poultry
 

Chiefs.suck. bores the **** outta me. Birds are more interesting.
Ducks,geese,pea fowl, chickens, what do you prefer? Taste,eggs,ornamental?

Have some sexlink red pullets that threw eggs like champs all winter. couple ducks, and turkeys.

Thinking about getting some naked necks and Delawares.

Spill it.

Oatmeal

Fresh eggs... damn, so much better than store bought.

Mmmm, Duck. Only have it about once a year, but I love it.

Yeah, this.

Keep threatening to get a few yard birds for eggs. Vegetable garden is a pain in the ass here due to deer and wife not wanting to erect a good fence due to aesthetic concerns. Chickens would make me feel better.

How much work would 3-4 hens be? We are gone for prolonged periods, but I figure neighbors/friends would take care of them for free eggs.

I should say that I already buy fresh eggs fairly cheap, so I know those benefits. I think my kids would enjoy having some birds around, though.

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I'll probably get a Silky and araucana/americauana (because they're pretty and lay pretty eggs) and then a couple of steady meat layers like a rhode island red or barred rock.

Morans lay copper eggs. Some of the Easter eggers lay tiny eggs. Freedom rangers are imo Damn fine meat birds.

:LOL: That's great..

Yeah, a lot of the Ameracauana eggs are small. That's why I want to mix in some big eggers. I'd have to eat a dozen of those little eggs to make a decent breakfast. I'm considering repurposing one of my kids' old playhouses into a chicken coop. I'm going to try to find a picture of it and get some suggestions from you (and any other poultry people) as to how to repurpose it for a coop.

RI reds are some funky lookin mofos as pullets. So ugly ill never have em again.

If you're on fb look up Two Women and a Hoe. They show pics of upcycled trash that look slick.:evil:

This is, basically, the type of shed I'm looking at converting. Currently I have it on a brick pad. The floor has some indoor/outdoor carpet in it. No enclosure and sheltered underneath a privet hedge back in the wood on the edge of our yard. I could move it pretty easily, but I'm thinking that putting it back in the woods a bit would protect the birds from overhead predators? I'll definitely build a run out into the "sunny" part of the yard so the birds can go out there, but I'd like to free range them during the day. Not sure if that's realistic or not. We have one neighborhood cat that spends a lot of time in our yard.

http://www.swingsetsonline.com/~/med...ph.ashx?mw=676

I love poultry, I have raised almost everything, I showed chickens, ducks, meat birds, turkeys, I have always liked them. I have had Aracaunas which can lay green, blue or pink eggs, I have had Japanese sebrights, both gold and black and white. I love Rhode island reds, best layers I have ever had. Will post more in the morning, I'm cashed out tonight.

Raise me some Quail MO.

Go by the local farm and home. Check out the pre fab coops. Should give you a decent idea. Id Damn sure spend the extra bucks on one inch welded wire for the entrance,exit, summer screens, ect.

I have a friend whose mom had a eglu (yes, the expensive ****ing modern things that are ridiculous) and has stopped raising birds. I may try to buy hers. As you may know, our house is pretty modern and my wife is big on the aesthetics of shit (okay, I am too, but I'm not gay, swear), so the eglu would be a good fit, if we can get it at a decent price (less than $200).

Cholesterol be damned, I usually have two eggs for breakfast everyday. Sometimes I boil them and sometimes I fry them in a skillet with butter, and put them on bread with a slice of havarti cheese or extra sharp cheddar. Mmmm.

I love eggs as well, and I think they're the perfect breakfast/lunch/dinner. I'll eat them all day long. I also have no problem frying them. I really don't think that Americans are fat, dying ****ers because of eggs. It has a lot more to do with the absolute shit processed food we eat from McDonald's on a daily basis and the 80 oz. of soda we drink. Anyway... do yourself a favor and learn to poach eggs quickly. While I'm not against fried eggs... poached eggs are healthier and delicious. Big Daddy turned me on to taking some soft poached eggs, throwing them on a bed of spinach, tossing it all together with some hot sauce, and eating. For variety, throw in some cilantro, green onions, or whatever else tickles your fancy. Talk about a power breakfast!!!

Gotta restock the coop. Opossum had hisself a 6 bird snack on Christmas eve. Alas, he is no more.

Looks like you got some multi-cultural kids working in their slave quarters there.

Nice.

One of my favorite animals. Grilled Chicken !

Damn.. I'm looking at a 6 acre plot of land down here in central florida and want to stock it with some chicken so I can stop paying top dollar for farm-fresh eggs and free-range chicken... didn't realize there were so many varieties!

I live smack dab in the city, and a neighbor has 5 hens that roam the alley. It's weird walking the alley to the local convenience store and skirting a bevvy of biddies.

My bacon grease jar has it's own dedicated spoon.

Holla!!!

