What are you all doing to prepare for winter?

Haha! We found an old freezer that doesn't work anymore for free. We put ice water in it when we process and since it's still well insulated it works wonders!

Girls you won't like those flashing style cones, especially for CX....they just aren't cone shaped and so they don't come down well into the neck of the cone. I was doing a butcher demonstration at a place that had those and all the birds kept flopping out of those cones because they could get their feet into the wide tops and their bodies didn't fit well into the bottoms, not to mention the slick interiors that helped them do the Houdini and kick out of them. What a mess!

I finally whipped out my old 2 gal. bleach jug cone, nailed it to a fence post and proceeded to kill birds without all the drama and mess...cheap, durable, fits large and small and the shoulders cup the birds well, while the legs hang outside the cone, so no using them to kick themselves out of it. That lady's CX were the biggest chickens I've ever butchered as she had held them over to 15 wks...HUGE...but still fit into that cone just fine and, more important, they STAYED in the cone.

Beekissed, thanks for the input! I've never used any cone, always the head on the block. (although the first one many years ago, a turkey, had to put a sock on his head so he didn't keep looking at me!)

I must say that the feet on that bird are HUGE.......

We don't have any issues with our stainless cones. But being frugal myself I do greatly appreciate your bleach cone!

NH Homesteader said:

Well it's not like a fancy one. It's an open air setup, hubby just welded the scalder, etc. to the trailer so he can tow it elsewhere when people hire him to process. He wants a slaughterhouse for poultry on one side of the property and one for pigs on the other. Sheesh!

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I'm still jealous. I can dream can't I?

Mini Horses said:

I have a partial roll of stainless flashing. I see some taped stainless cones in my future.

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Make sure you beat the edges over so you don't cut yourself on the sharp edges. To do that you use a straight edge like a 2x8, line up the flashing and beat the edge over. Once you get it bent, then you can beat it all the way down giving your home made cone a rolled edge.

On topic, currently getting in firewood, building cold frames and planting soon(should have already had this done but it was too stinkin' hot to move here), going to be doing winter prep on the coop soon, and also clean up of the garden next month...still have vines making but that will soon be over.

*****Repaired the splitter with a $1 fix that could have costed me $80 if I was inclined to believe one has to order the whole handle assembly when a small pin is broken or lost. Used a rolling chain link and it fit perfectly...I call that a God thing, when it's highly improbable that a solution will work but you pray about it and God brings it to fruition. If anyone has a similar problem with their splitter, these roller chain links can be found at TSC and even at Wally World, though cheaper at TSC. ****

Working out a rabbit-watering system so I don't have to chip ice out of crocks for the next 4 months.

I picked up 40 square bales yesterday - will be going back for a few more round bales this weekend. It'll be nice to get that chore taken care of.

Winter? It was 42 degrees here this AM. Just not right! Guess it is going to happen but, I don't have to be happy about it. If the temps didn't get much lower, I could be quite ok with it. About 68-70 daytime. That was nice.

Now I have to plan to corral everyone and check teeth on the minis. Fresh grass fine, they look good, still have plenty out there but, will slack growing soon. So, need to see if anyone is going to be a hard feed on hay. It's an issue with these oldies & I check each Fall. That determines amount and type of hay. Plus who I have to check more frequently for body condition under all the hair. Some have been off hay for years & get a special Sr feed that is a complete feed type. Blue Seal Sentinel Senior. Great stuff!!!

Mini's and teeth... ugh. My older mare has a snaggle tooth, lol. Gives her character! No eating problems though.... so far these gals stay fat on air! They're just "young 'uns" at 12, 13, and 16.