Archive for July, 2008

Jul 28 2008

Cute Chicken Story

Published by Tom under Raising Chickens

If you have been reading my blog, you should have read my post about Rooty the wimpy rooster. This is another story about him. By the way, he has started to crow but he is still a bit afraid of the other roosters and some hens.

The other night, my wife and I went to the chicken barn to close in all the chickens for the night. When we went into the barn, Rooty was on the roost with a couple of the smaller hens. One of the older hens from last year was pecking at the younger hens. We watched Rooty take his wing and wrap it around the little hens to protect them from the older hen. We tried to get the camera but as luck would have it, the batteries were dead.

I have never seen such a thing from a rooster. I have seen hens protect their own young but never seen a rooster shield some younger chickens before. It was so cute and though Rooty is still not tough, he showed that maybe he is a protector of the weak. That is the joy of raising chickens, you get to discover new and interesting things everyday.

Rooty is a pure Araucana and he will be the only rooster I am keeping from this years chickens. I have listed some of the other roosters on Craigslist and I will be sending what I do not sell to the freezer via the axe.

Like the cute story of Rooty? Leave a comment to share you own chicken stories!

4 responses so far

Jul 19 2008

All Grown Up

Published by Tom under Raising Chickens

Well the days of the little chicks are just about gone. I just purchased my last bag of grower feed and starting next week I will put them all on layer bits. The culling of the roosters went great and I learned a lot. We ended up slaughtering five Roosters which gave us an abundance of meat for seven people. I ended up giving away a whole chicken to my brother in law.

The plucking was not bad and I learned that between 142 degrees and 145 degrees was the ideal for scalding. One of them we scalded at 132 degrees and we ended up with a lot of pin feathers to scrap out. The meat was very tasty. It was a little on the tough side but we think that was from the muscles because our roosters are free range and get lots of exercise.

Getting rid of the five roosters have calmed down the flock a lot. There is a lot less fighting and when there is a scrap, it is just minor and not deadly. I have about ten more roosters that I am going to either sell or cull because I am only keeping the hens for eggs. I might keep Rooty (the wimpy rooster) because he is not related to any of the rest but I am not sure.

Well that is all from my chicken raising for now. Have some chicken stories to share? Please drop me a comment or two.

One response so far

Jul 12 2008

Culled Five Roosters

Published by Tom under Raising Chickens

Today was the first of the culling for the season. We slaughtered and dressed five Roosters today. It was the first time I actually did the killing and cleaning. My cousin Kenny came over and taught me how to gut them and dress them. I was trying to bring a little calm to the chicken yard by eliminating some of the more aggressive Roosters.

My sister and her husband are coming for a visit so we are planning a big chicken barbecue tomorrow. We split the chickens in half and are marinating them in a sauce called State Fair dressing. The roosters were just under 16 weeks so they should have a great taste.

One of the parts of today I did not want to do was to kill the hen I told wrote about a few days ago that the dog attack. The first two days after the attack it seemed fine; however, either it was attacked by the rest of the chickens or it ended up with an infection because it could not get up. I separated it for a couple of days to try and save it but it was getting worse. I hate to see any animal suffer so I put it down today.

That’s it for now from the chicken coop. Please feel free to drop me a comment or two!

2 responses so far

Jul 09 2008

Roosters Driving Me Crazy

Published by Tom under Homestead, Raising Chickens

This has been my first year raising chickens from chicks. As you may know from my previous posts, I had several chicks hatch out this year and now they close to maturity and the roosters are driving me crazy. I had to rescue Rooty my wimpy Aracauna Rooster last weak but now they have found a few other targets to abuse. The roosters will get one of the wimpier roosters and pin them down and just attack till they draw blood.

I decided yesterday to let them all run in the larger pen to see that will alleviate the problems. This has not helped and they are still attacking the weaker ones. Yesterday, I had to rescue Rooty again because they had him pinned under the block I use for the water container. Tonight I separated another wimp into his own cage.

I have decided it was time and Saturday I will be slaughtering at least four roosters for a chicken barbecue on Sunday. I am culling off the wimpier ones except my pet Rooty and I am culling at least one of the more aggressive ones. I am hoping that once the wimpier ones are gone, the other ones will at least fight back so they will settle down some. I will let you all know how it goes.

Anyone else every have the same problems with a group of roosters? Please share your experience.

One response so far

Jul 07 2008

DO Follow Directory

Published by Tom under Webmaster, Websites Reviews

Finding good back links for your website or blog is not always easy. If order for them to count for the search engines, they need to be do follow links. You could spend hours searching and checking websites to see if they have do follow links.

