I lean toward dog every time there's dead birds with nothing consumed. Even with a couple missing, they could be just out of sight into the woods dead or hurt and alive but hiding. Doesn't matter how close you live to others they wander a long ways
They are still meat birds, they are going to eat alot, and they do way more than CX being that they take much longer to grow out. I leave feed available to them at all times and they can forage around as well but they still eat the food. If I had a batch I could free range all the time I'd...
I know this is an old thread just want to update my previous post on Hoover's hatchery, I just received an order of 75 chicks yesterday CX rangers and a few red sex link pullets, all are thriving no DOAs, customer service has been good, prices are good, I'm going to stick with Hoover's.
The chicks are shipped the day they hatch, regardless of weather, nothing can be done about that, a chick only has about 3 days to get where it's going without starving or thirsting to death, bad weather is a gamble you take when ordering chicks, it's not the hatchery's fault. I time my orders...
I've got a sick new Hampshire red hen, she is somewhat lethargic, when she walks she has a stagger to her gait, and she holds her tail almost straight down it makes her looks somewhat like a runner duck standing totally vertical. Her eyes are bright and she eats and drinks. Her comb is still...
If I were to use wheels off get something the size of bicycle wheels and put them in the center of the coop so it is close to balanced then put a removable tongue in the end to pull with. 2 wheels is easy to steer and larger wheels are easier to move over rough areas
Where are you going to put roost bars? Your newest boxes are quite high compared to the roof of the coop, you may end up with chickens sleeping in them and crapping them up if you can't the roost bars much higher than the nests
Having the plucker will really speed up matters, I can't wait till I get one, just me and the wife work on butchering usually my mom or the mother in law comes to help pack but turns into more of a goal session than a get work done session.
It's good to know your scalder was able to keep up I do...
I hope you have a little help, 125 is a lot to tackle in a day even a weekend, at least for me. Hopefully your scalder will keep the temperature up and prevent having to take breaks in between batches of chickens to let it heat. A plucker is next on my list of chicken stuff to buy
I do my own, it takes a little time but the processor is 40 miles away and I'm just not gonna pay someone to butcher a bunch of chickens. I do sell some of mine and should raise my price to account for the butchering time and shrink bags. They're getting a deal at 3 bucks a lb already butchered
Our nearest processor, the only one that I'm aware of who does poultry, charged 3 bucks a bird that's for basic freezer paper wrapping and while bird processing, it's extra for cutting into pieces and shrink wrapping, it could easily approach 5 dollars a bird if you went with cut up and shrink...
You can lap them if you want to but it's not necessary, it would add some strength vertically against snow loads and such but honestly that's not needed. Mine is 3 sections long just butted together and a friend built one 5 sections long his is butted as well but only zip tied, mine is welded...
I agree with not having them enclosed, I turned my hoop coop into a pig house for this summer so have to build a different one, I currently only use hoop coop for meat birds and layers are in the shed coop, if I ever move (hopefully) to a bigger place with some good pasture area I'm going to get...
Rainbows are a fast grower comparable the the Red broilers or red rangers they should have a decent carcass at 12 weeks if roosters id wait a couple weeks longer on hens they run smaller.
Australorp are a different story they're more a dual purpose breed than a straight meat bird I'd leave the...
You've got a pretty large coop then AI doing a few meat birds should be good just know they are far messier than layers, once you expand you may want to do a separate enclosure, the hoop coop works well and it's cheap all they need is basic shelter from rain and sun. You shouldn't have a...
We are talking about full grown chickens since the op did not specify what age his birds are but was inquiring about a coop for 25 chickens, you do realize that 4 day old chicks eventually become full grown chickens don't you?
You can obviously fit 4 day old chicks in a small brooder, this...