INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[racinchickins]

Is 8 months too old for them to be good dinner?

Absolutely not.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[racinchickins]

I might have to schedule a processing date with you! lol I need to learn, I'm more of a hands on type of gal than video! I'd be sure to get some heat running before you start to warm your work space as much as possible...that's gonna be a cold job!

You are welcome to join us. PM me if you are interested.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Happy Tuesday evening everyone! Hope everyone is surviving this grumpy molt time!!!!

Oh it feels like Christmas in November!!! Why you may ask??? Well.... I got my 2014 Meyer Hatchery catalog today!! Oh this catalog is the devil because it has sent my chicken math into overdrive....maybe even borderline obsessed!! Oh well....i guess it's free just to look at the pictures and drool.

I must not pick up the phone....i must not pick up the phone... i must not........

I want mine. I like reading about the different breeds and the pictures the past two years have been great. Sure beats a different catalog I got that has tiny pictures about a doz or more to a page. Of course that does not mean I will automatically order from Meyer. I'm kind of full up on layer chicks right now. But there are two breeds I'm looking to get, the black and white spotted leghorns and the blue Sumatras. The blues I'm planning to get from a breeder but the leghorns I want production hatchery stock for those.

I had a Wow! moment this afternoon. I'm still trying to finish getting my garden boxes tucked in for the winter, spreading hay mulch & manure. I walked past one of the boxes that I had finished Saturday afternoon and noticed there was a concrete block laying at a weird angle in it. I wondered how it got there and then realized it was one of the concrete blocks I had placed on the front anchors of our hay storage shed last week to help stabilize it during a really windy day. This is the same shed that got blown over during Sunday's storm and is about 30 feet from the garden bed where I found the concrete block! I still can't figure out how that block managed to get hurled in the air when the shed flew up -- would have been amazing to see! Just glad it didn't do any damage.

And if anyone around us needs eggs, our chickens are still laying -- got 26 today -- been averaging 20 a day lately. I took 20 dozen to the food pantry today and still have 11 dozen in the fridge plus a few dozen duck eggs. I've been trying to do some extra baking to use the duck eggs, but I can't keep up with them -- collected 9 eggs both yesterday and today from those girls!

Anybody have any good recipes that use a lot of eggs besides quiche, egg casserole, deviled eggs, etc??!!

Chocolate cake cookies use 4 eggs and if you turn them into sandwich cookies filled with icing they go fast. But there is effort in baking them. Sugar cookies also use eggs. If you like thin crust pizza you can toss a medium or large egg into the dough instead of the oil.
Lots of recipes out there for egg bread and I have heard that duck eggs do wonders for corn bread.
I have never made egg nog but the name sure sounds like there would be eggs in it.
Breakfast sandwiches that look like they came from McDonalds don't last long around here. Again the effort is sometimes not worth it.
Angel food cake will use lots of whites while homemade ice cream will take up yolks.

Quote: I wish I would have known, Dh just processed last Saturday. I'll be sure to post if we decide to butcher again. Or if you want, I'm sure DH could be talked into helping processing your chickens if you bring them over. Plan for about an hour per chicken including setup and clean up time. DH hand plucks or skins. I could get the setup done before you got here if you think don't need to see it. And while it would be nice you would not be required to stay for all of the clean up.

Is 8 months too old for them to be good dinner?

You'll need to brine them first for sure. then slow cook and shred into smaller pieces for BBQ, soup, or any other recipe that calls for canned chickens.

 

[CRSelvey]

The alpacas

I loved seeing all your pics, but this face just cracks me up. Very cute. I ,for one, really enjoy seeing everyone's pics.

Glad everyone seems to be ok after the storms this weekend! Defiantly glad to hear Farker and Old Salt are alright! I'm thankful the wind has finally quit howling here today too!!

Spent my morning playing Tetris with straw bales. Now I'm ready for a nap!


Janet- your babies cows are super cute! I'm so glad you were able to finally get some! Mine are no longer babies

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They are growing up so pretty! I'm really jealous of that big pile of straw. I still need more. Where do you get yours?

First one is all of the way out now! Here is a pic just before it pushed itself the rest of the way...during this time I saw 3 more external pips. None of the silkies as of yet! Keeping my fingers crossed! Of course my phone died because I keep using my handy dandy flashlight app on it!

Congratulations on your chicks! Can I put in my order now?

CRSelvey posted: I went with hook and eye latches.

Cheryl ~ I forgot to mention that raccoons can easily open those. Not sure if that's what you use for your outer door. This is the type of latch on my coop doors and I use carbinger locks since they're easy to use and the raccoons haven't figured them out . . . yet!

Oh Mother!!! Did you think I have learned nothing from you guys?

(That's my best teenage eyeroll) I think you would be happy with the security. I have those on the garden fence, the run, the coop, and the chicken doors, as well as the nesting boxes. I have the other kind of locks to keep each of the doors open or closed when I am inside of them. The only issue is when my little ones think they are funny and put the locks on the outside back on to keep me in. I keep a cell on me every time I go out there now for just such an occasion. I did quickly consider installing an intercom/webcam, but so far, my purchase req has been denied

We also use the hook and eyes to keep the cleanout doors locked from the inside of the coop. I'm pretty sure the chickens won't mess with them and the doors are flush outside, so I'm not too worried about predators. Geodes sound MUCH prettier though. I LOVE them.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you.

