Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

@Dani4Hedgies I agree with danz that they're both EEs. The darker one looks like a rooster to me. Zip ties work OK as long as you check that they're not getting too tight & cutting into their leg.

Welcome oskie, feel free to join in & tell us about your chickens & setup.

 

[chicken danz]

@Dani4Hedgies , I wouldn't worry about your birds just yet. You normally wouldn't butcher until at least 20 weeks or longer depending on breeds and size. (Not considering cornish cross though...that's a whole 'nother ball game) Crowing can occur from just about 3 weeks old until 8 months old. It just depends on the bird. You can however posts pictures for us to look at. Some will be blatently obvious while others are more difficult. A picture showing a side view helps as well as one showing the feathers near the tail. Most roosters make some awkward teenage sounds until they figure out to how to really crow. You may not even recognize it as attempt to crow.
Yep I meant zip ties. I still refer to them by what they were called in my previous employment. I forget that the rest of the world calls them other things. When I was a police officer we had the exact same thing and we called them flex cuffs. They were higher quality than most you buy now but we always kept a couple of spares inside our hats to use if we had more than one person to place in custody.
I don't like butchering but I do it regardless. I do tend to put it off too long though. I just hate killing things.
I still have several drakes out there I need to butcher. I am not at all enthused about doing that. I always hope someone will write me and ask if I have a particular rooster or drake available so I don't have to do it. I sell far more jsut for others to butcher than I butcher myself.
I never make money on roosters for butcher but it's that fewer many I have to do. I always have plenty available for my needs anyway.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

@Dani4Hedgies
I don't like butchering but I do it regardless. I do tend to put it off too long though. I just hate killing things.
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X2
I feel the same way. But it must be done if we're going to breed.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Quote: That is one thing bad about my GP's, they won't catch mice or rats. They think that anything living here needs protected, and they keep my two barn cats from catching mice. Most people don't like using the old style, spring mouse traps, but they work. That is they work if you can bait the trigger so that you are not using it as a "mouse feeding station". I give the mice I catch to my chickens and guineas. I have a Turken rooster that is always first in line, when he sees me coming with a mouse. They need to come up with a breed of chickens that are nocturnal, so that they can get the mice at night.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
LOL I love it. Can't you just see them crouched in front of the gap in the coop waiting for one of the little bas... uh fellas to stick his head out?

 

[chicken danz]

That is one thing bad about my GP's, they won't catch mice or rats. They think that anything living here needs protected, and they keep my two barn cats from catching mice. Most people don't like using the old style, spring mouse traps, but they work. That is they work if you can bait the trigger so that you are not using it as a "mouse feeding station". I give the mice I catch to my chickens and guineas. I have a Turken rooster that is always first in line, when he sees me coming with a mouse. They need to come up with a breed of chickens that are nocturnal, so that they can get the mice at night.

Ralph that might be an advantage. My GPs hear them in the ground and dig them up. Result lots of holes in the yard.
I like finding the little pinkies in the mice nests. They are like chicken crack to any of the birds. They'll run with the big ones but gobble the little ones down before anyone else can grab it.

LOL I love it. Can't you just see them crouched in front of the gap in the coop waiting for one of the little bas... uh fellas to stick his head out?

Love this comment. I'm still laughing.

 

[spree56]

I'm going to try to add a picture of my chickens from last Summer. As I live in town, my rooster had to be rehomed to

the country.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm going to try to add a picture of my chickens from last Summer. As I live in town, my rooster had to be rehomed to
the country.

Lovely picture. Looks like it came from a magazine...Other than maybe the poop on the arm rests. LOL That could be edited out though.
I'm pretty disappointed. Our forecast changed again. We are still supposed to have 70 degrees tomorrow but with 50 mph winds.

Friday it's not going to be as warm and then cooler yet on the weekend. Still fairly nice but what a let down. I'm afraid I'll have to work indoors tomorrow just because of the wind. I've got to go get a load of feed today. I was hoping it would last a while longer. I could get by another day but I don't want to get it in high winds. I'd loose half when I'm unloading. Bleh!
I've got to move some more birds around today. I think I'm going to move some young ones out to the hoop coop and maybe hang a sweeter heater in the building until they get used to the temp change. I've got some in the house that need to go to the brooder house when I get the bigger ones out. I have a hatch from yesterday that needs moved to the bins. It's a never ending cycle around here.

 

[Trish44]

My GPs would go after a mouse if they had the chance, but with all of the cats I have they don't have that chance much. I have seen the cats go catch a mouse & the chickens catch sight of it & take it away & run all around with it before eating it. My GPs do catch moles though, they find the burrows & dig them up.

I don't think butchering is any of our favorite things to do but it's just part of having chickens at some point. I still have a duck drake I need to process as well. I had planned to do it before my surgery & ran out of time. As soon as I get recovered enough from this surgery it has to be one of the things on the top of my list.

@spree56 I love that photo, so cute!

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Love the photo your "city" chickens look so cute!!!