Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

good morning,

the guinea lady's son was into chitakee big time until he got hurt and had a couple of back surgeries.
I never got any to eat, though,,

today I am going chopping for PEX fittings.. not going to buy any, just want to see what is available locally so I can tweak my schematic ..

going to take some pictures this morning to put on craig's list ..

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

 

[jvls1942]

WTH ?? 8 1/2 hours and not a post ?

I went bowling this afternoon,, we really got waxed.. the other team had a 95 years old couple who didn't know how to miss.. Me ? Oh , I worked on keeping my handicap up ..

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

 

[brentonc]

Uh oh, only 7 chickens reported to bedtime tonight. :-(

 

[Cindlady]

Wow another quiet day on the thread.

brentonc..... 7 out of how many?

Couldn't find my new little white Coachin tonight at treat time. She decided to roost in the old rooster pen. She got mad when I woke her up too go to bed! lol

Ya, keep that handicap up Jim! lol

Night All!

 

[brentonc]

brentonc..... 7 out of how many?

7 out of 8. I looked around in their favorite tree, around the yard. No sign of her in the dark but I guess I'll see what I find when the sun comes up this am.

It was super fun having the chickens roaming the yard free, but I guess that needs to come to an end for a while. :/ I read the WI hunting regulations and it seems that I am within my rights to make a hat out of my resident fox if I can track her down. Or more sensibly I need a big fence.

Sad...

 

[Huntress78]

Momgille, I second Jim's view of wild boar. The few I've shot produced dark meat....it smells very strong while cooking but tastes mild. The smoked hams look darker but taste pretty close to any store bought ham, just less fat.

We're a big fan of root crops here. I added Eastham turnip this year and love it. Steamed one along with some carrots last week. It has a very earthy flavor...more than Purple Top IMO. Plan to add rutabaga next year. We also eat a lot of winter squash...Red Kuri for table squash and Butternut for pies and pudding.


Did the final tally on the meat birds. 59 birds butchered. 7.5 pound average dressed weight. Total of 442.5 lbs of meat. 1300 lbs of feed...chick feed, All Flock pellets, corn and oats. Total cost for birds, feed and bedding...$540.15. That comes to $9.16 per bird with an average of $1.22 per pound dressed. I don't know how this compares to buying one at the store. Anyone know what a store bird costs per pound??

If I ever raise these again I'll try to butcher earlier. Some of these were done at 9.5 weeks old and they were very fat...way more fat than I care for on a bird.

 

[jvls1942]

Momgille, I second Jim's view of wild boar. The few I've shot produced dark meat....it smells very strong while cooking but tastes mild. The smoked hams look darker but taste pretty close to any store bought ham, just less fat.

We're a big fan of root crops here. I added Eastham turnip this year and love it. Steamed one along with some carrots last week. It has a very earthy flavor...more than Purple Top IMO. Plan to add rutabaga next year. We also eat a lot of winter squash...Red Kuri for table squash and Butternut for pies and pudding.


Did the final tally on the meat birds. 59 birds butchered. 7.5 pound average dressed weight. Total of 442.5 lbs of meat. 1300 lbs of feed...chick feed, All Flock pellets, corn and oats. Total cost for birds, feed and bedding...$540.15. That comes to $9.16 per bird with an average of $1.22 per pound dressed. I don't know how this compares to buying one at the store. Anyone know what a store bird costs per pound??

If I ever raise these again I'll try to butcher earlier. Some of these were done at 9.5 weeks old and they were very fat...way more fat than I care for on a bird.

I on the other hand like a fat bird.. I might be wrong, but the fat ones seem to be tastier and more tender ..
we cut the extra fat off when we butcher.. there is always a nice big glob of fat at the rear of the chicken.. this can be rendered and used for cooking..
we just toss it away..

I rendered a large batch of goose fat one time..
I used an electric waffle iron.. I put a big pile of fat into the iron, brought the lid down and let it melt.. I had the iron suspended over a large kettle with one corner lowered into the kettle.. the goose lard just drained and dripped into the kettle.. there was very little cracklings left ..

the old timers used this lard for waterproofing their leather boots..

I finally figured out how to delete photos from my camera card.. Now I can go fill it up again..

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

 

[Huntress78]

I guess I just got used to the leaner Brahma cockerels for my 'meat birds'.
I do love me some goose grease tho. You haven't lived till you've tasted popcorn popped in goose grease!

 

[bigzio]

I'm on board for a pig roast...the hardest part is the harvest..Camp has plenty big enough grill for a pig!

Aldi's sells fresh whole chickens for .95 lb.... that's the cheapest price you will find. When I raise the meaties...I'm done in 8 weeks....that's where the tender birds are born. Grow emfast and keep them young as possible to weight.

Yep...love the root crops here too.

My new pole pruner is a keeper...a lot of trees need the trim, and the big apple trees will be easy peasy to trim standing on the ground....I worked with it for prolly 20 minutes and it took 2 hours to clean up all the limbs....not even a good start yet to all the trimming that needs to be done. Stihl makes agood quality pro trimmer.

bigz

 

[jvls1942]

good evening,

bad news, Frankie is in heat.. I tied her up tonight,, don't need for her to go searching for a boy friend.. Zeke is only 6 months old, so I don't think he is a threat yet..

More bad news,, another leak in the plumbing.. THAT"S IT !! tomorrow I am going to do some ripping and tearing and start to replacing the copper with PEX.. I thought we could put it off for a few more weeks, but that plan is out the window..

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