Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[chikenscratch]

Well I made it home finally, long day of driving. It was 13 deg when I left Cuties and -1 when I pulled in the driveway. It was nice meeting you ladies today, wish I could of stayed longer. Cuties, the birds are doing good. Brought them in for a photo shoot and ticked off the family for turning the house into a barn for 5 minutes. If I have the names correct, Criss Cross pooped a nice big one
on Tasias leg and she was all dressed up to go out bowling, she wasn't happy! Also thank you so much CS!
So here are the photos: Go to get 1 and bring home 3, isn't that how it always goes!

It looks like you have a great trio!!!! I hope my guy (whatever you name him does well for your breeding purposes! He is an awesome roo. He loves to eat, will always be the first (or one of the firsts) out of the coop running over to the food scraps. He is very patient and kind, gentle and encourages the girls when they are laying eggs. That was when I heard his first crow...he announced an egg being laid! Give him a great big hug for me!

 

[Terri O]

Good morning! Sunny and darn chilly out there for sure! I also have a deer drop off station here for you Southern hunters....I havent heard from my usual guy that shoots a doe before his buck. If he gets a smallish one he gives it to me!

One of the many things I would change about my DH is that he could be a hunter! Although...if he did that like he does the stuff he is already involved in we would be more broke than we already are!

I just saw an ad for Carraba's...never heard of them but man did those entrees ever look great! DH says there is one in Brookfield. I may just look them up and see what their GF options look like. Now I better find something to eat! My tummy is growling!

Later--stay warm! TerriO

(PS) Those birds look great on the couch Clark! I think you should say to He11 with the fam and let them stay inside for the winter!

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,, FYI I just started a new thread on the Meat Chicken forum..
It is called " Making a Feather Plucker.".

I will be posting my pictures of the feather plucker project over there,, just in case anyone here is interested..
I won't bore you non butchering people with it here anymore..

I broke the frozen plastic handle off of my outside faucet this morning.. sh!t !!!!!!
I hope I can replace just the handle,, I don't feel like doing the whole frostless assembly..
well, at least this way, I fill up pails in the kitchen sink, and the birds get warm water..

Almost time to watch the Pack throw another game.. I won't give up.. I even put on a Packer sweat shirt this morning,, we gotta love em,, win or lose.. eh ?

Annie has to go in to work at 3PM, so it looks like the chickens will spend at least one more night in the turkey pen.. they seem to be doing OK , so far..

..........jiminwiscGOPACK..........

 

[babylady4]

Since I know the pros are on here....

I would like to purchase a vacuum seal food saver and I wanted to know what the pros/cons are of whatever particular brands that you have.

I have a friend looking at getting a meat grinder; what do you recommend?

 

[Sclark73]

Since I know the pros are on here....

I would like to purchase a vacuum seal food saver and I wanted to know what the pros/cons are of whatever particular brands that you have.

I have a friend looking at getting a meat grinder; what do you recommend?

I have a Food Saver and it has seemed to work well for me. I've used it last hunting season and will for this one. It was nice to have since I have a meat grinder on my Oster I can package and freeze. I'm not one for paper wrapping and had used zip locks previously but they never seem to get all of the air out. This is my second Food Saver as my old one the foam seal wore out. Considering what it would cost to have my meat processed and packaged, saved hundreds just last year alone.

I'm having a blast teaching the chicks to drink out of a water bottle. It will be so much nicer than having to clean their other waterer as they can't seem to not crap in it or on it the minute I'd clean it and put it back in the cage. After a bit here I'm gathering up the boys to help me build a winter pen for the new BLRW for their quarantine period. I'm not moving too fast, the drive yesterday took a tole on my back, legs and feet besides I'm hoping it'll warm up a bit outside if I take my time getting out there. Their in the garage for now, Hephaestus was crowing away with the ladies bright and early this morning. I think the girls will be named Athena and Aphrodite but not 100% sure as I want to watch their behavior a bit first.

Chickenscratch & Cuties-do you know the exact hatch date of these birds as I want to put it in my record book.

 

[cuties]

Clark, we picked the hens up from del on 4-26. They would have been a day or two.

I am so glad you all came to visit! I had so much fun yesterday

Lisa, you should have stayed ;-)

Poor syd must have the flu. She has been sick. Good news is she already seems to be getting a bit better. She has now held down some sprite and soda crackers. Must be a 12hour thing.

