[roll-bar Bob]

Ever since our cat went missing I track down whatever it is the vultures are interested in. Been a few bucks this year, all gnawed on by coyotes. They make such a mess. Skin, fur, limbs scattered about.

I bought a "larger than a raccoon" trap today. I normally use wet catfood or tuna fish to capture raccoons. What does one use for "things bigger than a racoon"? It seems to have a separate trap in the trap for live bait which seems like a PITA.

100 Lb fishing line shark hook and hang a chunk of deer liver about 3 foot off the ground Roomer is this works well.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Next Tuesday will be 4 weeks and they will be heading to the front yard coop for there remaining 4 weeks, WOW they get big quick

 

[roll-bar Bob]

butcher day is coming just a few more weeks

 

[roll-bar Bob]

getting bigger

a little over a week and a half and they are off to freezer camp, it is a good thing they are killing a 50 Lb bag of food every other day.





RBB

 

[whiterhino]

Raccoons love marshmallows

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Tomorrow is butcher day off to freezer camp for these little guys

RBB

 

[hondadirtracer]

What is your cost per lb of the final product between chicks, feed, and processing?

 

[roll-bar Bob]

See post #38 for last years numbers but this year

I ordered 40 birds

$2 a bird as a chick shipped to me from TSC

= $80

2 - Bags of wood chips for the floor in the coop $6 each

= $12

7 - 50 Lb Bags of 24% chick starter @ $16 each

= $112

31 Poultry Shrink Wrap Bags @ $0.5 each

= $16

So around $220 for 31 that survived around 7 bucks a bird

@ around 6 Lbs per bird it works out to around $1.20 per Lb ish I will know better numbers after tomorrow.



RBB

 

[roll-bar Bob]

photos from butcher day

this scored us around 170 Lbs of chicken at around $1.29 per pound



RBB

 

[sterlingfire]

The best part is has it's all natural!

 

[roll-bar Bob]

So about 2 weeks ago the amazon guy brought us this wonderful little battery powered light activated coop door probably the best 140 bucks I have wasted this year to date. Sun goes up door goes open, sun goes down door gets closed, if you are in you are in, if you are out you might make it to sun up, if the coyotes don't get you. Only one out of the thirty birds learned the hard way as the rest sat in the coop listening to the coyotes enjoy the slow learner. Have not had a problem with the birds going to bed, since that bloody night.

RBB

 

[greygoose]

Wow! That thing is pretty cool!!

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Well last night I pulled the trigger on 40 chicks and 10 turkeys they should be here in a week or so, 20 of the chicks are going to my Dad, and the other 20 are going to my neighbor in trade for walleye and salmon. A couple turkeys will end up in my freezer and the rest will get sold.


RBB

 

[greygoose]

Sounds like a good deal to me!

 

[roll-bar Bob]

45 of my 50 birds showed up on Friday some how a small box of 5 turkeys got lost in the mail. After about 100,000 calls, I found out the hatchery printed the label, stuck it to the box, sent the box to the post office, where the workers processed most of my order and then decided " Well that one can wait till Monday " The Hatchery said yep they do that to us all the time I will send you out another batch of turkeys next Monday. To date we have lost 3 of the chickens, found them dead in the coop sometimes they just kill over for no real reason, the rest of them look great though running around playing in the wood chips.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

10 more turkeys just showed up in the mail we now have 15 turkeys and 37 chickens the chickens are all spoken fore but we will have around 9 or 10 turkeys for sale in around 16 weeks


RBB

 

[roll-bar Bob]

So just a quick up date the birds are 4 weeks old and it is time for then to move to the yard where they will have lots of bugs and grass to eat. Friday after work was moving day they are so excited to have more space and be out of the coop. Unfortunately with the thunder storms the other night they got scared and trampled another one of the turkeys, I am now down to 9 turkeys remaining. The massive difference in size between the chickens and the young turkeys is a little more than double and that second batch of turkeys were doomed from the get go.

 

[wrath]

We just introduced our chicklets to our chickens yesterday. 9 weeks old.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

butcher date is right around the corner

 

[ckupq]

How big is your chicken tractor. I got 20 meat birds right now and I put them in my 16X16 run but I'd rather tractor them.