[Food] Production - Poultry (was Backyard Chickens)

[Pops]

I wish now we had brought out our rooster with us Beverly Hillbilly style! We had some kind of mixed breed rooster that was huge and a couple of little banty hens that made meat birds almost like the crosses and produced pretty good layers too. They were as wild as can be and great moms. I’ve looked at all the sites and can’t figure out what he was.

I think I will really like these hens though; they are very docile. I hope they lay well.

I like skinning fryers Shanny, though we still pluck broilers. I doesn't affect the meat at all. If we really needed the food value we would pluck them all since you loose lots of fat (and more the way I do it) but none of us are starving and Susan winds up skinning them anyway. Like Ludi said, it’s simply less preparation, work, and frankly; less smell. I may decide to go the whole-cut-up route with these instead of the ‘fillet’ deal.

On the coop we’ve had pretty good luck keeping coyotes, dogs and whatever out by running the corrugated metal out a way from the sides of the moveable pens – at least that way the animal can’t get under in one night – though we did lose one chicken that had the bright idea to get out through the hole the dog dug! Dogs – 1, Dumb Chickens – 0

[CarlinsDarlin]

Hey, whatever works, Shanna! Glad to hear everything came out okay (no pun intended lol ).

Pops, we brought our first four hens up with us, hillbilly style . Actually, they rode in the back of a u-haul, but if I'd thought they (or I) would have made the trip, I'd have ridden with them in my lap on a rocker ala granny Clampett .

As for the plucking vs. skinning debate, I've done both. I almost always take the skin off to cook the bird anyway, though, so 99% of the time, I'll skin them. I have plucked a turkey though - I wanted it to have skin on it for Thanksgiving dinner - now that's work. Skinning is much less work - and anything that will help me avoid work, I'm all for.

Ludi, you're right - home grown chicken is more "chickeny" tasting than store bought - but my dad says it reminds him of how chicken used to taste when he was a kid . Of course, my grandmother always raised chickens and many other critters. They never kept any in the freezer - dad says he doesnt remember them even having a freezer till he was a teenager. If she wanted to make chicken for dinner, Grandmother would go out, pick one, ring its neck, pluck it, clean it and cook it. I guess many grandmothers did it that way back in the day.

Back to the future...
Kathy

[Pops]

Another post-peak profession!

If I could bottle this up
I could make a million...

[countrysidegirl]

Ringing a chickens neck is definitely a skill to be mastered. I usually just wind up with a really dizzy chicken.

[Pops]

I'll guess they will be all right - I think they like it 80-90. just keep the light on for a while and make sure their water isn't too cold.

[Ludi]

I think they'll be ok.

[killJOY]

This thread is so sweet, it suppresses the bitch in even me.

Chickens are good! and easy!

18 layers here on the farm. Enough to pay for themselves, as friends buy our extra eggs ($2/doz).

We let them out every day after 11:30 (after they'd laid in their boxes). They get all the pasture they need, which cuts down on grain costs and keeps their yolks a stunning gold colour.

We, too, crush and bake the shells and recycle them into the feed.

We also raise turkeys and chickens as meat birds.

They have a ground cage that gets moved around so they can eat bugs and grass.

Probably more than store bought, but nothing like going into winter with a freezer full of birds that I know have been raise right.

By the way--real chicken is white, not yellow.

[Pops]

I worked on a pen for the ‘brooder’ hens. It’s made from 4 - ‘no-climb’ fence panels (16’ long x 5’ high welded rod panels with approximately 2’ wide x 4” high spacing) it would have been outrageously expensive except the panels were stuck up in the ceiling of one of the sheds!

I’ll still have to run chicken wire around the bottom to keep the chicks in but it should keep the cats and dogs out and since it’s under a big old sycamore tree the hawks will – hopefully, have a hard time dive-bombing the birds.

I want to build a regular house but at this point will use the 4’ x 8’ raised coop already in place. I have a line on some free corrugated metal roofing (supposedly all new and unused) that I need to go pick up that will make a fine brooder house but I have to move the outhouse and the old coop first.

