Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat - Part 2 : Chicken Boogaloo.

[SunHwaKwon]

I wish I lived that far out of town. I hate TV, and I think if he was honest with himself my DH would admit he does too. But it tends to consume us on the weekday evenings after exhausting days of work. We get nothing done until the weekend! Unfortunately, right when we bought this farmhouse, the local electric coop that we were going to be belonging to were putting fiber optic internet lines through our valley and we ended up with awesome high speed internet for just $50 a month. Not many around here get that option. My mom over the holler would have to have them put in lines to her house, same company, bet it would cost a fortune.
Addicted and can't stop.

No, I don't think I could stab them with a knife either, but when you can shoot them at 15 yards with an AR-15, no need to get that close!

That is true, until ammo starts to run low or you need to stay quiet, or you need to conserve ammo for hunting

Currently we have to use a Verizon hotspot, which works terribly and runs us something like $120 a month for 30 GB (I got it when they were running a special - 30GB now costs $185 + taxes and fees). The reception goes in and out, and it sounds like a lot of data but streaming eats it up quick. Our only other options are satellite, which would still not be enough data anyway. I could do without cable television but it would be nice to have high speed internet since there are some shows or other things that I can't watch on what is essentially dial up and netflix has a few things I'd like to watch that are only offered through streaming

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I would not be able to stab lol

And never noticed but you're right! I bet the zombies ate quite a few of them but surely not all of them? I bet the rest fled somewhere, animals are smart. But also, can animals become zombies? Maybe that happened too

I think you are probably right on both accounts. To me, the smartest thing to do in a disaster situation is to follow the animals, if you can!

I don't see why there can't be zombie animals, especially since the virus has mutated as the show progressed. That would make things even scarier, in my opinion, especially since then a lot of your food sources will go right out the window. And what if it affected insects? You'd really be screwed lol.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I would not be able to stab lol


And never noticed but you're right! I bet the zombies ate quite a few of them but surely not all of them? I bet the rest fled somewhere, animals are smart. But also, can animals become zombies? Maybe that happened too

I think you are probably right on both accounts. To me, the smartest thing to do in a disaster situation is to follow the animals, if you can! 

I don't see why there can't be zombie animals, especially since the virus has mutated as the show progressed. That would make things even scarier, in my opinion, especially since then a lot of your food sources will go right out the window. And what if it affected insects? You'd really be screwed lol. 

Yeah, exactly! Like during tsunamis and earthquakes and stuff the animals go high up or out of the way.

And hmmm, I wonder if they'll ever show them! But oh yes, that would be scary! And oh snap, everyone would be infected! Lol

I told my friends once I'd keep my dog for protection and they said it was a terrible idea because the dog would 1. Probably bark and attract zombies and 2. Would get bit trying to defend me and then I'd have a zombie dog and have to shoot him

 

[chickendreams24]

Sounds awesome!!!

How long have you and your DH been together?

I would love to see some pictures of the house!

Sounds awesome!!! We still need a lot of stuff and we're still getting the hang of gardening but we love it. DH2B is a farmer. DH2B has also raised cattle although where we're at now we don't have the space or facilities. We are hoping to buy my grandparent's house and land(some 65+ acres). The house is nearly 200 but my grandparents completely redid it when they bought it almost 50 years ago.

It's a place I've dreamed of owning for 21 years.

I'd love to hear more about your flock.

We hope to have a nice orchard one day. Including apples peaches pears cherries grapes red and black raspberries blackberries and strawberries. Asparagus rhubarb and a spacious garden with all the usuals. Sugar maples and paper birches for syrup. Probably walnuts too and who knows what else.

We plan to have horses(DH2B thinks it would be cool to have a team of draft horses for fun I'd love that) especially as we would be living near Amish country. Not to mention if things became apocalyptic there's no telling how long fuel would last and horses would be reliable transportation.

We also want to some day raise our own pork and beef and of course chickens and quail(we just processed our first two last weekend, so easy!! Still a bit hard BC they are so small and cute.) While small, quail and quail eggs are packed with nutrition and they start laying around 6-8 weeks; the same time you can process them- we waited until 10 weeks BC of weather and being busy. Now I can't believe we waited it took us maybe 10-15 minutes to kill and skin and gut them out. Vaccuum sealed and in the freezer. With a turn around like that that's amazing!

Although I haven't gotten the nerve to do the killing deed I help with all the rest of processing. I spend more time with the chickens and quail; enjoying and talking to them so they are something of pets to me although some more than others. I do want to learn though.

We would also like to raise some heritage DP cattle for milk and meat and maybe try some goats or some other animal as well. We also want to add ducks woth a pond and turkeys someday and aquaponics complete with fish.

