. lol Our cows are grass or hay fed only. My DH had leased 80 acres and had a larger heard of cows but The land owner sold the land and my husband had to sell the cows and that is when he brought a few here to keep.

I hate walmart they have run so many small business out of business and then they can charge what ever they want and I won't pay it.
I will drive 100 miles to find another place to shop. Crazy I know but with out a variety of grocery stores Walmart keeps the prices up.

As for Turkey, What breed are you looking for. I have some and so does a friend of mine. And then you can buy hatching eggs or turkey poults from Country Hatchery they are great!

Canning your meat is a great way to keep it a lot longer than in the freezer if you keep it in a dark cool place. Two weeks ago I had so many turkey in the freezer I could not get any other meat in it. Only one deep freeze. lol you might check into a outside propane cooker that has a thermostat on it for canning meat. Just a thought. I know here in Alabama I have met a lot of old country folks that do most of their canning outside on those cookers. Saves power and does not heat up the house in the summer.

P.S. Porters Rare Turkey is also going to be selling hatching eggs this year on most of his breeds I believe.

 

[bnjrob]

There are some local farmers that advertise in the weekly ads for 1/4 or a 1/2 or a whole side of beef and his prices are not to bad. But we have not checked into that. We have a small farm and a few cows but it takes so long to grow them that we just feed them and keep them for an emergency. lol Our cows are grass or hay fed only. My DH had leased 80 acres and had a larger heard of cows but The land owner sold the land and my husband had to sell the cows and that is when he brought a few here to keep.

I hate walmart they have run so many small business out of business and then they can charge what ever they want and I won't pay it.
I will drive 100 miles to find another place to shop. Crazy I know but with out a variety of grocery stores Walmart keeps the prices up.

As for Turkey, What breed are you looking for. I have some and so does a friend of mine. And then you can buy hatching eggs or turkey poults from Country Hatchery they are great!

Canning your meat is a great way to keep it a lot longer than in the freezer if you keep it in a dark cool place. Two weeks ago I had so many turkey in the freezer I could not get any other meat in it. Only one deep freeze. lol you might check into a outside propane cooker that has a thermostat on it for canning meat. Just a thought. I know here in Alabama I have met a lot of old country folks that do most of their canning outside on those cookers. Saves power and does not heat up the house in the summer.

P.S. Porters Rare Turkey is also going to be selling hatching eggs this year on most of his breeds I believe.

Well at least you have cows for an emergency! LOL. That's why I want a dairy cow. I can breed them with anything local to be able to eat the offspring as beef, with just periodic artificial insemination sessions to get more pureblooded dairy cows to continue the line of milkers.

I HATE it that Walmart does that. They kill the local stores and make it so that there is nowhere left to shop.

I should get one of those propane cookers. I hate canning when it's hot. We dont' have central heat/air, and the window unit just can't keep up with all the heat and humidity in summer. We already use a turkey fryer outside to scald the chickens we butcher, so a canning setup wouldn't be much more setup Heck, I can set some lumber on a couple of sawhorses for a countertop.

I want Narragansett turkeys. Most folks I find with them are way up north and most don't ship. I saw Porter's was having turkeys available. I would have to order a second breed because their limit for getting Narragansetts is less than the minimum number you can order to be shipped. So I've been hemming and hawing about whether or not to bite the bullet and be willing to only get 8 poults of the breed that I really want and the rest be something that I don't really want.

 

[bramblefir]

Just a quick update on the pullets with bumblefoot: It seems to be resolving on its own. Both girls have new, normal scales growing where the black scabs were previously. Which is fantastic for me because puss and morning sickness don't mix well.

 

[gevshiba]

Well at least you have cows for an emergency! LOL. That's why I want a dairy cow. I can breed them with anything local to be able to eat the offspring as beef, with just periodic artificial insemination sessions to get more pureblooded dairy cows to continue the line of milkers.

I HATE it that Walmart does that. They kill the local stores and make it so that there is nowhere left to shop.

I should get one of those propane cookers. I hate canning when it's hot. We dont' have central heat/air, and the window unit just can't keep up with all the heat and humidity in summer. We already use a turkey fryer outside to scald the chickens we butcher, so a canning setup wouldn't be much more setup Heck, I can set some lumber on a couple of sawhorses for a countertop.

