The 5th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[angelobutter]

Oh I almost forgot! Remember those goose eggs I snagged from my mom's house while I was house sitting? I have 5 out of 8 developing and the ones that were clear actually did have early quitters in there two very early and one that was about 3/4 of an inch long. the photo is from april 8th,(so 7 days on incubation) and there are two batches set, some from late march and some from early april. My mom is shocked, the majority of these geese are very old! i think the youngest one is one I hatched 5 or 6 years ago! the others were ones that someone was giving away because he had a terminal illness and didn't want his geese to go uncared for

it was heartbreaking, but his geese do have a great home now. Anyways pretty excited for goslings! I am putting another 8 in an incubator today, and my mom has another 8 that we have no idea what to do with because all my other incubators are full!

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Oh I almost forgot! Remember those goose eggs I snagged from my mom's house while I was house sitting? I have 5 out of 8 developing and the ones that were clear actually did have early quitters in there two very early and one that was about 3/4 of an inch long. the photo is from april 8th,(so 7 days on incubation) and there are two batches set, some from late march and some from early april. My mom is shocked, the majority of these geese are very old! i think the youngest one is one I hatched 5 or 6 years ago! the others were ones that someone was giving away because he had a terminal illness and didn't want his geese to go uncared for it was heartbreaking, but his geese do have a great home now. Anyways pretty excited for goslings! I am putting another 8 in an incubator today, and my mom has another 8 that we have no idea what to do with because all my other incubators are full!

Yay goslings! I have one that hatched yesterday and put 2 eggs in my bator yesterday.

 

[JoyfulPromise]

I highly recommend ABM horse bedding instead of shavings for the meatie brooder. It works sooooo much better for all the poop they make! My meaties are now 6 weeks old. (23 of them)

Interesting, I am not sure I am familiar with that type of bedding. I will have to look it up. It is not the pelleted kind, is it?

100 cornish chicks = 300 regular chicks in feed consumption. What goes in also comes out. Thats a lot of chicken poop

Yes, it IS a lot of poop!

Thankfully, the chicks will only be in the garage brooders (2 - 8x8 sections) for 3-4 weeks and then they will move out to 3 hoop houses on our back acre, which will be moved to fresh grass daily. The brooder bedding & poo will make great compost for our garden next year, and the back meadow has the greenest and lushest grass anywhere! LOL! We make our own homemade soy-free feed and ferment it for extra nutrients. We sell extra meaties to friends and a local health group. My brother manages the meat birds and he does up to 3 batches of 100 chicks each year. Lots of work, but lots of healthy and tasty chicken for our freezer and for our customers!

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[Cynthia12]

PA! So glad no one was hurt! No chickens, no humans. Sounds like you have a great helper out there. Go Ben!

 

[Cynthia12]

As I was reading back through Last nights Funny stuff, I pulled some of the stuff that made me laugh, for those who dont have time to read that entire thread!
Some fun stuff and great laughs!!

See here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...long-participants-only/3700_100#post_13250396


Also your welcome to make some of those easter eggs online with you family and show us your creations ON THAT THREAD!

He is a car to them..or whoever was riding him...lol.....

 

[JennaLynn122]

Seeing you all talk about meaties makes me rethink my decision in getting them. I really dont think I want to deal with all that poo on my little property.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Seeing you all talk about meaties makes me rethink my decision in getting them. I really dont think I want to deal with all that poo on my little property.

Beekissed says that ff equals less poop.

 

[angelobutter]

Seeing you all talk about meaties makes me rethink my decision in getting them. I really dont think I want to deal with all that poo on my little property.

do you have a friend or neighbor who would raise them and you could help with feed and butchering? Thats what I am doing. My mom raises the meat birds and me and another neighbor help pay for feed, and when slaughtering day comes we all help with the processing and then we split up the meat when it is all said and done, and i don't need to have the meat birds on my property at all (until they are in my freezer that is) it is a great way to do it if you don't have the physical space/time to deal with poop.

 

[angelobutter]

Beekissed says that ff equals less poop.

never thought of that- I certainly had less chicken poop when i was doing fermented feed for my chickens. i got lazy though when i started making fermented food for myself and my chickens are back to the pellets. lol