INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

So my nice side won out last night and I agreed to a late meeting to sale 2 ducks to someone who had missed the last pickup due to a family emergency. Well guess what they did not show last night either. If they happen to be reading this, I hope they realize they will not be buying from me in the future.
No show no call is very very rude.

Other than that all is well. If anyone is interested in some mallard ducks, please message me. I have 3 females and 1 male. If you are willing to take the drake, I'll make you a deal.

 

[ChickCrazed]

So my nice side won out last night and I agreed to a late meeting to sale 2 ducks to someone who had missed the last pickup due to a family emergency. Well guess what they did not show last night either. If they happen to be reading this, I hope they realize they will not be buying from me in the future.
No show no call is very very rude.

Other than that all is well. If anyone is interested in some mallard ducks, please message me. I have 3 females and 1 male. If you are willing to take the drake, I'll make you a deal.

That is super rude! I didn't have any issues this year with no-shows but I required a deposit to be paid in advance. It was a good system. I may have lost out on some sales for people unwilling to pay a 25% advance deposit (in reality it really is a small amount) but those were probably the people that would have stood me up anyway! The serious buyers still did business.

I'm looking forward to hatching next spring! I am still trying to decide which incubator to get. I am leaning towards either a brinsea or a couple of the incuviews. My Mottled Breda and Silkied Ams are growing like crazy! I am picking out a few males now (10 weeks old) but should know with more certainty in a couple of weeks. It is so much harder to tell with breeds that don't have the single combs! You would think wattle development would be at the same rate, but it does not seem to be! I'm hoping I don't have a bunch of late developing boys hidden in there!

I will be taking extra males to be processed this year. It will be hard to do emotionally, but I am excited to try some home grown meat! At what age do you guys process? At what age do they get tough to eat? I will also be taking a few extra hens to be processed. The 2 constantly broody and unfriendly girls are on the list, as are the three flighty isbars that refuse to lay in the nest boxes. They are only 2, so I feel a bit guilty, but since I suspect Marek's in my flock I don't want to re-home them and am sick of the shenanigans!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

.....

I will be taking extra males to be processed this year. It will be hard to do emotionally, but I am excited to try some home grown meat! At what age do you guys process? At what age do they get tough to eat? I will also be taking a few extra hens to be processed. The 2 constantly broody and unfriendly girls are on the list, as are the three flighty isbars that refuse to lay in the nest boxes. They are only 2, so I feel a bit guilty, but since I suspect Marek's in my flock I don't want to re-home them and am sick of the shenanigans!

We process based on so many things and age is somewhere on the middle of the list. Here was the reasoning we used to pick the last set of birds. EE roos are smaller and harder for DH to skin, but processing was at Racin's with a plucker so a lot of those got to go. Then there were 2 mean roosters that had killed a small rooster. And lastly there were two breeders from last season that I wanted replaced, one was on the small side the other would not let me take eggs easily. Since almost all of those roosters would have been hard to skin they got chosen. For the upcoming processing we will be finishing off the EE that are at least the size of a foot ball, then starting in on the largest buffs. We plan to skin them. Not much meat on an EE but they get mean fast.

Something else to consider if you are processing is the weather and bugs. Cooler weather means less flies most times but harder to keep water hot without an outside stove.

I slow cook my chickens until the meat falls off the bone. Then I use or freeze the meat. I like dished with shredded chicken, stuff including BBQ sauce or a pasta sauce. I have topped a few pizzas with the cooked chicken too. Its very nice to be able to pull out a back of cooked chicken as a meal starter. But since I slow cook all of my chickens, I can't really say when a chicken would get tough. Still the older the chicken the harder to skin it. Also while removing food before culling is good, leave the water in as a dehydrated chicken is hard to skin as well.
If you are wanting chicken for grilling the chicken really needs to be young and more of a meat bird.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Sorry to just drop in again. I am looking forward to fall and the possibility (I can hope) of life slowing down a little. I had to share these pics. There are on my phone so not the best quality.

The Indiana State Fair - a great place for people to learn about livestock. So glad the fair is educating people so well!

Here are a couple examples:
1. In thepoultry/rabbit barn by the only poultry there- the hatching eggs & chicks:

2. Next we head to the FFA/Tractor Supply buildings:

We were laughing and asked the teen with the eggs and chicks where the sign came from and his response was "some idiot who doesn't know what they're talking about"

 

[tiffmw10]

Hi guys! I'm in NW Indiana and searching for a female Call Duck, around 1 month old.

Please let me know if you know anyone that can help me.

