She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[cppeace]

Thats awesome! I might have to reconsider getting ducks! LoL!!! I would want flightless though.

Yeah pretty much all the regular breeds are flightless only the mallards, calls and other smaller breeds fly. I have Rouens and Swedes they never get more than 2 feet off the ground and that's just when they're exercising their wings. I love the ducks and they lay like crazy pretty much year round. The Rouens are determined to be moms though so I'm letting them set on a nest of 6 eggs. Yes, two ducks are sitting on this one nest. They take turns getting up and eating, bathing and such. Cute little things.

 

[cppeace]

300 Win Mag with a Bushnell XTR scope. I shot this bull across the canyon from 670 yards ranged.

We use everything we can and we process it ourselves. I want my family to understand what goes into harvesting animals and that the animal had a form of intelligence and that taking life is no small thing. I take kids every year and teach them how to respect the animals and have a good level of reverence for it.

I hate to say this in public, but I could watch them for hours. I've been sitting out on the lawn while the sun goes down and watching them while the sun goes down. They are funny creatures.

you are good to teach this

 

[rossfam06]

Impressive!

17 year old caribou?? Wow! How long can they live? (I know nada about caribou)



I think mine was pretty quick, like less than 24 hours... but they do get busy. You might give it another day or so, or maybe post on this thread. They seem pretty quick with answers here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729897/gfm-title-request-thread

We were told he was on his last year by a biologist from his tooth wear. So maybe 17-20 years. LoL!

I tried to open that post but it said I did not have authorization to do so. So I messaged them my name and hopefully it will be here soon!

 

[rossfam06]

Someday I will hunt one. No caribou down here.

Not long with her DH around!

Actually the first one he did kill was a young doe and it did not die quietly or easily. Lets just say that he had to man handle it to kill it. Pretty sad. But it was good eatin!

 

[rossfam06]

Yeah pretty much all the regular breeds are flightless only the mallards, calls and other smaller breeds fly. I have Rouens and Swedes they never get more than 2 feet off the ground and that's just when they're exercising their wings. I love the ducks and they lay like crazy pretty much year round. The Rouens are determined to be moms though so I'm letting them set on a nest of 6 eggs. Yes, two ducks are sitting on this one nest. They take turns getting up and eating, bathing and such. Cute little things.

I am going to have to get some then. AFter I talk it over with hubby! I would only want 2 because I dont want them to destroy the yard. LoL!

 

[cppeace]

I am going to have to get some then. AFter I talk it over with hubby! I would only want 2 because I dont want them to destroy the yard. LoL!

and boy howdy they will. I started with 11 in the backyard and in about a month, maybe two they stripped all the living plants out including the rose bush that was back there. lol I was told, get ducks, they don't dig like chickens lol no they don't dig much, but they do eat everything.

 

[cppeace]

I am going to have to get some then. AFter I talk it over with hubby! I would only want 2 because I dont want them to destroy the yard. LoL!

oh and if your just getting two and you want one of each sex make sure you try and get a drake that isn't overly sexual. Most aren't but occasionally you get one that is a sex machine and needs at least 3 hens lol

 

[scflock]

It is probably the best meat as far as flavor AND texture. Moose is closer in flavor to beef, but it's pretty grainy and a little tougher.



He doesn't sell them. Folks take baskets of eggs to him to incubate and he hatches them for the client and gives them back the chicks. I guess he's been doing it for years.

When my incubator is empty I will offer up the service on my classifieds and see if it flies. Then I can hatch and not have to brood the chicks. 

You see that all the time around here. $1 per egg or split hatch

 

[NTBugtraq]

Well, what a day today...30lbs of garlic scapes either sold or vacuum bagged...I'm now 1/2 through my 10,000 garlics. The rest by Sunday night...gotta love a FoodSaver....

86 eggs in 2 bators right now, 3 in the brooder, and 19 in the young chicken coop. I am so worried I am going to have too many in one place for too long...I got offered another Brinsea Octo 40 ADV EX today, lolz, she said; "Its just sitting there doing nothing!"...I wish she'd mentioned that $900 ago. So, Amy, I think that will finally put my Styrofoam bator to bed (after this hatch)...I mean, really, if I can do 96 at a time in Brinseas...

And now, a question.

I am pretty sure my brooder can hold 96 chicks till they are 2 weeks old...and maybe even closer to 3 weeks old. My young chicken run can hold 96 till 8 weeks its roofed and there's a wire mesh wall between it and the main run. My main run/coop has 21 hens (some 3 years old, some still pullets) and IMO can hold 100+ layers. I am planning on keeping the roos in the young chicken run till they are 14-16 weeks before processing (I would love to cull them earlier, but they aren't likely going to have enough meat on them earlier)...and am thinking to push the 8 week old hens into the main run/coop. I will be adding new 2-3 week old chicks to the young chicken run every 3 weeks.

My chicks/chickens must be enclosed, let's not discuss free-ranging or even tractors (dogs, fox, wolves, bears, red tail hawks, owls, rocky terrain, no real space to move a tractor about...). I cannot add more run till later this summer (which I plan to do).

The goal is to hatch >100 hens and get them to 8 weeks old (meaning, if I lose any before that age I will hatch more to replace them), and process the rest for meat.

How bad an idea is this?

Be brutally honest, but let's not meander into free ranging. They all are getting fermented feed and lots of weeds from the garden beds. The adults get sprouted double-cut oats and black oil sunflower seed...as well as some grit...and fermented organic scratch from the feed mill. Young chicken run gets fermented grower. Brooder gets fermented starter. Both outdoor coops have 6' of automatic water trough, and there will be at least 12" of roost per bird (there is more than that now, but I have to add more, I know.) 10 Nest boxes in the main coop, they are never "brought in at night" as the coop/runs are all very well secured.

 

[RubyNala97]

Here are some pics finally caught her out walking around with her babies she hatched 3

Oh my goodness! Adorable!! I didn't even see the babies until I read what you wrote and had to look back! Super tiny compared the mom!! Love it!