MO, did you get your plucker-ater built yet?

Not much work at all, make sure you have somewhere to house them at night though. One of the hardest thing about having chickens is they have countless predators. I have had chickens killed by: Dogs, Raccoons, Possums, Weasels, Hawks, Coyotes, Owls (srs), and you can have more depending on your geographic area. Dogs and hawks will kill them during the daylight, most of the others wont, so if you can keep them locked up at night they seem to live a lot longer.

NC, Rhode Island Red's are the best production layers you can get. I used to show Araucana's and Silkies when I was in 4H, Silkies and Aracaunas are some of the coolest looking birds you can get IMO. I have raised a couple hundred Aracaunas and they are brilliantly diverse, not many of them look alike, which is pretty rare.

MO, all the Aracaunas I have ever raised layed large eggs, never had an issue with them laying small or even remotely small eggs.

Seriously? Maybe you had a bad batch, we have had R.I's as long as I have been alive and I have never had what I would consider ugly birds, they typically look like the bird in the picture below.

As long as you can seal that thing so nothing can get in at night it would be ok for a few birds. That carpet will get trashed quickly though. As far as free range birds, it is almost impossible to completely protect them. We have ours in a quite expansive fenced in area, and even then at times things kill them. The only thing I would worry about depending on your location is how close your neighbors are, free range birds without a fenced in area can travel quite a distance.

Possums are nasty, I killed one with a baseball bat once. I have killed countless raccoons in the coop. My dog actually ripped one apart when we were closing the coop up at night. We were walking back in the dark, wasn't really paying attention, anyways Akiela snarled and raised the hair up on her back, and I was like "oh crap". Long story short this racoon was possibly rabid, and she went right at it, and they tussled for a few minutes, she shredded it up, but I ran into the barn to grab my gun and finish him off. Had to take my dog to the vet though, that was fun for my wallet. We had a great horned owl kill about 30 birds one night.

[QUOTE=Baby Lee;8459691]I live smack dab in the city, and a neighbor has 5 hens that roam the alley. It's weird walking the alley to the local convenience store and skirting a bevvy of biddies.[/QUOTE]

:LOL:ROFL

I've got about 30 Rhode island Reds, they are great.. not the most appeasing looking birds but they sure can lay some eggs.. i get about 25-30 eggs a day. Does not take much to take care of them, feed and get eggs once a day.. clean the chicken house out about once a month. Not bad at all, and the eggs i dont eat, i sell for $2 a dozen, dont make a profit really but the $ pays for most of their feed.

first place we bought came with about 25 guineas. ****in hawks took care of most of them.
sec

Keep about 100. Have 70 Buff Orpingtons and the rest are mix of Brown Layers. Sell eggs at the local farmers market and then eat the rest.

Ok I've wanted to try poached eggs but wondering about the texture. I love eggs over medium...don't like the slime when they are over easy. So my question is how is the slime factor in a poached egg?

Great thread.
I have been thinking about this very subject quite a bit, considering how to make that rocky ground productive down by the lake in a few years.
The trick is that it is going to take some imagination to get the neighbors and Mrs. to like it.

Cook it longer, like any other way to cook an egg. You can poach them long enough to make them hard if you want. You are basically cooking with the steam.

Here is a picture of the old building I transformed into one of the chicken houses.

You can poach them to differing levels of done, but most traditional poached eggs have runny yokes.

Thanks I figured this but having never done it.

I like the runny yoke, just not the slime around it.

I'll pretty much use an omelette to rid the fridge of aging vegetables. I also hard boil 20 or so on Sundays and taken them to work throughout the week as a snack.

Came toe to toe with a wild turkey yesterday while tracking my golf ball.

farm fresh chicken eggs .. any large brown eggs .. RI Reds .. Buffs .. Jersey Giants ....

turkeys were gobbling in my woods this morning when i left for work.
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yea think they'll breed early this year as warm as this winter has been .....

That sounds great! I am half Danish, so a more traditional Danish style breakfast appeals to me. Cereal and milk, banana, 2 eggs, yogurt, and juice. Sometimes I have homemade bread with butter and cheese, too. No Egg McMuffin or any other fast food breakfast for me!

If that guy in Monet is running adds go see him for baby chicks.

Picked up all the parts. Far as it gotten.

Chicks chicks everywhere. I don't have the 5month patience for em.

Gonna buy me some layers instead. Always a few of those around.

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Good luck with your project. With my limited experience, hand plucking is for the birds.

You swimming in eggs yet? Nice set up BTW.

mine were donky headed as
Hell.

Stage em and do both.

This brings up another question. From what I've read (and it's mainly from just chapters in urban homesteading books and such, I've yet to read a dedicated chicken book), it's a good idea to get them as chicks and let the kids handle them a lot if you want to treat them as "pets" (and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word. I want my kids to be able to pick them up and **** around with them if they want to). If you get them full grown, then they're not really going to take to people too much. True?