We also have dogs and cats.

I've only slaughtered one chicken before, my mother and I had to dispatch of a BR rooster last spring cause he got mean with the kids and I. We used a killing cone, it took a while. The next BR rooster was bad, too. Gave it to a guy who has a flock of roosters. I don't do BR anymore for that reason.
We have a dog and three outside cats, 17 chickens. My first incubation is in the homemade incubator right now, on day 10. It's just a test batch before we incubate for meat birds (BOs). 9 random mixes, might have some pure BO in there, too.

We always have lots of projects going around the place, I love it, but try to get them finished before starting new ones, for my husband's sanity. We've been together for 17 years, and he's got me pretty well trained to know when there's too much on the spinning plates and I need to stop. Currently, I have an unfinished garden shed/greenhouse, and we have another acre of thorn trees that needs to be killed/burnt off. And the chickens are changing this year, so there will need to be more coop made and better fences. Strawberry tower in garden, wild blackberries brought under control, etc...etc...etc...

:yiipchick That's me.  And that's my husband. Apples and oranges in one basket.

It's easier when they're mean to people or the hens makes it so much easier for me emotionally.

We had a SLW roo last spring like that he was headed to the freezer. Looking back I'm glad I didn't. He was huge! Like 12+ lbs and so very gentle with the pullets and hens he was perfect in that way. But he had a huge problem with my Mom and I. Not DH2B so much unless he stepped in to protect us. It was too bad about his temperament but even as a chick he hated to be touched. We almost never handled him unless we had to. He just hated people. Then last May he was our first predator loss when he got in between what we believe was a fox and a broody chick. He saved the chick's life by giving his own and kinda redeemed himself at the end. Lol

Still it doesn't excuse him. He would have been culled. I still felt badly. We won't keep aggressive birds roo or hen doesn't matter we don't want to propagate bad temperaments. The hens we sell into layer only flocks since they are usually just overly dominant and attack the other birds. The roos head to freezer camp. This includes roos that can't cohabitate with other roos in our mixed flock for example if they're constantly starting fights etc.

I'm also intrigued by what you said about the killing cone taking a long time. We use a killing cone and it is usually a very short time only a couple minutes.

There are a few reasons we like the killing cones... Processing at home is less stressful for the birds since they don't have to be boxed/crated and shipped. Stressed and nervous birds also those that suffer trauma or fear in the end release proteins that make their meat more tough. We spend a few minutes just carrying each cockeral around calming and soothing him before he is placed in the cone. We then make sure he is calm again. Make a few gentle swipes with the back of the blade where we make the cut so he isn't alarmed by the movement and feel and then I admit I walk away and let DH2B make the cut. Someday I want to be able to do it myself but for now I'm content with every other part of the processing. It's hard as I'm the one that handles and cares for the chicks and birds the most and I'm the one who pretty much decides who to process.

We also like killing cones BC gravity helps them bleed out better(except in cold weather when they clot easier), being upside down chickens are naturally subdued, and BC you're cutting off the blood supply to the bird's brain they go unconscious very quickly if you make the cut correctly. It contains the mess almost completely if done over a bucket or trash can.

The most important thing is being sure you cut in the correct place and feel enough but don't sever the trachea.

How's your incubation going? We will be setting quail and a few bantam eggs tonight! I'm so excited.

What kind of birds do you have in your flock?
We haven't don't pure buff orps but we did some slw/buff Orpington mixes last spring and they were awesome! They we also easy to sex early. We also did some SLW/black 50% English orp line hens- these boys got huge like their mothers and fathers and grew out beautifully. Of course with all heritage breed and heritage breed mixes they take longer to grow out but the meat is well worth it.

Have you read all of Sally Sunshine's hatching advice? We have found it a wealth of information. We also read her assisted hatching guide as we like to help the chicks that have problems due to human error. Of course hatching is always educational and we always learn something. Last year we hatched about 200 chicks! Most were rehomed except the cockerals and some of the pullets we kept.

Sounds wonderful! I can't wait until we get my grandparent's place and get to make it into our homestead we also have some underbrush to clear in the woods there(some invasive and yucky plants moved in so we want to clear them out we have also considered pigs or goats for this purpose.)

Perhaps you can convince him to let you have pigs, to clear out all the shrubbery? I understand that pigs can be very helpful in this undertaking, and you get bacon when they are done!

Yum bacon! Lol we will have some underbrush clearing to do in the woods if we get my grandparents' place in the next couple years and we have talked about using pigs or goats but pigs seem to be in the lead. We also will be raising a flock of guineas and releasing them to forage and hopefully cut the tick population down in the woods.