I want Narragansett turkeys. Most folks I find with them are way up north and most don't ship. I saw Porter's was having turkeys available. I would have to order a second breed because their limit for getting Narragansetts is less than the minimum number you can order to be shipped. So I've been hemming and hawing about whether or not to bite the bullet and be willing to only get 8 poults of the breed that I really want and the rest be something that I don't really want.

If you are ordering hatching eggs, I might be interested in splitting an order with you, I'm also in N TX. I'd be wanting a different breed than you. Also, depending on where you are, we have a local dairy with raw cow (Jersey) and goat milk. You can message me if you want. I may also be ordering eggs from Country Hatchery and picking them up, rather than shipping.

 

[bnjrob]

If you are ordering hatching eggs, I might be interested in splitting an order with you, I'm also in N TX. I'd be wanting a different breed than you. Also, depending on where you are, we have a local dairy with raw cow (Jersey) and goat milk. You can message me if you want. I may also be ordering eggs from Country Hatchery and picking them up, rather than shipping.

I prefer to get poults since hatching eggs are such a gamble after the post office has played hockey with them and my incubators really need to be full of chicken eggs.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: Our cows are beef cows thank goodness. I don't think I could handle having to milk a cow every day in addition to feeding all the critters we have now. We are to old for all that I guess. It takes 2 years for our calves to get any size on them to think about meat. But then these polar vortex took three or our calves in the last 2 years.

We use an old door on a couple saw horses for a work table when we need it, it works. lol

I had some Narri's last year but some one kept sexting them and selling me all the toms. Narri's can be feather sexed at one day old like baby chicks they were bred for that from what I read. And I could tell the males from the females right away. But because I could not get any hens I got rid of the toms. I do love the breed though, lovely turkey.
You could try some of the FB poultry pages for your state and see if anyone has some or see if you can sell the ones you don't want in the order. Some just take them to auction.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I know this will be off topic of actually breeding, but I'm hoping someone has more knowledge about this than myself. We keep our freezer in the basement which is all concrete and no heat. There was a cord across the floor because we only have one outlet at the moment (the basement is newer, it used to be a crawl space) Anyhow, within the past week someone must have kicked the cord and it came partially unplugged. We had about 50 pounds of beef in there that completely thawed. It does not smell rancid, in fact it smells almost like deer meat as it's being cut. I guess, fairly fresh is the term I may be looking for here. Anyways, I'm wondering if it's still ok to feed to the dogs. Is there as much risk to them as there would be to a person? This is the first (and hopefully) last time something like this has happened and I just can't see it all going to waste if I can avoid it. I guess worse case scenario I toss it out back for coyotes, but I'd rather not give them a reason to visit my yard with free range chickens. Any suggestions?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well....

I've had a freezer get unplugged like that before. It wasn't so long that it was getting bad, so we plugged it back in an re-froze it. We used it for ourselves, just being sure that it was cooked more "well-done" than I'd usually do. No one has been hurt by it yet!

If I was giving it to the dogs, I'd probably cook it for them. Not optimal for their health, I know. But I'd just want to be double-sure unless they could eat it all right away.

 

[chickadoodles]

I know this will be off topic of actually breeding, but I'm hoping someone has more knowledge about this than myself. We keep our freezer in the basement which is all concrete and no heat. There was a cord across the floor because we only have one outlet at the moment (the basement is newer, it used to be a crawl space) Anyhow, within the past week someone must have kicked the cord and it came partially unplugged. We had about 50 pounds of beef in there that completely thawed. It does not smell rancid, in fact it smells almost like deer meat as it's being cut. I guess, fairly fresh is the term I may be looking for here. Anyways, I'm wondering if it's still ok to feed to the dogs. Is there as much risk to them as there would be to a person? This is the first (and hopefully) last time something like this has happened and I just can't see it all going to waste if I can avoid it. I guess worse case scenario I toss it out back for coyotes, but I'd rather not give them a reason to visit my yard with free range chickens. Any suggestions?

Our dogs go hunting the cow pastures around here and bring home cow parts that have been laying the in fields for a month or more and eat them. And they are healthy and fine.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Do you know how long your freezer was unplugged? Was it completely thawed? We sadly only have a general idea. I left it outside last night so it could refreeze while we cleaned up the mess and let the freezer cool down again. It's in the freezer as of this morning. My SO is willing to try it, I'm the one with the doubts.