Sex link reds are some mellow ass birds. Shit is hardwired in em.

we've got three backyard hens, an amercauna, a NH Red, and a banded cochin.
they're like pets.

I've only bought full grown birds. They were all friendly to some degree, with a few off-to-themselves types. None were aggressive to me or my three kids. Nor aggressive toward the wife, but that's because they were smart enough to not want me to kill them.


MO, who knows, may get some chicks with some adults, but I'm trying hard to be law abiding, stupid six hen limit.

On the other hand, I go for the spirit of the law every bit as much as the letter, so if you gents come across a rooster that's lost his voice, I'll buy him from you.

[QUOTE=Groves;8463653]I've only bought full grown birds. They were all friendly to some degree, with a few off-to-themselves types. None were aggressive to me or my three kids. Nor aggressive toward the wife, but that's because they were smart enough to not want me to kill them.


MO, who knows, may get some chicks with some adults, but I'm trying hard to be law abiding, stupid six hen limit.

On the other hand, I go for the spirit of the law every bit as much as the letter, so if you gents come across a rooster that's lost his voice, I'll buy him from you.[/QUOTE]


:LOL:ROFL:LOL:ROFL

A rooster that doesnt crow is a Total long shot, I know it. Accidents happen. Defects. Luck. Gotta cast the net wide, maybe you find one. Surgery is an option, but MOs vet skills demand a premium.

Between the hoot owls, chicken hawks, fox & skunk
I'd have to & would like to try turkeys
But bald eagles are becoming almost common

Good dogs are everything when you free range birds.

I am wondering how beat up that meat would be, anyone have any ideas? If it doesn't really bruise up the meat I would definitely buy or make one of those. My dad and I killed, dipped, plucked, cut and packaged 100 meat birds on one weekend. I never want to do that again, we plucked by hand and it took forever.

Man you are bringing some good ones today man!! REP.

Chicken Hawks are the worst, you have to have a closed run to completely keep them out. Bald eagles though? Where do you live?

No strawshakers? I have a mixed yard. Maybe 130-140 hens. Mostly red sexlinks, some delawares, and wyndottes. I do not have a cock on the yard. For production purposes what would you put on yard? Keep in mind I want to have a cross where the pullets still lay in the dead of winter.

my ex has 3 hens in the middle of mesa az
they eat wtf ever you give them
the eggs are amazing

Rhode Island Red, by far. We used to have a couple hundred birds back in the day, and they are the best roosters, our hens produced year round.

Ok, second part of this is how could you darken the egg shell pigment and keep the production? I thought about a separate yard of morans and breeding next years pullets back to the red rooster. Thoughts?

set an old telephone pole in your yard and attach a muskrat trap on top of it.
sec

The dark color in the Maran eggs comes from the lining in the oviduct. This is why a Maran hen that lays a lot will typically lay lighter eggs, and one that lays less frequently will tend toward darker eggs.

This mechanism is different than other breeds. A RIR will produce light brown eggs no matter how frequently they lay, for instance.

It's all true, but don't be fooled. I'm green, and you know it.

There are a few chicken genetic calculators out there, too.

Once you know the codes, you can plug in some birds and it takes things into account and spits out a best guess.

http://www.edelras.nl/Henk69/kruising.html

http://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator

http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetic...culators2.html

Me and the lil woman argued about this. Source?

Sec, my pitbull lovin neighbours might snitch on me. Sides my hounds are trained.

Didn't refresh before I posted.

I tried raising chickens but all my roosters kept getting arrested for rape.

My google-fu is weak, can't remember where.

Brown coloring comes from a duct in the canal, and only colors the outside of the egg.

A color like blue comes from the bile duct instead, and colors the shell through and through.

There are some south american birds that have brown through and through, but the birds we encounter will only have brown on the surface.

You've likely had some reds in the past that weren't every day layers, but i'm sure their eggs weren't all magically chocolate like a maran.

Clearly genetics has a lot to do with it, even though laying frequency can affect it some.

There's a whole world of folks trying to breed the darkest eggs, so if you can hit the jackpot of super dark and super prolific, the world would be your oyster.

Shit not like I have anything better to do. Tried like hell to upload some picks of my turkeys. Wouldn't load.

Blackened chicken on the bbq is my fave poultry.

There's a family here that has a hen house on wheels. They just move it every few months. It's the silliest looking thing.

Can't beat fresh farm eggs. We get ours from a local lady and not only are they bigger but the yolks are orange and stand up like a firm boobie. The flavor is so much more eggy too.

We'd have hens but we have no room.

Had some friends that raised ducks. We spent the night at their place and slept in the van. Damn ducks muttered all night. Sounded like a bunch of old men talking and laughing. Decided right then we're not keeping ducks.