the crooked little chicken house

“I had a friend who worked on a sheep insemination farm. When asked about his warranty, he replied, "I always stand behind my work".

Now, that story is a complete fabric of my imagination; I made it up. One of the (hopefully) many differences between XL and me is that he will swear that he really was a sheep #&%!$er. Who am I to argue?”

““"turkeys do lay eggs, but only the females"

I am glad you went to the "extra" effort to clarify that for her.”
chili36
6:19:01 PM
10/30/09

That's enough of the Tom Foolery, fellers.

Who is XL to try to pull the wool over your eyes, Nimble?”

“He's just a lad (shaking head).”

“You really have him pegged as a sheep #&%!$er, eh?”

“He's been telling huge whoppers that have been around since I was a kid, claiming that he's either done them himself or someone he knows has. But, yeah, I figure he actually has #&%!$ed sheep.”

“Oops, Twiggie, my bad for hosing your thread. I'll do better.”

“That's one thing he can get behind, huh?”

“you people! :)

Div, the reason you don't see turkeys eggs commercially is that they start laying later than chickens and lay significantly fewer eggs per year. Not cost effective.

We got another extra large egg, it had a double yolk. I swear, after watching the fuss the hens go through to lay an egg, it makes me feel bad - they are in labor practically all day! I should be getting more eggs and it's the damn roosters' fault. They stress out the Reds so they won't go in the pen - they chase them, mount them, let them go, chase them, mount them, etc...all day long!

And now there are turkey issues...
I've seen the chickens peck Big Tom's beard, so I figured it was their fault there was pink around it...but this morning I watched the three turkeys fight! How nasty! They get a hold of another ones neck and head skin with their beaks and pull and the other one screams...one held one still while the other pecked it...gawd! I was apalled and swatted them with a stick to separate them, but they just ignored me.
I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that last night was their first night "cooped" up. I heard coyotes around 11:30pm, so I rounded up the turkeys and secured them in the coop. The chickens were all in the trees, on top of the coop, or a couple were inside. Maybe the turkeys spent too much time together...

Anyway, Austin and I finished the roofing, except for the strip along the top. Still need the door on and some more sealing...”

“I've seen the chickens peck Big Tom's beard, so I figured it was their fault there was pink around it...but this morning I watched the three turkeys fight! How nasty! They get a hold of another ones neck and head skin with their beaks and pull and the other one screams...one held one still while the other pecked it...gawd! I was apalled and swatted them with a stick to separate them, but they just ignored me.
I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that last night was their first night "cooped" up. I heard coyotes around 11:30pm, so I rounded up the turkeys and secured them in the coop. The chickens were all in the trees, on top of the coop, or a couple were inside. Maybe the turkeys spent too much time together...

Remind you of trail talk?”

“It's uncanny isn't it Nimblefoot?”

“Y'all are a bunch of jive time turkeys.”

“LOL...

I checked Big Tom and he had a few boo boos on his head...poor guy...all he wants to do is strut around showing what a studly bird he is, and the others won't leave him be...

I think the idea of keeping the smallest bird, which we think is a female, is quickly changing to "maybe she'll fit in the fryer"...”

“True story. I once worked on a turkey insemination farm, but I got fired because they said my laughing was freaking out the birds. I can't help it is those tail feathers tickle my belly.”

“I just got off the phone with a friend whose 5 year old grandson accidentally drowned 3 chicks when he decided they needed a bath. Sick but funny.”

“WTF, ZAC?”

“Ah, the "chicken lover" episode of Southpark.”

“I had the best "luck" with Sex Link chickens. For laying eggs.:) Cornish Cross for meat, kill them suckers at 6.5 to 8 weeks of age. I got a disease in my equipment which affected there kidneys, they would get reddish skin, then croak, anywhere from three weeks or so to five or six weeks of age, after they had eaten all that feed. A waste. I work out of town now, so I am giving the ground a rest.”

“Finally! A conversation just like up here (plus the hunting thread).

Oh yes.

Eh?”

“Chicken Talk?”

“Yay TT!

We found out where the Reds were laying eggs, in a nest they made under the stairs.

I though chicken sex was nasty, but turkey sex is downright abusive! I had read that domestic turkeys had to be artificially bred, and translated that into the idea that they couldn�t do it. HaHa. One day last week as we were all outside, the Toms decided that Judy needed a gang bang�first Little Tom jumped on and Judy fussed a bit�(Austin was appalled) then Big Tom jumped on, and Judy positively screamed. I thought it was because Big Tom is so heavy so let him continue�when he jumped off feathers flew. Later, Austin brought me some bloody feathers�Big Tom had ripped a piece of skin off the female right down to the meat�it looked pretty big to me, about 3 inches around. I hosed off her boo boo and tried to bandage it, but just ended up putting some bag balm on it. She seems fine, and of course, they are all at it again�

One morning while we were waiting for the truck to defrost, they were just standing on her. She seemed to tolerate it - however, there is going to be a massacre of male birdies come Thanksgiving week!”