Instead of wasting time searching, I found a great way to find do follow links. I found a DoFollow Directory that has listings of several websites and blogs who allow you to comment and those comments are do follow links. Like many other directories, they have several categories and offer a wide selection of niches to choose from. Webmasters can find many benefits from using this directory.

If you have a do follow blog that allows comments, they allow you to Submit DoFollow Blogs for free. This is a great way to increase traffic for your sites. If you are in a hurry to get listed, you can contact the web owner to purchase a premium listing.

The directory is well designed and easy to navigate. I find that this directory very helpful for any webmaster who is trying to promote his/her site or for finding great places for quality back links. You need to check this one out for yourself!

One response so far

Jul 07 2008

Bad Dog

Published by Tom under Raising Chickens

Yesterday my wife turned her back for a few seconds to fill up the water dishes for the chickens and one of our hens flew over the fence. My chow chow (the one on the header) attacked the poor chicken. By time I got out of the barn my wife was screaming and the dog had a mouth full of feathers.

The chicken disappeared and I was not sure if it was seriously hurt or not. There were feathers everywhere but no sign of any blood. I waited and later in the afternoon when I checked on the eggs, there was the hen back in the chicken barn. She seemed to be ok except she is missing all her tail feathers and her back feathers.

She is the only one that flies out of the pen and I am not sure why because the pen is quite large with plenty of weeds and grass to eat. I guess maybe she will learn her lesson and stay where she belongs. As for the dog, he is spending a whole lot more time in jail (his chain link dog pen).

No responses yet

Jul 04 2008

Anniversary Flowers

Published by Tom under Shopping

If you are living in Henderson and need to buy fresh flowers, or you want to send flowers to Henderson. You can check various online florists’ websites or you can go to local florists in Henderson, NV and buy your fresh flowers. Henderson local florists include Blossom’s Special Event Designs.

If you are living in Saint Louis and need to buy fresh flowers, or you want to send flowers to Saint Louis. You can check various online florists’ websites or you can go to local florists in Saint Louis, MO and buy your fresh flowers. Saint Louis local florists include Carr Tom Florist, FreshFlowerMarket.com, Felkey Randy Florals, Ladue Florist, Michaels-Arts & Crafts, Bozzay Florists, Shop ‘n Save, Bittersweet Botanicals, Kabloom, Vincent Dungey & Sons Funeral Chapel, A Rose Is A Rose of Clayton, Oakville Florist & Gifts, A Special Touch Florist, Schnucks Supermarkets - Store- Central Stores- Frontenac- Schnucks Flowers & G, Russell Florist, Sally’s Floral and Garden Design, Hereford Andrew Design, Florist in Sunset Hills, Alex Waldbart Florist, Curlywillow Custom Floral Design, Winterowd Florist, Petaler Florist Inc, Off the Wall, Mel Worley Floral Artist, Blooms in the Loop Florist, Lesher’s Flowers Inc, Richter’s Florists, Harold’s Wholesale Florist, Roses by the Village Gardens, Harold’s Wholesale - Garden Center, Sisters Flowers & Gifts, Baisch & Skinner Wholesale Floral Distributor, Pick Flower Gallery, Surprise Florist & Gifts, Knoll Walter Florist - Webster Groves, Dierbergs Florist & Gifts, Kabloom of Tesson Ferry, Micky’s Minis Flora Express, Kenary Park Florist and Gifts, St Louis Floral Boutique, Spanish Lake Florist & Gifts, Knoll Walter Florist - South City, Bellefontaine Florist & Gifts, Deutschmann Florists & Greenhouses Inc, Jasper’s Tropical Gift Fruit Baskets, Schnucks Supermarkets - Store- West Stores- Ballwin Plaza- Schnucks Flowers & G, Car-El Creations, Geechi’s Florist, Wildflowers, Designing Flowers Florist, Knoll Walter Florist - Olivette, Flowers by Sue, Designing Dames, Balloons & Bouquets, Kruse-Grimm Florist Inc, Schnucks Floral Design Center, Irvpo’s Gift Shop, Hollyhocks Flowers & Gifts, Elk Gardens Flower Shop & Greenhouses, Flowers by Dianne, Schnucks Supermarkets - Store- West Stores- Maryland Heights- Schnucks Flowers & G, Windler GB Florist, Lackland Florist Inc, Jetram Sales Inc, Emerald Isle Flowers, Knoll Walter Florist - Florist Row, Kirkwood Florist Inc, Wolf’s Flower Shop, Heimos N G Greenhouses - Sales, The Florist, Soulard Florist, Flower Box, Porter & Sons Florist, Christian Hospital Northeast Northwest - Ribbons & Roses Florist, Wichman’s Flowers.

