My first Fox attack that ended in a kill

[blucoondawg]

I think a fox which has been caught in a box trap once and released will maybe not go in another trap ever again.

 

[KBG204]

Set a baited trap for him. We leave bear traps for coyotes.

 

[Shellz]

F, YeeHawwww! Indeed! Time to get busy!
M, some trail cams (like mine) have the date/time option built into them already. You just have to do the set up before you mount it.

 

[Steemroo]

Belgian Maline seems interesting. Huge bird with gourmet potential.

NJ giant's meat gets criticized a lot. Fairly? I don't know, but people say too much bone, grainy, too gamey.

This one might be better table fare.

 

[Shellz]

Belgian Maline seems interesting. Huge bird with gourmet potential.

NJ giant's meat gets criticized a lot. Fairly? I don't know, but people say too much bone, grainy, too gamey.

This one might be better table fare.

I've heard that too about Jersey Giants. Kind of like the Flemish Giant rabbits. All bone, no meat! In any case, the only thing I'm concerned with are the feathered legs. They could get rather dirty around here. I'll make it work! Would make for a great project next year, with 2 different breeders having unrelated stock. Fun, fun, fun!

 

[Steemroo]

Hey Shellz, yeah, that'd be awesome. A roast chicken the size of a small turkey! And good meat, too.

I can find almost no information on Melines, save there's a regular kind and an extremely rare "turkey faced" kind. That one, by the picture I found, looks half Malay, which is a really weird, big chicken with a crazy-long neck - tall, long legs, too.

Dorkings are supposed to be the best tasting generally available heritage breed (you have some, don't you?). I've even read that silver Dorkings can be feather sexed at hatch. Queen Victoria said Dorkings were her favorite table bird.

Anyway, we have a crevecouer hen and roo, still young. The roo has not grown quickly and isn't particularly big, but this breed, aside from being endangered or at risk, is known for high quality meat.

Are you actually going to get some of these Melines? One day we'd like to have enough room where we could do separate runs or even fenced paddocks for several breeds (and not just create mutts).

 

[Shellz]

We

Hey Shellz, yeah, that'd be awesome.  A roast chicken the size of a small turkey!  And good meat, too.

I can find almost no information on Melines, save there's a regular kind and an extremely rare "turkey faced" kind.  That one, by the picture I found, looks half Malay, which is a really weird, big chicken with a crazy-long neck - tall, long legs, too.

Dorkings are supposed to be the best tasting generally available heritage breed (you have some, don't you?).  I've even read that silver Dorkings can be feather sexed at hatch.  Queen Victoria said Dorkings were her favorite table bird.

Anyway, we have a crevecouer hen and roo, still young.  The roo has not grown quickly and isn't particularly big, but this breed, aside from being endangered or at risk, is known for high quality meat.

Are you actually going to get some of these Melines?  One day we'd like to have enough room where we could do separate runs or even fenced paddocks for several breeds (and not just create mutts).

We're just a small family of 3 here, so don't need turkeys, but a good sized chicken would be fantastic! One guy has hatching eggs he's making available now, the other just bought a breeding trio. So I won't be ready for them until next year. Gt a lot on my plate with a hatchery order coming in April & the Easter Hatchalong. I've been doing a ton of research on meat breeds. That's why I got some SG Dorkings. At 19 weeks, we harvested the only roo. We weren't all that impressed, but we are talking hatchery stock here. I kept the 3 pullets & one just laid her first egg last month. Thought there was something wrong with her. One pullet has no comb or wattle. Actually, I like this for the cold hardiness. So I hatched a couple of her eggs & looks like they don't have them either. Yay! I think I'll keep a small mutt flock for fun & color. I will be getting some White Chanteclers for my eggs though. I'll keep them until I can breed out faults, or replace them with breeder stock. I'm glad I found some resources in my province recently. There are some great possibilities!
I'd love to hear how your crevecouer project goes! Those are interesting looking birds. Looks like they would be cold hardy too! Good stuff! I'd like to be able to have several sections too. One for egg layers, one for meaties (Malines) and one for mutts!

 

[Steemroo]

19 weeks is getting old. Was it tough or stringy? Roosters reach a point where they st art to go tough.


Or maybe the hatchery didn't have the nest dorkings?

Supermarket chickens are rarely over 7 weeks old.

 

[Steemroo]

19 weeks is getting old. Was it tough or stringy? Roosters reach a point where they st art to go tough.


Or maybe the hatchery didn't have the nest dorkings?

Supermarket chickens are rarely over 7 weeks old.

 

[Shellz]

19 weeks is getting old. Was it tough or stringy? Roosters reach a point where they st art to go tough.


Or maybe the hatchery didn't have the nest dorkings?

Supermarket chickens are rarely over 7 weeks old.

Ok, I'm going to get up on my soapbox now. Supermarket chickens are fast growing freaks of nature that cannot be raised sustainably. The exact breeding of these birds is a closely guarded secret. So, us homesteaders can either buy cornish x chicks EVERY year (and watch 10% die of heart failure, broken legs, etc,... from too rapid growth, before they even reach harvest. They don't even act like other chickens. They sit & eat.) OR get the slower growing, natural birds that you can just breed yourself. I prefer the more expensive chicken, as they are a pleasure to watch free ranging. So yeah, one can never replicate the conversion of feed to meat in the store birds. Folks all around are trying to come up with a better solution thru cross breeding heritage breeds. If folks keep trying & share information, I suppose there could be a viable alternative someday in the distant future.
As far as the dorking goes, he was the right age for processing. 18-21 weeks for most heritage birds. Giant breeds even longer. I blame hatchery for that one. That being said, we did have a VERY good meal of the golden laced Wyandotte roo of same age. Some birds of other breeds, from that bunch dressed out rather small, but were very tasty & tender. Most heritage birds shouldn't be tough until after 6 months of age. Old birds can still be great to eat with the right cooking method like coq au vin, or in a crock pot. Some folks don't mind cheap, fast food & will raise the cornish x birds year after year. It's a personal choice. Others start raising their first flock of these franken-chickens, then vow never again! There's no pleasure in it, unless ALL you want is to save money. Ok, I'm done now, thanks for reading my rant! Lol!