Stuff going on

• The keys on my laptop are breaking already.  I'm bummed.

• In other news, the ISA Browns are hiding their eggs lately, and/or holding them.  I have orders for eggs and cannot fill them all because of a lack of eggs. :-)

• Now that the weather is turning warmer, I'm consistently leaving the door open on the milk house-turned brooder so the beepla's can get lots of fresh air, and sunshine.  

• I gave the beepla's 2 shovels of grass, dirt/sod & gravel.  They ate it all.  I was really surprised but I think it's a good idea and that I will continue to give them shovels of sod since I'm too broke to buy grit this week.

When chickens stop laying - what to do

When your chickens stop laying:  Do you prefer to butcher them and let them serve another use, or do you prefer to allow them to continue on as pets?

If you choose to butcher:  Do you prefer to do it yourself, pay someone else to do it?? 


Here in our family, it has never really become an issue of raising an animal and then having a case of "the guilts" and being unable to follow through.  However much of that has been due to the fact that our animals (cattle, sheep, pigs, rabbits) have always been taken to the meat packing plant to be processed out, or to someone else who would be willing to do it as in the case of the rabbits because it was too costly to take to the packing plant.

When it comes time for me to make the decision for our girls to either be put to another use or kept as pets, I will most likely choose to put them to another use.  I will need to learn to process them either way, and it seems like a shame to let good meat go to waste if they were to die of natural old age.

Mom & I were discussing all of this earlier today in fact, but I didn't know how to phrase things, and also didn't think anyone would actually hear me if I did put this out there.  I am currently considering the idea of learning to process chickens etc. well enough that I could potentially make money at it.  Traveling around to this farm or that in the area and helping to butcher out the birds as needed.

There are two problems with this idea though. 

• I have never butchered them out 100% start to finish. 

• I've helped Amish ladies do it from the beheading part on, using the scalding method, but never all the way through.

• I do not have a chicken plucker.  This is of course not a requirement but, it would be a lot easier to do the "dirty work" if we had one.  

• I've found plans for my husband to make one, pieces can be purchased through Amazon, or a step-by-step book on how to make your own, and all of the parts to do it with, can be ordered through the author of the book.

On Craigs List there was an advertisement for a man who travels around doing just this, but is from the Lansing area, so although there is someone in the 3-hour radius vicinity who already does it, if I did follow through with this idea, I don't think I would be too much competition for him.

The issue with doing things like he does:

• I don't want to copy him.  Copying always leads to problems.

• I believe he charges too much to do this service for people.  

• He charged a set fee ($85 to even just start his truck.  $5/mile after 10-miles, and $2/chicken 6-weeks & under, $3/chicken 6-weeks & over.) 

• I'm thinking more along the lines of $20 - $25 to start the truck, $5/mile after 10-miles, $2/chicken for standard 6-week old, $3/chicken for larger breeds, up to $5 per bird if they're especially difficult? I don't know.

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Thanks to Mindie Dittemore for helping me get over my "writers block" through her own post about this topic.

Clipping their wings

It is currently around 85-degree's here, with humidity.   So to help the babies stay cool, I left the door to the brooder room open & took their heat lamp away.  This way they could "enjoy" the breeze blowing through, and maybe their room wouldn't smell so yucky anymore! ;-) 

After all of that, I propped an old pallet against the door so the dogs, cats and adult chickens can't get into their room and assault or molest them.  All the beeplas seemed excited from the fresh air, and I'm sure if they'd been given the choice they would have run off to play in the grass and sunshine, but we cannot allow that!  They might get lost, hurt or carried off by a hawk or an eagle or something!

I also put two hog panels covered in chicken wire over the stock tank they call home, so if anything were to actually get into their little room, the predator would have to work a little bit before it could hurt them.

All of these things combined caused them all to get overly excited and try to fly out of their tank-brooder, bouncing against the hog panels in their haste to go play.  So, their wings have now been cut all nice and neat to prevent them from bouncing themselves too hard against the 'roof', and although they are not happy about it, and some are acting as though they aren't sure how to walk now that they can't fly anymore... it's good for them.  The silly little chickens anyway...

The Beepla's are 2-weeks old!

I meant to take photos of the babies since they are two-weeks old,  but it didn't work out before it got dark.  It's kind of amazing just how many things need doing throughout the house... & how easy it is to lose track of time.

My favorite Light Brahma

 Little Frog being introduced to the light brahma. :-D

Links to pay attention to.

MI loses "right to farm" say farewell to backyard chickens & beekeepers

IN Gov. signs Poultry & Egg bill

Essentially if you read both of these, MI is removing the ability to feed ones self through backyard livestock, and IN is expanding in this area.

I knew I loved IN for a reason...

Homing chickens

I've read several places that if you want your free-range chickens to come "home" to the coop at night, that you need to lock them in their coop for 3-days or so, sometimes longer, and they will learn that this is where they belong at night.

This theory worked "OK" for our ISA Browns, (raised from chicks) but I've developed my own theory for homing the chickens.

Growing babies

Its amazing to me how quickly babies grow (both my own son & my pets).

Over the years, I've raised rabbits, chickens, sheep, horses, cows, pigs, hamsters, & mice.  One thing I have not ever had an interest in, is goats. lol but that has no bearing on my subject matter, I was just throwing that in there as a freebie.

When I was still pregnant, everyone told me "They grow so fast!  Don't underestimate or take the time with him for granted while he's small and not moving around the house on his own!"   I didn't really believe them... but they were all right!  My son is growing so fast...  When he was born, he was 8lbs 12oz.  A nice (slightly above) average size baby.  He's now 20lbs... so in 6-months he's put on 11lbs give or take.  I'm a bit amazed. 

My baby chickens on the other hand, I knew they grew fast.

They are 1-wk 4-days old.  Their tail feathers are coming in, their flight feathers have almost come in fully.  They are in a concrete milk tank with 3-foot walls, they're obviously not going to be getting out on their own, so I gave them branches, sticks, logs with & without bark & grass to play with.  They have discovered, that if they perch on the logs and flap their wings that they can "fly" but being chickens without all their feathers, especially their tails, they get no where and most of them land on their faces.  It is one of the funniest things ever!!  :-D

When I bought my Americauna/Easter Eggers I didn't care what colors they would be, I just wanted them because of the colored eggs they would produce.  Customers pay more for blue & green eggs, not to mention the rainbow assortment makes the kids happier.  They all think it's really awesome... which it is, but I haven't gotten all of the "colored egg" layers I would like to own yet. 

I'd still like to get my hands on some (1-5) Marans, and at least 1, possibly as many as 3 Welsummers. Oh well, someday maybe. :-)