Consolidated Kansas

[rvroman]

Wow those sweet treats sure look yummy deerfield! How cool to be able to show off all your hard work to your family at the reunion. One of these years I hope to have my place to a point where we can be mostly self sufficient.

Danz im thinking dry thoughts for ya! I wish I had cherry trees, im so jealous of all y'all with these great fruit trees. All I have is pecan trees that drop miniature pecans all over my backyard :-\

So, my dad had a heart attack Sunday and is in the ICU recovering from having two very long stents placed in his LAD coronary artery (ala the widow maker). Needless to say I came down to Texas to help my parents out until further notice. What's the point of being a nurse (without a job currently) if I cant use my education to take care of my daddy!
I have 15 chicks and can only keep 6ish of them. I have been seriously considering processing the ones we dont keep with the AI business going on. Are all birds ok for meat birds? Anybody wanna teach me to process said birds? When should I process them, how will I know they are ready?

 

[coleco]

Hey Kansas, i'm just outside the city limits of lawrence. I will have to read through this thread a little each night to get caught up.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
I don't know where you are. @Chicken Danz taught me to butcher last summer, and so far so good. There was also a meet in or near Wichita at one point to teach processing (I think using the skinning method). I like to keep the skin for the fat when they roast, but that is a personal decision. We made a cheat sheet, but without having done the process, the cheatsheet isn't much help. I can send you the document if you like. As I see it, the key to success is using the right temperature of water and then removing feathers almost immediately, 1 bird at a time. the feathers come out easily. Of course accomplishing a quick, humane kill was my top priority. I love my birds and I don't want them to suffer. I tell myself that they have had good lives in the few months they lived -- better than they would have in a factory in any case. I processed 2 barred rock and 1 speckled sussex cockerel during the winter. We roasted one of the BR's on Saturday, and it was wonderful. I was amazed at the color of the dark meat. It was twice as dark as the stuff you buy in the store. My birds are free in the yard whenever I'm home, so he was a result of lots of bugs and grass in addition to his regular feed. You can eat about any kind of chicken. The dual purpose breeds are the best for it though. They take a while to reach a size worth processing and of course you are feeding them, so they aren't necessarily cheap. My birds dressed out at 4-5 lbs each and were about 5 months old at the time. I will probably be processing some of my orpington cockerels this fall unless I can sell them as breeding stock. When you hatch eggs, you get what you get. I hope your dad does well. It is scary when our parents become ill and require extensive medical care.

 

[spree56]

Hey Kansas, i'm just outside the city limits of lawrence.  I will have to read through this thread a little each night to get caught up.

Welcome to a world of information. I love to hang out here. You'll find people are very helpful, honest & funny sometimes too!!! They share their ups & downs & warnings about what works & what doesn't. Again, welcome.

 

[josey8]

Does anyone have suggestions on how to get my birds to roost on the roost bar all they want to do is sleep on the ground

 

[chicken danz]

Here's the official state order to stop any confusion on the cease of poultry shows in Kansas. Even though the link was posted if you don't read it you won't understand it.

Movement restrictions for poultry events, exhibitions and sales issued in Kansas

In an effort to protect the Kansas poultry industry and to promote stronger biosecurity practices throughout the state, Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Animal Health has issued a stop movement order, signed by Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey, targeting Kansas poultry and live birds, effectively cancelling all poultry-related shows and events through calendar year 2015. This includes all types of poultry activities where birds from different flocks are co-mingled.

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Manhattan, Kansas – In an effort to protect the Kansas poultry industry and to promote stronger biosecurity practices throughout the state, Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Animal Health has issued a stop movement order, signed by Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey, targeting Kansas poultry and live birds, effectively cancelling all poultry-related shows and events through calendar year 2015. This includes all types of poultry activities where birds from different flocks are co-mingled.

This will include, but is not limited to: regional and county fairs, festivals, the Kansas State Fair, swap meets, exotic sales and live bird auctions. This measure is being implemented in an effort to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI). Kansas experienced a positive case of HPAI in Leavenworth County in March 2015.

This decision was made after careful consideration and consultation with the K-State Research and Extension, Kansas 4-H, Kansas State Fair representatives and other poultry industry officials. Dr. Justin Smith, Deputy Animal Health Commissioner made the announcement.

