Self-Reliance: How do you?
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WAIT WAIT WAIT…Big foot? What the heck is going on in this thread? If anyone is curious I go back and forth but I will say this. Driving from Wichita to Missoula just reinforced how HUGE this country is and how empty a lot of that is, so COULD it exist? Yes, does it exist? I don’t know!
RafterW We found a dead duck and some eggs in a nest near it. We waited 6 or so hours after finding the nest to see if a duck came back and none did, so we have them in an incubator in the basement. Are they going to hatch? Probably not. Looks like more than 4 hours without a momma duck sitting on them will basically kill or prevent them from developing but we bought the incubator because at some point in the future we want to have chickens!
Jonathon If they don’t hatch by 30 days in the incubator be carful how you handle them LOL
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Tex_77 I haven’t put any thought into that scenario. The squatch would likely defeat my electrified perimeter netting and be able to unlatch the lid of the coop.
I feel there is a story to the ninnescah Sasquatch, that I’m not privy to lol.
@rafterwJust put a good game camera and with the pictures you will be able to buy all the chicken you want.
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mrobisr nice, these will hopefully be ready to process at 10 weeks. I’ve got a mobile coop wagon that I will move within a 650 square foot electrified net from Premier1. They will be about three days behind my cows in the pasture, the cows get moved daily, the premier1 fence will get moved every third day and their wagon/coop will get moved daily within the fencing.
Main goal is to get a second source of manure on the pasture, while also spreading the cow manure, feeding on the fly larvae and foraging for insects to help reduce my feed cost for the chickens. This is why I chose a red ranger over a Cornish cross, these chicks are already scratching in their bedding at less than a week old!
Secondary goal is the meat source from the chickens. I’m shooting for a target of no more than 1.66/lb of feed/bird over the course of 10 weeks, with the supplemental food source that the pasture offers.
RafterW Sounds like a solid workable plan to me.
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Jonathon If you don’t already know, Yoder has a pretty large animal auction on the last Friday of each month. Keim Auction is who puts it on. They often have fertilized eggs by the thousands that sell there. Its pretty wild lol, its where rednecks and the Amish/Mennonite gather in one place together haha!
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Jonathon If you don’t already know, Yoder has a pretty large animal auction on the last Friday of each month. Keim Auction is who puts it on. They often have fertilized eggs by the thousands that sell there. Its pretty wild lol, its where rednecks and the Amish/Mennonite gather in one place together haha!
RafterW now that sounds like a fun time!
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Tex_77 The people-watching opportunities are spectacular!
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The meat birds are growing fast. Come Wednesday, they will be a full two weeks old. Feathers are starting to come
On, and their legs are really beefing up. They are guzzling water and feed rapidly as they grow. They are approx 2.5x larger than when they arrived via mail.
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WAIT WAIT WAIT…Big foot? What the heck is going on in this thread? If anyone is curious I go back and forth but I will say this. Driving from Wichita to Missoula just reinforced how HUGE this country is and how empty a lot of that is, so COULD it exist? Yes, does it exist? I don’t know!
RafterW We found a dead duck and some eggs in a nest near it. We waited 6 or so hours after finding the nest to see if a duck came back and none did, so we have them in an incubator in the basement. Are they going to hatch? Probably not. Looks like more than 4 hours without a momma duck sitting on them will basically kill or prevent them from developing but we bought the incubator because at some point in the future we want to have chickens!
Jonathon I had a friend that raised pheasants, you would be surprised at the many different breeds there are out there. He had a pretty big set up and I would help. We collected eggs put them in the incubator and watching them grow from chicks to adults was very interesting.
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The meat birds are growing fast. Come Wednesday, they will be a full two weeks old. Feathers are starting to come
On, and their legs are really beefing up. They are guzzling water and feed rapidly as they grow. They are approx 2.5x larger than when they arrived via mail.
RafterW they’re looking great
. Keep it up. -
The meat birds are growing fast. Come Wednesday, they will be a full two weeks old. Feathers are starting to come
On, and their legs are really beefing up. They are guzzling water and feed rapidly as they grow. They are approx 2.5x larger than when they arrived via mail.
RafterW They are looking good, keep posting updates.
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Friend of the wife had a duckling follow her home. She been feeding it for a week and said its doubled in size. I screamed DUCK SAUSAGE into the phone. The bump should heal soon.
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samspade Foie gras could be on the menu, perhaps!?
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I’m fairly sure the eggs are a dud but there is something in a few of them, I can see some veins when I glass them but it feels like they would be further along if they were going to hatch. Oh well, we will try again and eventually when we move out of the suburbs we will have chickens, which I am sure my dogs will harass terribly!
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I’m fairly sure the eggs are a dud but there is something in a few of them, I can see some veins when I glass them but it feels like they would be further along if they were going to hatch. Oh well, we will try again and eventually when we move out of the suburbs we will have chickens, which I am sure my dogs will harass terribly!
Jonathon you are never moving out of the burbs!
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Tex_77 after reading this now I want to watch the movie The Burbs!
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Tex_77 Don’t you put that evil on me! I WILL break out and it will be glorious!
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
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the freedom wagon is 97% finished. Just need to add the dowel rod handle on front to drag it around. This will provide shelter for the 50 freedom ranger chicks that will move to pasture next week. More to come in the setup.The freedom wagon is helping my family avoid market prices for chicken and gives us the freedom to choose the chicken we eat, to the fullest extent. Freedom to choose the breed to meet the goals we have for our land, freedom to choose the feed and treatment that these chickens receive that will ultimately be feeding us and friends. If all goes to plan, cost on these will be well under $3/lb and will yield 225 lbs of bone-in carcass.
That’s a nice coop. Having it wheels is great so you can fertilize where ever as-needed.
Bonus, It looks fairly predator - proof. -
That’s a nice coop. Having it wheels is great so you can fertilize where ever as-needed.
Bonus, It looks fairly predator - proof.processhead just wait until you see the perimeter fencing! I’ll post next week on this when I get the pullets settled in their first paddock.
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