The poor chickies are so cooold today! I feel so bad for them at least they have sun today.

 

[jvls1942]

I have just a few minutes until half time break is over.. the pack is making a good showing today.. the Dfense could do better,, though..

If you are using zip lok bags, a good way to get the air out is to dunk them into a container of water.. the water will push most of the air out, and then zip it shut before pulling it out of the water..

this works well with most plastic bags.. do not let any water get into the bag..

partially zip the bag closes and leave only about an inch open. then dip it until only the opened portion is above water..

I do not have a vaccuum sealer.. all the ones I looked at that I liked were way too expensive..

I would buy bags in rolls instead of precut bags..

.

 

[Huntress78]

Bought my 4th Food Saver sealer a few weeks ago. I got the plain Jane model v2222 ($80)...no bag cutter and it's not the new upright model. So far I've put up 2 deer and a bear with it and it's worked well. I like the small size so it doesn't take up much counter or cupboard space and it's better than the old models in that when you hit 'seal' only the heating element comes on so you can put the roll very close to the edge to make a bag. This saves quite a bit on each roll. This new one also has lights to tell you when it's OK to open it up...I didn't have one bag unseal because of taking it out too soon. I don't like standing there waiting for the lights so I think I might buy a second one. That way I can go back and forth between the two and get done faster as I still have cockerels to butcher and a pig coming in a couple weeks.

Don't know if I can be much help on the meat grinder. Ours is OLD...a General Model D. It is big and heavy (takes up a lot of counter space and hard to move) but when it comes to grinding meat it can't be beat. The smallest batch we do is 25lbs, and even on bigger batches, it's never balked or overheated. It has a 1/3 hp motor...maybe that's the key, try to find a model with the biggest motor you can.


Jim thanks for starting the 'feather plucker' thread. I'm very interested in building one. Going over there to subscribe now!

 

[Hens and Roos]

Since I know the pros are on here....

I would like to purchase a vacuum seal food saver and I wanted to know what the pros/cons are of whatever particular brands that you have.

I have a friend looking at getting a meat grinder; what do you recommend?

We are using a Food Saver- ours is older and the heat bar seems to take a bit to get it hot enough to seal the bags. We use the generic brand bags and they work fine. I do like it for keeping the meat longer in the freezer. You do have to watch how much liquid is in the item as that can cause problems with pulling a good seal. Bones also can cause problems and poke through the bag.

Meat Grinder- we have been using a Nesco Professional Food Grinder- FG-400PR and like it. Farm & Fleet down here by us, currently have it on sale thru 11/27/2013 for $79.99- which is a good sale- it normally goes for $109.99.

Cold today- had to de-ice waterers for the chickens and they let me know their feelings on it!

Sad day here- 1 of our Cali does kindled- probably earlier this am but all 7 kits were dead so something went wrong. We did try and see if we could revive any of them but no luck. This is her second litter and she had done a fantastic job the first time around- not sure what to think, guess we will give it another shot. DD was pretty shook up over this but stuck it out with me. I don't blame her at all for being upset- I was too

Thinking the 2nd doe isn't preggers but will give it another couple of days before pulling the boxes.

Cindlady- hope you are feeling better! We have 2 older Welsummer hens- going on 4 years old and 1-3 year old Welsummer hen- none currently laying so we will have a while to go before we are able to hatch any more....hopefully this works for DD's 4-H project.

Made a pork tenderloin on the charcoal grill for lunch time-turns out very nice and juicy- yummy!

Have not seen any deer this weekend walking through our yard- DH is all set if we do see one- a few days ago we have a big doe walk through....lol. Our friend went out yesterday and ended up getting a 4 pointer- we might get a few pieces of meat.

Just figured out my squash all froze so I will be baking it all today.....guess we will be eating lots of squash, best find some good ideas for it!

 

[jvls1942]

I bought a meat grinder from Gander Mountain a few years ago.. I like it .. never bogged it down. I think it has a 1/2 HP motor.. I agree, get the biggest motor you can,, and also get the biggest port you can so You don't have to cut your meat into smaller chunks..

where do you get cut rate sealer bags/rolls ? on line ?


.......jiminwisc.......