Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[dutchbunny83]

fisherlady, thanks so much for the link!!!

jajean-- didn't recognize you at first with the new avatar, pretty bird! Good to know about the Malamutes! I've never actually been around them, but I've seen pictures of these massive fur balls & loved them. I don't dislike dogs by any means, but I'm much more of a cat person, so I definitely can't be having one of those come after my cats!!! The cat I have now is a massive 28lb rescue cat that's 8 years old & he thinks he is my chickens' watch dog. He tries to chase off predators& hangs out on top of the coop. I think the 2 years he spent in a shelter with dogs before we got him he know thinks he's actually a dog-- goes to the bus stop every day and waits for my son to get off the bus, no idea how he knows when to go there, but he does haha.

 

[dekel18042]

X2 on the English Shepherd. These were the dogs I was raised with and I have one now. They can make a border collie look like a remedial student.
Thankfully they are not AKC recognized and they fly under the rador. Working ability and health are the criteria used for breeding, not cookie cutter looks.
No poultry have ever been preditorized on our guy's watch.
Chickens have pulled the white tip of his tail while he lies out and and have gone up and pecked bones he has been gnawing on outside. He takes it all in stride.

 

[fisherlady]

Our ES Mindy on baby watch

King of the mountain! Mindy has become a favorite roost for the youngsters.

and to keep it meat bird related... even the Cornish X liked to perch on her!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I am so in Love with Midy! always cool pics! does she show any signs of worry when u process? curious

 

[Tomtommom]

Has anyone tried raising 2-3 meaties with layer chicks? I was debating on getting a few this spring, as a trial run of sorts, to see if I want/can do a bigger batch later on.

 

[fisherlady]

I am so in Love with Midy! always cool pics! does she show any signs of worry when u process? curious

She gets upset that we have the birds in crates before processing... the roosters we did last weekend came into the house in wooden crates and we covered the crate with a sheet to reduce the light and stress. Half hour later I went to check on them and found Mindy had removed the sheet and was laying against one crate to get closer to her birds, and the birds were all against the side of the crates closest to her also. They were happy like that so I just recovered the tops of the crate but left a side open for her. The birds all like being with her, so they were actually probably calmer that way.
She has watched the butchering process but keeps a respectful distance and has never interfered in any way. I tell her the bird is 'gone' and it is like turning off a switch... she walks away and goes to check on other birds that are still here. The dogs don't get near the dead birds at all. She just seems to be trying to figure it out but takes my word for it that it is OK. I don't know what she would do if she didn't have other birds to distract her though. I have found leaving her in the house upsets her worse than being out where she is included.
Mindy and Dillon are not allowed near the cone and are not given anything from the processing. The only chicken my dogs get has been cooked and isn't recognizable. Dillon isn't a year old and he walks through the coop with birds flapping and clucking and acts like they aren't even there unless he is looking for bird bombs, and he noses them in the butt!

The birds ignore him for the most part or just turn and peck him on the nose so he quits pushing!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: lol that silly butt noser!

 

[Tomtommom]

Animals, especially dogs, are far smarter than folks give them credit for. They just *know* things. Very good at sensing things, like peoples intentions. It's like those dogs that can tell if you're going to have a seizure or if a person is mentally impaired.

Ofcourse, some are dumb as a brick.

Can't have it all....

 

[fisherlady]

Has anyone tried raising 2-3 meaties with layer chicks? I was debating on getting a few this spring, as a trial run of sorts, to see if I want/can do a bigger batch later on.

We got 10 meaties and 6 Black Giants (Jersey Giants) at one time, they were fine in the brooder for the first 2 weeks, and then I moved ours to a coop area where they were on sand and had a lot more room. We gave them a pile of hay to sleep in and they had no problems, the meatiest grew faster but I think their heat production helped keep the BGs warmer, if was normal to find the BGs laying in the middle of, or on top of, a pile of meatiest right up till butcher time. There was a great size difference by 3 weeks but it didn't seem to matter as long as they had room to move and find a preferred sleeping area. If you are going to do it, I would suggest a larger breed of layer, but I raised the CornishX, I don't know the growth rate in comparison with the Freedom Ranger type meaties... they are more likely to be regular LF bird size for a couple weeks longer as chicks.

 

[fisherlady]

Animals, especially dogs, are far smarter than folks give them credit for. They just *know* things. Very good at sensing things, like peoples intentions. It's like those dogs that can tell if you're going to have a seizure or if a person is mentally impaired.

Of course, some are dumb as a brick.

Can't have it all....

OMG, I have sure been around a couple of them!

(though they were usually very loving, just not the brightest bulbs!)