BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Fire Ant Farm]

Culling for the first time tomorrow morning. I'm mostly all set up (a few little things like garbage bags to set out). Food pulled from frat boy pen at bedtime. Crappy, crappy, crappy day at work today, so I think I'm just going to try to go to bed really early so I can start early. (I have weekly weights to share, two days late - I'll have to post those tomorrow.)

Wish me luck...

- Ant Farm

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about mycoplasma, good advice from all. Lots to think about.

 

[hellbender]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about mycoplasma, good advice from all. Lots to think about.

I may have my wires crossed but for decades I have thought mycoplasma was manifest during periods after serious drought. I think (thought) I read that somewhere in a livestock magazine, long before the home pc was anything more than science fiction. I'll look into it a bit more in depth.

 

[Kassaundra]

Culling for the first time tomorrow morning. I'm mostly all set up (a few little things like garbage bags to set out). Food pulled from frat boy pen at bedtime. Crappy, crappy, crappy day at work today, so I think I'm just going to try to go to bed really early so I can start early. (I have weekly weights to share, two days late - I'll have to post those tomorrow.)

Wish me luck...

- Ant Farm

Good luck today. Do you have to do it on your own, or do you have help?

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Good luck today. Do you have to do it on your own, or do you have help?

Thanks - on my own. Taking a last look at online guides on processing/evisceration, then off to get some more ice - the water bottles didn't freeze all the way yet. I want to get started as early as it's light enough to see, so I don't feel rushed.

- Ant Farm

 

[AnthNDacula]

best of luck! Wish you had help! It's a tough job on your own.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks - on my own. Taking a last look at online guides on processing/evisceration, then off to get some more ice - the water bottles didn't freeze all the way yet. I want to get started as early as it's light enough to see, so I don't feel rushed.

- Ant Farm

I do it all myself too. Take your time. If you are plucking make sure your water is between 150 -160, after total emersion and swishing for 30 - 45 seconds start testing the tail feathers, when you can pull a tail feather fairly easily it is ready, pluck tail and wing feathers first. The hardest part for me it pulling the esophagus / crop, it takes quite a bit of muscle, I usually cut the neck skin all the way down the neck exposing the trach and esophagus and cut the connective tissues holding them in, and even then it takes effort to pull it out.

 

[Kassaundra]

Oh and if you have issues (emotional) w/ the death tremors, walk away during them. It gets easier, when I first started I couldn't stay for them I would go and sip a little wine during that period, come back and finish up when they were no longer moving, now I don't have to leave for that time.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

best of luck! Wish you had help! It's a tough job on your own.

Thanks - now just having another cup of coffee while waiting for the scald water to come to temperature. I guess I wasn't thinking straight earlier, because though I started with hot tap water, it's a cold morning but I failed to cover the scalder. Duh. Covered now, and finally making progress getting warmer.

Depending on how today goes (New Hampshire dispatch), I will decide how many of the Naked Neck boys to cull tomorrow. Minimum are two (the smallest two, Neo and Cypher). But I think I'm starting to hone in on some decisions, and think I may just need to commit. I believe I will just keep Bane, Tank, and possibly Apoc. Dozer, while large, has the wrong body type. Mouse, while NN in genotype (a plus), is still quite small, as small as the other two.

- Ant Farm

 

[hellbender]

Thanks - now just having another cup of coffee while waiting for the scald water to come to temperature. I guess I wasn't thinking straight earlier, because though I started with hot tap water, it's a cold morning but I failed to cover the scalder. Duh. Covered now, and finally making progress getting warmer.

Depending on how today goes (New Hampshire dispatch), I will decide how many of the Naked Neck boys to cull tomorrow. Minimum are two (the smallest two, Neo and Cypher). But I think I'm starting to hone in on some decisions, and think I may just need to commit. I believe I will just keep Bane, Tank, and possibly Apoc. Dozer, while large, has the wrong body type. Mouse, while NN in genotype (a plus), is still quite small, as small as the other two.

- Ant Farm

I don't think you have asked but I hope you don't mind if I make a suggestion. I don't think you have very many NN pullets nor very many of any kind for that matter and keeping so many cockerels could be counter productive. You might want to think about keeping only your best two or perhaps three at the outside until spring and then butcher the lesser of the three. This advice is based on my understanding that you have very few pullets.