My family has joked multiple times about surviving an apocalypse/catastrophic world event. We always hit a wall when figuring out what neighbors we might help, and how to protect our livestock from raids..... LOL

Yeah we talk about that too but don't forget you don't just need to think about apocalyptic and disaster situations. For example we also strive to be prepared in case of tornadoes major blizzards or ice storms or the trucking industry not making it to us. Etc etc. It happened just before Christmas here actually that there were shortages and such but more than that many trucks didn't make it to our local stores either on time or at all because of weather and such. It was only a few days but walking into our local grocery stores was crazy the shelves were almost bare. Everyone was trying to stock up last minute for the blizzard and it was pretty nuts. Thankfully all we needed was a few staples but that was the worst I've ever seen it around here as far as people in a panic about food and water and such.

It was a pretty bad storm and did white out for a while but it was nice knowing we were safe and the worst we had to worry about was trudging out to do chores and swapping out frozen chicken waterers.

Depending on where you live you might also want to be prepared for hurricanes earthquakes tsunamis droughts or any number of things. We also try to make sure our car is prepped with emergency blankets a med kit, jumper cables, battery charger, sanitizer, water, extra clothes and such also. In case we ever got into or witnessed a crash, or were stranded in our car we want to be sure we'll be okay. We also try to keep some snacks or such in the car.

We know that we would have to trek out to the family homestead two hours north for the best place. It may be hard to grow things there, but it has an artesian well and only 435 people in the whole county. There are already cattle there, and I would bring my chickens and a pair or trio of turkey with.

Sounds great! We'll meet you there! DH2B and I talk and look at bunker plans and such and dream of putting one up the hill in the woods. They even have bunkers that have full dental theaters and multiple family units. Units for gardening, for livestock, for aquaponics. Etc you name it they have it. They're great fun to look at! And can be a very simple design of very elaborate.

DH2B has like 40 or so first cousins and thanks to them being farmers they also have a very large heated shop which could be used as a shelter temporarily with cots all over. The entire side of the family is about 70 people. My side is about 16 lol so we could all get together no problem.

We also talk about going and collecting animals from farms that people have died, gone zombie or abandoned. We have fences planned out too BC let's face it if they had beefed up the walls around the prison Rick and the group in the walking dead might still be there.

Of course if it were a zombie apocalypse like world war z I think the only way to survive just about would be an underground bunker.

This is why I love this site.
My dad thinks that he can store enough food to survive. I am over here learning how to raise and butcher meat birds, grow a garden, cook with only what is available while he keeps storing food like a packrat. Granted, he gets most of it for free. My husband works at a manufacturer of backpacking and survival food. Whenever there is a damaged bag (like when some nut runs into a pallet with a forklift

) they overorder, etc. he takes it home and my dad stores it. Works out great for us. We store nothing but have a place to go to regroup when things go down, and then we can move on and start living off of our land, as soon as we buy some. Next year! My dad genuinly hopes there is a zombie invasion. He wants to shoot one so bad

I'm totally jealous of your connections and your Dad's stockpile but I think both things are very very important. Stockpiles won't last forever and being able to grow or raise your own animals and food and medicinal plants and such would be worth a ton in barter. It could also make people like us a target to those who didn't prepare. So it's a double edged sword.

 

[chickendreams24]

lol

Shooting them is not so bad, but the stabbing in the skull thing might not be so great. 

Have you guys noticed a very distinct lack of animal life on the show, generally speaking? Have the zombies killed them, or did they flee somewhere, or what?

BTW I am another Walking Dead fan that has to stay a season behind. I can't even stream them, that's how far out of town I live. I have to wait for the discs to come in the mail.

I think if they were on the other side of a fence it would be okay or if you had no other choice. I know it's gross but you also have to think that the zombies are rotting and that's why they are so easy to stab in the skull. That's my theory BC the tissues and bones have started to decompose.

That is true, until ammo starts to run low or you need to stay quiet, or you need to conserve ammo for hunting

Currently we have to use a Verizon hotspot, which works terribly and runs us something like $120 a month for 30 GB (I got it when they were running a special - 30GB now costs $185 + taxes and fees). The reception goes in and out, and it sounds like a lot of data but streaming eats it up quick. Our only other options are satellite, which would still not be enough data anyway. I could do without cable television but it would be nice to have high speed internet since there are some shows or other things that I can't watch on what is essentially dial up and netflix has a few things I'd like to watch that are only offered through streaming  

I totally agree about conserving ammo and stabbing them. It would be disgusting and take soem getting used to but I think it could be gotten used to.

