Groupings, Personal Space, Garden Art, and Color forum: Toni's 2019 Chicken thread
After 13 years online, Cubits.org is scheduled to be shut down. Please make sure you have the contact information for all your friends, and that you download whatever content you want from this site.
Views: 12, Replies: 114 » Jump to the end |
|
|||
| Arlene, They bred all the wildness out of the wild turkeys for hunting, and yes, you could stop and grab one off the side of the road now. A small town has no secrets except itself |
|
|||
| So far I don't think they have bred the dumb out of turkeys. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
| A small town has no secrets except itself |
|
|||
| on just for a minute. that's all I have these days, a minute here & a minute there. so damned hot.. everything is suffering with the heat. I hate it. almost 100degs every damned day. Had to get rid of one of the bronze turkeys. Became a velociraptor. One of my little baby chickens had hopped out of her coop and he immediately went after her & tried to eat her. Did end up killing her before I was able to rescue her and I was only about 6ft away!! I was so very tempted to make a t-day dinner that night, but decided that it might have been a fluke. Then the damned turkey kept attacking me. Not viciously, no maliciously, just super hungry. And when he pecked, it HURT. So I took him to the swap on Sunday and sold him for $40. Got 3 others still.. 2 whites & the other bronze. They haven't been as bitey as this one was. Super stupid thing at the swap. Towards the very very end, around 3pm, it was clouding up horrifically and you do NOT want to get caught out there in one of those storms. It's on the eastern plains and the storms can be pretty vicious. Anyways, I had torn down my shade and had loaded up almost everyone when this foofy rich lady pushing a stroller came up to my van. Now it's OK for someone to look in vehicles at critters because some people keep their critters in their vehicles and if the doors are open, that's an invitation pretty much. Anyways, this lady, whom of which looked like she hadn't picked up a piece of critter poo in her life so I have NO idea why she was there, wanted to know if the turkey could make a good pet. I gotta take a step back & explain something else. I had the turkey in a big wire dog crate. That way he had room to turn around and lay down comfortably, plus he had food & water in there, but because it *is* a wire crate, people can easily stick their fingers in there. And I had to keep telling people do NOT stick your fingers in with the turkey, he WILL bite and it DOES hurt. Most people acknowledged my warning and backed off. Only 1 person didn't, and yes, he got bit. I then told him, I *warned* you not to do that, so don't blame me. He left. So it was acknowledged that this bird was to be dinner, he was bitey, and he wasn't a very good pet, plus his particular breed is designed for dinner and not for long-term living. They usually don't survive past 24 weeks as their breasts get so big that they *can't* walk and usually die from either broken legs & starvation or their hearts give out due to their size. These are a variety of bird that you see in the grocery store. The thanksgiving turkeys you see in the grocery store are usually the white Broadbreasted (Butterballs).. the bronze is just the other color pattern. They can top out at over 40lbs in 20 weeks. My guy was about 11 weeks and was over 15lbs already. They aren't going to be as big as birds you see in the store because mine free range while the ones you see in stores are stuck in a barn their entire lives and never get to walk.. so all they do is eat & eat & eat. Now back to richie lady. I was folding up my shade and was putting it in it's transport bag when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a boy about 8 years old come up to the back of my van and immediately started to put his hand in the crate with the turkey. I'm sorry, but I was hot, very tired, hungry as I hadn't eaten all day. I'd been out there in the wind for almost 6 hours and was just very cranky. I turned quickly and snapped at the boy a little harshly "Do NOT stick your fingers in with the turkey! He WILL bite and it WILL hurt!" He yanked his hand back and ran back to his mom... who just happened to be walking up and heard me (hell, the entire swap heard me), and his mom just HAPPENED to be this richie lady pushing her $1000 stroller. She looked at the turkey.. he *was* a very pretty bird with iridescent feathers on his back that shone green in the sunlight and you could tell that his tail was getting to be very beautiful. She then asked me about him being a good pet and I told her, no, #1, he bites. #2, he won't live very long as he's designed to be dinner and dinner only. He's not a heritage bird, meaning that he has a longer life, he's a broadbreasted, meaning he's going to die from oversize between 20 & 30 weeks of age, so that's not a good idea for a pet. She then told me that was horrible and how could people do that. Now, I'm sorry, but I was tart with her. I am getting so sick & tired of these freaking yuppie larva telling me that eating a bird (or any other animal) that you raise up strictly for food (broadbreasted turkeys, certain kinds of pigs, certain kinds of cows, certain kinds of chickens, etc) is a horrible thing. I pointed to the north, where you can see a shopping center, and told her, "You go to Safeway to get a Thanksgiving turkey. This is the same damned thing. Except mine's been humanely raised having getting to free range and stretch his wings and run around and be a turkey. Turkeys you buy at Thanksgiving are raised cramped 1 to 3 sqft of space, never get to stretch their wings, have no place to walk, get pecked on and eaten by stronger birds, and never ever EVER see the sun. You tell me that I'm horrible? My turkey GOT to be a turkey. Your dinner was a slave." Yes, I said that. I'm sorry, I wasn't going to hold my tongue back any more. I'm tired of it. A Mexican guy