So Monday morning we found that our sheep had decided to chew on a chicken coop latch and 3 roosters and a hen got out.
After chasing them for 10 minutes, it became obvious that the last thing they wanted to do was go back inside THAT run. They had only been in that run for a few days. I guess they liked the other one better. Go figure.
So hubby decided that we needed to harvest them about a month early. The hen was one who hadn't laid an egg for about 2 months. She and the 3 roosters were eating rent free. (the rent being egg laying). The roosters were a Rhode Island Red/Pinnon Hatch cross. They were not Pure (for my hatching egg scheme) so they were destined for the freezer.
Hubby got out his pellet gun. Dad gave that to him last year when we harvested the turkeys. why is it that harvesting food around here has tragedy involved?
Anyway, a pellet to the head and the turkeys were gone. It took about 10 seconds of flapping, but it was quickly over.
Well, this time the roosters and hen were out running around. so hubby had to be a 'hunter' of sorts to get this guys.
His first shot took down the most flighty bird (my suggestion) and we thought it was over pretty quickly.
It took about 5 shots to get the next guy. Hubby thinks the target is off on the pellet gun.
****warning do not read on unless you are up to graphic descriptions that will have you slightly disgusted****
Imagine our surprise when after the 2nd bird stops doing the flop of death, the first bird sits up and starts looking around.
Hubby didn't believe me when I told him the first bird was still alive.
Anyway, I'll skip all the awful details.
The short story is that the first 2 birds were very hardy and had to be shot point blank a few times. I feel very awful about this and we are rethinking the whole pellet gun option. We may use the cone method and 'pithing'.
The 3rd bird went down with one pellet (thank goodness). I don't think we could have taken any more.
The 4th bird ran into the neighbors yard. we thought never to be seen again.
We found him last night (1 day later) and hubby took him down with 1 shot after he got home from work.
so that takes care of 4 non-producing birds from my flock.
That leaves me with 16 hens and 1 rooster. 5 of those hens aren't laying yet. 2 Ameracaunas are 6 months old and better start soon or they will be dinner. the other 3 are not old enough yet.
In the other coop I've got 2 roosters and 4 hens (from my own stock!). None are pure bred, but all could be kept or sold as laying hens in the spring. The 2 roosters will be dinner at some point.
I've also got about 28 eggs in a incubator right now. They are supposed to hatch tomorrow. But this morning I woke up to a partially cracked egg. It was dripping a sort of bloody yolk mixture. but more cracks keep appearing, so I guess it may hatch after all.
YAY!
Lets just hope I get more than one bird from this hatch. They are destined to be sold as laying hens for $15 each in the spring. Hopefully that will help pay for feed and the new coop I have hubby building for me right now.
I've started keeping a notebook and recording all money going out and coming in on the chicken business.
If it doesn't make money, I'll sell my stock and just keep a small flock of 3-5 birds. The rooster will either be eaten or sold.
I really hope it doesn't come to that. I'd love to be able to do more to contribute to the household.
(and help pay for my sheep)
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1 comment:
Ewww, I am glad I missed out on seeing this. You guys need to get a better gun!
Hey, question. If the pellet gun didn't do the job, but only knocked them out, why didn't you just pick them up and put them back in the run they were supposed to be in in the first place? Maybe the pellet gun could be your new herding tool.
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