Illinois...

[BigBlueHen53]

My Gold Comet went broody again. I had to take her eggs. I feel like a bad person
She wasnt growling at me so maybe she wasn't fully commited yet?
I also don't want to fully break her, I'd like to hatch a few more in spring.

You are not a bad person for taking her eggs. A broody will happily set on golf balls or even an empty nest. The problem is, if you don't break her, she can lose weight and condition and even die. You certainly don't want her to set broody till spring. A couple of options are to try giving her some day-olds and see if she will adopt them. Or you can try cooling her off and see if you can break her of her broodiness for a while. Often broody hens repeat the cycle and she may come broody again in the spring.

 

[BReeder!]

As promised, here are pics of stock being made.

Roast the scraps. In this case, everything is from 4 store bought turkeys. I used the backs, knecks, tails, gizzards, hearts and livers. The tails, gizzards, hearts and livers are not pictured because I added them to the stock pot before taking this photo.

This next step is optional. I stripped most of the meat from the backs and necks. With 4 of each, I ended up with a skillet full of meat that will become turkey tacos tonight.

Then got a big pot. This is a Le Mejor stock pot that holds 10 quarts I think. A 4-6qt would suffice for one turkey.

I dug through or stock of produce and herbs and decided to add a while red onion, the ends from a head of celery, a huge carrot, garlic powder (would have preferred fresh but am out of it), salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley.

Add the roasted scraps to the stock pot and then fill with water. Bring to a boil and then lower to a slow boil/high simmer. Cook down until the liquid is halved. Then add water to bring tm back to the top and continue cooking until halves again. That's when it's ready to be strained, cooled and packed away. This pic is just after water was added to fill the pot. It had been cooking while I was stripping meat from the bones. That's why it looks a but further along already. It will cook for several hours now. I'll update you all later this evening when it's done and getting packed.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

As promised, here are pics of stock being made.

Roast the scraps. In this case, everything is from 4 store bought turkeys. I used the backs, knecks, tails, gizzards, hearts and livers. The tails, gizzards, hearts and livers are not pictured because I added them to the stock pot before taking this photo.
View attachment 2424900View attachment 2424901

This next step is optional. I stripped most of the meat from the backs and necks. With 4 of each, I ended up with a skillet full of meat that will become turkey tacos tonight.
View attachment 2424902

Then got a big pot. This is a Le Mejor stock pot that holds 10 quarts I think. A 4-6qt would suffice for one turkey.
View attachment 2424904

I dug through or stock of produce and herbs and decided to add a while red onion, the ends from a head of celery, a huge carrot, garlic powder (would have preferred fresh but am out of it), salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley.
View attachment 2424905

Add the roasted scraps to the stock pot and then fill with water. Bring to a boil and then lower to a slow boil/high simmer. Cook down until the liquid is halved. Then add water to bring tm back to the top and continue cooking until halves again. That's when it's ready to be strained, cooled and packed away. This pic is just after water was added to fill the pot. It had been cooking while I was stripping meat from the bones. That's why it looks a but further along already. It will cook for several hours now. I'll update you all later this evening when it's done and getting packed.
View attachment 2424906

Wow, that looks awesome! Thank you for all the detailed instruction. Pardon me while I drool!

 

[Faraday40]

My Gold Comet went broody again. I had to take her eggs. I feel like a bad person
She wasnt growling at me so maybe she wasn't fully commited yet?
I also don't want to fully break her, I'd like to hatch a few more in spring.

Because it's getting colder, it's a little easier to break a broody. It may take as little as kicking her off the nest a couple times a day & putting her outside in the cold. (If not an all-out, full, determined, screeching broody, she will sense the cold and hold off for a couple months.) If stubborn, she may need a wire bottom cage for a while. It's impossible to "fully break her." It's genetics and those hens that like to go broody, will continue to go broody. Some more frequent than others, but broody fever will strike again. You just can't predict when.

My Cookie goes broody all the time. She's a good mama too and hatched most of my flock. The easiest broody was one of my flock leaders (Princess). She passed her high pecking order along to her chicks. It was funny to see all the hens move out of the way when a tiny chick approached the feeder. (The other hens knew Princess was not far behind!) Like clockwork, Princess only went broody once a year in June.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

I have started to boil eggs with an instant pot and will never boil the old way again. Sometimes the shell comes off in 2 whole pieces and you can peel in 1 long shell.
Same with stock. Add ingredients, set for 4 hours and do anything else.
I pull bones out but leave all meat, it is a great addition to gravy and one less ingredient to add for soup.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

Wow, that looks awesome! Thank you for all the detailed instruction.

"All the detailed instruction "....... you trying to say something lol

 

[homeschoolin momma]

This is embarrassing......I had to have my dad get some at the store today. He told the cashier that is was for a lady with almost 50 chickens. She laughed.

 

[Molpet]

View attachment 2425394
This is embarrassing......I had to have my dad get some at the store today. He told the cashier that is was for a lady with almost 50 chickens. She laughed.

I get 3 a day ... out of over 40

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I get 3 a day ... out of over 40

I get 1 spitzie egg every other day. I would get 3-4 serama eggs a day, but 2 of them keep laying soft shelled eggs despite me giving them oyster shell and layer feed.

 

[BReeder!]

I get 3 a day ... out of over 40

I'm getting 3 or so a day suddenly with just 10 chickens. I think the chickens are just confused with the weather.