BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Beer can]

Gefiltefish?
One day I'm going to work up enough nerve to try it.

I tried it before, just cause it was on sale cheap. Kinda like fish meatballs, not bad.
I've never tried carp or sucker, used to catch tons of them and throw them away. Now that I want to try them and feed them to the chickens I've had no luck, probably should try the river. I've heard early spring is the best for meat quality.
Watched a Anthony Bordain show where they caught suckers in cold weather on the river and filleted them out, scored the meat to cut up the little bones and battered and deep fried them, said it was as good as any fish fry he'd been to.
DW's uncle said someone fed them without telling them pickled carp, no one knew until he told them, said it was good and you couldn't even tell.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I tried it before, just cause it was on sale cheap. Kinda like fish meatballs, not bad.
I've never tried carp or sucker, used to catch tons of them and throw them away. Now that I want to try them and feed them to the chickens I've had no luck, probably should try the river. I've heard early spring is the best for meat quality.
Watched a Anthony Bordain show where they caught suckers in cold weather on the river and filleted them out, scored the meat to cut up the little bones and battered and deep fried them, said it was as good as any fish fry he'd been to.
DW's uncle said someone fed them without telling them pickled carp, no one knew until he told them, said it was good and you couldn't even tell.

I should look into this some more- I live near a shallow lake that was famous for walleye but the population has crashed so there's a moratorium. However there are tons of carp and they are huge. I love smoked and fried fish..... and I wonder if you can smoke them?
How do you feed fish to chickens, do you have to cook them first?

 

[Beer can]

I should look into this some more- I live near a shallow lake that was famous for walleye but the population has crashed so there's a moratorium. However there are tons of carp and they are huge. I love smoked and fried fish..... and I wonder if you can smoke them?
How do you feed fish to chickens, do you have to cook them first?

I have a hand grinder I use just for this, grind them up head guts scales everything. I either cook the fish burger on our outside grill side burner in a pan if I'm feeding fresh caught, or freeze for at least a month, I go over, to kill any parasites/worms and feed raw, mostly I feed raw. Mostly it's small bluegill and perch.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I have a hand grinder I use just for this, grind them up head guts scales everything. I either cook the fish burger on our outside grill side burner in a pan if I'm feeding fresh caught, or freeze for at least a month, I go over, to kill any parasites/worms and feed raw, mostly I feed raw. Mostly it's small bluegill and perch.

Thanks! That should be do-able, I even have a Weston 22 grinder handy.

 

[DesertChic]

Time to add some runner ducks- I hear they are awesome fly eaters.
Where do flies breed in a desert climate? I'm very surprised you have any at all- You don't live in the middle of a feed lot, do you?

Our rains have been really heavy this year...perfect breeding grounds for the flies, especially since I employ the deep litter method in my coops. They do love all those pine chips mixed with chicken poop. And there's my compost piles.....and my neighbor has horses....

I've actually been considering Muscovy for the same reason, and because I'm really intrigued by Muscovy. I saw some first-hand at the first poultry show I ever went to and it was love at first sight. The owner of the birds even commented on how friendly they were towards me whereas his birds were usually shy around strangers. For my husband...not so much. He just sort of sighs and smiles wearily at me. His original plan for my chicken keeping was 4-6 for eggs. As of last night's count I'm DOWN to 72. He's a really good man...a really good, patient man. And luckily I'm a good cook and have about a dozen spectacular chicken recipes to keep him satisfied with.

I just haven't sold him on the whole Muscovy or duck idea. And then there was this absolutely lovely lavender turkey hen I also developed an instant fondness for. My husband's response was, "You don't even like turkey." I guess somewhere down the line I turned into a bird person.

 

[DesertChic]

I should look into this some more- I live near a shallow lake that was famous for walleye but the population has crashed so there's a moratorium. However there are tons of carp and they are huge. I love smoked and fried fish..... and I wonder if you can smoke them?
How do you feed fish to chickens, do you have to cook them first?

Oh....I miss walleye! I grew up catching and eating walleye in Ohio. They were a lot of fun to catch!

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Try and get a Muscovy breast from someone. From what I've seen, if you cook it like a pot roast, it's nearly imposible to tell it's not beef. (I haven't tried it myself yet, but I have read up on them) Cook it up beef style, and then during dinner say something about wishing you could raise your own rather than having to buy it... When he starts complaining about having to get a cow now, inform him he's been eating a duck! lol. From what I've seen, if you start out with a breeding trio and let them hatch their own eggs, then process all but 1-2 drakes and a 2-4 hens (would they be hens?) you will end up with somewhere around 100 ducks, each can be 20-30ish pounds... and... they can free range, don't need a pond, will roost, will brood their own young, will eat your flies (at least the young ones will hunt them), and you only actually have to grain the ones you over winter if you can let them forage (I don't know about the desert, may have to feed year round, but they will help...)

See, I'm very pro Muscovy... lol

 

[lcertuche]

I would love to get muscovies here. There is a lady here in town that sells them but I need to get a new coup built and have the $15 per bird to buy them. I free range my chickens and they are supposed to be good free range birds. They are also great mama birds too which is another trait I would like. Sustainable, healthy meat and eggs are my wish list for feeding my family. Maybe next spring the stars will line up. For chicken I really want to get into Dixie Rainbows for meat and eggs.

 

[DesertChic]

Try and get a Muscovy breast from someone. From what I've seen, if you cook it like a pot roast, it's nearly imposible to tell it's not beef. (I haven't tried it myself yet, but I have read up on them) Cook it up beef style, and then during dinner say something about wishing you could raise your own rather than having to buy it... When he starts complaining about having to get a cow now, inform him he's been eating a duck! lol. From what I've seen, if you start out with a breeding trio and let them hatch their own eggs, then process all but 1-2 drakes and a 2-4 hens (would they be hens?) you will end up with somewhere around 100 ducks, each can be 20-30ish pounds... and... they can free range, don't need a pond, will roost, will brood their own young, will eat your flies (at least the young ones will hunt them), and you only actually have to grain the ones you over winter if you can let them forage (I don't know about the desert, may have to feed year round, but they will help...)

See, I'm very pro Muscovy... lol

LOL, well 100 Muscovy would definitely be over the top for me. If I got down to about 2 dozen chickens my husband may be more amenable to a small flock of Muscovy, but that would be an awful lot of work. I have a hard enough time just getting all the daily chores and my work responsibilities done each day, and usually don't. I do love them them though, so I'm betting that I'll own some one day.

 

[Alaskan]

I have muscovy... Mine get pretty big, but not 20-30 pounds. That is broad breasted turkey size.. Not Muscovy size.

Mine are excellent moms, they are not egg producers per say, they lay a bunch and then brood and incubation is a crazy long 5 weeks.

However even up here in the frozen north we can get at least two broods per female per year. If you remove eggs and incubate, or immediately remove ducklings you can get more.

My good girls give me 10-15 per clutch, my poor ones only 5-8.

The boys can be twice the size of the girls. The breast looks like a big gorgeous tenderloin. My spouse makes fantastic pastrami from the breast.

I cull strongly for personality with the result that I can colony breed and no one kills ducklings. which is most excellent because my two drakes are excellent and fierce protectors. They have killed a weasel and fought off a bald eagle and are still gentle with the ducklings.

My only problems are that the mamas cry for days when I take their ducklings away, which means I rarely have the heart to take more then one clutch a year from them. So I usually manage to take the first clutch and sell them, they make a second clutch and I let them keep the second batch until slaughter. At that point the babies are big enough that the mamas don't cry.