My first Fox attack that ended in a kill

[Mygirls20]

Well from what I understand they dont count birds as part of your livestock limit so I was wanting to get into meat chickens. If I am killing a lot I just might have to get one lol. Stay at home moms really dont have to much time to pluck feathers out of 5 chickens in a day. How do ducks taste? I am trying to come up with some animals that taste good and keep them around maybe get some lambs wanted a cow but they are pricey to feed...

 

[Shellz]

Ok, was hoping you'd get to asking about ducks! THE best duck for meat, IMO, is the Muscovy! I had 2 drakes, & one was a total bad-a**! He was the first farm animal we butchered. Hubby & I plucked him by hand after scalding. Took a few hours, but I didn't mind. Well, that bird got roasting in the oven, & I couldn't believe the aroma! OMG, it was so good! He was about 7 months old & still tender and tasty! Like a cross between the finest roast beef & veal. When work is done on our ponds, I am so going to order more muscovies & breed them! I would never have to buy veal in the store again with these ducks around! They are also known to love eating flies! We had Rouens once. (Like mallards on steroids!) but had very little meat on them, & not very tasty. They are good for algae and slug control, though. Those are the ones I have experience with anyway.

 

[Mygirls20]

Someone has ducks around here and told me I could dig down and put in a kiddy pool for them and keep them with my chickens would that work I think ducks are so cute and would be so interested in getting them. If it was up to me I would have like 20 acres and a ton of animals lol it drives my husband crazy

 

[Shellz]

Ha, ha! Same here! Driving the hubby nuts. I have a one-track chicken mind! Lol!
Yeah, you could do that with a kiddie pool. Muscovies don't need a pond as much as most other breeds do. Just be alert when you've got both species out together. Sometimes it's not a problem, but I've also heard of drakes trying to mate the female chickens. Can get rough! Be aware of ratios of males to females in your flocks. One rooster to 7-10 hens (standard sized -most breeds) and 1 drake to 3-4 duck hens, I think. Been awhile since having ducks. Also there are certain avian diseases that can cross from one flock to another. Just some things to keep in mind. Ah, I love poultry! Good luck with your farm!

 

[frigginchi]

 

[Mygirls20]

omg thank you thats great.YOU ARE AMAZING!!! The sad part is my friend never showed up with his .22 and my hubby let him go. But the stupid thing is the fox is back and sniffing around in the trap again so when I get my .22 hopefully on monday I will set up the trap the same way I did last night (adding some peanut butter cause someone told me that was like crack to foxes and trap shy foxes will go for it) then I will shoot him myself.

 

[Mygirls20]

Ha, ha! Same here! Driving the hubby nuts. I have a one-track chicken mind! Lol!
Yeah, you could do that with a kiddie pool. Muscovies don't need a pond as much as most other breeds do. Just be alert when you've got both species out together. Sometimes it's not a problem, but I've also heard of drakes trying to mate the female chickens. Can get rough! Be aware of ratios of males to females in your flocks. One rooster to 7-10 hens (standard sized -most breeds) and 1 drake to 3-4 duck hens, I think. Been awhile since having ducks. Also there are certain avian diseases that can cross from one flock to another. Just some things to keep in mind. Ah, I love poultry! Good luck with your farm!

Thanks now I just need to be able to find some baby ducks now lol

 

[Steemroo]

Let it go? Oh man.. That was a great tag you put on the photo, though, Friginchi.

I want this fox to buy me a LOTTERY TICKET! Talk about lucky....

We shot wild ducks - didn't know to brine em or soak in milk - taste really varied. Some great, some strong but edible, some so foul (get it?) the dog wouldn't't eat any! Depended on breed & diet. Domestic ducks are milder & delicious - as Shellz said - some are even good layers. 100 years ago duck eggs were common in markets.

Shellz, two hours to pluck a duck?? Big duck? I remember a snow goose needing 30-plus minutes to pluck - man. It was a pain, but I don't remember plucking taking that long.

