DianeS - Listeria spreading, culling the rabbits

[DianeS]

I got the BEST Craigslist score today - 16 free laying hens! All between 5 months and 2 years old. They came from two groups - one is four Buff Orps that are being "downsized" from their flock because the owner wants to do more exotic birds - I saw some of the funky crested ones when I was picking mine up. The others are each potential egg-eaters, and the owner chose to replace the whole flock rather than figure out which ones were doing it. I received Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, and a few I don't recognize (like one that's small and solid black).

I am so stoked! I have the 12 in my newly cleared out chicken run, and the four in a large dog crate. Tomorrow I get to go over each with a fine toothed comb and make sure they're healthy, and separate everyone into empty rabbit hutches to see which are actually the egg eaters. Once I know that I can pick which to keep for eggs and which will go for meat.

And all it cost me was the time I spent reading Craigslist, and the car drive to go get them.

Yahoo!

 

[k0xxx]

Nice! You can't beat that deal with a stick. Congrats!

We had an egg eater, but we lost some hens during the big heat wave a while back, and haven't had a problem since. It was a shame to lose the hens, but I guess the egger eater went with them.

 

[freemotion]

I thought I had an egg eater this spring...turned out it was up to four hens trying to all get into the same nest box at the same time and breaking the eggs. Then the clean up work would have to commence. DH and I started picking up eggs as often as we could and the problem resolved. We were fortunate.

Great score!

 

[framing fowl]

Great deal!!!

 

[Marianne]

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

awesome deal! Free chickens!

 

[DianeS]

I must stop getting free chickens from Craigslist. Apparantly giving chickens away is just something people DO around here - along with breathing. I got 6 free roosters today, and they delivered them to my door for the price of gas. Wow!

I had put today aside to butcher and process some of the hens I got yesterday, but once the roosters arrived I had to do them first so they didn't bother the neighbors. Everything was going well until one of the roosters got loose! He slipped out the door while I was getting another out of the crate. He spied the run of hens I'd gotten yesterday, crowed loudly, and made a beeline for them. I headed him off and the chase ensued.

All around the yard, back to the gate, over the rabbit hutches and around the yard again. Crowing the whole time! (The rooster, not me.) The neighbor's birthday party noise silenced. Another neighbor decided that just then was the best possible time to come over to the gap in the fenceline to "pick some blackberries". The determined rooster finally got IN to the run with the hens, but since they didn't know him the hens commenced flogging him! 12 vs 1 was not a fair fight, but also not one I was stepping in to, so I waited until the rooster surfaced out of the melee before going in to grab him. I got him and carried him out of the run by his legs - That durn rooster could crow even UPSIDE DOWN!

I'm covered in burrs from all the weeds I haven't cleared yet, my legs are bleeding from the blackberry brambles, I'm carrying a rooster upside down, and I look up to see my neighbor, who hurriedly picks another blackberry. I was in no mood to pretend all was good, so I lassoed the rooster's legs together and picked up the knife, and the neighbor decided she had something to do elsewhere. Whew!

I tell you, that rooster will taste GOOD.

 

[Beanie]

I had to read this out loud to my hubs....he has had several Roo runs like that.....Still chuckling!!!!

 

[CrimsonRose]

sorry I have to laugh... that story sounds like me anytime I got to butcher anything... I always say if something can go wrong it will...

The mean and ornery ones always taste the best!

 

[DianeS]

Doing my best to save money by doing things myself. That's self-sufficiency, right?

I processed six roosters the other day, and we're about to have our third meal from the meat. First night was Italian tomato chicken breasts. Then was chicken breasts in onion gravy. Tonight is BBQ chicken leg quarters. There will probably be leftovers from that for tomorrow's lunch.

I started my sourdough bread starter today. It'll be a week or therabouts before I can make bread from it, but it's started.

Today I picked 4 cups of blackberries from the back yard, and am making homemade blackberry cobbler.

Hopefully my husband sees that saving money is *almost* the same as making it. I really don't want to have to go get a 40-hour a week desk job like I had before, but I also don't want him concerned about money. We'll see!