Backyard Broilers -- Round 2: Week 10

I didn't plan on having these birds around this long.  They were supposed to go in the freezer between 8 and 9 weeks.  That didn't work out.  I was out of town for the past week so I didn't get to process the rest of the birds.  Luckily my neighbors were kind enough to feed and water them (and the rabbits).

Since I wasn't here I don't have much more to add.

 It'll be really interesting to see how much more they weigh after an extra two weeks.  They look huge!

Backyard Broilers -- Round 2: Week 9

The first batch of birds went in the freezer last Saturday. 

The broilers are enjoying some time in the yard.

I used the same setup that I used last year.  I used a cone over a bucket for dispatching the birds. 

Then I scalded them in hot water that I kept between 140-150*.  I bought a two burner hot plate to keep the water at the right temperature. 

Plucking the feathers is still the most time consuming part of the process.  I didn't time how long it took each bird, but I time one at 42 minutes.  

After the birds were plucked and gutted they went into a cooler of ice water. 

I processed 6 of my birds and a buddy brought 7 of his birds.  It took us about 8.5 hours to process all 13 birds.  It was a long day.

The remaining birds have a lot more room around the feeder now.

On Monday night I went out to check on the birds.  I found one sitting 10 ft. away from their tractor.  So I picked it up and put it inside.  When I let them out Tuesday morning that bird didn't move.  Then I noticed feathers everywhere.  The other birds must have been picking on her.

She appeared to be lame.  I don't know what was wrong, but she wouldn't walk or even stand.  I took her out of the tractor, sat the waterer in front of her and left for work.

When I got home that night I found her about 4 ft from where I had left her.  She still wouldn't stand or walk.  Otherwise she seemed fine.  I picked her and examined her.  He legs looked fine.  They didn't appear to be broken.  I really don't know what was wrong.

Rather than see her suffer I decided to put her in the freezer.  During the process I found something that I don't remember seeing before.  It was a clear-ish jelly like sack.  It looked like the beginning of an egg.  I thought it took 20 weeks or so before a chicken will lay.  Although I don't know for certain that it actually was an egg...

I've been impressed with the size of these birds.  The smallest one was 4 lbs. 5 oz and the biggest was 4 lbs. 15 oz.  The rest were right around 4.5 lbs.

Garden Status for May 2014

What a difference a month makes.

The peas are almost to the top of trellis.

The leaf lettuce has gotten out of control.  I need to eat more salad.

Tomatoes are growing tall and the squash is doing OK.

These squash were planted two weeks prior to the ones in the picture above.  They have flowers already.

Roma tomatoes.

Corn (and out of control kale).

The cucumbers have flowers.

Wide view of the entire garden.

The drip irrigation continues to work well.  Other than tying up tomatoes there isn't a lot for me to do at this point. 

Dealing with air trapped in a gravity fed drip irrigation system.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person actually using gravity fed drip irrigation.  There just isn't a whole lot of information available about it on the Internet.  What I do find all says the same thing.

• Raise the height of your water source as much as possible to increase pressure.
• Keep your drip lines short.

I didn't keep my drip lines short.  I'm using hundreds of feet of drip tubing.  Also, I'm real leery of raising a ~500 lbs. barrel of water real high in the air.  Theoretically it could be done, but whatever is holding would have to be real sturdy.  I want to take the chance of that kind of weight falling.

Anyway, I've noticed recently that some of my drip emitters are flowing real fast and some don't appear to drip at all.  When I pull the cap off of the emitter it gurgles and bubbles indicating that there is air trapped in the line.  I had this issue once before.  I installed a vertical tube to allow the air in the system to escape.  That worked for a while.  Then I added more raised beds, added more drip lines, and extended the lines in the existing beds.  All of that means a lot more emitters.  That single vertical line isn't sufficient for removing all of the air in the system.

My solution was to add more vertical lines at various places.   On the first two beds I ran the vertical lines off of the main trunk to allow the air to escape before entering the branch lines in the beds.  I made sure the lines were higher than my rain barrels.  That way it won't ever overflow (water always finds its own level).

Vertical line allows air to escape before going into the branch line in the bed.

Vertical line allows air to escape before going into the branch line in the bed.

On the next two beds I simply extended the branch lines and ran them vertically.  My theory here is that the air will be pushed through the line to the end and escape.

Drip irrigation line run vertically allows air to escape.

Drip irrigation line run vertically allows air to escape.

The changes I made above made a huge difference.  All of the emitters in every bed seem to work just fine.  I haven't noticed any more air trapped in the lines.  Of course the question is, "Is it better to run the vertical line at the end of the branch, or put the T in at the beginning?"  I didn't do any careful scientific experimentation to determine that, but from a purely practical point of view, extending the line is easier.  It requires fewer fittings.  It wouldn't require any at all if you planned ahead.  I only needed them because I had to couple a new line to the old. 

Backyard Broilers -- Round 2: Week 8

They made it.  I haven't counted lately, but I'm pretty sure I still have all 15 of my birds.  They made it to 8 weeks.  According to the hatchery I got them from they should be 5.5-6 lbs.  

I'm probably going to feel a little bad about putting these guys in the freezer.  They don't even run from me.  When I go out to check on them they swarm around my feet.  They know that I provide the food. 

They still spend a lot of time eating.  They finished off another 50 lb. bag of soy free feed this past week.  I have one more 50 lb. bag.  Hopefully it'll be enough. 

I have to fill this gallon waterer at least once a day.  The quart waterer gets filled more frequently than that.  And... They've also figured out how to use the poultry nipple waterer.  They drink a lot of water.

I don't know how long it's going to take me to process these birds.  I averaged an hour per bird last year.  I'm hoping that it doesn't take that long this time. 

Backyard Broilers -- Round 2: Week 7

I don't have a whole lot new to say about these birds.  They finished off the second 50 lb. bag of soy-free feed.  I'm waiting for my source to get another shipment.  In the mean time, I've been feeding them the Purina feed I bought for the layers.  That 50 lb. bag was 2/3 full and as of tonight it's empty.  I'm hoping that I can get more of the soy-free stuff tomorrow.  If not, I'll have to stop and pick up another bag of Purina. 

They're always anxious to be let out in the morning.

These birds actually seem to be more active as they've gotten older.  For a while there they were quite lazy.  They were spending their days just laying under the coop.  Now I find them out foraging several times a day.  (Maybe they don't like the Purina feed?)

 

 

7 weeks old.

Foraging in the yard.

Baby Rabbits -- Week 9

The baby rabbits are 9 weeks old and as of now we only have one left.  The other 4 have gone to their new homes.  The one that's left is going to its new home this weekend.

When we started this adventure I was worried that my daughter might have a hard time parting with them.  That hasn't been the case at all.  She's been fine with letting them go.  She's even reminded us that we have to let her do more of the talking when people are here picking them up.

I don't have any new pictures to share, so I thought I'd re-post some of the old ones.

Day 1

1 week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

4 weeks old

5 weeks old

6 weeks old

7 weeks old

8 weeks old

I had attempted to take a picture of a brown bunny on top of the hutch each week.  We had two brown ones and I doubt very much that I picked the same one each time.  It's also apparent from the pictures that I had varying amounts of sunlight.  And, the little guys don't hold still.  The older they got the more they hopped around.  Anyway, the pictures give you a sense of how quickly they grew.