Ok, some meatie growers skin the birds to avoid plucking. But that ruins it for many recipes. If you wanna buy Cornish rock cross chicks - they grow crazy fast. Pullets ready for slaughter as cornish game hens in under 4 weeks. Cockerels at 5 lbs DRESSED in about 7 weeks. Easy to pluck due to poor feather grow by that age. These are grocery store chickens.

Will cost $2 -$3 a piece or so just to buy chicks - nearer a buck if you buy 100 or more - depending on hatchery - and you can't breed them. Few live over 10 weeks - grow so fast they die.. Slaughter by 8 weeks or you lose em. Weird birds.. Again, this is a special, advanced hybrid - no hormones to get this freakish growth and amazing feed conversion - 2 lbs feed per pound of chicken.

Heritage breeds - rir, rocks, dorking and so on - take 12 to 16 weeks to hit size - eating size.. They have way more flavor. You wanna let em forage too, to save $. And you can breed these.. Start small, see how it goes.

 

[Shellz]

Yeah Steemroo, used to bake with those big duck eggs. Awesome for angel food cake! I had to stop eating them as my body didn't agree with them. Go fig!
We brine our holiday turkeys (we buy free range at a specialty market) and those are great! Haven't brined our chickens yet. Although I request it of the hubby! The thighs & especially legs, can be a bit on the tough side. Depends on breed too! We harvested 7 breeds of birds last year @ 19 weeks (should have done a bit sooner, perhaps). Both pullets & roos. I would say the Golden Laced Wyandotte roos were very good, flavourful, & tenderest all over! The Partridge Chanteclers were also quite good, & had a pleasant bite to the dark meat. Not stringy. Ordering more chicks for our next tasting panel. I kept a large Cuckoo Marans roo from this flock for future breeding. I will keep some of the biggest birds from this year's chicks, to propagate my self sustaining flock.
As fast as those cornish X birds grow, I just don't like their inability to behave like natural chickens. I know we will never come close to reproducing their freakish efficiency at converting feed to tender muscle. We prefer real food, that nature intended. That being said, I don't begrudge anyone who wants to raise cornish X. They are easy on the pocketbook. I just don't enjoy watching birds that sit, eat, & won't move 3 feet to get to water. Then having to watch up to 1/4 (?) of them die of heart attacks and other health problems associated with fast growth. To each his/her own.

Mine do all free range by 8 weeks of age. Some breeds are better foragers than others. You can google Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart. A great resource! Will help narrow down your choices. From there you can google particular breeds & find out more about their specific traits, behaviours, etc,....And always remember, there are exceptions to every rule! As with any animal, they can have their own distinct personalities. Good or bad.

About duck plucking, think we didn't scald him long enough. He was a big boy, about 2/3 the size of a Canada Goose. Again, we were total newbs at it! Whizbang does the deed in about 30 sec. per chicken! We have done up to 3 small birds at once in less than a minute. Joy! I'm not averse to hand plucking a bird. It can be a zen-like activity. Is seldom that we ever need to do just one bird though! There's my rant for the morning!

 

[Mygirls20]

Let it go? Oh man.

. That was a great tag you put on the photo, though, Friginchi.

I want this fox to buy me a LOTTERY TICKET! Talk about lucky....

Sorry

my friend wasnt going to make it till tonight. I didnt have anything that would have really killed it I guess I could have poisoned it but ya who wants to do that plus I didnt know if it would die a clean painless death. I dont like watching animals suffer (even if they did kill my chicken) My husband was also getting frustrated leaving it in the trap for so long... So to save everyone we just let it go. Like I said I am going to wait for my .22 to trap it again dont really want to depend on others to take care of business. This fox is so brave and stupid it really doesnt think I will hurt it. (hate is when people feed the wildlife causes so many issues when wild animals are no longer scared of humans) I saw the guy next to me giving him popcorn, chicken, dog food and peanut butter (another reason why I was worried keeping it in the trap I didnt want him to come over and yell at me for trapping "his" fox)Also my friend told me he had used peanut butter to catch the same fox more then once. So I will try that hoping to get my gun tomorrow now all I need is some fricken ammo

Even if I dont trap it again I now know I can put food out for him next to my security lights and wait him out on the porch with my .22