YO GEORGIANS! :)

[brucifer]

Lost a duck today. Best I can figure is a copperhead must have bitten her leg. She was fine this morning, came limping up, saw she had a swollen bad place on her leg and within minutes she was dead. So sad.

Very sorry to hear that.

We had a hawk scare today. The chickens scattered like crazy and were clucking up a storm, but after a head count, all were accounted for.

 

[brucifer]

Did our first candling of the 28 Muscovy hatching eggs (11 days out) and the 28 Orpington hatching eggs (7 days out). We also set a dozen Silkie eggs today.

For the Muscovy eggs, 27 out of 28 looked great with strong embryo development. One of the eggs had a dent on one end from shipping, and it looked like bacteria had breached the shell at that location, so that egg is failing. However, we're still very pleased with the progress thus far.

Regarding the 28 Orpington hatching eggs, in one of the Jubilee eggs it looks like a blood ring may be forming, but other than that, the rest of the embryos in the other eggs look strong. One iffy one out of 28 thus far is excellent, so we're very pleased with this batch as well. The real surprise was not having any clears out of 56 hatching eggs.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Whoa Nelly! That a lot of weight. Did you pluck those by hand?

Technically, no. I've got a Whiz bang plucker and an electric scalder I built. But these things were too big for the plucker to get all the feathers. They kept getting hung up. Wasn't too bad plucking though.
I thought the plucker was great when I built it. But the scalder is even better. No worries about temp. It's always right on.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Got 2 of them cut up and in the freezer today. A little over 44 pounds of meat. I know @brucifer will appreciate this so I'll give some photos.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

It's ok...I'll park you an Isabel or a blue or black or splash or mottled or jubilee BECAUSE THERE ARE 20 INCUBATING ON MY SIDEBOARD!

Liv, you need a bigger sideboard!

 

[katsdar]

Lost a duck today. Best I can figure is a copperhead must have bitten her leg. She was fine this morning, came limping up, saw she had a swollen bad place on her leg and within minutes she was dead. So sad.

 

[brucifer]

Technically, no. I've got a Whiz bang plucker and an electric scalder I built. But these things were too big for the plucker to get all the feathers. They kept getting hung up. Wasn't too bad plucking though.
I thought the plucker was great when I built it. But the scalder is even better. No worries about temp. It's always right on.

It would have been nice to have an easily interchangeable feather plate and barrel that could handle those large turkeys. Still though, I'm sure your Whiz Bang was a huge help just as it is.

Got 2 of them cut up and in the freezer today. A little over 44 pounds of meat. I know @brucifer will appreciate this so I'll give some photos.
View attachment 1088056 View attachment 1088057 View attachment 1088058

You have one of those dedicated LEM 5 lb sausage stuffers. Very nice! Your ground turkey looks extra lean and has a beautiful color. Well done! Great photos! Thanks for posting this.

 

[missy1971]

Well I don't have hatching eggs, turkeys to process or anything like that, but i did get my new coop prepped for painting, everything sealed and caulked, laying boxes made, and started on the inside walls, which is going to be beautiful by the way with the pallet wood! although my helper guy is none to happy that he has to take apart 40 pallets...lol...
I do have 5 layers now, waiting on the last one to start. The youngsters should start laying in another 8-10 weeks... but all of them are great, and spoiled rotten

 

[LCcreekside]

Lost a duck today. Best I can figure is a copperhead must have bitten her leg. She was fine this morning, came limping up, saw she had a swollen bad place on her leg and within minutes she was dead. So sad.

Sorry to hear that. I know how much you enjoy your ducks. I hope y'all can get rid of the problem.

Got 2 of them cut up and in the freezer today. A little over 44 pounds of meat. I know @brucifer will appreciate this so I'll give some photos.

You have a very impressive 1st class setup and home operation from production to processing. And for gatherings!

 

[livhatcher]

Liv, you need a bigger sideboard!

I have determined that I can get one more incubator on my sideboard that will hold 56 eggs. Have to hold off on the cabinet until our addition is complete lest I become a single lady.

ETA: I wish I had thought to ask you about quail keeping. I would've loved to see your set up.