Montana

[Chick N Haus]

Karla my chickens are young, born early may. We butcher our own as well, chop head off with ax and stump, hang to drain and process from there. Have large pot with boiling water outside where we leave the feathers and guts and then bring them in for final clean-up , cut-up, wrap and freeze. DH built large mud room with deep double sink, freezers, counters and stove with double ovens for canning and holiday cooking and game processing.

 

[karlamaria]

Karla my chickens are young, born early may.  We butcher our own as well, chop head off with ax and stump, hang to drain and process from there. Have large pot with boiling water outside where we leave the feathers and guts and then bring them in for final clean-up , cut-up, wrap and freeze. DH built large mud room with deep double sink, freezers, counters and stove with double ovens for canning and holiday cooking and game processing.

wow, that's awesome. I'm not set up for any of that, also my 12 year old is aspergers so killing anything would send him over the edge. We give our roosters away, and he is content in this, but to know they were killed yikes.

 

[karlamaria]

Well I see we are going to get blasted with snow, still need to put the tin can heater in the coop.
I wanted to know if any of you sell meat birds ( cleaned and dressed ) also fresh turkeys . Even a duck or two lol. Mom loves duck, but last time we got one it was tough. We only like young turkeys, under 12 pounds, and young ducks and chickens. I need to add about ten chickens to my freezer and a duck and turkey.
My daughter just flew to Hawaii to see her boyfriend , lucky girl! Her and his parents flew yesterday, she is going to miss the big storm . I miss her already, and I miss her watering the chickens in the mornings lol.
How's everyone doing? This thread has been pretty slow moving these last few weeks.

 

[karlamaria]

Around 4 inches of snow here, still snowing. It was dry and clear here at 5:30 this morning, then the snow started , laid a lot down in a short period of time. I'm so thrilled I had the new pen built, the new roof on it and being wrapped the water was perfect and the pen dry and draft free. This is going to make my winter sooooo much better.

 

[9gerianMile]

We are at about 3000 ft elevation and we're getting snow now. Not full cover on the ground yet, but give it an hour!

Hope everyone is doing well, I had planned to make another giant hanging rabbit cage today... Oh well!

Azriel- how did it go with the heifer? Got pictures?

 

[Tazman99]

I'm from MT.

Already have 6 inches of snow in some spots.

 

[9gerianMile]

Welcome Tazman99! We got about 3 inches yesterday, melted down to 1-2 in different spots, and it's been dusting/snowing on and off today. It's not freezing outside, so it's melting off slowly.

My chickens have gone from 0-2 eggs/day to 10 already today Some of my oldest young girls are coming online judging by the 'surprise' eggs I'm finding on the ground. Apparently first eggs can be sneaky!

How's everyone else doing?

 

[karlamaria]

up to a foot here already, its been snowing heavy all day and could not open my door a few times and made sure I kept shoveling. you can believe Im now super happy I redid my pen and had a new one made !!! the snow is something else, and my chickens are dry dry dry. there pen is keeping the coop much warmer also.we are under a storm watch until midnight tonight, with up to 5 more inches of snow.
Congrats Nigerian !! love when the girls give lots of eggs. we are getting 5 a day still from the new girls, the older gals stopped. lots of eggs, lots of good foods!! like custard, and my favorite ... quiche . I will be making another quiche this weekend. I hope my girls continue all through the winter.
welcome tazzman!!!!!!!!!!!! good to see a new montana person

 

[Azriel]

9gerianMile, I ended up not getting the heifer, the people selling were less than honest about her. She was in a large herd, and they all would come running for grain, but she was very pushy, and charged several times there was no way you could walk up to her or even touch her. They had advertised her at $800, but when I got there they said they wanted $900.I did feel bad, none of the animals were in very good shape, I don't think they have much pasture left, and no hay.
We got about 6' of snow, and it was about 20 today. I think the storm is done here, and I'm thankful it didn't get as bad as they said it was going to. Every time I went out to the chickens it was nice and toasty warm in the coop. My run is covered, but not wrapped so a bit of snow can blow in, there was just a dusting on the ground and none of the girls would go out, they would peek their heads out, and then right back in.
Hope everyone faired well through the storm.

 

[9gerianMile]

Oh Azriel, I'm so sorry! People like that just irk me! We got our first 4 girls from a large, 80+ cow herd (not counting babies) and it's taken almost 2 years to get them to come around. All at different levels. Not worth it, in my opinion! That does make more sense on the price, though! Tame, yearling+ pet yaks go for 1500-3000, depending on their desensitization and training levels. If you do just want a pet yak, I'd recommend a steer. If I get a bull calf in the spring, I'll let you know They can work and be used for fiber, and since they're not intact, no hormonal swings. Even my 'tame' bottle baby girl gets into moods depending on her cycles.

My girls are all doing well, and we're taking out the extra roo's one by one. I'm very happy to report that our beloved banty white cochin "Dovey" who was killed by crows this summer lives on through her daughter who looks like a FBCM but smaller and with Dovey's "clown pants." We call her daughter "Blovey" (for black dovey) and she is now laying us small, dark brown eggs (not chocolate, but half between a Marans and a normal brown). She roosts right in her mom's old spot, too. It's uncanny. A great reason to hatch your own eggs, at least from your favorites

We stayed below 32 today, and there was no snow today. All the snow is patchy but sticking here. Kind of hoping for some solid snow cover. Not 6 feet of it, though! So maybe I should just simmer down, eh?