Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

I have eggs peeping under broodies, no time to investigate will check on them after work, about midnight tonight........sounded like it was coming from the side with the turkey, I hope not, she is in a higher nest box and they are not due to hatch I'll early next week...leaving a note for hubby to check on them but he probably will not.....this did not sound like in the shell peeping, it was to loud.

Fingers crossed,


Good luck Fisher Lady, hopefully the chick will be fine

Hopefully you were hearing an echo from the other side!

Hubby may surprise you... it is hard to resist checking for little fluffies under the hens! They are just too cute when you see those little beady eyes watching you back when you lift up the hen!

 

[fisherlady]

edit... duplicate post... my connection must have hiccupped!

 

[fisherlady]

geesh... a hiccough and a sneeze, apparently!?

 

[wingstone]

 
don't even think on it ! ....
the bright side of processing is WE get to come????..hahahahaha....I thought that as funny, like how the invite was out there when the FUN begins!!! ..Hey, If i am down that way at that time..I would love to see how your set-up is working!! Can always learn something that is for-sure!!! And ..I have no issue with getting my hands dirty. ...that's why they make fingernail brushes

Absolutely!  Can always learn from watching someone else's techniques! 

... and I love having 'fingernail brushes' around!  My hands are rarely 'clean' for more than a few hours at a time unless I am at work, and then I am washing them constantly!  Maybe having to keep them so clean at work is why I kind of enjoy just getting them dirty on my days off!?!?

Well, my technique is usually yelling at hubby to get off his butt and keep the assembly (or disassembly in this case) line moving.....he hangs, scalds and plucks, and then puts them in a cooler or ice water...I hate when I open the cooler and it is empty while he is sitting on a bucket watching me.

 

[fisherlady]

Well, my technique is usually yelling at hubby to get off his butt and keep the assembly (or disassembly in this case) line moving.....he hangs, scalds and plucks, and then puts them in a cooler or ice water...I hate when I open the cooler and it is empty while he is sitting on a bucket watching me.

LOL... I am picturing this!

Our process is usually both catch, hang and cut.... then prewash (not always a needed step) and scald and pluck the first 3 or 4 which go into the chill water... then DH continues with the catching and dispatching while I start the butchering/cleaning/gutting/cutting up. When he gets done with whatever number we are doing for the day he goes into clean up mode while I continue with the butchering. He usually has all of the clean up and putting away done about the time that I am almost done with the gutting and quartering. He then helps with the rest of the cutting up and storage arrangements. We aren't super speedy, but we can get it done pretty efficiently now after having done it so many times.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Quote:

I think she has the whole "Olivia Newton John" thing going on..."let's get physical"!! hahahaha

What a cutie!!!


Their feathers have come in really well, I have seen pics where they have spots missing and just look "haggard" , these guys look very nice!!..well, i think so anyway

...




How old are your meaties? We have our first group ever, they are about 3 weeks old? Not old enough to be beat up looking, but old enough for 'Good GAWD! what is that smell??!!' they are currently spending their first day out doors, the heat is scaring me a bit, they can't seem to figure out that the shade is their friend.

Also, the turkeys! I hear ya on the vocal thing. We separated ours into 'potential breeders' and 'potential Thanksgiving', these 2 groups hollered and hollered for each other till I couldn't stand it anymore and joined them back together. Perhaps yours is just hollering for HenBree

Most of our layers and roosters have names, we have about 25 or 30 right now... but they usually are due to some behavior or physical characteristic and the names were given over a long period of time....in reality it makes it easier for DH and I to discuss things which need done with individuals.... it has been handy to be able to identify which broody we are talking about when something happens such as egg additions or removals and chicks hatched or lost. We don't name any of the chicks which are destined for sale or freezer, though we do identify them by broody and breed/sex. A number of our hens weren't named until they went broody... we use colored zip ties to tell them apart, so often it was 'red/left' or 'green/right' and the names came later. Our roosters actually respond to their names! LOL .... so they know who is getting yelled at!

We don't name the meat birds at all, but usually refer to them as the sumos... and further differentiate based on size... mini, small, medium or big guy/girl....again it is done to facilitate phone conversations about health issues or activities, behaviors. (since I am gone for 24 hours at a time a few times a week)

Only a very few of our birds are named.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I just wanted to share with everyone. A week ago I was terrified to let everyone out to free range at all, Even for an hour or so. Well I'm happy to report that the past two days, I've left them out almost all day

they live every minute ams come flying and jumping out the door when it opens. Every night, they're in bed by 8:00.

One of my silkies was practicing singing the egg song the other day, my golden comets and one of my wyandottes are looking rather pink around the face, and every one if my nest boxes looks like it's been explored and rearranged lol.

Quote: And if it's a breeding pair, we'll know because the female will rip off the head of the male? Seriously though, I have no idea how to sex praying mantids, I can hardly sex my chooks

Oops, posted pic from phone and didn't realize how fuzzy it was.... a bit better view...

Awesome!

Am I the only one wondering if CC has a cat named "Pepe le Pugh"?

 

[wingstone]

No CC does not have a cat by that name, but I could give him one....my daughter left her two here and I am afraid they may be permanent residents

 

[dheltzel]

And if it's a breeding pair, we'll know because the female will rip off the head of the male? Seriously though, I have no idea how to sex praying mantids, I can hardly sex my chooks

The females are much larger and the males have a frightened, but determined, look in their face . . .

 

[sharron]

Thank you Lisa!!..I am pretty much doing the same thing..the plants on the front porch are doing well...it's the plant out in the cutting garden...go figure, I would think a plant would do better with "no-limits"..hahaha, but what do I know

...hahaha...I am getting basil, not as much as I would like though. I will most likely get some seeds and see what I can do from there. You know, start from scratch...sometimes that does work better...sometimes..hahaha

Got back from Lanc. Co on Sunday, wow..being in the car for these trips is getting harder to do, I am getting old.
Not chicken related, but too cute not to post

...an aspiring "Imelda Marcos"...she does love to shoe shop!!


I think she has the whole "Olivia Newton John" thing going on..."let's get physical"!! hahahaha

**Wing- I would have LOVED to stop by, but it just didn't work out this time. We will be down that way again in August. Maybe we can visit at that time.

...
I love visiting with my BYC friends...makes me feel "more-normal"...hahahaha
Last Saturday we met MC-Abi) & her "Caveman" at the Mackeyville greenhouse...there wasn't much left to buy, picked over real hard!! But we did enjoy ourselves.
MC is such a great friend...she even gave me a few eggs to put under my ever-lasting broody hen!! Such a great ENABLER..oh, I mean FRIEND!!

...hahahaha

So, while I was away..a THIRD hen decided to go broody on us....keep in mind, I only have 6 laying hens...so, this really cuts into our egg count!!
I do believe though, with the set-up we have them in that two are "over-it" and now we are back to trying to "normalize" only one...hahaha, this is crazy....
The other two are able to be with the rest of the flock now, they aren't making a 'bee-line' to the nest boxes anymore...now the egg-waiting game

.....

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather!! So glad we have a few days here to dry out some.
To keep this post even more chicken related..here are the good-looking cornishX!!
Their feathers have come in really well, I have seen pics where they have spots missing and just look "haggard" , these guys look very nice!!..well, i think so anyway

...

if you were closer i could give you all the basil you wanted or needed, i planted a row thinking they wouldn't all come up, WRONG, they all came up, i have basil plants coming out my ears, i gave alot of plants away and still have a bunch to go.
anyone have any good basil recipes, that very low on sugar?