Texas

[magpiesing]

On a happy note, my family is enjoying watermelon and so is my flock. It hits the spot in this heat. My Chinese geese and white ducks have pink faces again. But they are heading to the pools to wash off, lol.

Our gang got heir first watermelon today also. Don't think they ever had one before. Broke it into big chunks so they could peck w/o it getting all dirty. It didn't take them long to figure out it was good. They been snacking on it after they got their fill. Even the chicks and Becka got some. It ws cute to watch...Becka would peck out a piece and a chick eat it, others were watching her with a ("Is that really good Mom?")look, as if to see if it was really something good to eat.

 

[winteree]

I'm in the Austin area and would like to learn how to process chickens for eating. Is there anybody within a 50 miles radius or so of Austin who would let me come help the next time they need to do this? Possibly even let me bring a few of my own birds and process them at the same time?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-raise-process-chickens-for-meat-tips-pictures here is everything you should need to know about culling chickens if you have any questions just ask.

 

[bnjrob]

We bought a goose for Christmas dinner one year--about 10 years ago, now, wow!--and enjoyed it, flavor-wise. The thing was, there wasn't as much meat as we'd been expecting. I knew that for the number of people we had we were going to need a heavier goose than if we'd gotten a turkey, but my grandmother-in-law still complained about not getting enough to eat.

Now, my husband is against ever having goose again. *sigh* But it was good!

Thing is - people have gotten so accustomed to the "super size it" thing these days that they are expecting a ton of meat on birds. Those commercial turkeys can't even have sex because their breasts are too large - they have to be artificially inseminated. I think it's more of the expectation of people that is "off" than a problem with how much meat is on the bones of most poultry.

The antique cookbooks that I read will often specify a weight of bird to use - and the weights are usually something like "take a 3 pound dressed fowl". And with the antique poultry books I read, yes there were large birds, like Javas and Plymouth Rocks, but they still were not as huge as people these days seem to think the birds they eat should be. I can roast one of our roosters and it is plenty for the two of us plus leftovers and then I use the carcass to make homemade broth/soup stock with the real runts dressing out at around 3 lbs and the older males averaging 5 lbs dressed. Hubby still gets a kick out of eating a chicken leg that gives a turkey leg a run for its money. It's all about expectations. And portion sizes.

Hopefully you will get another taste of goose. I do want to try it but when I looked at the price of one at the grocery store last Christmas....I nearly died and decided we would just have leg of lamb from Sam's Club that was half the price of a goose.

 

[bnjrob]

@bnjrob Love reading your posts! I always enjoy your advice/experience!

Thank you! My experience....heck, I'm still a newbie that is learning new stuff every day. And my experience sometimes comes from screwing up the first time or two Just when I think I have everything figured out for a certain chicken situation...something changes and I gotta figure out something new to do.

 

[magpiesing]

OK...for all you cat people out there... DH just informed me that today is "International Hug Your Cat Day" so everyone hug your cats today and if you don't have cats maybe you can hug someone elses cat that needs a hug.

 

[bnjrob]

Is there anyone here that can't cull their birds for any reason at all? I can't do it. I've culled 2 birds in years.. I just can't do it

Most people I know sell them or give them to somebody that can do it.

It's hard. Don't feel bad.

I didn't think we'd be able to do it - especially for eating. I still can't kill them myself but I am now able to pluck them. Heck, I actually can touch dead ones without gloves on. I used to not even be able to touch a piece of raw steak without gloves on. But I want to be self sufficient and unless we go vegetarian....I am making myself do this. Even though it bugs me still. And we dont' take killing them for food lightly. We now use a killing cone and slit their throats since we weren't thrilled with the hatchet method and all the anxiety in the chicken and the flopping and squawking. I will say that it's a lot easier to slaughter a rooster that is people aggressive than it is one that is fine, but just didn't make the cut to be a breeder.

 

[magpiesing]

Thank you! My experience....heck, I'm still a newbie that is learning new stuff every day. And my experience sometimes comes from screwing up the first time or two Just when I think I have everything figured out for a certain chicken situation...something changes and I gotta figure out something new to do.

You are Sooo right. Only had chickens for 7 months but we have re done the chicken house several times. Moving boxes and roosts to make it easier for us to maintain and keep happy chickens.

 

[Starfire669]

You're right on with waiting until they are older to hatch from them.  I think it's better that way if you have a choice.

