Washingtonians

[Totalcolour]

I have a Q or two for the crew.
Q. how long does it take you (youall with experience) to dress out a chicken if you pluck it by hand?
Q. How difficult is it to raise rabbits for food and which breed would you suggest for weight to food cost?

Don't know about question 1 because ew have a featherman.

Rabbits - we raise for meat so we want a bunny that grows fast, is nice and meaty with a good meat to bone ratio. The best (for us) has been a small Florida White buck that eats almost nothing, crossed onto a nice big Champagne D'Argent. The babies grow quickly (less food consumption) and dress out really well. The bones are small and the meat is dense, fine grained and flavourful.

 

[Totalcolour]

Welcome back Broodytood - so happy everything went well for you!​

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[Farmin Momma]

I have a Q or two for the crew.
Q. how long does it take you (youall with experience) to dress out a chicken if you pluck it by hand?
Q. How difficult is it to raise rabbits for food and which breed would you suggest for weight to food cost?

As far as the chickens. My first one took almost an hour and a half, but it was the first one and I was showing the kids all the organs and explaining what is what and how things work. Very cool stuff. Other than that, a hen takes me about 15-20 min. But the roos that I have done took about an hour, one was almost 2 hours. The reason for the longer amount of time is because the roosters once you get all the fluff and feathers off are a lot smaller than the hens. I could not reach my hand into the body cavitey. So I had to split it open to clean them out. But once I got them open then it only took a few min.

In a few months we will be doing rabbits for meat as well, the breed that I seem to hear of being used the most are the California whites or the Floridas. Other than that I am still reading into it. I know that you have to have seperet pens, for the males and females and only put them together whan you want kits (babies) I really wish I had book marked the pages I had read but, Nope, why would I have done that!? LOL

 

[Farmin Momma]

Hey, BYC WA peeps!
Been a long time!
Life is starting to get back to normal. Radiation is over.
I had my final check on my skin today and things are healing up great!
I have a new level of sympathy for burn victims. Wowsa!
Sorry to anyone that needed an answer or info from me in the last couple of months.
I did not realize how zapped I was going get.
Now that I am coming out of it, I can see how bad it was.
My kids are grateful to have their mom back!
I still take naps but am feeling soooo much better.
On the chicken side of life, We are having to beat off the broodys with a stick.
We sold 3 chickens that we hatch last spring to a friend and 2 of them have shared a hatch!
Very cool, indeed!
There is no way I can get caught up on all the missed stuff, so I just want to say...

to the many new peeps!
Hope everyone is doing ok.

Hi there,
I am newish on here, but just wanted to say sorry that you had to go through such a hard expirence. It sounds like you are doing good now and on your way to great. Hope your healing well!

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

I have a Q or two for the crew.
Q. how long does it take you (youall with experience) to dress out a chicken if you pluck it by hand?
Q. How difficult is it to raise rabbits for food and which breed would you suggest for weight to food cost?

It is not difficult at all to raise rabbits, just remember to keep them dry and out of the wind. Rabbits like cold weather over hot. From what I have heard a California crossed with a New Zealand makes the best meat rabbit. IMHO Florida Whites are way to small for meat. You want them big enough to butcher at 8 to 10 weeks of age.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Hey, BYC WA peeps!
Been a long time!
Life is starting to get back to normal. Radiation is over.
I had my final check on my skin today and things are healing up great!
I have a new level of sympathy for burn victims. Wowsa!
Sorry to anyone that needed an answer or info from me in the last couple of months. 
I did not realize how zapped I was going get. 
Now that I am coming out of it, I can see how bad it was. 
My kids are grateful to have their mom back! 
I still take naps but am feeling soooo much better.
On the chicken side of life, We are having to beat off the broodys with a stick.
We sold 3 chickens that we hatch last spring to a friend and 2 of them have shared a hatch!
Very cool, indeed!
There is no way I can get caught up on all the missed stuff, so I just want to say...
 to the many new peeps!
Hope everyone is doing ok.

Hey, sweetie!

I'd give you the "bighugs" smiley but that's on another part of the internet and I don't hotlink.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Well today I had to call my friend to hurry up and get to my house.  One of her rabbits was dead in his cage.  The momma of the 10 babies was having problems.  Right before she got to my house the momma took her last breath.  Apparently heat stroke got them both.  There was nothing that could be done. 

Well the 10 babies went to her house.  Her mom has a little bichon dog that the babies are almost done nursing and going to see if the dog would adopt any of the babies otherwise they are going to try to bottle feed them. 

Friend has the attitude of the rabbits are now meat.  So kids and I got a lesson in how to dress out a rabbit.  Kids thought it was cool.  I was like ewwww!  but understood the why's and how for's. 

Still a little sad bout the babies.  It scared me to see the mom suffer and die the way she did and I had no idea what to do for her...

Yesterday was the banding of the boy calves.  Um when hubby had me at the feed store and was getting the bands  I actually asked him if they were for the chickens legs and why there were no numbers.  Lady in line laughed a little and told me what they were for.  Yup I felt like a city girl.  But I am still learning. 

I think I will stick with chickens and ducks, I seem to understand them.

So, what kind of calves? I've got fifteen Beef Shorthorn cows here along with a young bull and fourteen calves with eartag numbers from 1590 to 1650 (the rest of the herd is Angus and black crosses and on two other parcels). One cow to go, and she's driving me nuts, vacillating between looking as if she could calve in half a day and then as if she's not even pregnant. My sister says she's done that three years in a row now and delivered a big calf all three times.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I'm shipping cockerels to the auction, and old roos will be compost, I expect, since past some age their meat becomes the color and texture of mahogany and the broth they produce is about as tasty as boiled wood.

Okay SF, when was the last time you actually tried boiled wood, and was it any specific kind? I think you just didn't season it properly

I'm thinking of giving the really old birds to my dog - she's on a modified raw meat diet, so a half a duck or chicken is a very tasty treat for her. Himself had a good laugh the other night after the "Cornish process"; we fed her the head and neck of one and she loved it!

I used to be a stick chewer (especially when I was quitting smoking, argh) although I've never actually eaten mahogany. We did, in fact, butcher the eldest of the Thousand Banty Army; he stewed in the stock pot overnight and barely discolored the water, nor did he get any less rigid. There is a point where things are too old to cook.

 

[StarryEyzz]

I am so use to the chicks just chirping. Now at 6 weeks I am hearing diffrent noises. What is the purring/cooing type sound they make? I can't describe it but one was making it when she was dustbathing.

And I swear one is actually trying to bok bok instead of chirp chirp. LOL

 

[Sunbug4]

Decided it was about time to show off my girls. These are our EE's. The black one is my son's he named her Flash, the white one is my daughter's, she named her Hope. They are 5 weeks old. These babies were born on Easter. Flash is the more trusting, Hope is the piggy.. She is the first one to food always!