Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[bigzio]

Thanks for the Congrats on the fresh venzun. Kinda warm today, so we boned the meat and have it cooling in the fridge....firm meat cuts much better, and we can take our time with it now. The hide went in the freezer for future gloves.

I always keep my hens cs....they are a flock bird, so I would keep enough for company....trio at a minimum...in my opinion.

Big game tonight....GO PACK!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Has anyone used a thermal chicken perch from K &H? I wonder if my chickens would use it if I got one (or more).

 

[chikenscratch]

Thanks Brent! I had 2 years in a row of unproductive hatches, then mysterious 2 deaths, and one random disappearance (all of good birds). So, I'm left with 2 ready to be culled and 2 that are just too old.
I've got to get into a cycle of hatching and culling so that I always have layers and ones to be culled. Any suggestions?

 

[wyoDreamer]

I like the idea of getting different breed of chicks every year so you can tell at a glance how old they are. I have 6 brown sexlink that are 3 years old - hoping that they will start to lay this winter. We get between 3 and 6 eggs a day - we eat 4. Hard to build up enough reserves to do much cooking with them. I need to make a pound cake soon, well want more than need really. I'm supposed to be on a diet - I eat my pound cake with strawberries, so does that count as diet food?

 

[chikenscratch]

Your 6 3yr olds aren't laying? You must mean 3 mo old? I do like that idea actually. Great idea!
Anyone have suggestions for where I could get storage bags to put the chickens in (for storage)?

 

[jvls1942]

I try to not keep hens more than two laying cycles.
I gave up trying to keep a broody. they just are not dependable. never want to sit when you have eggs ready.
incubators is the way I went.
but be prepared, as soon as you have an incubator, you will suddenly have a half dozen broodies .. Murphy's law..

how long do you want to keep the hens in the storage bags,? and when will you let them out?
we get ziploc freezer bags when we freeze chickens. for up to a year and maybe a little longer, they work just fine.
if you use plastic bags, squeeze out as much air as you can.
what works quite well is to close the bag with the chicken inside and leave just enough opening for air to escape. then dunk the bag into a pail of clean water until just the tiny opening is sticking out. close the bag and remove from the water.

this works for veggies, too..

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

 

[chikenscratch]

LOL Jim! Do you use a 2 gallon bag then?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Actually - they are 3 weeks today. Well, I got them as day olds, three weeks ago. A couple of them look like they are a day or so older. Rowdy bunch though, very active. Up with the sun scratching through the litter for the feed that they kick out of the feeder. I think they take turns knocking the feed out of the hanging feeder so they can hide it in the litter to find later.

 

[jvls1942]

LOL Jim! Do you use a 2 gallon bag then?

we raise the cornishX pullets. they fit into a one gallon bag. the 7 pounders are a tight fit, though.
we don't like the roosters because their legs are too long for the one gallon bags.
lately we gave up on whole chickens and started cutting them into pieces.
we separate the drum sticks, theighs , breast ,wings and the backs and necks go in for soup later.

 

[jvls1942]

good cool frostless morning,
still about 39F . I wanted some cooler weather for working outside, but not quite this cool.
be careful what you wish for..

I hope to get the last 3 sets of rafters up today.
then I can strip the roof with 1x4's and put the steel ribbed roofing on.

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