had then come up and was listening.. not too sure how much he understood. The lady then walked to the side of my van & saw that I had bunnies. The Mexican looked directly at me & I knew he wanted to talk business. So I discussed it with him... he asked "Que quanto?" (how much?) and I responded that I was asking $40 (which is actually a damned good price... closer to Thanksgiving home-raised turkeys can fetch $100 plus processing price!) He then just reached into his pocket & pulled out a wad of cash. Peeled off $40 and was handing it to me. I told him to hold onto it while I get the bird out of the crate. The turkey was NOT cooperating and would NOT come out of the crate! If I'd been home, I would have just laid the crate down & opened the door, but at the swap, I did NOT want him to get his wings spread out as they ARE fast and, while can't fly that well, you don't want to have to chase a damned turkey! So I got out the jar of food and the turkey then willingly (happily!) came out of the crate to eat. I put my arm around his body & gently hugged him to me, picking him up and putting him on the ground. The turkeys I raised are used to me handling their neck & head area (easiest way to direct them to which way you want them to walk when I had to guide them into their coop at night), so I put my hand along his neck & made him lay down. The Mexican guy then wanted to buy one of my crates as he didn't have one of his own, so I sold him one of my older crates for $20. So $60 for a $10 crate & a $7 turkey!! Not bad IMO, but with the time & effort I'd put into that damned turkey, I don't think I broke even. Anyways, back to richie lady. She was looking at the bunnies, petting one of them (they will come right up to the edge of their cage & stand up on their hind legs, begging for attention). She wanted to know what you needed to have a bunny. I explained that they're quiet animals, don't need much, but do need food, water, & shelter. She then asked how much are the bunnies & I told her that they're $15/ea and all I have are boys. Her husband then managed to have found her and yelled, "We need to do research before we buy ANY animal!" Didn't look like I was going to sell her a bunny, but actually, that's a good thing. I don't think they would have been a good pet for her and probably would have either died in her care early in life OR been rehomed/taken to a shelter for "being too much work." Ugh. I hate people like that. They all think that animals are disposable. No, animals are for life.. be it long term until they die from old age or illness or short term as they're designed for food. I have other adventures to talk about with swaps, but I have to get back to it. No rest for the wicked.   Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
|
|||
| Took my phone out when I was taking care of critters. Sapphire Gem  Blue Laced Wynadotte  Gold laced wynadottes  11 week old Broadbreasted White Turkey Jake    11 week Bronze broadbreasted jake    7 week old rex bunnies    Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
|
|||
Oh those rabbits are so sweet  Beautiful birds!NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
|
|||
| Toni, Loved your story and you handled those people just right! I'm glad someone took the turkey that understood he was meant to be eaten. Nice pictures! No wonder she asked about the bunnies. They are adorable! A small town has no secrets except itself |
|
|||
Quite a bit has gone on w/chicken world, but this summons it up pretty well. Going to swaps is not about making money as you don't. You don't even break even. It's about the commadrement, the hanging out. A lot of y'all go to sewing bees & church & music festivals... this is how I like to socialize. But my jtties from may are growing up and it's time to find them new homes unfortunately...      And the turkeys have gotten monstrous.   Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
|
|||
Cool photo's Toni - and I'm so thankful you enjoy doing this - Good For YOU!  NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
|
|||
| long time since I posted here... quite a bit has gone on but too tired to post it all. Here's what I did today. Copied from my post on FB. TL:DR - turkey attacked me, processed him into a 35lb Thanksgiving dinner. Well, my turkey saga is 1/2 complete. I started with 4 poults back in the end of April, sold one in July as he as getting pretty bitey, and, then, yesterday Butterball attacked me. For about 2-3 weeks now, he'd been poofying up more than normal and stomping and hissing, but I didn't pay him any mind as he'd stop when I fed him. Yesterday morning I was hurried, so I just poured the food w/o paying any attention to him, his Jenny, or the other Jake, then went to school. Got home around 3 and went to do the afternoon rounds. He immediately poofed and stomped at me, but I'd seen him do that with the jenny. I bent down to fill a waterer for the little chicks I have outside and he bumped into me w/his chest. Upset, I gave him a look and pushed him back. He then came at me more forcefully, bumping me w/his chest. I shoved him pretty hard w/both hands and told him to cool it. He then angled his head back as far as it would go, his neck gobblething was so red as to almost purple and his head was blue-purple. Rearing back, he clapped my head with his wings! That HURT. OK, it's on. I put my money with my mouth is. Any time I see someone asking how to break an aggressive rooster, I always use one of the usual images of a crockpot or an instant pot. And, I saw this as a sign of aggression. So, Butterball signed his fate. I walked past him, with him chest-bumping me and fluttering his wings at me, to where I keep my dog crates. I opened a crate and turned back to him. My BBB turkey Jake kept getting between us, which was annoying as it made it THAT much harder to get the white. Butterball kept poofing and hissing and tried to slap me with his wings again, but I was watching for it and stepped back easily (even though he had a 7' wingspan