Actually I stuck the cockerels in the pen for now since they were starting to bother the hens quite a bit and am feeding them some cracked corn hoping they’ll fatten up some. I got one extra from McMuray that is some type of exotic looking game bird – we call him Bob Marley because of his long, hairy looking cape. He thinks he’s tough and runs the other birds around – I don’t think he’ll last long enough to get tough in the literal sense though. Actually he might season up some dumplings tomorrow.

[Ludi]

I'm planning to build a new coop and pens for two breeding flocks. I'll post pics when I get this project finished....

Always more projects....

[53convert]

Hi all,
on this chicken thing, I have a flock of over 50 and have enjoyed them for 4 years now. And I mean besides meat and eggs.
Shanny, people keep chicken flocks in Canada and Maine with no problem. Your lite going out on the peeps is no problem after they are several days old, especially in this weather we are having here in Oklahoma.
http://pub208.ezboard.com/bpoultryinyouryards

http://pub228.ezboard.com/bbackyardchickens

these are two really great back yard chicken sites chock full of intresting tips and some very experienced small flock owners.

Come over to read, we would love to have you and its really a great way to prepare.

[Pops]

53 I must admit I plagiarized the name of this thread from that site and I recommend it highly. Anyone with similar links please post them up. PO.com should be a jumping-off place to more specialized sites.

The metal I got for the brooder house was pretty new, though used – a nice pile anyway. Of course now I’m obligated to go back and clean up the older scrougy stuff. A good haul nonetheless. I’ll be needing thoses houses soon…

--
So I clipped all the cockerels wings before sticking them in the pen. But the one free bird (as in no charge) I got from McMurray turned out to be some kind of game cock and was running the others around – I’m trying to get some meat on their bones - I don’t want them to be marathon runners; just broilers. So I caught the bugger and tossed him out of the pen – he could be a lawn ornament. I felt bad since I had cut his wing and made him pretty defenseless but the darn thing was back in the pen the next morning! I gave him to the Mexicans down the road who said he would be quite the prize to take back home in the fall.

--
The chickens are glad I mowed down the squash too.

[CarlinsDarlin]

Well its been too long since anything was posted to this thread, so I thought I'd bump it back up - with a question for all you chicken folks

This weekend we acquired some additional chickens from a woman who lives about 4 miles from us, and who buys eggs from us. She told me that she was just "tired of messing with them," and asked if we wanted them. The fact that she had chickens of her own, but was still buying eggs from us should have been a tip off that something was wrong, but I didn't get it. There are 25 adults, and 23 young ones - ranging in age from about 4 weeks to about 8 weeks old. Of the adults, about half are roosters, and will probably end up in the freezer, as we have too many roosters already.

All of the chickens have been quarantined from my larger flock. When we picked them up, I noticed that many of the adult birds have foot problems. They were kept in poor conditions to say the least, and were fed a diet of mostly cracked corn - I'm sure there are nutiritional deficiencies. From the looks of their feet, they might have scaly leg mites.

The babies appear to be fine. Although to this point they've only had cracked corn, I am starting them today on medicated chick starter. When they're big enough, we'll introduce them to our flock. They were, by the way, hatched from eggs the previous owner bought from me, so I know their lineage. As an aside, if I'd known the coniditions the older birds were kept in, I would have never sold her eggs for hatching, but that is a lesson learned. At least the babies are back with us now, and will be fine.

I've done some reading, and it appears that all of the problems the adult birds are having could have been avoided with proper care and housing. I have them set up in a separate pen apart from my flock until I determine what, if anything, I can do with them.

Scaly leg mites can be taken care of by dipping the chickens' legs and feet in oil about every 3 or 4 days for two weeks. This will smother out the mites and the scales will heal themselves.

My concern is that their feet problems (a couple are near lame) may not be limited to the mites. Besides keeping them away from my larger flock, treating for the mites, and improving their diet, do you have any suggestions I might try to heal them? Or, should they just go straight to the freezer?

I know there are concerns about genetics, introducing them into my own flock down the road, but after having seen their prior living conditions, I'm pretty sure the causes are environmental, not genetic.

Advice welcome
Kathy

[Ludi]

I would be very concerned about introducing disease into your flock, I think it's a bad idea to have diseased or parasite infected chickens on your place at all. I would have avoided taking them, or quickly get them into the freezer and make sure your chickens have no access to the area the infected chickens inhabited for several months.

