Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[pennyJo1960]

It is rainy here also, get to do the other side of inside pony wall boards
hope we get a bit dry to put the greenhouse plastic up to meet the door and lower sides.
e we did get the other side painted, no more to do today it is raining like heck
here chickens are all hiding in the coop and we are all in our office watching the rain
come down... I did make a stab with my bread maker in making raisin bread less than hour to go
on it.

 

[Duck Drover]

Iam in Marysville Wa and can't find silkie babies near me anywhere. Anyone near me have any advice?

If you are not particular, there are Silkie chicks listed in Arlington on Craigslist. They don't know the color names and they are falsely claiming they are all hens when it is impossible to tell without DNA testing at that age. They seem pretty desperate to get rid of them but they are asking for more than they are worth due to the poor quality. The chicks look like crossbreeds (colors are crossed for sure and at least one has hard feathers) but they may have some Silkie in them. You would need to see the parents to know what you are getting.

We raise Silkies but we don't have chicks to sell right now, plus we are in King County. Our pet quality chicks, if we hatch any that are not at least breeder quality, are the same price and yet far nicer quality with minor defaults. We mostly sell higher quality chicks, though, because we breed to the SOP even though we don't show.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/5575675045.html

 

[pennyJo1960]

If you are not particular, there are Silkie chicks listed in Arlington on Craigslist. They don't know the color names and they are falsely claiming they are all hens when it is impossible to tell without DNA testing at that age. They seem pretty desperate to get rid of them but they are asking for more than they are worth due to the poor quality. The chicks look like crossbreeds (colors are crossed for sure and at least one has hard feathers) but they may have some Silkie in them. You would need to see the parents to know what you are getting.

We raise Silkies but we don't have chicks to sell right now, plus we are in King County. Our pet quality chicks, if we hatch any that are not at least breeder quality, are the same price and yet far nicer quality with minor defaults. We mostly sell higher quality chicks, though, because we breed to the SOP even though we don't show.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/5575675045.html

at least they have the benefit of someone that does know what they
should be

 

[pennyJo1960]

Almost forgot I did get a few photos of my pullets mostly the ones from junebugena
as they are growing

 

[Duck Drover]

trust me it isn't that exciting or difficult find a stump put two nails very close together
so the head is held by them and you can stretch it.....  use a sharp hatchet, hold the chicken
by the legs pull a bit then wack and stand back let go
The trick is in the plucking. have a bucket of boiling water ready if you want the skin left.
going to a butcher shop you more than likely will see how or what is done
it is all in a back room or out in back of the shop.

We have used baling twine to stretch the neck on the chopping block. The most time consuming part is plucking. It helps to butcher outside due to the mess so we have not been able to here with neighbors peering into our yard. If you are going to take the time to do one you want to do several at the same time and have help to speed things along. I know you can rent processing equipment so people will often go in on the rental together and have a work crew to do them in an assembly line. We used to raise all our meat when we lived on acreage but it is harder to do now that we are buying a house in a residential area in order to build equity towards our own acreage someday.

 

[Duck Drover]

Speckled sussex look so pretty!

This is a little odd, but are there any farms or butcher shops nearby that offer dressed heritage or other breeds? I want to try them vs. the commercial Cornish grocery meats. Been checking farmer's markets and craiglist, but I guess meat regulations are (rightfully) much tighter than egg ones.

Back when I raised Muscovy ducks for meat, I would sell live birds and kill them for free. I did clean kills but still cautioned people about proper cooking temperatures. A friend of mine sold live sheep and offered the use of her facilities so people could butcher on her property and just take the meat home. I had people buy my goats and sheep and then I allowed them to butcher on site but I did not provide the equipment like she did. She had to have a license and USDA inspections while I did not. I did not butcher animals for people, only birds. Many people do their own but most people buy their meat packaged instead of raising their own.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We have used baling twine to stretch the neck on the chopping block. The most time consuming part is plucking. It helps to butcher outside due to the mess so we have not been able to here with neighbors peering into our yard. If you are going to take the time to do one you want to do several at the same time and have help to speed things along. I know you can rent processing equipment so people will often go in on the rental together and have a work crew to do them in an assembly line. We used to raise all our meat when we lived on acreage but it is harder to do now that we are buying a house in a residential area in order to build equity towards our own acreage someday.

I understand that, I have always had the pleasure of living outside of towns
and never really had to worry of neighbors... it is easier if you have say 4 to 5 people doing anywhere
from 10 to 20 at a time you build a rhythm and it goes pretty fast.. we used a coleman stove
to keep a huge pot of water to dunk them

 

[pennyJo1960]

Maybe we all need to make a date sometime bring the meat birds if you will
then do them all together

 

[Duck Drover]

If you are not particular, there are Silkie chicks listed in Arlington on Craigslist. They don't know the color names and they are falsely claiming they are all hens when it is impossible to tell without DNA testing at that age. They seem pretty desperate to get rid of them but they are asking for more than they are worth due to the poor quality. The chicks look like crossbreeds (colors are crossed for sure and at least one has hard feathers) but they may have some Silkie in them. You would need to see the parents to know what you are getting.

We raise Silkies but we don't have chicks to sell right now, plus we are in King County. Our pet quality chicks, if we hatch any that are not at least breeder quality, are the same price and yet far nicer quality with minor defaults. We mostly sell higher quality chicks, though, because we breed to the SOP even though we don't show.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/5575675045.html

This flock has more potential to produce decent chicks than the ones listed if you want to make your own babies. I am guessing the hens are all bred to the splash rooster pictured. The splash to splash will be dilute splash. Splash to buff and splash to white will produce mixed colors, though, especially the whites since they are a grab bag of genetics with white being dominant.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/5591041105.html

 

[Hinotori]

Well i have a new phone now. Makes life easier since the computer had died a couple months ago. The phone dying didn't help anything..