NY chicken lover!!!!

[stonykill]

I am by albany.

Java I have 2 people on my FB page interested in silkies. One I know personally and she lives near me about 30 miles south of you.

 

[Gramma Chick]

I hate the mud!! especially when mixed with chicken poop. Ugh. And now we are going to get snow. At least it will cover the mud. Yesterday I slogged out to the coops to get eggs and the runs were pretty nasty. No time to fix it with work every day so will have to wait for the weekend. Already mixed more shavings into the coop, but would really like all the snow to melt to give them some dead grass to wander around on while I clean.

We have some mud here..we still have some snow but my boots seem to do the trick for the mud ...Wont be good for summer though ..

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. Got 4 inches last night along withsleet and freezing rain. Glad I loaded everyone up as they will stay in the coops today. I dont need foot problems and they were out yesterday in the mud and such. Just have to run water out to the silkies.

Cass---if you are weird then so am I. I hold my birds while dh ropes up the legs for hanging then I help him skin and gut them. I usually do the cutting up and save the carcass for making broth. There is usually enough meat on it for soup as well. I am going to try canning some this year. There is a canning thread on here I was reading last night and everyone seems real happy with the outcome of the finished product. Age doesnt seem to matter as canning makes the meat tender.

Okay--gotta go give my kids some water. Cant wait for warmer weather so I can leave their waterers in the coop!

 

[Lynzi777]

I have a feeling I'm going to have a problem with hawks this year. Yesterday I mentioned I cleaned out the Silkie coop and moved it to a different location...well this morning I'm standing here looking out my kitchen window at the silkies as they picked at the new grass in their run and a hawk swoops down and tries to grab them while they were in there. Not sure what he was expecting to get but he quickly landed and started looking around the coop for another way to get in. Sorry Buddy! Not gonna happen!

 

[rancher hicks]

I must be weird. Not only can I eat my own birds (and nasty roo tastes the best), I can hold their legs while they expire, pluck them, gut them, wash them all naked, bag them and put their name on the bag. I want to know who I am eating because I know WHAT it was....breed, age, etc. I am still trying to get a handle on the optimum age for processing extra roos. 16 weeks has them with lots of budding feathers which are hard to pluck out (actually wound up skinning a couple cuz plucking was darn hard at that age)

For those who are not fond of the thought of eating their "pet", don't freeze the bird whole. Take off the breasts, cut off the thighs with legs and package them as parts, like you get them from the store. Then you are not eating Mister Roo, you are eating chicken. Tasty, yummy chicken. (I do this instead of gutting now....gutting is tricky and I just don't seem to be able to get the hang of it. By taking the parts off I don't have to remove innards and I only lose the back....there isn't much meat on the back. Oh and I don't have to deal with scraping the lungs out. Why that grosses me out, I don't know, but it is my least fav part of gutting)

I'm sure you can buy those styrafoam plates. Then you can wrap them up and pretend you bought them in the store.

I personally have not gotten to the part of holding and plucking but I've gotten better at wringing their necks. I put a bag over their head. The last one was not easy either. I suppose if we are hungry enough we'll do what we have to do.

I do need to buy a good cleaver and cutting board though. I wonder if you kept a heritage free ranger in a pen for the last couple of weeks if that would tenderize things a bit.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have a feeling I'm going to have a problem with hawks this year. Yesterday I mentioned I cleaned out the Silkie coop and moved it to a different location...well this morning I'm standing here looking out my kitchen window at the silkies as they picked at the new grass in their run and a hawk swoops down and tries to grab them while they were in there. Not sure what he was expecting to get but he quickly landed and started looking around the coop for another way to get in. Sorry Buddy! Not gonna happen!

If I get this job, I'll be spending money on more cattle panels for bigger runs. Uncovered so the grass will grow. Just so I can keep them in on days I'm not here.

Plus there will be more planting of shrubs. Preferrably ones with fruit I an use on them. Does anyone know about Aronia berries? Choke cherries I think they're called too.

