Quote: I'm sorry I just saw your posts. I've been away. Busy day rescuing animals yesterday. Couldn't catch my rooster in her basement so I'll have to go back after dark. After things settled down and I locked everything up, I decided to shoot some pool. I went to the car and my cue wasn't there. Looked in the house and it wasn't there either. Then I figured my son took it. I went hunting for him. He was right up the street at Kitty's Corner playing pool with a friend - with my stick. I gave him a hard time calling him Rod Stewart (Maggie Mae reference - "steal my daddy's cue") but we ended up playing about 5 games. Then I went to the next club up the street so I got up late today. By doing it, do you mean where he is standing on the back or by the cloaca? If it's everywhere, it's likely molting. Remedy is to wait and up the protein a bit. If it is concentrated on the middle of the back, it's likely overbreeding. Remedy is more hens or fewer roosters. If it's all over but mostly just in front of the tail and the tail itself, it could be the beginning of cannibalism. Remedy is a boost of animal protein. That looks like overbreeding. How many roosters and how many hens? You can use a side cutters and lop them off. For dark eggs, weigh rather than candle. Then adjust humidity accordingly. If humidity is correct, 11-12% weight will be lost from laying to transfer to hatcher at day 18. You can graph it. If not enough lost, lower humidity or vice versa. You can weigh a few individually or a whole tray. If doing a whole tray or carton, do all one breed of egg at a time and make sure to account for the container in your math. X2 I've never done it but a friend showed me how to do it. While holding the rooster, gently twist the spur until the sheath separates and slides off. It will grow back. I feed inside and water outside but also have nipple waterers inside most buildings. pretty bird - yours? Fortran or Cobol? Never learned them. Ever have a horned Hereford with the horn that grew into its face? Cute. I used to have about 4 varieties of Polish. Be watchful of aerial predators. That's an impressive list. Like you, I can't remember them all. Started out unpaid picking corn, castrating hogs/steers, baling hay, etc.. Then for cash, cutting grass, shoveling snow, removing storm windows, replacing them with screens and vice versa spring and summer on about 20 properties. First job for a paycheck was a pump jockey at a gas station. That was when we not only pumped the gas but checked the oil, water, tire inflation and washed windows on every car that came in - year round. I also did oil changes, installed belts, hoses, changed thermostats, water pumps, etc.. Mostly bolt on stuff. I did body work there from time to time. At the same job I ran a service truck and tow truck. Winched people out of creeks, up cliffs, etc.. Changing flats and winches were always in the worst weather. Nobody wants to do that stuff in pouring down rain. We towed for AAA, AMOCO and about 10 police forces. Then the Army. I taught new recruits in Europe about the Soviet Military Liaison Mission. I was a general's driver and colonel's secretary. I worked in S2 (military intelligence) - yeah, I know, that's an oxymoron. Was in charge of document and installation security for an Artillery Group headquarters. I think my favorite job was running the map room where I stored maps of all scales of most of Europe. I also had to maintain our office's vehicles - a jeep and a deuce and a half. Managed a pool, foosball and pinball hall. Worked another towing job on commission for almost no money at a junkyard. I think there were about 8 jobs in between I don't remember. Taught driver's ed. Worked the assembly line at Ford. You name something on a car and I installed it - from installing and trimming vinyl roofs, chrome, brake boosters, door locks, windows, lights, wiring, charging air conditioning, welding, tires, etc.. At one time I knew 9 relief routes and a repair route. Each one of those relieved and had to know 7 different jobs. Then I was an industrial electrician doing everything from changing light bulbs to programming robots and making them talk to associated automation. At one time we had 8 technical trainers. 4 for robotics, 3 for other automation like programmable logic controllers, paint, glueing, sealing, vision systems, dimensioning systems, spot, roll and projection welding etc. and one trainer for air logic and VFDs. Eventually I replaced all of them doing all the technical training myself on all shifts. I also taught math to people preparing for the apprenticeship test. When we were told the place would close in a few years, I knew the technical training job's days were numbered. I bid on and got a job as a powerhouse/stationary steam engineer. That was a sweet job. Maybe the best I've ever had. 4 of us covered the place 24/7. The power house could never be left unmanned. All incoming water, natural gas, propane, diesel, fire protection, electricity, compressed air and steam came through that building. It was loud and dangerous with most kinds of hazards. Noise, PCBs from the transformers, asbestos for the steam boilers, high voltage, extreme heat, etc.. Over 32 years There wasn't a place a human could fit in a car plant that I hadn't worked nor a job I hadn't done. Toward the end of my career, after a shut down, I could start at the front of the building and restart every system on the 150 acre property. Not really bragging but very few others - if any - could do that. This is some of the automation I programmed. I know almost everyone in the next 2 videos. The gal in the next video in green at the 2:35 mark cut her finger off on that job. I got the finger out of the spring mount put it on ice and sent it to the hospital with her. She has perfect use of it today. After it closed, I had 3 stints as robot programmer and automation engineer at the KC plant which builds F150-350 trucks and Escapes. Between gigs, I did some programming at steel mills and pickling plants. I started in renewable energy doing solar thermal, water and photovoltaic as well as wind power for a few years. My boss was a moron. I then went to Costa Rica to work at a macaw breeding and restoration program doing both maintenance and bird care for about 500 scarlet and great green macaws. That was a volunteer job. I did a lot of rehab and commercial roofing jobs doing everything from slate to EPDM to TPO and shingle. I've done bricklaying, tuckpointing, architectural stone and architectural copper and stone carving. I may have a big EPDM project on a historic monument at a cemetery next month. That would be my first job other than teaching chicken classes in a few years. I know I forgot a lot of others. Quote: Don't do it. It has to rest for at least 24 hours before cooking or freezing. At my house, offal, feathers, heads, feet and blood go into the compost pile. I don't get the idea of regular medication. No. Maybe. It hurts me to watch one die too but it's reality. Kids have watched it from an early age for millennia. I loved 'Spooks Spectacular', 'One Step Beyond' and 'Twilight Zone' when I was a kid. And I'm normal, right? lalala It upsets me too, but I also eat chicken. I hope to again. Not at my current abode though. We usually took them to a local processor. Each small town had one. They'd slaughter, butcher, package per your instructions and freeze them. You'd pick them up a week later when frozen solid. We did butcher on the farm a couple times. I was a kid but loved being able to go to the freezer and select favorite cuts of meat. Even from my pet steer.