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Processed Broilers
18 broilers processed yesterday and refrigerated to rest for 48 hours before they go in the freezer. Why the rest period? It leads to a more tender meat after cooking.
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Deworming Poultry
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CHICKENS AND HOT SUMMER DAYS
How can you help your birds beat the heat? Some online articles have pretty strange recommendations about things you can do for your birds in the heat. Let’s face it, ain’t nobody got time to be making frozen blocks of treats, nor will your birds really know what to do with them. Speaking from experience with doing freezer clean outs and giving the food to the birds, they don’t touch the stuff until it is thawed anyway. So, keep it simple. Open the doors and windows of your coop for air flow. Provide shade options (I have shade cloths over each run). Provide multiple sources of water and free-choice feed.…
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WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THESE ROOSTERS?
Now that you’ve figured out how to sex your chicks, it has become apparent that you have waaaaayyy too many cockerels (roosters under 1 year old are called cockerels). So… Whatcha gonna do with them? Here are some options: 1.) Grow them out and eat them. Heritage breeds may take as long as 24 – 28 weeks to reach a decent carcass size. You will want to separate them from your pullets and run them in a bachelor pen (aka freezer camp). Then butcher them yourself or book them in (book early!!!!) at a poultry processor like Pigeon Lake Poultry Processing or some Hutterite colonies will also process them. (No,…
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CHICKEN BREEDS I HAVE KEPT AND HOW I RATE THEM OUT OF 10
I’ve kept quite a few breeds over the years. Here are my ratings. *Indicates breeds I currently keep Partridge Chantecler 6/10 White Chantecler 4/10 Buff Chantecler 6/10 White Cornish (pure) 5/10 Blue Cochin 3/10 Silkies (White, Black, Lavender) 0/10 Bantam Barred Rock* 4/10 Barred Rock 2/10 Partridge Rock 6/10 Silver Pencilled Rocks 4/10 Dominique 4/10 Cuckoo Marans 4/10 Houdans 6/10 Lakenvelder 3/10 Light Brahma 6/10 Easter Egger 5/10 Olive Egger 5/10 Barnyard Mix* 5/10 Ameraucana 4/10 Columbian Wyandotte 6/10 Silver Laced Wyandotte 6/10 Australorp 4/10 Rhode Island Red 5/10 Welsummer 5/10 Sex Sal Link Browns* 9/10 Red Sussex* 9/10 Red Rock Cross* 9/10 Cornish Giants* 8/10 Random Bred 1976 5/10…
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DIATOMACEOUS EARTH AND CHICKENS
WARNINGS: 1. Diatomaceous earth is a Class 1 Carcinogen according to the IARC. 2. Always wear eye and respiratory protection when using this product. Inhalation of this product, even the ‘food grade’ version, causes scarring in your respiratory system. You should also wash your clothes and shower immediately after using this product, as it can cause skin abrasions. 3. Diatomaceous earth will drift and can kill bees, pollinators and other beneficial insects. Be extremely aware of this if you choose to use this product. Diatomaceous earth is mainly used as an insecticide and anti-caking agent. Legitimate uses of this product include mixing it into grain as it enters the grain…
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Deworming Poultry
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CHICKEN HACK FOR COCCIDIOSIS PREVENTION
This evening I cleaned the brooders with my broilers in them. They are now at the age where they eat a lot and poop almost as much! They also look like hideous little half-feathered dinosaurs. It’s not the best stage. Anyway – after scooping out their old shavings and replacing them with new ones, I did something that might seem counterproductive: I scooped some dirt from my outside runs and sprinkled it in the clean brooder. Seems crazy, right? Not so! I chose not to vaccinate this batch of broilers against coccidiosis because I know that in the past, I have sometimes had trouble finding unmedicated chick starter. (Remember –…
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Deworming Poultry
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HOW TO DETERMINE GENDER ON YOUR CHICKS
It’s that time of year when every second post on every chicken group is asking people to sex their young birds. Here are some tips on how to figure it out for yourself. 1.) Colour. In many breeds, other than solid colours (buff, white, black etc.), the cockerels are more colourful than the pullets when they begin to feather in. 2.) Pullets may feather in faster than cockerels. 3.) Leg size. Cockerels will have thicker legs. 4.) Comb colour. If your chick’s comb is turning reddish by 8 weeks old, it is probably a cockerel. 5.) Comb size. If you have purebred chickens, the ones with larger combs are probably…
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THE CHICKEN CHEAT SHEET
The Ultimate Chicken Cheat Sheet: Coops 4 sq ft per bird indoors 10 sq ft per bird outdoor run space 1 sq ft of ventilation per 10 sq ft of coop floor space 10″ of roost space per bird – use 2×4’s on the flat 1 nestbox for every 5 hens 14×14 minimum nestbox size for most breeds Insulation is a must!! Keeps it warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. Heat is not necessary if you keep practical breeds (see below). Use stucco wire for fences, back that up with hardware cloth to keep out small predators like weasels. Use flight netting over top Heat vs. No Heat…
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SO YOU’VE BOUGHT SOME CHICKS …
This is a thread on chicks for the new chicken keepers out there. I got 33 broilers, 7 Sex-sal-link brown pullets and 4 Red Rock Cross pullets last week. I have raised many chicks of many different breeds in the past. How to raise chicks successfully: If you have used your brooder before, use Virkon to disinfect it before you add new chicks. This goes double for any equipment (feeders, waterers, etc.). Mix according to the label and apply to all surfaces liberally. Surfaces must be wet for 15 minutes to properly disinfect so you may have to reapply. I use a small garden sprayer to apply mine. When you…
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