Colorado

[trsturself]

I'm interested in learning also. I've read a lot about it but haven't tried it yet. We'll be doing meat birds next year. I'm watching you guys to see how the Bresse turn out before I invest. I would love to have a sustainable meat flock but for the moment I don't have room for a permanent setup, so we'll just do some Rangers this spring to start.

Let us know how the capon adventure goes!

 

[Mtn Margie]

Quail update... ( cat loves dressed out quail, so don't leave them on the counter)
but I digress...
15 quail harvested, the smallest halfish out of 31
I got 49.5 oz of cleaned quail, with bones and leg meat. That is 3.09 lbs of meat. So the smaller ones are about 3.3 oz apiece.
I weighed one of the bigger ones and it was just shy of 4 oz and so I will get more meat with the next harvest.
Not including the cost of the eggs, they have eaten one bag of gamebird feed ~ $19 and had a heat lamp on them for about 3 weeks.
They are 6 weeks+4 days old.
If I were to do this on a regular basis, I would change the feeding system to prevent any waste and I am sure that would help the bottom line.

 

[Ashdoes]

CSU did the salmonella testing today. Went well, they have a system and were organized. Sarah Millonig looked over the necropsy report we've gotten so far, and is pretty confident it wasn't Mareks that killed our two birds. Which was great news. The necropsied bird had a growth, that was probable caused by a foreign body she inhaled, and some sort of bacteria. She's going to get back to us about a round of antibiotics for the flock. We're very relieved, but not celebrating till we get the final report. I think it's totally worth the cost though, knowing the cause for sure is way better then just guessing.

 

[maggiemo]

good for you for seeing this through with all the testing. fingers crossed the Mareks will be negative.
Sarah has been so nice and helpful to me. I have called her a few times with questions after my first scare and had to have my birds tested.

 

[Ashdoes]

good for you for seeing this through with all the testing. fingers crossed the Mareks will be negative. 
Sarah has been so nice and helpful to me. I have called her  a few times with questions after my first scare and had to have my birds tested. 

Yes, she had been really great to deal with. And, having the birds tested is the way to go, because too many people feel they're experts. Most symptoms are attributed to Mareks, causing more panick then is neccesary.
I think the first bird to die was a case of starvation, and I didn't notice it till it was too late. I thought, with 15 being the same age, they'd follow eachother to the food, and that just didn't happen. Survival of the fittest at its worst.

 

[maggiemo]

When I had my scare we thought it was MG (Mycoplasma gallisepticum) I took 3 sick birds up to CSU and both Sarah and Dr. Kristy Pabilonia both thought it was MG but of course tested.
They told me I might have to cull the whole flock
The tests were all negative for everything they test for. I brought some new birds into my flock and didn't quarantine. The new birds did get my flock sick but it was basically just a really bad respiratory infection. All my birds got better and thrived. Sarah and Kristy both said they had never seen a full recovery like that.
So, the lesson I learned was to test, if possible before you treat. I even test every year or so just for my peace of mind.
I read all the time on this board about giving antibiotics to birds without testing. It makes me so glad we have CSU relatively close with two great approachable doctors.

 

[Double Kindness]

That is very good to know especially about testing. I lost 1 this year to cocci, 2 to predators, 1 to shipping stress. My bf was rudely woken up this morning by a slw roo, he came out at lunch and asked me specifically which one it was and he picked it up and said "You're first buddy!" But his favorite is a white leghorn he named Brazen, he's going to be last..

The bf mentioned caponizing a drake, as we have 3.. until he tried to pick one up and got lit up by the muscovy. Now he's like ok, not going to be caponizing a muscovy. Chickens first as soon as the equipment comes in, we're putting the slw and br, wl in the chicken hospital to withold them from food, my master bathroom into a surgical er, it'll be awesome.

 

[Double Kindness]

Yay the caponizing equipment came in today, we're planning on starting on the 2 slw on Sunday. We need more roosters to practice on, so I am planning on going to wardel's on Saturday with my pullets to sell/trade them for roos. And or more muscovy ducks, as it's getting down to crunch time for freezer camp, and these are really too little to make much of a meal out of.

Is 15-20 for each reasonable to ask this time of year for 3.5 month old pullets so I can turn around and buy roosters or ducks that are big enough for freezer camp/caponizing?

 

[Pozees]

DK, yes, that seems reasonable to me - be warned, though, there may be some sellers with "layers" for way less - last weekend at Elizabeth there was a man selling what looked to me like older hens for $4 each - he had so many crammed into each cage I felt awful for the birds. All looked like Red Sexlinks, but I didn't get that close, could have been something else. He sold about half of what he brought, and after an hour it started blowing, raining, and getting cold, and most packed up and left. I sat in the car with the heat running another 30 minutes and left, as it was apparent it wasn't going to improve.

What age are you looking for for caponizing? I have 2 or 3 Heritage bred RIR cockerels, they are 2-3 months of age, very slow growing, their Daddy is a big boy - named Baby Huey for a reason - but I'd be glad to give them to you if we can figure out a place to meet.

Ashdoes Sarah is great to work with, I agree, and so fast! maggiemo, was it Kristy who said MG = cull the flock? Because Sarah has said the opposite to me twice. Interesting.

 

[Double Kindness]

My chickens look very healthy and happy and young.. so I hope they sell or trade for roosters. Wierd huh?

My friend Cindy is going to keep me company with her 1st ayam cemani rooster which is for sale, as she has a "better" one and I'm getting more in the spring, thank goodness for making payments over 8 months for expensive chicken breeds. So if her rooster doesn't sell tomorrow, guess who I'm bringing home to caponize? There might be black chicken in time for thanksgiving after all. Lol oh that's awful!

I'll gather up however many will fit in the 1 cage and bring boxes from my amazon addiction and another little carrier, gotta get rid of these young girls! Bah!