Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[piglett]

they sound like great crosses. good luck

Congrats OZ!!! My first foray into crossing my own meat birds has begun tonight. I set 25 eggs...the cross is
Dark Cornish Roo x barred rock hens
Dark Cornish Roo x bresse hens

Here's hopin!

what are you hoping to get out of the bresse cross ?





EDIT: ok you already answered my question
please keep us up to day on the results




piglett

 

[hillfloweranch]

what are you hoping to get out of the bresse cross ?

The taste as it relates to the marbling of the meat

 

[ozexpat]

It's an experiment we plan to reverse the process between Roos/hens to see how type size and meat develop between each. We want a self re producing food tasting meat bird that we can butcher around 12 weeks so they don't have the issues of the Cornish rocks so well see.

OZ if we're successful we'll send eggs your way

I am looking forward to eating some!!

 

[ozexpat]

sounds like you will have Bernie building more coops soon

Most of its for a fence. I needed a total of 90 lengths of 2x3x10 for the rails on the fence.

The 2x2 will go into coops.

The lumbrr is dimensional i.e. a 2x2 is really 2x2 - not 1.5x1.5.

Thats the last of the trees that has stopped producing all together. Our coconut trees are at end of life. 4 years ago we planted 300 more to replace them. So over the next 7 years we will see many trees felled and turned into coco-lumber.The retail value of each tree as lumber is around $100-200 so we have about USD25-50K in trees - almost half what we paid for the place

 

[ozexpat]

7 viable Peafowl Eggs,. One of them is a pure Java

7 viable Turkey Eggs - all eastern
56 Chukar (bought on a whim)

 

[piglett]

.The retail value of each tree as lumber is around $100-200 so we have about USD25-50K in trees - almost half what we paid for the place

well done OZ!

 

[ozexpat]

WIth all the extra work, Bernie has been struggling to keep up the grass cutting by hand (using a Filipino curved knife).

Our previous guy was a machine when it came to the yard but not so good with animals. He and his wife worked a sugar cane weeders and cutters before they joined us so a hectare of grass was a push over.

I would rather have someone like Bernie who is caring with animals as well as a hard worker so I bought him a industrial size Kawasaki grass cutter/weed wacker. I did not ask the price, I just got my brother in law to get me the same one that they use. We set it up and it started first pull. Its awesome. When we were on the way out of town I asked him how much. It was $150. I was really shocked as things are generally more expensive. Well its a Kawasaki but a "Chinese" Kawasaki lol. My brother in law has used his for a year without an issue so here is hoping.

ETA: Bernie did the whole yard in 2 days

 

[piglett]

WIth all the extra work, Bernie has been struggling to keep up the grass cutting by hand (using a Filipino curved knife).

Our previous guy was a machine when it came to the yard but not so good with animals. He and his wife worked a sugar cane weeders and cutters before they joined us so a hectare of grass was a push over.

I would rather have someone like Bernie who is caring with animals as well as a hard worker so I bought him a industrial size Kawasaki grass cutter/weed wacker. I did not ask the price, I just got my brother in law to get me the same one that they use. We set it up and it started first pull. Its awesome. When we were on the way out of town I asked him how much. It was $150. I was really shocked as things are generally more expensive. Well its a Kawasaki but a "Chinese" Kawasaki lol. My brother in law has used his for a year without an issue so here is hoping.

ETA: Bernie did the whole yard in 2 says

once you get the whole fence up Bernie can let some of the large fowl out each day to help keep the grass trimmed
when i let mine out they do a great job. just a little trimming & that is about it.

the 3 white & 1 black Bresse are getting big
but they are still too young to sex.
it;s been so hot outside that they are still in the bathroom brooder

 

[ozexpat]

once you get the whole fence up Bernie can let some of the large fowl out each day to help keep the grass trimmed
when i let mine out they do a great job. just a little trimming & that is about it.

the 3 white & 1 black Bresse are getting big
but they are still too young to sex.
it;s been so hot outside that they are still in the bathroom brooder

I am trying to get hold of the guy I got the bresse from for you.

Ironically - he was in California and the Bresse I had no luck with came from Maine.

I need a pretty white bird to have in my flock - and one that tastes good is a bonus.

 

[ozexpat]

SO what does Bernie do for a living

6am-7:30 Feed livestock. Clean beach of debris, remove any fallen coconut branches and nuts from house yard.

7:30-8:00 Breakfast

8:00-10:00 Cut Grass, plant trees, harvest coconuts if not too windy, projects

10:00-1030 Break

10:30-12:30 Continue

12:30-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:30 Projects

3:30-400 Break

4:00-5:00 Projects, Bed livestock