If you are living in Las Vegas and need to buy fresh flowers, or you want to send flowers to Las Vegas. You can check various online florists’ websites or you can go to local florists in Las Vegas, NV and buy your fresh flowers. Las Vegas local florists include A Special Memory Flower & Gift Shoppe, Kelley’s Creations Floral Design, Las Vegas Floral & Plant Wholesale, Legardia’s Flowers & Gift Baskets, Memories Kept Freeze Dried, Flowers By Jenny, Jason Kenneth Design Invitation Store, Fresh Flowers LEIS of Hawaii, City Wide Floral Co-Fullfilment Centers, Touch of Spirit Floral Design, Sun Shine Floor & Design Gallery, Elegant Creations & Celebrations Florist, 1-800-I LOVE-YOU Teleflora Flowers & Gifts, Danalys Flowers Balloons & Gifts, Jeff & Kim’s Silk Florist Inc.

If you are living in Des Moines and need to buy fresh flowers, or you want to send flowers to Des Moines. You can check various online florists’ websites or you can go to local florists in Des Moines, IA and buy your fresh flowers. Des Moines local florists include Saley NONG Inc, Hy-Vee Food Stores - Ankeny Hy-Vee- Floral, Hy-Vee Food Stores - Altoona Hy-Vee- Floral, Hy-Vee Food Stores - Pleasant Hill Hy-Vee- Floral, Hawkins Greenhouse & Flower Shop, Seasonal Concepts, Events 2XS, Perry J W Inc, Boesen the Florist, Dahl’s Food Marts - Florists, Growing Concern, Tender Touch Floral & Gifts, Bill Doran Company, Flowers by Anthony, Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, Hancock Fabrics, Flowerama of America Inc, Florist Distributing Inc, Des Moines Florist.

If you are living in Jacksonville and need to buy fresh flowers, or you want to send flowers to Jacksonville. You can check various online florists’ websites or you can go to local florists in Jacksonville, FL and buy your fresh flowers. Jacksonville local florists include St Johns Flower Market, Flower Power, Multi Colors, Carlstedt Oscar G CO, Flowers & More Inc, Floral Designs by Marti Delaney, LA MEE the Florist, Loop’s Nursery and Greenhouses Inc, Turners Ace Hardware, Ackashia Florist, Far East Trader, La Mee By Sylvia, I Do Weddings- Inc., Michael Haley Limited, Turner Ace Hardware, Catanese Florist Inc, N A P C O Marketing Corporation, Deerwood Florist, Jacksonville Florist, LA Bella Floral Designs, Hazel’s Florist, Kelley’s Bloom Room, Rick’s Florist, Honey B’S Florist & Gifts, Gardners Ortega, Design Elements of Jacksonville, Flowerama of America, Ace Florist, Cox Main St Florist, Progressive Florist, Floral Supply Syndicate, Belden WM C, Napco Express-A DIV of Napco Marketing Corporation, Ace Hardware Garden Center & Florist Superstore-Turner, Bend Wholesale Outlet, Flowers by Pat, Earth-Pro Corporation, White Orchid Florists, James Burns Florist, The Design Company-A DIV of Napco Marketing Corporation, Carousel Flowers Inc, Center Stage, Flowers of Blessings, Dinsmore Florist, Expressions by Pam, Kuhn Florist, Pennock CO, A Day To Remember Weddings, Skinner’s Florist, Kuhn Flowers, J P’s Florist Shop, M J McCall CO Inc, Flower Express, Freeze Dried Florals Inc, Blume’s Nursery, Flowers by Elaine, Drury’s Florist, Anita’s Garden Shop & Design, Purple Petunia Flower Shop, Bad Alice’s.

You can check online florist, it has loads of florists’ business listings that you can visit to order your online flowers. Or you check one of the online yellow pages websites.

No responses yet

Jul 04 2008

Wimpy Rooster

Published by Tom under Raising Chickens

Yesterday I had to do a rescue of one of my roosters. It is a pure Aracana rooster and he is a wimp. One of the other roosters from this year’s batch attacked him and had him pinned under a board in the barn. I had to break the board free to free him. I decided to take him out of the same area as teh new chcikens and put him with last years’ hens. He got beat up by them too.

He is a beautiful rooster but he has no courage. He tried to get back in with this years chickens so I decided to try it and three of the chickens attacked him really bad. I had to take it out again and put back with the hens. He seems healthy and is quite big but I am not sure why they are all picking on him. I had already decided prior to this that he was the one rooster I was keeping to breed with but now I am not sure. I will have to see if he starts to get along with the next couple of weeks. He is 14 weeks old so maybe he will get some courage as he comes into his own.

On the note of roosters, I am hearing another crow from the barn so I will soon be able to confirm at least two roosters plus the one I rescued which is not crowing yet but has a definite rooster tail. I am counting what I think is

3 responses so far