“The decision to issue movement restrictions regarding poultry and bird events has been made in an effort to protect the poultry industry in Kansas and the economic contribution that the industry makes to our agricultural economy. It is a difficult decision, as I know youth and adults would soon be exhibiting their projects at local fairs,” said Smith. “This decision was not made lightly, but it is necessary we do everything possible to protect the Kansas poultry flock.”

K-State Research and Extension and Kansas 4-H, along with the Kansas State Fair, is working to identify options for youth enrolled in poultry projects to showcase their learning and participate in fairs in ways other than having their birds present.

It is important that all poultry producers continue to monitor their flocks for symptoms of the virus, and notify KDA immediately if they suspect any problems. All bird owners, whether commercial producers or backyard enthusiasts, should prevent contact between their birds and other birds including wild fowl.
If you see sickness in birds, please contact KDA Division of Animal Health at (785) 564-6601 or email [email protected]. Additional information about HPAI can be found online at www.agriculture.ks.gov/avianinfluenza.

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This really hurts those of us who breed quality birds for show. A substantial amount of my sales go to these types of events. I am trying to downsize the number of birds I have right now anyway and this makes it that much harder. Very sad day for many of us. It is a shame mostly because if it weren't for irresponsible people who might bring in sick birds this wouldn't be necessary.
It also reaches out much further to things that one can't see. There is scholarship money that is generated from shows and sales from these events which will prevent that as well. I just feel sick.

Had to run down to Texas for an unknown amount of time, I'll check in properly in the next couple days. For now my mom would like some advice, is this lav orp a male or female?


Also, one of the chicks I hatched may 13th is maybe 1/3 the size of the rest of the chicks I hatched. I gave her to my mom a couple weeks ago and she really just hasn't seemed to grow. She is a barnyard mix, rumpless but that is all I know. She hatched the same couple days as the ones around her, do any of you have any sort of idea what could be going on? She is the one in middle on the bottom that blends into the shavings.


Any help would be good, trying to get as much off mama's shoulders as possible.

Well first on the little chick if it's rumpless it is going to be a much smaller breed. Araucanas are tiny even in the standard size. Secondly it doesn't look healthy. Look at how it is sitting kind of humped up. I imagine it is quite thin if you felt it's keel. It could have a touch of coccidiosis or just failure to thrive. Once in a while that just happens. You can't sex Orpingtons by combs. It just doesn't work until they are more adult. The comb definitely looks cockerel like but the feathers aren't mature enough to sex yet. I'd just wait.
For some reason it didn't show the rest of your post. So sorry about your Dad, but I'm glad he got the help he needed.
I'd be glad to help you process but you are quite a distance from me. Sharol took really good notes. I am told the perfect age to butcher a bird for tenderness of meat, flavor, and size averages about 28 weeks. So that would put you in the 5-6 month old range. You can do it earlier or slightly later. I don't recommend butchering older birds (over a year) because they develop a very thick skin. Sharol took very good notes so her cheat sheet would help.
Originally Posted by coleco
Welcome to the thread. Join in and tell us about yourself. I'm not real far from you.

Josey8, don't press the issue. Some birds just don't roost. Either the breed they are or the body weight. I never have a roost over about 18" tall at most. Jumping down can cause leg injuries and bumble foot. Light weight flighty breeds tend to roost higher. I remembering you mentioning at one time you had silkies.
Silkies do not roost at all.
I've got so much to do today. It seemed yesterday I accomplished nothing even though I worked all day. I have company coming tomorrow and I am so not prepared for it. I have to water and check the birds a few times a day since they aren't accustomed to this heat. I already lost one buff orp rooster to the heat. Every year my buffs are the first to have heat problems. I'm not sure why other than they tend to sit inside a lot.

 

[josey8]

I've got silkies black australoups Rhode Island red and barred rocks

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Am I the only one to wonder why it took the Ag department so long to set this ban? The Leavenworth was in early March of this year. The latest case was with Canadian Geese in Minnesota; so does the State have plans to destroy all the Canadian Geese that have nesting grounds all over the eastern part of Kansas?

 

[chicken danz]

Ralph the real danger lies in the spring and fall migration. Unfortunately all of this going to cause the price of eggs and poultry to raise to sky high levels. I don't think the poultry shows are a problem. But I do agree that swap meets and 4H events where birds aren't screened for health are a major threat.
I guess you have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[josey8]

With this ban can i still order chicks from a place like cackle hatchery and have them shipped to me?