[CarlinsDarlin]

Ludi,
I agree. Had I known their condition I would not have gotten them, but I agreed to take them before I was aware of their living conditions. As much as anything, I wanted to "rescue them" and get them out of that pen, even if it meant moving them from there directly to the freezer.

They are currently quarantined well away from my other chickens, in an area off limits to my own flock. My own chickens will not be in that area at all, now or in the future, because I keep them in a large covered run (about 32x32 feet square) - they do not free range all over the property.

Most of the adult new birds are already destined for the freezer, and will be there in the next week. There are a few hens, however, that I would like to keep if I can be sure they're free of parasites. Hence, the reason I'm treating the scaly leg mites - those are easily treatable.

I just worry that there might be other things I need to be worried about that I haven't thought of. I'm hoping that improving their diet, treating the mites, and keeping them separate from my own chickens will result in healthier birds. If not, then they'll certainly be culled.

Thanks for the feedback.
Kathy

[Ludi]

That sounds like a prudent plan Kathy. I would be most concerned about introducing "bumblefoot" which is either a bacterial or a fungal disease which causes either abcesses (bacterial) or nasty fungal growths in the pads of the chickens' feet. This is a simply horrid thing, our chickens had it when I was a youngster. It seems to live in the soil, we were never able to eradicate it.

[Pops]

Sounds serious enough to search on over at Backyard Chickens, Kathy - http://www.backyardchickens.com/msgboard.html

Prolly a good idea to set a pan with some chlorine water or other disinfectant at the gate to the pen so you can wash your off boots (and your hands too I guess) after working with the sick birds; it’s a common practice on big ranches.

I wonder about mixing some diatomaceous earth with very dry dirt (maybe even baked in the oven to kill any existing bugs) for them to dust in? I’ve never tried this or even read it but it is a thought.

[Ludi]

Prolly a good idea to set a pan with some chlorine water or other disinfectant at the gate to the pen so you can wash your off boots (and your hands too I guess) after working with the sick birds; it’s a common practice on big ranches.

That's a very good idea!

[CarlinsDarlin]

The more I read, the more I worry that I probably ought to just put them all in the freezer. Here I was trying to do something good... Oh well, I'm not worried about the babies at any rate. They hatched from my eggs and have only spent a few weeks in that environment, and then in suspended brooder cages - i.e., their feet haven't touched the floor. They should be fine.

I will do additional research Pops, thanks for the link. And the chlorine water sounds like a good idea too.

I had heard of bumblefoot, but wasn't sure what it was. Sounds serious. I certainly don't want that here

Thanks again,
Kathy

[Ludi]

I have to show off my new babies. I got a whopping 2, count 'em, two, healthy baby chicks from my hens' eggs. These are the first babies produced at home by my hens and roosters.

My avatar, Onyx, was the setting hen who did the honors. That's her leg in the first pic.

[CarlinsDarlin]

Congratulations on the babies, Ludi! Our first batch hatched four, but the second batch only hatched one, and the third batch also only one ... so be happy you got two . They're adorable .

We've decided to do in the roosters this weekend, and treat the 6 little hens who are left. They don't appear to be in as bad a shape as the roosters, so I think they'll be fine, and they are already giving us a couple eggs every day - from their better diet, I assume.

Once the roosters are all done in, we'll clean up the temporary run, move it to a new spot (with fresh grass underneath) and put the babies in there. For now they're in cages and I hate doing that to them - they need to be able to scratch. The temporary pen is a sort of chicken tractor - not by deisgn, but will be by use . We'll be able to move it around the yard, if Carlin helps. So I think the babies will be fine.

We did have one of my original four hens, an Arucauna, die yesterday though . I dont know what happened, actually. There were no marks on her, but she was just dead when we went out to gather eggs last night. Nobody else seems ill - neither did she - so I'm hoping it was a heart attack or something. She was about four years old.

Today I put fresh hay in the chicken run, because thankfully we finally got some rain yesterday (after more than a month without it) and the run was a muddy bog. The chickens are happily scratching in the new hay, and it makes it much easier to work in there. I'll be adding some more hay - it was pretty well worked into the ground - tomorrow as well. So by tomorrow everyone will be happy except the roosters


Kathy