Maine

[buckabucka]

Quote:
Have fun! It is so exciting getting the coop ready and planning for chickens. And so much fun when they arrive!

 

[m.kitchengirl]

MK- eating food you raised over store bought doesn't sound strange to me, but not many vegetarians land in the place I landed, so I may not be the best judge.
Good luck to you in your new chicken adventure. It is one of the most rewarding endeavors I have ever undertaken.

 

[Speed]

got half the coop insulated this past monday. it's a 5'wx6'lx6'h coop with a aluminum roof. not sure i am as pleased with this as i want to be. i went out this morning and it was 2 degrees out, the thermometer in the coop read 18 degrees. not really sure how accurate the thermometer is as it's mounted on the inside of the door which probably has a little draft and it's against the window glass. i have a bigger thermometer i'm going to try to put on the back wall to see if there's a difference. maybe because i have it close to the glass on the door it might not be ready accurately.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

m.kitchengirl :

MK- eating food you raised over store bought doesn't sound strange to me, but not many vegetarians land in the place I landed, so I may not be the best judge.
Good luck to you in your new chicken adventure. It is one of the most rewarding endeavors I have ever undertaken.

x2. I was a vegetarian from 2002 until 2011. I was a vegetarian due to the way animals are treated for food. I am completely and utterly ok with eating my roos - they were treated well, fed well, got outside in the sun to exercise and scratch around, they were butchered humanely. The unfortunate part of hatching is that approximately half the chicks are roosters and the facts of the matter are you don't need a 1:1 hen to roo ratio. Those extra roos have to go somewhere. I do not eat any other meat at this point, although boyfriend has some moose meat and some local organic farm raised bacon in the freezer that I need to figure out how I feel about.​

 

[hoppy]

SCG- how was your news years day hatch?
I've got one bunch that hatched near christmas (from my paint silkie project) and more due next week(lav orps and wyandotte project).
editted for bad spacing and lettering

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quote:
Thanks for asking! I didn't have a great hatch rate, but it was shipped eggs. I ended up with 15, 7 of which I actually wanted, and of those I'm sure half are roos. So really only adding like 3 pullets to the flock. I guess that's ok though... I don't really have a lot of room.

The ducks are growing incredibly fast. They're 2 weeks old today and I'm certain their voices are starting to change, I think I've been hearing baby quacks. I know it's early, but I'm almost certain of it. I just can't figure out who it is. I hope it warms up soon so I can get them outside, or at the very least into the garage. I will miss having them upstairs in the house, because they're so personable and they stare at me and try to bite through their window to get at me. They eat out of my hand. I'm sure they won't be as friendly once they're not in the main living area. I still have 2 of them for sale if anyone is interested.

 

[hoppy]

ok mainers, thought I would share. BOGO at dairy queen- buy one med blizzard, get a mini, small or med free. you can print this only once.- hope it works for you, it did for me.
http://www.dairyqueen.com/us-en/[email protected]&emailDate=January 2, 2012

 

[MKandtheforce]

Quote:
x2. I was a vegetarian from 2002 until 2011. I was a vegetarian due to the way animals are treated for food. I am completely and utterly ok with eating my roos - they were treated well, fed well, got outside in the sun to exercise and scratch around, they were butchered humanely. The unfortunate part of hatching is that approximately half the chicks are roosters and the facts of the matter are you don't need a 1:1 hen to roo ratio. Those extra roos have to go somewhere. I do not eat any other meat at this point, although boyfriend has some moose meat and some local organic farm raised bacon in the freezer that I need to figure out how I feel about.

Thanks for such a warm welcome to the thread, guys.

I really love this forum so far!

I've been a vegetarian since 2004, pretty much because I hate the way animals are treated in large factories. But once I realized how they can live happy lives prior to butchering, I really don't mind it at all. I still have yet to eat any meat yet, but I plan on my "first" meat being something I take care of and process myself for a more rewarding experience. I plan on doing that with cows and pigs, too, if I ever get my own land. My family also loves eating chicken, so I'm sure that they'll love the idea of having fresh meat! It's better than the idea of drowning in roos and not knowing what to do with them and worrying about them.

What's the best way to learn how to butcher? I looked online, and while the actual butchering part looks straightforward enough, I'll have no idea what to do with the different parts of the roos!

 

[happytraylz]

Anyone have hatching eggs available? I have some that will be going in the bator in a week or so when they arrive, figured I'd try to fill it..

Silkie, Wyandotte, EEs, SFs, or ? Id like to find some SFs to hatch for the wonderful fellow BYCer that was nice enough to let me borrow her bator to try, since I was having not so great hatches with my homeade one. PM me if you have anything available- thanks!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quote:
x2. I was a vegetarian from 2002 until 2011. I was a vegetarian due to the way animals are treated for food. I am completely and utterly ok with eating my roos - they were treated well, fed well, got outside in the sun to exercise and scratch around, they were butchered humanely. The unfortunate part of hatching is that approximately half the chicks are roosters and the facts of the matter are you don't need a 1:1 hen to roo ratio. Those extra roos have to go somewhere. I do not eat any other meat at this point, although boyfriend has some moose meat and some local organic farm raised bacon in the freezer that I need to figure out how I feel about.

Thanks for such a warm welcome to the thread, guys.

I really love this forum so far!

I've been a vegetarian since 2004, pretty much because I hate the way animals are treated in large factories. But once I realized how they can live happy lives prior to butchering, I really don't mind it at all. I still have yet to eat any meat yet, but I plan on my "first" meat being something I take care of and process myself for a more rewarding experience. I plan on doing that with cows and pigs, too, if I ever get my own land. My family also loves eating chicken, so I'm sure that they'll love the idea of having fresh meat! It's better than the idea of drowning in roos and not knowing what to do with them and worrying about them.

What's the best way to learn how to butcher? I looked online, and while the actual butchering part looks straightforward enough, I'll have no idea what to do with the different parts of the roos!

Where do you live?

We learned from a couple of YouTube videos and a really great step by step from an old issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine. We're good at it now - the plucking takes the longest time because I do it by hand. I think boyfriend has something in mind to build for a plucker, which should make the whole process much faster. I don't think he would mind if anyone was close and wanted to learn how to do it by "helping" us next time we do it, probably Aprilish.