The storm hit Lebanon pretty hard.

I just finished glueing the feathers back on all my chickens.

The tornado that did the damage passed 1/2 mile south of me. We never heard it or saw it, but my eldest daughter who also lives in Lebanon did see it.

No damage, thank God.

I am now in Charleston, WV helping youngest daughter with a variety of spruce up projects on her house so she can sell it and move back to Indiana. She got the job in Indianapolis at the realty board place. We are in the process of helping her buy a a nice sized tri-level fix-er-uper house on Morse Reservoir in Noblesville. She starts her new job on 1/2/13.

Then I'll have all 3 girl-chicks back in the central Indiana nest.

John

I'm so happy you are good. I'd feel terrible if all that cool stuff in your barn flew to the next county, not to mention all your furry/feathered folks. Be safe and try not to work too hard. Happy your chicks are coming home!

I not only suffer from chicken math, but seed math too! I was so excited I got 2 seed catalogs & my Indiana Berry catalog all this week!! The one seed catalog is from Baker Creek Seeds -- I LOVE that seed company. They sent out to previous customers their brand new, expanded catalog (also have a smaller regular one) that is almost 3/4" thick -- wow -- I was excited to see it. I need to update my seed inventory (yes, an excel spreadsheet -- I'm such a seed geek!) since I emptied out some packets this summer, but to let you know how my seed math works, I have over 30 varieties of tomatoes, at least a dozen different peppers and cucumbers, 6 or 7 varieties of basils, various lettuces, beans, squashes, herbs, etc. I use my spreadsheet to keep track of all the seeds, their length of seed viability, when & where I got them, varieties of each veggie together (all the black tomatoes, red tomatoes, orange tomatoes, yellow tomatoes...) etc. Seed math was another reason we had to move to some acreage -- I didn't have enough space to plant everything!!

I long to be you and love that kind of organization. I've just started using the Vegetable Garden Planning tool on Mother Earth News because I don't know enough about what I am doing. Ignorance has never stopped us before, so this is the year. We had a little bit of basil in the area where the chickens can be and man does it smell wonderful when they just brush past it. Next spring I will have a lot more things growing in the garden and I'm so excited about it. Will you post more pics when it gets going? Also, do you ever buy any seeds from Seeds of Change?

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
Lots of great info in that doc. Thanks for posting it.

 

[CRSelvey]

Tha

Absolutely not.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

That was really informative. Thank you!

 

[CRSelvey]

On

Tha
That was really informative. Thank you!

.

On that note, does anyone know which breeds are better to eat if you prefer dark meat? I think the newer meat birds are more for white meat, but not sure.

 

[racinchickins]

On
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On that note, does anyone know which breeds are better to eat if you prefer dark meat? I think the newer meat birds are more for white meat, but not sure.

In my experience, as far as dark meat/white meat goes. If you you want lots of white meat, raise the cornish X. They don't get the exercise the heritage breeds do, and are processed much younger, as well as having the outsize breasts.

For dark meat (which I MUCH prefer), I'm not sure breed matters much. It is a function of exercise. I've processed quite a few different breeds of chickens by now, and they all had lots of room to run around in. All had plenty of dark meat. I expect the roos that I process this weekend will have lots of dark meat, since they spend all their time either chasing the ladies or running from my dominant Rooster.

From Wikipedia:
Within poultry, there are two types of meats—white and dark. The different colors are based on the different locations and uses of the muscles. Dark meats occur in the legs, which are used to support the weight of the animals while they move. These muscles are designed to develop endurance for long-term use and contain a large amount of myoglobin, allowing the muscle to use oxygen more efficiently for aerobic respiration. In contrast the white meat, generally found within the breasts of the birds, are used for quick bursts of power which requires little of the meat-darkening myoglobin. Note that this holds for ground-based birds like chicken and turkeys – birds which use their chest muscles for sustained flight (such as geese and ducks) have dark meat throughout their bodies.[4] Dark meat contains 2.64 times more saturated fat than white meat, per gram of protein.[5] One commentator has pointed out that dark meat contains more vitamins.[6]

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I have another layer or two. I found 2 broken eggs in the run today, very very light brown tint so I'm thinking not the ducks. They have lots of calcium so I'm thinking it is just the pullet soft shells and lack of knowing where to lay. After all an egg on the ground is more likely to get broken than one in the boxes, thin shelled especially. If it is two layers than I'm up to 3 laying hens. I'm so happy, I know it seems like a low number but somehow getting even one egg makes all that feeding and watering not as bad. Given a few more months and I'll be over run with eggs as my hatchery chicks should start laying in 10-12 weeks. Just in time to sell some off as laying hens for spring.

 

[bradselig]

On
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On that note, does anyone know which breeds are better to eat if you prefer dark meat? I think the newer meat birds are more for white meat, but not sure.

You could also consider coturnix quail as they are all dark meat.