my very own micro farm

[aart]

You haven't seen them??.... since?... last doc appt???
For some reason I figured you were changing bandages or had them off by now and doing PT.
But I forget a lot of stuff.
Best Wishes..hang in there.

 

[Angie16hearts]

@lindalouly I was fat happy and stuffed on turkey day. Coincidentally I stuff my turkey with quartered apples oranges and yellow onion to keep it nice and moist through the whole process. As for the incubator, you know I'll want to build one, if not multiple ones Lol. That's just in my nature. @birdman55 has a great walkthrough for one on his thread. Miss the guy and hope he's still lurking.

Today's the day to find out what my fingers look like. It's almost like Christmas in a morbid way. Went to bed late, woke up early. I've got this antsy feeling I can't shake. And time can't pass fast enough, the appointment isn't until this afternoon and that just seems to far away. Maybe once I get a good look at them I'll be able to look at the er pictures and possibly post some before and afters. After all table saw saftey is no joke and what better way to express that than the gory details. I will make plenty of warning before I do something like that tho.
Suppose I should soften the mood a bit before I'm off. So here's qbert napping

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

Awe what a sweetie ! Good luck today! We are pretty cold down here but nothing like your area. Oliver is completely healed ! Yeah! Last night he walked his hatch mate back and forth from the broody coop they have been staying in to the big coop. I watched out of the window. He kept going back and forth....Finally I went out and he came up to me and walked into the big coop. I was so worried!! not for him as much as his blue isbar mate. She's tiny! And I mean tiny! I wanted them to wait another week. However, I checked at first light and they are perched high. Doing good with 12 big girls. I'm sad to cause I know he will start to change . When it was completely dark I went in and moved them to the inside roost next to laying boxes. She laid down and he laid on her and spread his wings to cover her completely ! It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen s chicken do! I do wish I had snapped a picture

Anyways , love to see pics !! Im in That line of work. I hope everything looks good now!

 

[shodack]

Hope the fingers look better than you expect!

 

[attimus]

You haven't seen them??.... since?... last doc appt???
For some reason I figured you were changing bandages or had them off by now and doing PT.
But I forget a lot of stuff.
Best Wishes..hang in there.

Had very specific instructions from the doctor about not changing them until my visits. Something about that much of the inside being held in by that little of the outside. That's actually been something of a problem for my pt guy because he can't find the full range of movement until they are off. I'll be happy to have them off and be back to work.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Well here's the good news. Got the OK to go back to work. Bandages are off and fingers are healing well. Still look a little intense in my opinion but I trust the doctor. I'll keep em covered while at work an on projects but I'm happy the bandages are off. Sensation is considerably interesting but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Guess it's time to get back to the projects, of course at my own pace and leisure.

There's going to be some graphic pictures soon, both of my fingers and the next processing. Most likely not in the same post but I want to give everyone a heads up. I'll post again with multiple warnings before the actual pictures are posted just to give the squimish enough time to skip it.

Excitedly
Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[lindalouly]

Good to hear... Well sorta. Only good things from here on out. Stay careful. You still have to get use to them and go to physical therapy.

 

[attimus]

Well if I thought I'd seen everything and Wish I had gotten a picture of this, but when your blood is boiling you don't really think of pictures. Just woke up to qbert freaking out on the front porch. The same enclosed front porch where's she's been living for months now. Usually this is a good indication of something happening outside. Well this time a freaking owl was clinging to the inside of the screen door! The dam thing shoved itself inside just to go after the duck, which btw is safe anf sound and now sleeping in the bathroom. I'm ean seriously I should have taken a picture, this thing was trapped and all I did was beat it with a broom to shoe it out. Don't think it'll forget me anytime soon. Lol.
Back to sleep and on to fix yet another problem nature has brought to my door. Literally.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Well, with the other nights intrusion I've updated the porch slightly. Installed a new cat door and a good hook and eye latch tho a sliding one might work better. Also started lining the screen with a good heavy mil clear plastic to help keep it a little warmer through the rest of winter. Had time this morning to add the last dozen buckets to the compost pile that will be next years dirt. After the buckets I started emptying the lower pit onto the top off the other and it all looks great.

If I can get a couple things started or done a day I might be able to catch up eventually. feeling pretty confident at this point and I think I may even process these roosters relatively soon. I'll give my buddy a call, he really wanted to sit in, maybe have him document or even process one himself.

Here's a picture of Hermes for the road. He's got this awesome white feather on the side of his head, I've been trying to get a pic of.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Well I was going to process those roosters yesterday but turned out yesterday ended up being my first night back at work. Felt really good but it was soooo slow. A bit of inclement weather also was a factor but whatever rain and clouds were left when I went to sleep are long gone now.
So with this wonderful morning ahead of us I m gonna try and get it done today before my afternoon shift. Hopefully I'll remember to document this time.
Back to you all shortly.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus

 

[attimus]

Processing done. Finally. Room for a few new birds. Lol. Still had to wait another day to start. Here's the set up and a few pics of us midway in.

There will be some graphic pictures.

Funnel shaped wire for that post mortem Sprint.

Chopping block and cutting tool

Notch for the birds head(if I keep using the machete to cull I'll need to update this. Had a bit of an issue I'll get to in a minute.

Camping stove and a good size pot from work. We use this to scald the skin to make the feathers easier to pull. A dash of dishsoap will help the hot water penetrate the feathers quicker. Time and temperature are all important with this method. 130° @ 30 seconds or so, dipping the whole chicken in holding its feet. Give a good swirl and remove, check a larger feather and repeat with less time if necessary.

This cooler is ice and water to shock the cooking process from the scald. I also rinse this out and use later on in to help clean the bird off.

All to important waste bin.

My chefs and filet knives, tho most sharp knives should do. And I do mean sharp.

1st bird to go

And into the tunnel

The 2nd gave me some trouble and wouldn't stay where he needed to. It took more than one swing for him.

Both in the tunnel
Unfortunately at this point I started showing my friend hands on what needed to happen so we missed pictures of the scalding and plucking along with some other steps we'll come to.

Here they are ready to clean

Separating the leg and foot at the joint. If you grab the foot with your free hand it's easy to bend and split it off with enough applied pressure.

At this point there was alot of hands on for both of us again so no gutting.

I did finish up a bit before my friend but was still walking him through it at this point.

And here they are finished up and ready to be wrapped and chilled for a few days in the fridge.
Perhaps the next time around I'll break the whole bird Down to serving portions as well but this scattered photo log is it for now.

With this out of the way maybe the finger pics are soon. We'll see, they still look pretty funky.

Onwards and upwards
Attimus