Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

I will be harvesting chickens in about 6 weeks from now. If all survive, I will have 26 total for my freezer. How long will they keep in the freezer? (I am getting a large deep freezer to put out in the barn before harvest day)

 

[lizzyGSR]

The first time is the worst. Have you cooked the duck yet? I have a couple of muscovies from when the fox attacked. I didn't want them to go to waste so processed them immediately after, but haven't cooked them up yet.

No, I haven't. It was hard enough to butcher them and put them in the freezer. The lady that helped me butcher them suggested I TenderQuick them and then put them in the oven, covered, in a pan with about 1-2 inches of water for ~4 hours. I think I'll wait to cook them until 1) the emotional wound isn't so raw (ie thinking about it doesn't draw tears so easily) and 2) it cools off outside so I don't cook myself out of the house.

 

[chicken danz]

Hechicken it's easy to get confused with my managerie. I even do sometimes! You'd think I could settle on just a few kinds of birds!!!
The way things have been going lately it seems attrition is taking it's toll though. I just went back out to water again and found a hawk trying to get into the pheasant pen. I have a hen with a brand new chick out there. I'm surprised he didn't go after it.
I can't help but wonder if the government continuously tries to protect the predatorial animals are there going to be any decent animals left?

 

[HEChicken]

My experience with the blue egg thing - I bought a "backyard flock" from someone that was moving. It consisted of some black tailed white japanese, hens and 1 roo, 1 EE banty roo, 1 banty cochin roo, and some seabright hens. Because, because, they ended up in the same pen and the cochin roo did not survive. After some eggs hatched and the chicks grew and the pullets started laying, I was very surprised to find some nice "blue" eggs. Not green, blue. The EE roo was the only chicken in the pen that even could have carried the blue gene, so from that, I found out that all you need for blue eggs is a roo that carries the blue gene. I have been enchanted with the little hens that look like the japanese and lay the pretty blue eggs. Some layed slighty off white eggs which is the natural color for the japanese and some layed a slightly brown egg. That might be the natural color for the seabrights. There are a few blue egg layers in the following generations, but with it is a "fiesty" disposition from that EE roo that is not so good. It has been interesting.

I am not sure, but isn't the green egg color from a combination of the blue and brown gene? I have not studyied it so am not sure on that. I have thought if someone wanted to put the time into it, some interesting blue egg chickens could be developed just with a good blue egg gene rooster.

Very interesting. Yes, I think you are right about the green eggs - I know they are from the blue egg gene and there is a variable there and I bet that is it. Blue is a color I still need to add to my egg basket but it does seem that because of the "dilution", green is far more common. You are lucky to have ended up with blue eggs from mixed breed birds! I've always thought I'd have to order some pure Araucana or Ameraucana in order to add the blue eggs to my mix.

Trish - what color eggs do your Ameraucanas lay?

Right now I have several of my marans eggs in the incubator. Since they were fertilized by my green egg layer, I am hoping for some olive eggers from them. I only had one marans egg in my last batch and I thought the chick was a roo, which is why I started some more. Now that the chicks are almost a month old, I'm starting to think the one OE might be a girl after all.

No, I haven't. It was hard enough to butcher them and put them in the freezer. The lady that helped me butcher them suggested I TenderQuick them and then put them in the oven, covered, in a pan with about 1-2 inches of water for ~4 hours. I think I'll wait to cook them until 1) the emotional wound isn't so raw (ie thinking about it doesn't draw tears so easily) and 2) it cools off outside so I don't cook myself out of the house.

That does sound like it might be the best way to go. From what I've heard, muscovies (which I'm guessing are like any other breed of duck) are not at all like chicken so you can't cook them like a chicken either, or they will end up dry and tough. So slow cooking for four hours with water in the pan is probably the best way to ensure they stay tender.

 

[HEChicken]

I just went back out to water again and found a hawk trying to get into the pheasant pen. I have a hen with a brand new chick out there. I'm surprised he didn't go after it.
I can't help but wonder if the government continuously tries to protect the predatorial animals are there going to be any decent animals left?

Do the LGD's try to scare away hawks or are they only interested in 4-legged predators?

 

[Candace69]

Do the LGD's try to scare away hawks or are they only interested in 4-legged predators?

Some LGD breeds don't notice flying predators. Great pyrs do.

 

[sharol]

Amoxicillin. 2ml once a day. 6 days.

Sharol what antibiotic did her give your roo. Just curious. I'm always trying to learn.

 

[chicken danz]

Yes my dogs pursue hawks and owls, however during the day they often don't notice them until the birds squawk, and at night the owls are so fast they can grab a bird off a high perch without making a sound. I am going to have to go back to making sure everyone is locked up again at least in a covered pen at night.
The hawks hunt during the day though which makes it bad for free rangers.
I have one hen with bumble I've been treating. She hasn't acted sick but she had a bad case. She is easy to spot because I used blue vet wrap on her feet! So far she is the only one I've noticed. I had a rooster limping last week but he didn't have bumble foot.
I think the hen likes the vet wrap and gauze. I noticed she has been walking on the driveway, which is gravel a lot more. Normally you can tell it hurts the chicken's feet. Chicken shoes!

 

[HEChicken]

Chicken shoes!

There is a lady here on the forum who makes shoes for chickens who have bumblefoot and sells them on the buy-sell-trade section. The only thing is, they're $10 per shoe and there is a left and right foot, and a couple of sizes. So, in order to have one on hand for any size hen getting a bumble in either foot, the initial outlay would be $40, and then of course you'd probably end up with a half dozen hens all getting it in their left foot at the same time anyway.

 

[chicken danz]

That's crazy! I am sure there are some people who would buy them though. When I was looking for duck diapers I noticed some people sell duck shoes. Never understood why unless they wanted to dress them up! How likely is a duck or a goose going to keep their feet dry even if they are inside? Duh!