Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[justbugged]

Quote: I will be posting when I buy my Meat birds, and then the classes for Freezer Camp 101, will be held roughly 8 to 10 weeks later. We will hold one on a Saturday and the other on Sunday. This past year I found that it was easier for some to have different weekend days to come to the class. I have found that a number of children seem to be very interested in the process, and are willing to watch.
I'm very interested in this next year! And I can help out with the slaughter. I've never done a bird, but I've watched videos on chickens and I've euthanized some reptiles and rodents as part of my job and rescue work. Usually it's not bloody, but I've processed my own deer kill and an emu that I bought for food, and that certainly was. If someone can show me how to do it humanely I am fine helping out.

Jennifer

Even humanely killing chickens is quite a shock the first time; it's very bloody and the chicken, no matter what way they're slaughtered, still shakes and bok boks (if the cut wasn't in the perfect place) while bleeding out. All I'm saying is it's a shock, so prepare yourself; I'm still a 100% proponent of it, but eesh. All the boys I brought still think it was awesome, but I was a bit shocked.

Yeah, I watched an interesting set of videos that were made by a local homesteading group on how to slaughter and process a chicken. The woman sat with the hen on her lap, neck stretched down and held firmly, and cut the jugular with a sharp knife. She then had to hold the bird while it bled out, and there still was some splattering. Do you use cones?

I still remember my uncle using a hatchet and tree stump to slaughter roosters when I was a kid. That was messy. I'm not afraid of getting bloody, although it's been a while.

Jennifer
We use cones here. My DS knows where they keep the dead traffic cones, and picked us up a couple. The cones work very well to keep things fairly well contained. We try to keep things to a low roar, so that we don't have the dogs messing around in the nasty stuff. We are also located in a small sub-division so we try to not alert the neighbors, as to what is going on over this side of the fence.

 

[justbugged]

Our play house..Wouldn't this be a cute coop? If only the chickens would go down the slide.

That would be fairly easy to adapt as far as I can see.

 

[JennS]

Would this work for an outdoor brooder? It is 48" long, 18" tall and around 24" wide. It is on end in the pic. The ends have vent holes in a strip of acrylic, the top has two round holes the size of brooder lamps (I'd put a heat lamp on one and leave the other for ventilation), and the whole front is an acrylic sheet which used to be nice and clear before an argus monitor clawed the crud out of it. I'd set it on a couple bricks in the pen to keep dry, put a heat lamp on it, and cut a smaller door in the acrylic for a chicken exit.



I have 8 chicks, ranging from 4-7 weeks old.




Jennifer

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:

 

[JennS]

We use cones here. My DS knows where they keep the dead traffic cones, and picked us up a couple. The cones work very well to keep things fairly well contained. We try to keep things to a low roar, so that we don't have the dogs messing around in the nasty stuff. We are also located in a small sub-division so we try to not alert the neighbors, as to what is going on over this side of the fence.

Now I really want to see how you do it! My city prohibits slaughtering your own chickens (which is stupid) so I'd love to learn a method that I could do quietly. I've got a small area in my yard that can't be seen by any of the neighbors, even though it's maybe 15 feet from another house.

Jennifer

 

[hallerlake]

At night, I remove the crate in front and secure the hardware cloth across the door. The brooder is in a sheltered location. Wind is not a big issue.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Have any of you ever chased a train? It's crazy the things we do for our kids. My oldest son is incredibly obsessed with trains. Check out the photos I took of an old steam engine we chased through Auburn, Kent, Maple Valley and back through Auburn again quite a while back. http://www.flickr.com/photos/imaginationgarden/sets/72157627048526224/

Have you considered a "field trip" To ride the steam train in Chehalis/ Centralia??

 

[justbugged]

Quote: I will be posting when I buy my Meat birds, and then the classes for Freezer Camp 101, will be held roughly 8 to 10 weeks later. We will hold one on a Saturday and the other on Sunday. This past year I found that it was easier for some to have different weekend days to come to the class. I have found that a number of children seem to be very interested in the process, and are willing to watch.

I'd like to come to them this year even if I don't have birds to process. If some of the freeloading hens aren't laying then, they may be canidates though.
Last year there were people that brought their own birds to process. The Enumclaw auction is held on Saturday mornings at 11 am, and the class is set to start after the auction is over. So that would be another source to find a bird that could be brought to the class. No one has to bring a bird to the class though. DH and I are normally using our meat birds for the demonstration. I figure as long as I have to process my own birds, that I can easily teach how to, at the same time. If you want to take home a CornishX meat bird home the day of class, I can figure out the actual cost on one of my meat birds, so that you can purchase one or two of them.

I only take into account the cost of the chick, and the feed that they eat. My time isn't part of how I calculate the cost of the meat bird. I am going to have to feed my meat birds anyway, so for me my time is going to be spent no matter how many birds I have to feed. I do think that this year, that I am going to get another automatic water bowl, so that I don't have to carry water to the birds. I may need to get another feeder or two also, but those are things that I will use year after year, so I don't factor it into the overall cost of raising the meat birds.


This year we will have a chicken plucker available for use also. CL's Einstein made one, and I borrowed last year. My DH was impressed by it and he has copied the design. So we now have our own plucker. As much as I enjoyed going to see CL and Einstein, I found that the two round trips were a bit much for me.

Still I was surprised that they are closer to me than I think. I did enjoy the drive, and Toni went with me on the second trip out to the coast. I really enjoyed the trip, and the visit that day. It was a blast to be driving around with a big black dog, and a Daffy duck in the back seat. Our stop at the convenience store in Montesano was extremely fun when we took the dog and duck for walkies.

I buy about 30 meat bird each year. This year I am thinking that I might buy more like 40 to 50 birds, because we have family that would like to have home raised chicken. While I can't really afford to just give away the meat birds, but I can figure out the cost to get them from a day old chick to the point of butchering. DH and I use about 25 to 30 meat birds per year. That takes into account that DH is rarely home during the week, so I mainly only cook on the weekends.

I think that with 40 or 50 meat birds that I am going to have to manage them in at least two batches. I have found that after the first 3 to 4 weeks that raising them in my flock's run, is much easier than anything that I have tried before. I have a very large run, and have power out to the run. Still with the 20 or 30 laying hens, I do have limits as to how many birds I can manage with-in the run, at one time.

But most of this can wait until spring, and the timing will depend on when the group decides to go into together on an order. I can order the meat birds, and I can have a pick place in the Greenlake neighborhood, and another pick-up place somewhere here in the south end. I will just have to see how things are going come spring.

I have also made a light lunch for classes too. So if any one just wants to come watch, we could make it a potluck for our group here on the WA BYC thread.

I have been thinking about adding on classes for other people via Craigslist. But I would have to charge those folks a small class fee. I was thinking that the class is worth at least 20.00 plus the cost of one meat bird, but still I don't want to charge anything for my friends here on the thread. If anyone has Suggestions about charging for the class on craigslist, I would love to get your opinions.

 

[justbugged]

Quote: Way cool! I am located in a very similar type of neighborhood. The best part is by burying the leftover waste in our gardens, we now have one of the nicest, and healthiest garden in the area. It isn't hard to take care of things quietly enough, that nobody should be able to know what you are doing. As long as there is no mess, I think it's one of those "Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up" things in life. lol

 

[JennS]

At night, I remove the crate in front and secure the hardware cloth across the door. The brooder is in a sheltered location. Wind is not a big issue.

Great, thank you so much for posting the pics! I'm going to haul the cage out from under the house and figure out how to cut a hole in the acrylic. I wonder if I could use a jigsaw? If this works well, I could use the cage for meat chicks in the spring!

Jennifer