With us, we were stuck trying to hatch from pullets/cockerels just to increase the numbers of live chickens to make sure that if something happened to the original birds, we'd have backups available.  We've had to hatch from pullet eggs twice now - last year because it was the first year of serious breeding and we needed more birds period -  and then this year we had a bloodline appear that was thought to have died out with their owner and me and the guy that wound up with just a handful of birds from that rare line, did not want to risk waiting another year to get more birds from that bloodline on the ground.  I've seen subtle differences in how things go between using pullet/cockerel eggs and this year when we used fully matured hen/cock eggs from our original bloodline birds.  I think the experienced breeders were correct to tell me to wait at least until they are a year old, preferably two years old before hatching from them if possible. 

Incubators.....my favorite is the Brinsea which costs an arm and six legs.  Could only afford the 7 egg capacity one, but did get the one with the automatic humidity pump.  It's pretty much put the eggs in and go.  Love it.  Some people have had problems with the electrical connections on Brinseas but we haven't.  It is great for keeping a consistent temp and humidity even in our house where we don't have central heat and air and the temp/humidity in the house fluctuate a lot.

Also have a Genesis Hovabator 1588.  It's the Styrofoam, circulated air kind.  It's ok.  It's more affordable than the Brinsea but the thermometer is wrong on it and so it requires me to play with it to get the right settings down.  It does hold the 41 capacity chicken egg turner that they sell at Tractor Supply, so that was cheaper than buying the whole kit with the turner included.  I hate the open water tray for humidity but I found an after market humidity pump that works in it - stick the tubing into a container of water and put the other end through a hole in the Styrofoam and then I don't have to be worried about spilling water or checking water levels frequently depending.  For  a "cheaper" incubator, I like it but not as much as the Brinsea.  It takes getting to know its quirks and isn't quite as self-running like the Brinsea is.  But there is more room in it compared the more compact Brinseas.

Have been thinking about making my own with acrylic panels from Lowes since I discovered that you can get the various incubator components online - the thermo/hygrometer control panels, the fans, the heaters - everything.  Have a friend that is using a ReptiPro brand, which apparently is also not real cheap, but she likes it and she is doing duck/geese with it.

The only reason I don't feed layer feed - besides most layer feed having lower protein, is the worry of calcium levels for the males being too high.  So I just put out the oyster shell for the girls once they start laying.  Having to do tons of different feeds - that's a pain.  Have thought about the fermented feed and some friends swear by it.  But with so many chickens, I just couldn't see toting out feed once or twice a day to the pasture for that many chickens.  That and we really want to get back to the old-fashioned farm birds.  The ones that don't need me to do special stuff in order for them to survive and thrive.  I can't find anything in the antique books I read about fermenting feed for chickens.  The farmers threw the chickens outside, survival of the fittest.  The chickens ate grain that dropped out of the livestock bins and any grain that the lady of the house threw out to them.  They ate grain from the farmer's fields, they ate the kitchen scraps, including whey, milk, cream.  They foraged for bugs and vermin and were supposed to do their own part in hustling up some food.  So I struggle with trying to get these guys to where they are not thrown to the wolves, yet can still eventually be self sufficient like old timey chickens were, once we have enough that we can let everyone free range all the time without me standing in the pasture with the shotgun to protect them.

I will keep looking at incubators, maybe I will build my own, lol.

I hear ya about all the different feeds available. I do ferment my feed, but still can't produce enough for everybody so they still get dry feed as well. But I have seen a difference in my flock since they started eating the fermented feed. Not only do they love it, but they are growing better from it as well. I also noticed a drop in feed consumption since starting fermented feed. They eat less and grow better, which is very nice. I am a fan of fermented feed. I just have to find a big enough container to ferment for the chickens, ducks, and geese! They are pigs! Lol.

 

[bnjrob]

I will keep looking at incubators, maybe I will build my own, lol.

I hear ya about all the different feeds available. I do ferment my feed, but still can't produce enough for everybody so they still get dry feed as well. But I have seen a difference in my flock since they started eating the fermented feed. Not only do they love it, but they are growing better from it as well. I also noticed a drop in feed consumption since starting fermented feed. They eat less and grow better, which is very nice. I am a fan of fermented feed. I just have to find a big enough container to ferment for the chickens, ducks, and geese! They are pigs! Lol.

That drop in feed consumption - that is what makes fermented feed very appealing. And then I remember how miserable it is to have to tote water to 12 different pens, around 70 chickens, out to the pasture during the summer....and I think I really don't want to have to do it with feed once or twice a day too.

 

[TherryChicken]

My ducks came running to get at it first lol. Daisy and Ebony were especially quick to get some. Those ducks eat like pigs!

lol