Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[SweetSilver]

The saga of the cockerels is finally at an end!

I told the girls months and months ago that they were going to grow up to be trouble. Oh no, not these sweeties! They would have no giving away, no separate pens, no chicken tractors for their beloved boys. They were so sweet, you see.

Eventually, of course, they made it impossible for the girls to be in the coop with their beloved pullets. Pullets oR cockerels I said. Nooooo! they cried.

Recently in the last month or two, they stopped going in the coop and even I was getting tired of fending off annoying attacks by little bantam brats. Finally, the girls were looking forward to when our neighbors would butcher their birds. I was skeptical they would be on board..

Today--whoa! He's in the middle of butchering and I went to check it out. Brought home a crate in the trunk. "Yes!" the girls both cried. "Now!" All the cockerels, just not Bandit (we agreed on Bandit). Brownie? No....... we agreed *all* the cockerels except Bandit. OK. Family affair catching the cockerels-- pretty easy since they were hiding from the rain in the coop. Left the girls behind to enjoy their nearly cockerel-free coop.

Say bye bye to the boys! Poor boys. Waited in the trunk until it was "their turn". I couldn't watch. I don't think I could ever do the killing, even though the cleaning doesn't phase me (or so I thought). And it never did. Once the deed was done, I had no trouble scalding and plucking and cleaning them out. Tough little dudes, being so old and tiny. Poor "Coop-coop-a-doop" Cooper. He was so tiny and I was so done that his body went into the bucket for the coyotes. Sorry, little dude, but you were a Butt.

Helped my neighbor clean a couple of his birds, younger and bigger (and therefore easier in every way to clean.) I went away with the same impression as I went in with-- the cleaning didn't bug me, the killing did. I didn't even mind cleaning "Flyer" and "George", calling them all by name.

Looking forward to the calm tomorrow. The girls finally learned The Lesson. I'm glad I had the patience to let them learn it through experience. I'm also glad these were little banty's--more irritating than dangerous.

Now they *know* the Trouble With Cockerels, and I don't think I will ever have quite the same struggle as I had this year. But next year? Sexed pullets all the way, baby. I need a couple years to recuperate.

FIN

 

[Chicken Rustler]

You guys realize that you are already 1/3 the way to matching Oregon thread posts of 5012, in less than 2 weeks.

Of course because the OR members are dead beats.

 

[Hinotori]

Next year I want this costume...

OMG! That is awesome!

 

[Hinotori]

You guys realize that you are already 1/3 the way to matching Oregon thread posts of 5012, in less than 2 weeks.

*waves hand* This is not the post count you are looking for. We are not chatty. It's a figment of your imagination.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
Gah! I love it!! LOL super cute, I hope you do it next year Renee!

 

[JennS]

Quote: To the best of my recollection, you hatched these yourself? But you've had some problems. I hope they are all OK, and it is the dust.

Russ- Good luck
No, I didn't get any good chicks from the eggs. It was a total bust. Gimp was the only one hatched and she passed away at around a week.

Half of the chicks are from Monroe Farm & Feed and the other half are from Baxter Barn.

Jennifer

 

[itsren]

Quote: He said it was a "Flip-O-rama" - a cheesy animation.

LOL!

 

[Imp]

Quote: To the best of my recollection, you hatched these yourself? But you've had some problems. I hope they are all OK, and it is the dust.

Russ- Good luck
No, I didn't get any good chicks from the eggs. It was a total bust. Gimp was the only one hatched and she passed away at around a week.

Half of the chicks are from Monroe Farm & Feed and the other half are from Baxter Barn.

Jennifer
Must have been Gimp I remember. Sorry. Hope they are OK.

 

[Gigirg]

  Well hello Gigi. Glad you're here.
You will find this a great forum to get info and just kind of hang out. These gals are very chatty and the forum moves very fast. Just jump right in.
I think it splits out that some of us get chicks from farm stores and then there is a bunch that hatch their own chicks, and then there's the group that buys from trusted local chicken raisers.
I have had good luck with buying from a farm store and from those that raise specific breeds.
I have RIR's (7) hens, 2 Eng Orpingtons, and 1 blue Jersey Giant roo, (very young yet)

Thank you! There is sure a lot of posting going on here!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Love them!! We just need to find a classy sign that says something like that. We're totally not rednecks and all the signage to promote guns is always targeting rednecks!

haha

You could always print up your own and rotate them in a frame, so many great quotes! It would be funny to have them in an elegant script, with a nice frame.