Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Oregon Blues]

[[[[.....Any suggestions?.....]]]]]

When my family butchers, I catch all the blood in a large pot. Then blood, feathers, guts, feet, and heads are all removed from the property so that predators are not attracted.

However, I've got to tell you that reinforcing your pens so that the stray dogs can't get in is the only way to keep your birds safe.

 

[Iron-Roo]

Quote:
I don't wash my eggs, rarely have a dirty one as I keep fresh pine shavings in the nest boxes. I keep mine on the kitchen counter and rarely go over two weeks with the same eggs in the basket.

Ok, love this thread. I am on board with old school, not washing ect. But, I had not even considered the idea of not putting the eggs in the fridge right away, but now understand why that is not necessary. However, is there any downside to putting them in the fridge right away? Aside from the obvious one of taking up valuable beer space.

 

[GreenGoddess]

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I have reinforced my pens as much as I can without putting electric fencing up.. The only other thing I can do is place wire on the bottom edges of the coops but most of the dogs that are in the area are pit bull mixes and have already proven once that if they REALLY want something, they will just pull it THROUGH the fence! I lost a rabbit that way... Please don't get me wrong here.. I LOVE pits and have a pit, rottie and a pit/rottie mix so I LOVE the breed.. But, I also take precaution with my dogs unlike many of the irresponsible dog owners in this neighborhood!

As for catching the blood in a pot or other large container, I figured I could get most of it that way but won't some of it "miss" or spray?

Like I said, I'm trying to avoid as many problems as I can...

Goddess

 

[jvls1942]

just a few minutes before the pork chops are ready..

we wash all of our eggs right away.. and we refrigerate them except the ones we are going to incubate.. I am not going to put pooh in with the rest of my good food in the fridge..

and I would wash any egg before I crack it into a pan.. I am not about to drive whatever is on that shell into the eatable part of my breakfast.

GG, chickens rarely spray blood if you cut their throats.. and if they are confined in a cone, they do not flail around .. it is easy to direct the blood into a container..

I really do not think that those dogs are like sharks.. if they smell blood, they are not going to go crazy.. I think the first thing they would do is try do dig up the blood; if anything at all.

Do not overthink the situation.. just do one chicken and see what you are up against.. then go from there..

 

[Ridgerunner]

I bury what I don't use myself in the orchard so the trees will eventually get to use it. I lay some fencing over it that and put pavers over that wire to keep dogs, coyotes, or whatever from digging it up.

 

[perchie.girl]

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How about not digging a hole but putting a trash can under then cooking the blood and feeding it to your dogs or back to the chickens. I haven't processed yet just trying to think Logistically.

deb

 

[Fred's Hens]

We wash eggs. I don't' mind that other do not. This is one of the most over-blown issues. It simply doesn't matter. My wife is a city mouse and it is her kitchen and her refrigerator. Our customers, for the most part, are fussy. I am not about to instruct them about the "egg bloom" and the rest. It's not my job. They want clean eggs, clean eggs they shall get. They pay the bills.

I finger wash under hot water. From everything I've read, that is the proper temperature. We rarely, rarely have eggs more than 5 or 6 days, and our customers "repeat" every 10 days or so, so the entire issue is mute. They get eaten within 15 days of being laid anyhow.

 

[runsw/scissors]

My eggs are usually pretty clean, so unless really gross I don't wash, (so says the noobie...

). They are kept on the counter and washed just before use.

If I want to hatch them I don't wash 'em at all. They are usually eaten within two weeks anything older is cooked with the shells and given back to the girls.

I really try to keep things simple...

 

[bobbi-j]

Wow. I was gone for 36 hours, came home and had 10 more pages to catch up on! (I know someone on here suggested I go to the menu and change my preference to 75 posts per page, but I can't find the place to do this. Would some kind, patient soul please tell me step-by-step how to do that? And if you could, please use words. I'm picture challenged. I absolutely can't follow instructions that are picture only!) There were several things I'd like to comment on, but can't remember what they were. Canning chicken was one of them. I LOVE canned chicken, warmed and poured over rice. Also for soup or stew. Or you can drain the broth (save it for something else) and use the meat for chicken salad, or just plain sandwich meat. I de-bone the meat raw, and then can it using the raw-pack method. Pressure canner, following the instructions that came with the canner. Ball Blue Book is another great resource.

Goddess - I agree with jvls about the dogs not going crazy at the scent of blood. Is there a reason you can't put electric around our pens? I've heard that that will stop them in their tracks. I have electric fence for my horses, and my dog ran under it one time with his tail sticking up. Well, his tail hit the fence and he yelped for awhile, but has been VERY careful around the fence since.

Bee - You don't quarantine new birds? I'm so relieved to hear that! I don't, either. Admittedly, I don't add new chickens to my flock very often and the ones that I do get are from a friend of mine that come here for me to butcher. "Biosecurity" just isn't in my vocabulary.

Chicken feet. "It seems many cultures eat them." Good for them. Still not for me.

Someone asked about how much feed for free range birds (or something on that order). I don't know how much feed my free rangers eat. I have food in their feeder, available at all times. I fill it up once every few days or so. The feed does disappear much faster in the winter, of course, but I've never given much thought to supplementing their free ranging with feed. (Or would that be the other way around?)

Alrighty, I think I'm caught up now. Have a good night, everyone!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Look at the top of this screen.
Click on Profile.
You will see "profile menu."
Click on "Display."
Here is a screenshot. I have mine set at 75 for topics and 25 for posts (in threads).