Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

 

[Trish44]

That's cute Danz, Happy Easter to you & everyone else as well, I hope you're all enjoying your day with family.

 

[HEChicken]

Cherwill, thanks for the reassurance re the garden…..always nice to hear from a gardening expert

. When I looked at them this morning I was really pleased with what I saw. Several more tomato seedlings that have developed enough leaves to be distinguishable as tomatoes. Finally. I am growing a bunch of heritage seeds and I'm really excited to get some of them mature. It sure would be nice to get a real rain. The last few opportunities have not resulted in more than enough to barely wet the ground.

Re: butchering….I have a little different take on it. I consider it an act of love to do the butchering myself precisely because they do know and trust me. I keep my knife super sharp and I make it very fast and as pain free as possible. I've sliced my finger cutting veggies and I feel it happen and see the blood several seconds before the message is sent to my brain to register "pain". In the case of the birds, when I do the initial cut, they do not respond as if they feel pain. And, hanging upside down either in my arms or in a cone, the blood rushes to their head and they black out very quickly. I really believe that by the time the brain sends the message to feel pain, they are already losing consciousness so it is never that traumatic for them.

If I were to send them away to someone they don't know to butcher, they would have the stress of being loaded, transported, and in a strange place with people they don't know, right before death. When I do it, they are in their home, with their social group until the food person (me) picks them up as she has done a hundred times before, carries them a few feet, talking to them comfortingly the entire time. The only strange thing is being tipped upside down but they relax in the cone - it holds them securely and makes them feel safe. I don't leave them there long. As soon as I can pull their head out the bottom, I cut and its all over. They really don't have time to be stressed or concerned about their fate. This, to me, is kinder than the alternative. And MUCH less stressful and painful than being killed by a predator.

As Trish mentioned, I now skin and put them in the crockpot vs. plucking. That really did make it a far less arduous task. I only do one or two birds at a time and process them in my kitchen sink, while listening to a book on tape or some music. It takes me less than an hour from pulling the knife out the drawer and sharpening it, to having them in the crockpot and the kitchen cleaned up. Then I can get on with my day while they cook, and at dinner time I turn some of the meat into a meal, and when the rest is cool, freeze it for future meals.

I have my first turkeys of the season due on Tuesday (set the eggs midway through the day). Yesterday morning (3 ½ days before due) I had the first external pip. By last night there was another and by this morning a third. I've never had pips this early before which makes me wonder if my incubator is running a little on the high side. On the other hand, all three pips are from the Black Spanish eggs I purchased. None of my RP or BR eggs have pipped yet. They were all set at the exact same time so its a little curious. I had not even put them in hatch yet. This morning I opened the incubator to put in a towel for them to hatch on and take out the turning rack. We chatted the entire time. I love the little baby turkey "woot-woot" sound. They kept calling to me so I kept woot-wooting back at them and they seemed to be responding. Every time I woot-wooted, I was answered by several little woot-woots from within the eggs.

Three out of four of my adult turkey hens are now broody so this morning I gave the other two their own clutch of eggs. All three broodies are sitting happily on their eggs - I can't wait to start watching them raise their babies.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Nice job on the coop, Danz. Mine is not as nice, but I wanted to see what I could do with a old appliance shell. I'll add a 6 X 12 pen before I use it. It is light weight and I'll just move it and the pen an need for fress grass. The bottom of the nest box is removable for easy cleaning. I put a coat of paint on the outside but not the inside. Chickens have their own way of "decorating" the walls.

There should be adequate ventilation with all the holes I didn't cover.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

While I was taking photos, I took some of a portable pen I made out of storm door frames hinged together. The nest box is a 15 gallon drum cut in half with the top half sliding over the bottom half. the "overhang" over the opening is from what I cut out of the drum. The water supply is just a 5 gallon bucket with a pour spout in the lid and a small tub. I drilled a 3/8 inch hole in the bucket.

 

[chicken danz]

Ralph I love re-purposing things and I have everything imaginable around here to use for coops. Like an old fiberglass fish tank turned on it's side for a pheasant house, and old travel trailer that is gutted, a curved piece of hog panel with a piece of plastic pool liner over it, and old camper topper that is sitting on a frame, two old shipping crates made into coops etc etc. I have very few things that are new like this coop I just built.
We are currently trying to build a coop from three 55 gallon plastic barrels. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the fronts.
I'm currently trying to build a big brooder box on top a new plastic table that we bought on the cheap on sale. I kind of wore out after moving the two new houses today into the pens and moving a bunch of chickens too.
I had to clean out 4 chicks bins and move some chicks around today cause it was getting really smelly in here. I have really got to get some of these chicks moved this week. I have people wanting some of them but they haven't come to get them yet.
Of course if I could just get a nice big breeding building and pens I'd gladly give up all these little things!!

 

[okjenyp]

Cherwill, thanks for the reassurance re the garden…..always nice to hear from a gardening expert  .  When I looked at them this morning I was really pleased with what I saw.  Several more tomato seedlings that have developed enough leaves to be distinguishable as tomatoes.  Finally.  I am growing a bunch of heritage seeds and I'm really excited to get some of them mature.  It sure would be nice to get a real rain.  The last few opportunities have not resulted in more than enough to barely wet the ground.

