I am so sorry to hear about the chicken losses and sickness. It has been a really strange weekend. The weather feels better than summer did all year and I think all of the animals are getting an Indiana Summer excitement about them. Predators included. I know I grump about the doves and quail eating my food but also the good thing about having them all around is that 1) they are great slow bait for any hawks or owls that come around and 2) if there are any predators in the slightest they all swoop out of here louder than an airplane flying by so it is kind of a quick alarm notice for me to look outside.
daegorn: That is exactly why I stay away from them and just get the dual purpose birds. Years and Years ago we tried the whole Broiler Special with Murray and ordered about 100 of them. *shudder* it was so much work keeping up after them and keeping them alive long enough to eat them that we swore we would never do it again. Now I just get my heavy breeds and I am planning on hatching out my food. They do not grow like the hatcheries say their Cornish X Rocks do but we found that neither did their Cornish X Rocks. I have a hard time putting mutant animal in my mouth and enjoying it anyway. I have never really had a hard time with the whole pet to food thing where chickens are concerned either. If I know from the beginning that this chicken is going to get eaten, I just give it a foodish name while I am pampering it and I know it had a good life while it was living and I am going to have a great dinner.
Besides, Australorps, Orps, Wyandottes, RIR, etc. will beef up to around 10 to 12 lbs in about 6 months time and I think their meat tastes a lot better. More juice, a nice amount of fat but not too much and they are a lot less work to get that way. And I enjoy the time it took to raise them instead of dealing with the dreaded manure machine air heads you get with the Broiler Special.
Best Chicken and Dumplings I ever had came from a Barred Rock Hen. *giggle*
As for my weekend, the second set of babies are almost big enough to turn loose in the yard. I would have turned them out this weekend but there are still a couple that I think could fit through the fence if they really wanted to and with them it is a driving force I think. If there is anywhere in the yard they can get out that is usually the first place they start out.
We had a slight picking frenzy on Saturday. Literally, I went out to check on them, they were fine. I took their waterers inside to fill them up and by the time I got back out (10 mins. maybe) they had started picking on this one RIR roo. I have known he was picking bait for a while now. He has stayed yellowish on most of his feathers and has been the last one to fully feather out which gives the others something to notice that he is different. So while it is not a surprise it was this particular baby that was picked, the little bit of time that it took them to decide to do it was a unbelievable. It was also the only day I have not put blood meal in their food. I was being lazy and figured that one day would not be that big of a deal but I guess it was.
He is fine though, I put a heaping glob of pine tar on his wound and they have left him completely alone since. DH was like, "We're just going to eat him so he's not coming in the house. If he makes it through the night with the pine tar great, if not Oh well." *LOL* I think he is going to listen to me from now on about raising babies in your house during the winter time after this last adventure with 34 baby chicks in the house for 6 weeks.
That brooder in the chicken coop is the best thing ever that is for sure.
Eggs are definitely up in numbers over here. I am getting anywhere from 10 to 14/day now. I gave away 4.5 dozen on Friday and I am almost right back where I was before. heh I think it's time to start to find some regulars to sell eggs to now.
I have OSB for a floor on the first floor, no doors on the cabinets, the stove is on cinder blocks and the counter is ply wood! We are trying to get the floor in just after Christmas.
