Dixie Chicks

[hennible]

aww I really adore my buff pr[s so far they are so sweet see how they do on egg production.......maybe you jut have a dumb line of buffs?

They are sweet
And their production seems great, but I sure don't have much luck free ranging them... It seems to be the ones under a year old that have been picked off, the older girls are still all here... Maybe they are just from super bad lines... Got them from a friends mom....

 

[vehve]

Sam, what do you use for sharpening? Those roller things are handy if you're lazy (Fiskars has a pretty decent model), but if you want to do it properly, you'll get a diamond sharpener. The angle you should use depends on the material of the knife, as a rule of thumb, Japanese knives have a higher carbon content and will hold an edge for longer. Sharpen these to about 10-15 degrees. European knives are slightly softer, and will need a slightly duller angle, about 20 degrees. I'm guessing American knives are pretty similar to the European ones. The sharper the angle, the quicker it will dull, and the higher the carbon content, the longer it will hold an edge.

The technique you use for sharpening probably doesn't matter that much, you can sharpen along the edge, or at an right angle, the angle you hold the sharpening stone/file at is more important. I like to work with long motions, starting at the blade and simultaneously moving towards the tip and the direction the cutting edge points towards, working the full length of the blade and moving about 2 inches in the direction the cutting edge with each motion.

You shouldn't wash knives in the dishwasher, the detergent basically works as a sand blaster and will quickly kill the edge of your blade.

 

[hennible]

Thanks
I have German knives mostly for butchering...
I use a long steel (file) to sharpen and have a stone, but may need to go lazy and get a sharpener...
I'm guilty of putting all but my chicken knives in the dishwasher with full knowledge it would reck them.... Those that I dishwashered are American made knives.
Now I want Japanese knives.... I love knives... Especially my cleaver....

 

[vehve]

The roller sharpeners are okay for cheap knives, but if you invest in a proper knife, I wouldn't use anything else than a diamond sharpener. I should buy a proper Japanese knife too.

 

[hennible]

Diamond sharpener noted!

 

[BriardChickens]

I love my 2 German knives, they are the only ones that stand up. I can't wait for my next trip to Germany and visit the Zwilling/Henkel outlet store in Solingen.
DH and I plan to bring a large budget.

My deboning knife for example cuts through chicken with just motion, the weight of the blade is enough to do a smooth cut through the meat.

I've started to free range my chickens under supervision on my days off. Those are the days where food consumption (layer pellets) goes way down. However I need to change the entrance for the run so the chickens can run back and forward to the coop. Otherwise they lay there eggs all over the place.

 

[vehve]

I like santoku knives the best, the balance is usually right for my hand. One with a damascus blade would be pretty cool.

 

[Amberjem]

Get a huge cutting board, and build the base so that you get an inch or two of overhang on the sides and front. The back you can build some sort of tool support, a knife block, paper towel holder, plastic glove holder and what not. On both sides you'll want to get two of those half circle buckets, and fasten them on the sides so that you can just scrape guts and similar stuff into them right off of the cutting board. If you can find a cutting board with some grooves that direct the blood into the buckets, even better.

hmm ohh good idea for the bucket........could hang that under the hold up table top...

 

[hennible]

I like santoku knives the best, the balance is usually right for my hand. One with a damascus blade would be pretty cool.

Oh heck yeah

 

[Amberjem]

hahaha I ahev so many different knives...knives and plants a re huge impulse buys forme lol...........I love blades have several swords also...anyways..........@Sharps Big 50 and I been looking around for some good processing blades...both for the chooks, and also deer, and buffalo big game ect.......