Re: butchering….I have a little different take on it.  I consider it an act of love to do the butchering myself precisely because they do know and trust me.  I keep my knife super sharp and I make it very fast and as pain free as possible.  I've sliced my finger cutting veggies and I feel it happen and see the blood several seconds before the message is sent to my brain to register "pain".  In the case of the birds, when I do the initial cut, they do not respond as if they feel pain.  And, hanging upside down either in my arms or in a cone, the blood rushes to their head and they black out very quickly.  I really believe that by the time the brain sends the message to feel pain, they are already losing consciousness so it is never that traumatic for them.  

If I were to send them away to someone they don't know to butcher, they would have the stress of being loaded, transported, and in a strange place with people they don't know, right before death.  When I do it, they are in their home, with their social group until the food person (me) picks them up as she has done a hundred times before, carries them a few feet, talking to them comfortingly the entire time.  The only strange thing is being tipped upside down but they relax in the cone - it holds them securely and makes them feel safe.  I don't leave them there long.  As soon as I can pull their head out the bottom, I cut and its all over.  They really don't have time to be stressed or concerned about their fate.  This, to me, is kinder than the alternative.  And MUCH less stressful and painful than being killed by a predator.

As Trish mentioned, I now skin and put them in the crockpot vs. plucking.  That really did make it a far less arduous task.  I only do one or two birds at a time and process them in my kitchen sink, while listening to a book on tape or some music.  It takes me less than an hour from pulling the knife out the drawer and sharpening it, to having them in the crockpot and the kitchen cleaned up.  Then I can get on with my day while they cook, and at dinner time I turn some of the meat into a meal, and when the rest is cool, freeze it for future meals.

I have my first turkeys of the season due on Tuesday (set the eggs midway through the day).  Yesterday morning (3 ½ days before due) I had the first external pip.  By last night there was another and by this morning a third.  I've never had pips this early before which makes me wonder if my incubator is running a little on the high side.  On the other hand, all three pips are from the Black Spanish eggs I purchased.  None of my RP or BR eggs have pipped yet.  They were all set at the exact same time so its a little curious.  I had not even put them in hatch yet.  This morning I opened the incubator to put in a towel for them to hatch on and take out the turning rack.  We chatted the entire time.  I love the little baby turkey "woot-woot" sound.  They kept calling to me so I kept woot-wooting back at them and they seemed to be responding.  Every time I woot-wooted, I was answered by several little woot-woots from within the eggs.

Three out of four of my adult turkey hens are now broody so this morning I gave the other two their own clutch of eggs.  All three broodies are sitting happily on their eggs - I can't wait to start watching them raise their babies.

So what kind of cone do you use? I watched my husband butcher ours and I didn't like how he did it. I held them upside down for a few mins until they were calm. Then he laid them on a stump pulling their wings back stepping on them and stepped on their feet and slit their throat. It was hard to watch. And he broke their wings. I want the easiest fast and least painful way to butcher and I don't think that is the best way.

 

[22qZoo]

RALPH -I like that little coop, light weight, easy to move. Dryer shell ?

DANZ- Your little coop is adorable ! I wish I had the construction knowledge to pull some thing like that off. I'm not afraid of any tools I just don't have the instincts to know what stuff to do first to get it to look like the image I have in my head.
I really have to restrain my self sometimes cuz I can see a lot of potential in a lot of things but don't always have the time to make it happen and then it just looks like a bunch of junk. I did find a cute way to repurpose some beach bags that I got at the thrift store for a few bucks, these are now hanging on the front of my house.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Norge washer shell.

 

[Trish44]

So what kind of cone do you use? I watched my husband butcher ours and I didn't like how he did it. I held them upside down for a few mins until they were calm. Then he laid them on a stump pulling their wings back stepping on them and stepped on their feet and slit their throat. It was hard to watch. And he broke their wings. I want the easiest fast and least painful way to butcher and I don't think that is the best way.

I'm not HEChicken, but she gave a butchering class at my place last fall. It's just a regular killing cone & there are a lot of different sizes of them for different birds. I have one that is medium that works for most chickens. You just put a nail into a tree & hang the killing cone on that. Then you hang the bird head down in the cone & cut the jugular vein. They're secured in the cone pretty good & you're holding their feet so they don't usually move that much or for that long once the jugular is cut.

RALPH -I like that little coop, light weight, easy to move. Dryer shell ?

DANZ- Your little coop is adorable ! I wish I had the construction knowledge to pull some thing like that off. I'm not afraid of any tools I just don't have the instincts to know what stuff to do first to get it to look like the image I have in my head.
I really have to restrain my self sometimes cuz I can see a lot of potential in a lot of things but don't always have the time to make it happen and then it just looks like a bunch of junk. I did find a cute way to repurpose some beach bags that I got at the thrift store for a few bucks, these are now hanging on the front of my house.

Those are really cute, I like it!

Ralph that is creative what you did with that washer shell! I like the old screen door idea too if you had some laying around or got some really cheap. I'm always looking for ways to make pens.

I got all the wood yesterday for my next hoop coop, now to have the time & energy to get it together.