Well, we have been a busy bunch of people! Those outside projects leave little time for :caf .
I'm still suffering from too many broody hens. There are six on eggs ready to hatch this week and I'm trying to keep one hen from going broody since I leave Wednesday to visit my aging father in...
Had to butcher a young rooster (10 month) this evening because he decided to flog me...not the usual behavior from one of my Wyandotte, but not gonna happen again. He had a single comb and was destined for the freezer anyway....just hadn't gotten to this bunch yet.
He is brineing for tomorrow's...
Surely we have hatching reports....
There are now about 100 chicks ranging from 2 days to 12 weeks running around my brooder room and hen house. I need to separate the cockerels from the pullets within the older ages.
The garden is progressing. The okra is now up.
Moved 30 one day to 3 day old chicks under 2 Wyandotte hens whose eggs hatched last night. Each hen started with 10 eggs but each had 4 chicks hatch. Now each has 19 babies to raise.
It is raining here for the next several days so bonding time in a nice dry pen with their hen will be a...
Each LF hen has 12 eggs...allowing for those that don't hatch, I will be able to foster the incubator chicks 6 - 12 each hen. These breeds are great mothers and will adopt chicks that are 3 - 5 days old when slipped under them when they are caged with their chicks for a week to bond. I then...
Broodiness has settled in the breed pens and the layer flock....currently there are six lf hens on eggs in brood pens, one in the Columbian Wyandotte pen, one in the Buckeye pen, one in the Cochin pen and three Delaware bantams in their two pens....for a total of 12 hens... :jumpy.
The big...
We had a beautiful day today with 70 degrees, clear skies and mild wind.
I was able to trim feather butts on the 42 birds in the breed pens...all the Wyandotte, Buckeye and the Cochin.
Test eggs are labeled and under broody hens in the henhouse....should see chicks by the 21st.
The line I have is many generations from their wild origins. I was advised that they would not do well if released. There will be a large outside fly pen during the warmer weather...planning how to work out the predator kinks.
My Ringneck pheasant are just two generations from their wild...
Oklahoma is not much different. I am getting fewer eggs compared to past years but the Bantam and pheasant along with the quail have kept us in eggs for our use. I send the lf eggs to family. Roger's mom is 92 and eats two eggs with toast every morning. :D
Made angel food cake and egg custard...
I have Ringneck pheasants. They are spooked easily and are flighty. Will be working on releasing them on our farm. The Ringneck line I have has not been bred for captivity very long and will be able to forage and survival rates are very high.
Finishing up with a clutch of bantam eggs and a few hatches of pheasant this next week. Will sanitize the incubators and hatcher one last time for a rest until hatching begins again in earnest in February. There are two Bantam hens sharing a broody nest. They will get the chicks that hatch...
That's exactly what we do also George. Skinning is fast, simple and easy.
Then the family butchering session is so much easier with all hands on deck to help bleed, dunk, pluck, gut, flash and ice. Then the final scrape of errant feathers and bagging for refrigerator resting is a hilarious...