Yeah, exactly! Like during tsunamis and earthquakes and stuff the animals go high up or out of the way.

And hmmm, I wonder if they'll ever show them! But oh yes, that would be scary! And oh snap, everyone would be infected! Lol

I told my friends once I'd keep my dog for protection and they said it was a terrible idea because the dog would 1. Probably bark and attract zombies and 2. Would get bit trying to defend me and then I'd have a zombie dog and have to shoot him

Oh my gosh! Bugs! I never thought of that but I think they're probably different enough from us that they couldn't be infected. I hope. Now dogs just makes me think of I am legend. That would so suck. That being said they did show some feral dogs in the walking dead if anyone remembers.

We have some theories about what to do with yappy or barking dogs because we want to build multiple fences around our compound(which sounds cultish lol but isn't meant that way) and then we would keep the dogs in the center except for maybe those that could handle it or were used for hunting. Still I think most animals have a sixth sense about stuff like that and would be pretty quiet.

We want to do multiple fences and possibly including pits on the outside of the walls to be able to trap most of the zombies for easy killing. We also plan to have at least one back escape way in case people show up or we got over run and had to get the heck out of dodge. We've even toyed with the idea of creating safe paths to towns and such by using shipping containers connected end to end with doors here and there out where needed. In that way we could get to town and scavenge for supplies and bring them back to the tunnels and then go back out for more. The tunnels would also be a safe place to walk. Of course that's more of a long term plan.

We have a shipping container and semi truck storage area near our house. We also have several companies shipping depots including dollar general(which carries food that most people don't think about) and several medical and other kinds of supply companies.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I agree, bugs probably can't get infected but dogs would be so sad

I think your idea of an area in the center is great though! And I love the pit idea for zombies! Although I think as sad as it is we might have to cull or turn lose any dogs that can't be quiet. Hopefully they would know like you say but some dogs are just yappy or like mine and protective and therefore bark. It's nice to ward off intruders (and maybe even have a few guard dogd?) but sound also carries and would likely bring zombies to the compound constantly. Sure, we could trap them, but I think noisy dogs would need to go. Or put in a sound proof area. And then maybe we could breed for quiet dogs?

And I think the dogs would have to have a purpose. As much as I love dogs, we can't afford to just be wasting food on pet dogs. They would have to be maybe hunters, guard/protection dogs, sled dogs, etc. Which btw, sled dogs might be another good idea for transportation in winter. And horses.

I love that shipping container idea! Except what happens if zombies or enemy people get inside? Would we keep the doors shut? That would work on our end leaving the compound but how would you open the door from the other end when you get to the destination?

We would have to play with it more I guess.

GREAT ideas though.

You guys have really thought about this haha

 

[10AcreChick]

Wow, look what we started!
Gotta say, the part that ****** me off the most in that show was when they decided to leave the farm because there was a wave of zombies coming. Why didn't they just board it up and turn off the lights and stay quiet while they passed by? Or go down in the basement and wait for it to pass? Seemed to me like the producers were just tired of the farm. Weak, if you ask me. And if you watch the first episodes again after 5 seasons, you'll see that the walkers used to not be able to even bend down and reach under cars. Season 5, suddenly they have learned how to! Don't like it when shows are not as OCD about their plots as me.

I have definetly not put as much thought into a zombie apocalypse as some of you, sounds like you are ready!

SPOILER ALERT!
Had a great idea how the "King"s people and Rick's people can defeat that horrible group. They supply them with pigs, so offer to butcher the pigs for them too, but instead give them freshly turned zombie meat! They'll get mad cow disease from being cannibals and all go crazy and die! GENIUS, I KNOW! I couldn't help myself, sorry if that gave away too much of the show to some.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Didn't someone in the show already do that? Maybe not but I thought I saw in one of the episodes one of them was giving someonw rotten meat in the trades

 

[Kiki]

I see stuff like this all the time whenever I make the bad decision to actually read through product reviews. Some people have intelligent, useful reviews, but the majority seem to want to announce to the world what idiots they are. We laugh at the dramatic and unbelievable way that people on infomercials can't seem to grasp how to use simple everyday products and it seems unfathomable that such people actually exist...until you read product reviews and realize the demise of human kind is not only inevitable, but likely to happen sooner than we think.

so true.
so funny but not really funny huh

 

[Bantambird]

Where we are at, I'm not sure we would have to worry much, it's in badlands of Montana. Gotta be hardcore to live there, but if my great great grandparents could homestead there, I bet my family can homestead there again if we had to. The original horse barn is pretty darned cool.