Hi all

This is the place to talk all things Chook.

So, these chickens.......

(please note....this thread will be kept to less than 1,000 posts.)

I have checked and checked again!

There are a few traces of them still in the roof, which is where they were roosting, but I am spraying every 7 days.

I think I might dust the birds again to be on the safe side.

I really wish I had an Eglu Cube! this wooden coop milarky is not so fun!

A couple of my hens have started to lay in the run, but only cos they are copying the ducks!

They wait for the ducks to lay, then go on over and snuggle in the now-very-warm nesting spot
I've tried to make their nestboxes more comfy, but they seem to like outside! Well, until the torrential monsoon this weekend!

well we got 2 eggs today, both smaller than average.

The other thing I noticed was white feathers everywhere, without stating the obvious and answering my own question, but could she (said white chicken, loosing feathers!) be going the her mault?

Yes, probably moulting. It's the time of year for it for most hens.

If my pen is anything to go by then it's definitely moult time. But mainly for the Geese! One of my, usually tidy, Copper Marans has a bald head, and tatty body at the moment, and looks quite comical! Some of the Batties are looking tatty too, and egg production has slowed by about a third.

Hello grapes!
I'm just back from hols in Cornwall (where it is warm enough to sunbathe and swim in the sea) to Lancashire (where I think we may have had a frost last night brrrr!). Couldn't wait unitl morning to see the girls so checked on the d'uccles last thing and they are HUGE now, some bearded, some not. Let them out with the big girls this morning and they all tucked into scrambled eggs. Everyone seems to have recovered from moulting and the young peke Lazara now has a lovely beetly green sheen on her feathers. Its a peaceful scene out there in the sunshine with banties pootling about under bushes or snozzing in the sun.
Did anyone get to the Carlisle rare breed sale?
JM

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Just had to share pictures of my new girls... I am so proud of them, they are settling in so well and someone is laying???!!!!!!

Evelyn has the lovely orange/yellow collar and Veronica-Jean is the beautiful ginger warren... Irene is equally lovely but camera shy as yet!

Lovely, Mrs. T - fab names too!

We (well Dave-next-door ) dispatched my bantam cockerel last night and I managed to pluck and gut him this morning ! Oven ready he weighed in at around 750grams so won't be able to entertain many friends! I've put him in the freezer as I need to forget his face before I can eat him I think!

Good for you Sue! It can't be easy but you did it! My bantam roos are facing the same fate if I can't get rid in pairs and trios with the girlies. I'm coming round to the idea of killing, poss with a 'priest' as I don't fancy using my bare hands..750g ain't bad.

Well done...not easy I know

He came in at about the same weight as my bantam boys.
My Marans were about 2kg. They are still in the freezer!

We need to do our 3 geese pretty soon- so I'm going to be asking for help on that soon ( advice as how to restrain them etc)...they'll be in the freezer for a couple of months before Xmas /New Year just so we can face eating them


My OH does the deed , I pluck and external dress- then he guts. Seems to move the stages on so he doesn't feel he's gutting what he's just killed....makes it a tad easier that way for us.

The traditional method with geese is the broomstick, and while the wings can flap a fair bit, because of the way they are held, the worst that can happen is an annoying whacking to the sides of the legs (of the person doing the job) for maybe half-a-dozen beats. Unless one 'bruises easily' there should be no problem at all.
Because geese have MASSES of feathers, as well as down, plucking takes quite a long time. It isn't necessary to fully pluck before hanging (but a good idea to make a start), and those wanted for Christmas (can't avoid mentioning it in this context) should get at least 10 days hanging in a cool-cold shed or similar. With the weather being warmer just now, it may be tricky to fnd somewhere cool enough, and since these birds are a couple of months younger, maybe a week hanging would do.

I couldn't get my hand inside to gut him so had to butterfly(?) him. Now I've done one I know, I'm hoping to hatch some Ixworths or La Fleche next year as they make good layers and good table birds and there is a breeder of both very near to me.
BTW my new Black Rocks have been laying since I brought them home on Saturday! 1 on Sunday and 2 each day since. Pretty good huh!

Originally Posted by Suechooks

We (well Dave-next-door ) dispatched my bantam cockerel last night and I managed to pluck and gut him this morning ! Oven ready he weighed in at around 750grams so won't be able to entertain many friends! I've put him in the freezer as I need to forget his face before I can eat him I think!

Well I hadn't got anything for Sunday dinner so out came Oscar! A bit chewy and not much of him but made an adequate meal for the 2 of us! First time I've had a complete dinner from the allotment! Can face it all again now so looking at good utility breeds I can source eggs from locally for the spring!