 

[Faraday40]

Chickcrazed-
Here's the male Biele we decided to keep. We love the way he looks. He's HUGE & not even crowing or mating yet. Can't say he "likes" being held, but he's calm & submits. His legs just relax, hang & dangle as we walk holding him. The camera angle makes him look a little larger,

My question to you is when did your Bieles start laying? The pullets & cockerel are a little over 4 months. No signs yet.

The orpington boys of the same age are already mating the hens. (They leave the pullets alone for now,) I guess they like the older females. LOL

 

[Hholly]

Chickcrazed-
Here's the male Biele we decided to keep. We love the way he looks. He's HUGE & not even crowing or mating yet. Can't say he "likes" being held, but he's calm & submits. His legs just relax, hang & dangle as we walk holding him. The camera angle makes him look a little larger,

My question to you is when did your Bieles start laying? The pullets & cockerel are a little over 4 months. No signs yet.

The orpington boys of the same age are already mating the hens. (They leave the pullets alone for now,) I guess they like the older females. LOL

Wow! He's pretty... and BIG!

 

[ChickCrazed]

Chickcrazed- Here's the male Biele we decided to keep. We love the way he looks. He's HUGE & not even crowing or mating yet. Can't say he "likes" being held, but he's calm & submits. His legs just relax, hang & dangle as we walk holding him. The camera angle makes him look a little larger, My question to you is when did your Bieles start laying? The pullets & cockerel are a little over 4 months. No signs yet. The orpington boys of the same age are already mating the hens. (They leave the pullets alone for now,) I guess they like the older females. LOL

Wow! He is awesome!!!! I can't wait to see what he is like fully grown with big boy feathers!!!! Should be around 23-25 weeks so very soon!!! They take a few weeks longer than other breeds to start but egg size gets big fast!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Aaargh! I posted about my free rangers that roost in my shed with my dogs to protect them. I had another (notice had) group of 10 Marans that free ranged during the day but had a pen for bedtime. This pen is further from the house and toward the front of the property. When I went down to feed this evening, there was not a single Marans to be found.

This had to be a group of predators to get all 10 at one time--probably too many for the dogs to handle. There was no sign of carnage--just a few feathers in one spot.
I also had the thought that it could have been two-legged varmints, but there is a pair of Polish penned there and they are fine. However, they are in a dog crate up by the house now until I get their pen moved closer.
Six acres and basically everybody is going to be in my back yard!

Aww man, that's terrible! I am so sorry to hear.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I need this sign on my Orpington pen!

So my nice side won out last night and I agreed to a late meeting to sale 2 ducks to someone who had missed the last pickup due to a family emergency. Well guess what they did not show last night either. If they happen to be reading this, I hope they realize they will not be buying from me in the future.
No show no call is very very rude.

Other than that all is well. If anyone is interested in some mallard ducks, please message me. I have 3 females and 1 male. If you are willing to take the drake, I'll make you a deal.

Agreed, sorry to hear it.

Quote: If you process prior to 6 months, they usually are not tough. Problem is most heritage breeds don't have much mass at that point! My Gramma would pressure cook older birds then deep fry, but after they hit a year, they are hard to process. Tough bones, skin etc. about all they are good for is dumplings, pot pies or soup.
If I plan for meat birds, I go with cornish cross. Trying out raising dark cornish to see how they do.

Sorry to just drop in again. I am looking forward to fall and the possibility (I can hope) of life slowing down a little. I had to share these pics. There are on my phone so not the best quality.

The Indiana State Fair - a great place for people to learn about livestock. So glad the fair is educating people so well!

Here are a couple examples:
1. In thepoultry/rabbit barn by the only poultry there- the hatching eggs & chicks:


2. Next we head to the FFA/Tractor Supply buildings:



We were laughing and asked the teen with the eggs and chicks where the sign came from and his response was "some idiot who doesn't know what they're talking about"

Hi guys! I'm in NW Indiana and searching for a female Call Duck, around 1 month old.

Please let me know if you know anyone that can help me.

Hi!

Check our member list here also:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zqcpdsOAzQeuVVHn8z-MK57ml5LMd7-F167MOavaFl0/edit#gid=0

Chickcrazed-
Here's the male Biele we decided to keep. We love the way he looks. He's HUGE & not even crowing or mating yet. Can't say he "likes" being held, but he's calm & submits. His legs just relax, hang & dangle as we walk holding him. The camera angle makes him look a little larger,

My question to you is when did your Bieles start laying? The pullets & cockerel are a little over 4 months. No signs yet.

The orpington boys of the same age are already mating the hens. (They leave the pullets alone for now,) I guess they like the older females. LOL

WOW!!! What a handsome fella!!!