Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[Farmfresh]

In my freezer SIZE. I butcher my "fryers" at between 4 and 5 pounds live weight. I let my "roasters" get fully grown which takes another month. With the Cornish Rocks my "roasters are around 10 to 11 pounds live weight.

It makes the world even more confusing when the term "broiler" is substituted for "fryer" and also when Cornish "game hens" are often not even a hen - just a Cornish Rock cross at about two to three weeks of age. You sometimes see capons sold as "roasters". These are surgically sterilized boy birds grown large as possible for the market.

What you NEVER see in the store is the old fashioned "stew hen". These are mature laying hens past the age of lay. VERY flavorful meat and great for moist cooked dishes like soups and stews.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

FF - thanks for all the great info! i think our meat day is next week! yay!

so i was gonna tell everyone about the fun time we had yesterday.. but i'm all distracted by

THE FOX THAT WAS IN OUR TURKEY YARD WHILE WE WERE OUT THERE - YES THE DOGS WERE THERE TOO!

of course we were going to be gone the entire day so we were up and out early getting everyone set up. all of a sudden the turkeys started making a weird pipping and the guineas started screaming and the hens are ran as fast as they could... so i went running out of the barn and....

there she was. walking right thru the turkey yard! inside the fence!

so i yelled for the dogs and we ran her off.

but here is the thing.. since we were all right there (dogs on the deck) and us out there working... and it was daylight (not dawn, sun was up).... was she either:

1. desperate
2. rabid

or do foxes just do this - in broad daylight and all??

our (good) neighbor saw her a couple days ago and she walked right past him, then the other night we heard a terrible screaming and we think it was her.

we'll be working on trapping her but we are really concerned that she might be rabid

anybody know anything about this?? we have been on high alert and didnt even let the hens out this morning when we went to church.

if you see me with a fox hat, we got her.. otherwise we are all nervous about the poultry...and i'm not interested in sending the dogs after her if she might be sick

yikes!

 

[kcsunshine]

Foxes don't walk out in front of people! They slink and hide and come out at dark to raid. So be on high alert!

 

[Farmfresh]

I also would suspect a desperate or ill fox. The one we captured killing my turkeys last year was caught in broad daylight as well and sighted a a couple of times before that in daylight as well.

When we captured her (she got stuck inside of my electric poultry net AFTER digging under and my D1, a very experienced vet tech, actually caught her with a slip noose!!!) she was very sick indeed.

She ended up being a very old vixen that was covered in mange!! We took her to the local wild animal rehab (part of our zoo) but she ended up being destroyed due to age and illness.

My sister has a female coyote at her place that comes to the barn when she is feeding and actually PLAYS with one of her DOGS!!! (The same dog by the way that has killed coyotes in the past) At first she was pretty freaked out by the situation, but now she ALMOST accepts it. Who knows why that coyote is a loner, perhaps she is part dog as well??? AND yes she does lose the occasional duck and guinea around her place which is probably due to that coyote, but I think mostly she hunts in the deep woods and fields that surround my sisters place.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

wow that is one ratty looking fox. we were wondering this one was stuck in the neighbors electric fence and thats what all the yelling was about..it was a horrible scream. eek!

and darn... thats what i was afraid of.... but um.. the one prancing around here won't be goin' to the rehab if you know what i mean.

only one thing to do - load up the dogs with lots of water and go mark all over the property.


just in case you need some cute.. here' are the new ducklings..with dog for scale:

http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2010/05/cuteness-of-baby-ducks.html

 

[Farmfresh]

Generally I totally agree with you. The working end of a gun will take care of the problem. Where we are in the city we can not legally discharge a gun. Plus I felt quite a bit of pity for the poor old girl, old, sick and surrounded by the crazy city. I guess I kind of identified with her.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yeah but FF, we ain't a-gonna send YOU on to your reward!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Yikes! a fox?!

I hope you're able to trap it and - well, you know.

hugs!


p.s. we had a fun time yesterday, too!

 

[Farmfresh]

yeah but FF, we ain't a-gonna send YOU on to your reward!

Thank you.

 

[Bourbon Red]

Around here we call it 'spade' or neuter - and neutering is too much trouble. Usually they sucumb to lead poisoning before we can get them rehabbed....