****Winter**** Chicken Moma chat thread. Join in the chat!

[Nielsen6]

Ok so here is the homemade bator that DH's uncle made. It is pretty awesome, holding at 100 degrees with no trouble. Has a thermometer and I have another I will be using. It has a fan too. The tray will hold a lot of eggs too. He said he had a really good sucess rate with this incubator, better than the one he bought for $200. I'm so excited!

[sarahannecloud9]

Looks so awsome! I need a big honkin one! With a fan, I keep reading that 100-101 is ok. I keep mine around that. Both have fans. Were you able to get a humidity reader yet? That has been my cause of fail, changing humidity. Sent ya a pm on fm. I'll be back on in the am.

[sarahannecloud9]

Dang you Fodie!!! Now I want to convert a small freezer/fridge/wood box, or a big cooler!

[nrsenadenos]

So talk to me about hatching vs. just buying chicks. I had read you only get about a 50% hatch rate with shipped eggs? And my luck they'd all be roos - I can't have roos in the city. So I'm thinking sexed chicks is best for me?

[3lilbubs]

Probably Nicole. It's hard to get attached to a chick and realize it's a roo and you can't keep it. Worse yet, if you're not comfortable butchering them you'll have a hard time finding someone to take them.

[sarahannecloud9]

Agreed.

Stupid pullets! This am I found them plucking the tail feathers from the blrw cockeral! He was pouring blood from 3 broken feathers. He's inside now. Love to cuddle too. I wanted to keep it!!!! Dang my luck with everything turning out male! I have chickens that sex themselves. They pick out all the roos. What's the deal? he got along so well. This is my second batch that hates males. It could be there is a nice looking cockeral in with them, big for his age and handsome. I have this dud listed on lsn. He's some tame. He's just hangin in a brooder, all stretched out, haha. Little al bundy. Oh man, didn't wanna name him, but there it is!

[3lilbubs]

ah, sorry Sarah. I have one in my batch that's funny, I hate to have to process him eventually. I like the roos. Well my friend called and her dh was processing meat chickens today, a coyote got 5 of theirs last night and they wanted to get the rest today before it came back for more. So we took our hen over and learned first hand how to do it. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Ours sure looked wimpy next to the meat hens though. HA! Her dh gave us one of theirs because ours was so scrawny and I gave them all their EE babies last August. She got some really GORGEOUS girls from that batch, wow! So we're letting the meat sit overnight. I know the broiler will be easy to cook any way I want, but what about our little hen? How would you cook it? It's whole, skin on. Hopefully my flock can relax a bit now and grow their feathers back.

[sarahannecloud9]

Liz, it is tempting to see how plump those breeds are. I don't have the heart though. I'd take one if someone offered one. Home grown is sooo much better than what we buy at the store. I know I can order the chicks, but I can't support it. They grow so fast, heart attacks, legs going out. The breed has just been so altered to grow so fast. I'd rather hatch mixes. Like the australorpXcochins, so much bigger than the others that age. They are proving to be an nice big breed. Even those roos that wern't plump tasted awsome. I hate we still buy from the store. Ours arn't butcher age yet though. I think you will like your own even though it's not a meat bird. The boys hate having to buy! Even children taste the diff, pretty bad. We roasted all of ours whole. You could prob make some awsome fried chicken. People talk about how tough roo is, but ours were good. The bantams legs were tough, but that was it. I hear about the crock pot or soup. I like them roasted though. That was real sweet of them to share. Sounds like good friends. I keep reading about processing at a young age, but I think it's meant for meat varieties. Mine are at a good weight later. I'd like to give them that extra month to fatten up. I was reading about the bresse and they give them milk and grains before they process to marbel the meat with fat. I thought that was an interesting way to prevent dryness and naturally ensure jucyness. i wish she hadn't changed her mind about that breed. It's naturally a slower grower, but plump and excelent meat. I think in the future I will just buy some hatching eggs. That particular breed is so tempting. It's a French heratage. I have nothing against the backyard breeding of meet chickens, don't get me wrong. It's just I persionally couldn't.

[3lilbubs]

Sarah that was J's issue with it. He said when we got home, if you've got to factor in that much loss, cram them into a 15x8 cage, 40 of them! Then you're no different than a factory. Some of the roos has chest sores from the cage not being cleaned enough. They smelled awful. We are going to start with the turkeys because they are greater meat to feed conversion (and just plain cool, the kids loved them) and then I'm thinking freedom rangers later maybe. It bothered both of us, seeing those birds and the butchering process wasn't as bad as I imagined so I could do a different breed without too much trouble. I don't like that their cornish x didn't or wouldn't scratch/forage. If I'm feeding my family that meat I want them pastured and fed a varied diet. Kwim?

[3lilbubs]

The flock is so much more mellow today too, I feel bad for not taking care of her sooner. Def. stressful for them yesterday, I only got 5 eggs.