from tip to tip). He kept backing up, hissing at me as I think he could figure out that I was NOT happy. Plus the BBB kept snapping at his head (?). I tried to get behind him so I could guide him to the crate, he was NOT having that at all. So it became a ring-around-the-Rosey with him circling around while I was attempting to get behind him. I tried to grab his head a couple of times, but he'd weave it out of the way super fast like a snake. Amazingly, the BBB is the one who came to my rescue (?). He lunged forward & grabbed Butterball by the back of the skull and bit hard, pushing his head down. I darted my hand in there and grabbed Butterball's head where it connected to his neck and turned him around. I kept trying to get BBB to let him go, but nope, he was QUITE happy to bite the crap out of Butterball's neck. So I got Butterball guided into the crate and closed the door. I had to get my husband to help me carry him into the garage as he was way too heavy for me to carry by myself. I kept saying, "Butterball, you signed your own fate, dude.. you did this to yourself and I'm not putting up with it!" John & I got him into the garage where I let him stay overnight to empty his crop & bowels. This morning I had my early morning class, so was home by 1130. But had to feed the husband (they get cranky if they get hungry), so that put me behind. I had watched various YouTube videos on how to dispatch a turkey, so I had a tiny inkling of how I was going to do it. One video I really liked showed putting the turkey head-down into a kitchen garbage can w/a hole cut in the bottom so the head could be pulled out. 2 holes near the top would hold a bar, whereas the entire thing could be suspended up between 2 6' ladders. The guy in the video had used a square frame where he hooked his turkey's legs to - I didn't have that kind of time/energy, so I just threw a rope over one of the support strusses in the garage (I always process in the garage so as to keep as much gore from the neighbors). I made a slipknot noose and tried to get Butterball's feet through it. Nope, that wasn't working. So I got a black sock and put it over his head (saw something VERY much like this on a Dirty Jobs where Mike used a black sock to subdue an ostrich). Butterball did calm down, but for some reason wouldn't cooperate w/me hogtying him (wonder why). So I made the slipknot REALLY big and just had him walk into the noose, then had John hold him still while I slipped the knot tight. I picked up Butterball (almost throwing out my back), and put him in the garbage can I had prepared yesterday. Hoisted him up, but his head was stuck inside the can. Oops. So lifted him up up by his feet, reached in through the hole in the bottom, and pulled down his head. Had John keep him suspended up and dispatched him. One of the toughest things I have done... both emotionally and physically. When I do a chicken, I usually remove completely. I knew, however, from watching the videos, that this wouldn't be much of an option and I would have to drain. Yuck. After dispatching, put him on the table I had already prepared and got my luggage scale I had picked up yesterday. Using zipties around his feet, I managed to hook it long enough to get a weight: 41lbs dispatched. Wow. BIG turkey. Biggest bird I had processed before was my 7 month old Frankenchicken, who was over 10lbs dispatched, but was barely over 6 when I finished processing (that much fat). So I expected to get no more than 20-25lbs. I dry plucked him (HUGE PITA w/those big flight feathers!!!) and then set about to the evisceration. Amazingly, that was the simplest part of the entire job! Removed everything, took him inside, spent almost 45 mins washing him out so that he was all pretty. Got him rescaled.. 35lbs. A freaking 35lb dressed turkey. It's just John & me. OMG, that's like 14 meals! Showed John (he helped w/the holding up, but he's a squeemish guy) the end results and he suggested to quarter him. Ok, not a problem. So I cut off one leg. Holy crap, this thing is bigger than a lamb leg!! Cut off one breast... ridiculous! The 2 wings came off next, then the other breast, then the other leg. I didn't half the legs (thighs from drum sticks), but I *DID* cut the breasts into 2 or 3 pieces each. Too damned big! My FoodSaver vacuum sealer definitely got a workout today and now my freezer is full of fresh turkey. The pictures of the quarter on a platter is a standard sized turkey platter for Thanksgiving. I opted not to keep the neck even though it was huge and very scary looking. And I have still have 2 more birds to process.. one almost as big!!!!! Yikes!       Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
|
|||
Oh my goodness Toni  I do feel for you emotionally. It is hard but that is one HUGE turkey. You won't have to shop for Thanksgiving. I can't believe you have 2 more to do  NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION Purslane & Portulaca ~ Garden Art |
|
|||
| Big, big turkey! Good job, Toni. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.myfastforum.org/forum54.php |
|
|||
| Whoa! He was a BIG guy. Lots of meals from him. Good job. |
|
|||
ArleneB wrote:Whoa! He was a BIG guy. Lots of meals from him. Good job. Each leg is going to be at LEAST 3-4 meals for me, I broke each breast down into a minimum of 3 pieces each. He was freaking HUGE. He would NOT have fit in a normal oven, that's for sure. I don't think that he'd even would have fit in my turkey roaster. Never be afraid of a scar. It just means that you were stronger than something that tried to hurt you. My new Etsy shop - handmade jewelry by ME!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/OjodelGato Buy some of my photos! http://www.catsonkeyboards.com "I've seen better acting from extras in Godzilla movies!" - Calculon |
| « Back to the top « Cubits.org homepage « Sharon's Friends cubit homepage « Groupings, Personal Space, Garden Art, and Color forum |
You must first create a username and login before you can reply to this thread.