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

[ozexpat]

It looks like 2 pullets but I will wait. I also have a lemon barred/cuckoo that I hope is a roo.

Most people dream of getting all pullets lol.

Waiting till October to buy shipped eggs is smart. There are less around but quality is better.

 

[piglett]

It looks like 2 pullets but I will wait. I also have a lemon barred/cuckoo that I hope is a roo.

Most people dream of getting all pullets lol.

Waiting till October to buy shipped eggs is smart. There are less around but quality is better.

got a line on 10 local muscovy baby ducks (40 bucks for all of them)
i ended up with just 2 girls out of 9 from the ones i got earlier in the season
looks like i may be having duck for christmas

 

[ozexpat]

got a line on 10 local muscovy baby ducks (40 bucks for all of them)
i ended up with just 2 girls out of 9 from the ones i got earlier in the season
looks like i may be having duck for christmas

I would not worry too much about only 2 girls. They put rabbits to shame. I had 2. Three months later I had 40. One hatched 24 the other 16. Still it will be good to have a bit of different blood. Get Mrs P to network the Pinays in the area. You may develop a balut business.

Scovie tastes a little different to Mallard type ducks. It is more veal like. Cook it slow and a little rare. Do a practice run before you cook for guests.

I also made sausage out of it.

Here is a great recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/duck-sausage-salsiccia-danitra-recipe/index.html

You can substitute a combination of bacon and fat pork for the pancetta. Scovie tends to be pretty lean.

 

[Tara Black]

OZ i see that good looking buff orpington pullet you have there
did you get 2 girls & a boy or was it the other way around?

i couldn't figure out why i couldn't sex the white Bresse birds i have here
well after checking out youtube i now know that i have all girls
not 1 boy in the bunch
even the black Bresse is a girl
no luck finding any on craigslist in the northeast
3 people are selling eggs on ebay but way too far for me to go pick them up (20 hours & up)

i think i'll give weighing a shot this time & maybe not turning them for the 1st couple day will also help?
i had some really good hatches when i was running the woodstove
so i think i'll wait till the weather get a little colder before i do my 1st test hatch with my monster bator

I just went up to PA and picked up their silkies for a reasonable price and got 2 Blue Breda chicks as well, and they had Bresse chicks available. Here is the site
http://www.hhpoultry.com/store.html?m

 

[ozexpat]

I just went up to PA and picked up their silkies for a reasonable price and got 2 Blue Breda chicks as well, and they had Bresse chicks available. Here is the site
http://www.hhpoultry.com/store.html?m

Piglett:

You need an egg train to get them to you. PA is a nice weekend road trip.

 

[ozexpat]

Its Monday morning in the Phils. Day 16. The Quail eggs went into the hatchabator last night. It was impossible for Bernie to candle so we will just hope.

Our feed delivery arrived on Friday.

220lb Chick Starter [2sacks at $28.30]
330lb Opa (rice bran) [3sacks @ $15.30]
110lb Soy Meal [1sack @ $46.50]
110lb Cracked Corn [1sack @ $20.90]

$170 delivered and should last 5-6 weeks

I could just buy pellets or mash at but I try to save where I can and need multiple feed types so.....

I buy chick starter as it is the highest protein (22%) and the same price as layer (14%).

I mix this pre-made feed with rice bran (called opa locally). Opa is 14% protein..

For quail, chukar, pheasant and turkey chicks/keats/poults I add soy meal (48-54% protein).

I blend to make approx. 30% for chicks quail pheasants and partridges. My grow-outs get 20% and the adults get 16% protein.

I then add 1:10 ratio of copra meal. It contains 14% protein and lots of goodies but it can't be tolerated in high ratios. Its only $8 for 110lb from the mill I sell my dried copra (coconut meat).

Freezer camp gets coconut meat straight from the tree, grated and blended with cracked corn. Its more about calories than nutrition to fatten them.

I add vit & mineral supplement.

I don't add amprolium to make medicated feed. If I get an outbreak of cocci then I may.

I feed them branches of ipil-ipil and malungay trees as they are high in iron and other nutrients.

We get sacks of oyster shells for free and grind them up as free choice.

I end up paying about $19 per 110lbs for feed.

Our CocoBeach Poultry Farm is on the main route across the island so the distributor drops it off for free as they deliver to all the retailers in the small towns.

In my little apartment in Anaheim I only hatch chicks and buy chick starter in 5lb bags.......

 

[katbriar]

I'm always fascinated by what you figure out, oz.

 

[ozexpat]

I'm always fascinated by what you figure out, oz.

That's what happens when you live in a different time zone to your family.

I could be getting into all sorts of trouble both in the flesh and online. Instead, I hatch a few chicks, watch the off TED.org broadcast and read.

I have not turned on my TV in 5 months.

 

[katbriar]

That's what happens when you live in a different time zone to your family.

I could be getting into all sorts of trouble both in the flesh and online. Instead, I hatch a few chicks, watch the off TED.org broadcast and read.

I have not turned on my TV in 5 months.

Exactly! My husband and I compromised. We pay for satellite during football season. Once the Super Bowl is over, off it goes until September.

I figured out how to build a coop over last winter. This one is landscaping and irrigation!

 

[katbriar]

I once worked with an archaeologist, that would reply to people's astonished questions about how some early society made amazing structures, mounds of shaped earth in patterns, or figured out how to preserve food with a simple response, "no TV".