“Oh My ...Poultry porn :0”

“So�the turkeys are being dispatched on Monday with a shot to the head�roosters will go in the usual way�

Question � I keep hearing/reading how I shouldnt do this in front of the other birds. It will stress them out and they won�t trust me anymore. Thing is, the pen is the perfect place � the frame of the kids old swing set is in there, perfect place to hang them from, plus feathers and all that will be in one place.

What say you, O wise TTers?”

“Xanax...theyll do fine”

“yeah, it was suggested that I give them all some whiskey...”

“my vote is to go for it. all kidding aside...my grandmother would ring the neck of one in front of all the others. Yes, they would sort of stand there with little "wtf" bubbles over their heads...but when she would come out with feed the next day theyd all come running.”

“My dad raised pigs for several years when I was a kid. They were always dispatched with a .22 short to the forehead. One year we had three hogs and after my dad took care of the first two, the third would not face him anymore and kept turning around so he was facing the other way.”

“was he about to take care of the third that same day?”

“Yes---all three one right after the other.”

“They are pretty much dumb animals and they dont know whats going on.”

“okay!

Actually I dont find them to be dumb at all.

My vote is for Big Tom for the table, but my sister wants to fry the bird. Since her fryer only holds an 18lb bird, Little Tom may be the star of the show next Thursday.

I do have to laugh at the not trusting me part, since I raid their nexts for eggs twice a day. :)”

“Pigs are especially smart and do know what-s going on.”

“Turkeys are cooked and or in the freezer. The little tom weighed about 28lbs dressed, so the bigger tom was probably 33-35lbs. The hen turkey becomes a pet and started laying eggs about a week ago. It was a lot of work, and I would do some things differently next time - one being that I would not shoot them in front of the other birds - it was a little disturbing to have a bunch of birds run squawking toward me for protection when I was the bad guy...

Roosters are still running around...”

“Last night as I was listening to the roosters crow at 10:30pm, I noticed a fat skunk waddling off...I so hope the little rascal isnt living in the woodpile...

This morning I watched the chickens go in and out of the pen by going under the fence, LOL...poor little Judy, she cant join them cause she doesnt fit - but she is letting me pet her now and is sleeping in the coop...”

“:)”

“Shhot the bird! Hi twig! how ya doin? Pretty skies eh! Yo bear!”

“yo bear!

hi stove man!

Yesterday I went out to the coop to find red feathers everywhere - I thought Id lost my first bird, but nope, still have 12...dont know what they were doing but someone is missing lots of feathers!

Judy had joined them outside the coop - hopefully she wont wander beyond their range. We bought her a little doggie neckerchief, LOL...wonder how shell take to that!

Im getting a little chicken crazy...the other day when I was driving down the road to home, I saw that the little darlings were in the ditch by the neighbors house on the other side of the road...I rolled my window down and gave them what for...
After I parked in the driveway, I went up and scolded them some more as they all ran back down to the house...LOL...it is so funny to watch them run...”

“Twig, do you speak to them in their native tongue?
My hometown just passed an ordinance allowing chickens within the city limits. My neighbors now have a flock and I_m enjoying them immensely.”

“Perhaps those chickens understand Mainese.”

“She yelled at them wicked hard.”

“Indubitably”

“I have been known to cluck and squawk like they do, LOL...

Its pretty funny, cause when they see me they come running, then they follow me...I know its only because I feed them, but it is funny...

I have to speak to them tonight about making sure they lay their eggs in the nesting boxes!”

“Some cities have passed ordinances allowing chickens, but you cant keep roosters.”

“can you debark roosters like dogs? In this case, decrow them.:)”

“From an article I read, roosters kept in pens low enough so they cannot extend their necks will not crow. Sounds like something not too nice to do though.”

“that would be a horrid thing to do and defeat the purpose of keeping backyard chickens...they are supposed to be less stressed...”

“Judy is beautiful in her new christmas tree neckerchief...she keeps stretching her neck so she can look down at it, LOL...”

“Now that its snowed, I need to do some more work...Im told I need to put them in every night, but Im inclined to let them do what they want.

A farmer friend told me that if their combs froze, they could die...and others tell stories of chickens who froze to death outside...

My thinking is that they know how to take care of themselves...”

“My thinking is that they know how to take care of themselves...�
twigeater
11:34:29 AM

They do not call them birdbrains for nothing. ;-)”

“When I still had my chickens after keeping some for over 20 years, I had a little coop for them and a small enclosure around that for when I went bping or slept in on weekends, they could still get off their roosts and be protected from night critters too. I noticed here in CA, that when it got in the low single digits or below, they would get some black on their combs, I imagine that was frostbite. They got over it with no issues.”