 

[Tough Old Bird]

I have a feeling I'm going to have a problem with hawks this year. Yesterday I mentioned I cleaned out the Silkie coop and moved it to a different location...well this morning I'm standing here looking out my kitchen window at the silkies as they picked at the new grass in their run and a hawk swoops down and tries to grab them while they were in there. Not sure what he was expecting to get but he quickly landed and started looking around the coop for another way to get in. Sorry Buddy! Not gonna happen!

Hopefully, after some wasted effort and energy, this particular individual will move on. But they are opportunistic and on the wing cover some pretty big territory -- I'd guess your flock will be "monitored" for that golden opportunity these hawks are so good at recognizing. Did your birds freak out when the hawk landed?

TOB

 

[Tough Old Bird]

Rancher,

good luck with the prospective job. Crossing fingers and toes for you.

I read that planting grape vine along pens can be a great multi-purpose vegetation...it offers shade, screening and also some edible forage for your chickens. It just has to be protected from them until it reaches a height of 3' or so. It will trellis up on anything you give it to climb.

Also, did you consider raspberry canes? They grow pretty quickly, too and you can get something out of them.

I guess the disadvantage of these two plants would be that they are seasonal. You'll lose the greenery and cover in the cold season. Maybe you can supplement whatever you plant with some sort of evergreen?

TOB

 

[vmdanielsen]

I must be weird. Not only can I eat my own birds (and nasty roo tastes the best), I can hold their legs while they expire, pluck them, gut them, wash them all naked, bag them and put their name on the bag. I want to know who I am eating because I know WHAT it was....breed, age, etc. I am still trying to get a handle on the optimum age for processing extra roos. 16 weeks has them with lots of budding feathers which are hard to pluck out (actually wound up skinning a couple cuz plucking was darn hard at that age)

For those who are not fond of the thought of eating their "pet", don't freeze the bird whole. Take off the breasts, cut off the thighs with legs and package them as parts, like you get them from the store. Then you are not eating Mister Roo, you are eating chicken. Tasty, yummy chicken. (I do this instead of gutting now....gutting is tricky and I just don't seem to be able to get the hang of it. By taking the parts off I don't have to remove innards and I only lose the back....there isn't much meat on the back. Oh and I don't have to deal with scraping the lungs out. Why that grosses me out, I don't know, but it is my least fav part of gutting)

Morning all. Got 4 inches last night along withsleet and freezing rain. Glad I loaded everyone up as they will stay in the coops today. I dont need foot problems and they were out yesterday in the mud and such. Just have to run water out to the silkies.

Cass---if you are weird then so am I. I hold my birds while dh ropes up the legs for hanging then I help him skin and gut them. I usually do the cutting up and save the carcass for making broth. There is usually enough meat on it for soup as well. I am going to try canning some this year. There is a canning thread on here I was reading last night and everyone seems real happy with the outcome of the finished product. Age doesnt seem to matter as canning makes the meat tender.

Okay--gotta go give my kids some water. Cant wait for warmer weather so I can leave their waterers in the coop!

You guys aren't weird!!!! Once the bird is dead, processing them isn't a problem for me. The truth is, if I had to I could. You guys get gold stars !!!!!!!

 

[SunnysideupstateNY]

Chickprincess, a friend of mine is hatching the eggs for her grandson, since I wasn't getting very many eggs at once, they were staggered when I gave them to her, I believe she put them in the same day she got them. The first one is due this Friday, but it's one that has been difficult to see veins early on so we're crossing our fingers still that it is developing. Then throughout the next week there are more due, I have to double check with her on the hatch dates. She now has 10 in there I think.

Because I don't have my new coop built yet, she will be keeping this batch, if she gets more than she can handle do you want some chicks???
She will be hatching for me again later this spring after I have my coop finished.

Rancher, I have Jostaberry bushes that are doing very well and are easy to propagate.They don't have the spines like the gooseberries do. The girls are always hanging around them, and even stole most of the crop last year! They taste awesome!
Someday I will break down and buy paw paw trees, I've always wanted to try them!