BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

LOL - I can always tell when one of the cockerels we butcher is either a runt or pinched in the tail, because my husband is usually grumbling as he tries to get his hand in there when it's too tight a space. He has started asking me what my plans are with certain birds, and if I'm not planning on keeping them to roast whole, he has started using the shears to cut them open and make it easier to clean them out.

Your husband should be very thankful you don't have him butcher Silkies then. My hands are thin and very flexible, but even I couldn't get my hand into that darn Silkie carcass. I resorted to shears and cut out the spine too.

 

[DesertChic]

@angry rooster Thanks for the ovation, and welcome! In response to your inquiry, my primary meat flock is comprised of Naked Neck Turkens, but I've also butchered Barred Rocks, Bielefelders, Silkies, Dorking mixes, and a few barnyard mixes. Only one of the Dorking mixes ever fell below the processing weight I mentioned, and that's because he was filled with an excessive amount of fat that I removed from his carcass. His processing weight dropped down to about 67% of live weight.

 

[bnjrob]

Your husband should be very thankful you don't have him butcher Silkies then. My hands are thin and very flexible, but even I couldn't get my hand into that darn Silkie carcass. I resorted to shears and cut out the spine too.

He would probably go on strike if we had smaller birds to butcher. He gets cranky enough doing the runts we have now. Until the guineas were old enough to free range, they were really annoying and he kept threatening them with slaughter. Then I reminded him how small they are and what a pain it would be to butcher them - the threats to butcher them became fewer after that.

 

[DesertChic]

He would probably go on strike if we had smaller birds to butcher. He gets cranky enough doing the runts we have now. Until the guineas were old enough to free range, they were really annoying and he kept threatening them with slaughter. Then I reminded him how small they are and what a pain it would be to butcher them - the threats to butcher them became fewer after that.

LOL! My husband just watches me butcher and says over and over, "There is no way my hand would ever fit in there". He's probably right, but I know it also serves as a convenient excuse to avoid the job.

 

[hellbender]

LOL! My husband just watches me butcher and says over and over, "There is no way my hand would ever fit in there". He's probably right, but I know it also serves as a convenient excuse to avoid the job.

Just curious...how many breeds and hybrids do you currently house....if you know.

Sorry, I just couldn't pass on the little green laughing character.

 

[hellbender]

There were two bears taken on my property...I guess that's production because my friends will eat the nasty meat...I'd rather eat the dogs. I have one pic and waiting for another. The second group let my daughter shoot the bear for obvious reasons...My land, my daughter but the primary reason is the fact that we don't want any part of the beasts and when my daughter checks it in, none of the primary group will have to go unarmed into the woods and every one of them will still be able to take another bear...they are looking for one over 400 pounds but Ariel didn't care, so long as it was legal.

I'm told the one she took was not bad for this part of the country.

Bear # 1...

 

[bnjrob]

There were two bears taken on my property...I guess that's production because my friends will eat the nasty meat...I'd rather eat the dogs. I have one pic and waiting for another. The second group let my daughter shoot the bear for obvious reasons...My land, my daughter but the primary reason is the fact that we don't want any part of the beasts and when my daughter checks it in, none of the primary group will have to go unarmed into the woods and every one of them will still be able to take another bear...they are looking for one over 400 pounds but Ariel didn't care, so long as it was legal.

I'm told the one she took was not bad for this part of the country.

Bear # 1...

I love nature, bears included, but I'm sure glad that they aren't something I have to deal with here. I'm all about trying to live with wildlife as much as we can and I'll go the extra mile to prevent wildlife encounters going wrong, so that they don't turn into something I have to kill a wild animal for. But I've got enough problems with smaller predators, I would be tearing my hair out if I had to worry about something that big.

 

[Kassaundra]

I wouldn't even begin to know how you bear proof a run / coop, especially in our heat so much of my coop is wire for air circulation.

 

[hellbender]

I love nature, bears included, but I'm sure glad that they aren't something I have to deal with here. I'm all about trying to live with wildlife as much as we can and I'll go the extra mile to prevent wildlife encounters going wrong, so that they don't turn into something I have to kill a wild animal for. But I've got enough problems with smaller predators, I would be tearing my hair out if I had to worry about something that big.

While these bears were taken for 'sport', neither were actually started on my property. Both had been run before and the hunting parties knew pretty well which direction they would head...animals of habit. Both of them had other bad habits, that's how their tracks were picked up with out the help of snow. Both were started from different farms, each having a problem with bear taking sheep and one even took a calf...actually not something that happens around here too much because the calf's mammy would put up too much fight for even the nastiest bear...but It's thought to be a very old one and was very hungry.

 

[hellbender]

I wouldn't even begin to know how you bear proof a run / coop, especially in our heat so much of my coop is wire for air circulation.

We have about the best 'bear proofing' available but they still come in once in a while. The one that was killed a few weeks ago was after the goats...I think but my dogs put him up a terminal tree.

I have 5 and 6 strand high tensile wire and the same type of charger that is used to hold big game animals in Africa but a hungry bear will take it if really hungry.

The two bear that were taken today didn't come through for food...the hounds were pushing them hard and luckily, a couple of the best dogs came through the fence too or they would have likely made a get-away.