TOO Homesteading
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
Smawgunner2
Active Member
Dad Builds $3,000 Chicken Coop To Get 16 Cent Eggs For Free
BIRMINGHAM, AL—According to sources, local dad Dave Manheart recently completed a project that will help enable his family to save money on groceries. After much research and 10 weekends of hard labor, Dave has succeeded in constructing a backyard chicken coop. With a small investment of just...
babylonbee.com
loose_is_fast
Junior Member
So we got home from a family vacation to Gatlinburg today to find the chicken coop door closed and the roost door half open. I usually leave the coop door open as we have an auto door that runs off a timer for the roost. Well the rope for the roost door came off the spool and wrapped around the arbor of the motor causing a fault leaving it partially open. There are feathers and blood all over the coop and 1 missing chicken. From what I can tell there was quite the struggle inside and the chicken made it out of the coop and when exiting either the chicken or predator hit the board holding the coop door open and it closed the rest in. No sign of the dead chicken anywhere. My question is what was it. Opossums and coons don't take chickens with them and just kill them just like mink. We have fox and coyote but I didn't see any prints........ any ideas?
If it's not too much trouble for them, I've had coons travel a ways with their prize. When I free ranged birds, I had dogs that would go into a frenzy and just catch, shake, kill, and move onto the next. The yard would look like somebody shot pillows with a shotgun. I lost 2 birds to coons last week, reset the traps and have 6 coon and 2 possum so far.
Maybe time for a trail camera on the coop….
loose_is_fast
Junior Member
Neighbor lady looked over right about then. Pretty awkward wave 
Lol, the ol school method is fun to teach the kiddos but Ive come to like the kill cone method for ease of cleanup.
I couldn't get my hands on cones without spending more than I wanted. I'll have some next year just to prevent wing/leg breaks (shit got wild on a couple ). But I can see the advantage for sure. The YardBird plucked is rough on them, too, but it does in 20 seconds what takes 20 minutes otherwise. Had I had help, I could have done 8 birds in less than 2 hours, setup and cleanup included. I fucked up not getting the heatshrink bags too. I've done birds before, but never by myself start to finish. I just joined the assembly line and was the gutter and leg remover. Was a good learning experience!
). But I can see the advantage for sure. The YardBird plucked is rough on them, too, but it does in 20 seconds what takes 20 minutes otherwise. Had I had help, I could have done 8 birds in less than 2 hours, setup and cleanup included. I fucked up not getting the heatshrink bags too. I've done birds before, but never by myself start to finish. I just joined the assembly line and was the gutter and leg remover. Was a good learning experience!
No need to buy cones, save your windshield washer fluid bottles and cut to size. Put as many as ya want/need in a row on a board between 2 trees, homemade stand, etc.
Agreed very easy but feeling the blood run down my hand was sobering.
I just used a traffic come i found in the ditch cut to size.No need to buy cones, save your windshield washer fluid bottles and cut to size. Put as many as ya want/need in a row on a board between 2 trees, homemade stand, etc.
I didn't splurge for the big plucker, got one to run off my drill.
I borrowed the plucker. Like a boat or a pool, you don't own one, you just know someone who does!
The fam and I (mostly I) decided that we’d try our hands at raising our own broiler chickens back in September. I went down to Meyer Hatchery and picked up a dozen Cornish cross chicks and we were off to the races. A few weeks in the brooder setup and then I moved them over to a bigger pen in the barn. All in all they were easy to maintain and we didn’t lose any birds prematurely, thankfully. I noticed a few days ago we were getting low on feed. Not wanting to buy another bag, I decided today was their day… just a fuzz past 7 weeks.
A friend of ours owns a chicken plucker so I borrowed that. I set up an impromptu work station in the shop since the winds were absurd today. I fashioned a killing cone for free with an old 5-gallon bucket. Sharp knife… whack… drain… then into the scalding pot, 150 degrees for about 20 seconds. Then into the plucker, which made really quick work of them. Less than 20 seconds in the plucker and they were clean as a baby’s ass. When I had them all plucked, I got to work on the gutting process. From there the birds went into an ice water bath for about an hour, mainly to cool them down quickly so I didn’t put a huge initial strain on the freezer. After the ice bath, they went into these kick ass shrink bags from Texas Poultry. Basically it’s like heat shrink for a carcass… put the bird in, adjust the wings and legs, give it a twist and a zip tie, then dip into 200 degree water. Piece of cake. The bags are high quality and thick, so I don’t foresee freezer burn being much of an issue. Plus they just look great when they’re done.
I know that was quick so if anyone has any specific questions just fire away. I haven’t done an official taste test yet, but assuming they are good we will definitely be doing this again. I’ve got 12 birds and I’d estimate they are each around 5-8 pounds dressed. I’m glad we didn’t go to week 8 or else they might not have fit in the bags!
A friend of ours owns a chicken plucker so I borrowed that. I set up an impromptu work station in the shop since the winds were absurd today. I fashioned a killing cone for free with an old 5-gallon bucket. Sharp knife… whack… drain… then into the scalding pot, 150 degrees for about 20 seconds. Then into the plucker, which made really quick work of them. Less than 20 seconds in the plucker and they were clean as a baby’s ass. When I had them all plucked, I got to work on the gutting process. From there the birds went into an ice water bath for about an hour, mainly to cool them down quickly so I didn’t put a huge initial strain on the freezer. After the ice bath, they went into these kick ass shrink bags from Texas Poultry. Basically it’s like heat shrink for a carcass… put the bird in, adjust the wings and legs, give it a twist and a zip tie, then dip into 200 degree water. Piece of cake. The bags are high quality and thick, so I don’t foresee freezer burn being much of an issue. Plus they just look great when they’re done.
I know that was quick so if anyone has any specific questions just fire away. I haven’t done an official taste test yet, but assuming they are good we will definitely be doing this again. I’ve got 12 birds and I’d estimate they are each around 5-8 pounds dressed. I’m glad we didn’t go to week 8 or else they might not have fit in the bags!
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
Nice! Sounds like you had everything planned out well. How long between butchering this bunch and starting the next batch?