Bee's Guest House

[justusnak]

Hey Bee. What a great idea to put meaties under a broodie. I was at Orchelins the other day, and they had meaties...it was so hard to walk away. I just dont know if I am up to that yet. I mean, I have done them every year, but this has been a wicked crazy spring already. Guess if I am going to get them, I better get them now tho, or I will have to waite untill fall. darn it! Looks like I will be makeing a trip into Orchelins tomorrow. Im thinking 25 should do the trick. For now at least. I have had several customers ask if I was going to do them again this year. Heck, I can dress them and freeze them...and then sell them for 15$ a piece! Not too bad. Guess I better put on my big girl boots, and just go get them....before they run out.
BBH, congrats on the broody!! I WISH I could get one to go broody..I have about a dozen turkey eggs waiting for a big fat hen....or my bator. REALLY wanting a hen! LOL

 

[Dace]

That is so clever....you would think she'd get mad at you for taking her eggs.

Pics would be AWESOME!

 

[big brown horse]

I just kept telling her, "Pumpkin, you sure would look good as a mother." Vanity, it works!


I wish one of you strong women lived close enough to hold my hand during my first butcher. :/

And I see you guys have been eating pie without me!

Bee now that I think about it, that mama hen is gonna think twice about going broody again after she has to "hand feed" each and every one of those fat little meaties!

 

[Beekissed]

Not too bad, indeed!!! Wish I could get customers for such a venture...I'd raise several flocks of meaties!

We plan to freeze the breast, use the skin and the rest of the carcass for chicken soup stock and chicken pot pie turnovers, save the neck, organs, wing tips, feet for the dogs winter feed.

I plan to build the homemade plucker I've seen on BYC so that I can have the skin and save the feathers. I'd like to clean them and pick out all the stiffer ones and then collect them for future feather pillows.

May even make a pillow out of a certain, super-soft fleece I recently got from a distant angel!

 

[FarmerDenise]

I'm waiting for one of my bigger hens to go broody to raise me some meaties. SO is still squeamish about butchering and eating our own birds, but I'm not!! And we have a neighbor who might be willing to buy some fresh birds from us. I plan on asking them soon.

 

[Beekissed]

My niece gave me some meaties she had raised a couple of years back....trust me, you will have no problem killing these ugly birds! They don't resemble chickens except they have the vague body shape of one. They don't act like normal chickens either....very weird!

I will be anxious to see if mine will be different because they will be free ranged with a regular flock. Maybe they won't be so repulsive? :/

 

[big brown horse]

"Poor shangs!"

 

[justusnak]

Ohhh, a pillow!!?? Maybe I will get geese for my pillow makeing adventure...MAYBE! LOL I never keep the feathers from meaties. Most of them are so yukky by butcher time..eww. I just cant keep them. On a better note...My DIL LOVES to pluck chickens! Yeah...I know...wierd. To me thats the WORST part. She said she " likes the popping sound it makes" I say..." Here is another one ready to pluck"
I will be getting the meat pen ready in the morning...its a 3ft x 12 ft pen, raised off the ground, and mobile! This way I can minimize the damage on the ground....from all the poo, I hope. Im still trying to get grass to grow where I had the meaties 2 years ago...I think this year the seed took. I see green fuzz in there.

 

[lorihadams]

I wish one of my dang hens would go broody, then I could hatch out some duck eggs......I keep leaving a pile of eggs in the nest box for a few days just hoping to see someone sitting on them but no luck. Can you make one go broody?

 

[Farmfresh]

A lot of chickens have the "broody" bred out of them, unfortunately.

If you have a breed that will go broody invest in some wooden eggs. Everyday that you take eggs from the nest trade them for wooden eggs. (By the way the hens don't care what color those fake eggs are, make it easy on yourself by painting them so the REAL eggs are easy to spot.) Keep adding wooden eggs until they have a nice full nest. Often this will induce them to start feeling broody.