Allen Frost

I have two flocks of KC. One flock is a year old and includes two drakes and three ducks. The other is a young flock of 10, sex unknown.
The older birds will make a nest in the pen sometimes, and lay there or they just lay anywhere on the pen floor and sometimes in the coop. I let them out to range every day and sometimes they will lay out somewhere. If I let them out too early they lay outside. Twice I found a nest near the creek where they had layed four eggs over a few days. In addition to that I find eggs anywhere and everywhere, in the berry patch in pathways etc. Seems when they are ready to lay, they squat and let it fly.
I have never seen them sit on eggs though. I am thinking of putting some eggs under one of my broody hens or getting an incubator to try to hatch some out.
My second season chickens are not laying very well and don't think the eggs are worth what I am feeding them, even though they free range. The ducks are certainly worth it as they forage most of their own food and lay almost every day.
I think I may phase out chickens and go with several flocks of Khaki Campbell layers.

I wanted to provide an update on the self ejecting chickens. I processed more chickens this past Friday and added a bungee cord across the top of the cone making sure that the birds feet and legs were out of the cone.

Without the cord, the bird pulls his feet in which causes him to eject during the final shutters.

I just put nails on either side of the post to hook the cord to. This worked quite well and was easy to use. I did not have one bird self eject the entire day.

Bob Blackmer wrote:Jay~ I like the bleach bottle idea. That's some great recycling/up-cycling. I was wondering how you attached them to what ever you might be using, and how long do they hold up?

I don't buy plastic milk jugs and try to avoid plastic as much as possible but when I need a jug (for picking berries) I go to the recycling center where I can get all I want.

steve temp wrote:Must have been a bad shot. Only once needed a 2nd shot. Vision an X eye to ears, maybe slightly above for a pig.
People have stupid ideas about getting more blood out and in turn cause an animal more suffering. Too many times I have seen and heard the results of a slow painful death, that is unethical. Use a bullet and be done instantly, then slit throat to remove blood.

I doubt it. These are mountain people and have been slaughtering hogs for generations. The hog was shot at point blank range with the barrel inches away from the point between the eyes that you describe. These were huge hogs and needed a larger caliber. Believe me Steve when I say these are not stupid people, don't have stupid ideas and they are not into making animals suffer.

The bleach bottles are awesome! I paid a lot of money for the purchased cone and it is worse than the one I made. I think you are both right in that, if the feet get back inside the cone they can push themselves out. It's not that they are trying to get out but the convulsions that come with death just force their legs to contract and that is what makes them pop out.
I'll try to keep their feet out of the cone next time, which is next Friday and I will also try the bleach bottle cone.
Thanks for your suggestions.
This batch is a little smaller than last time too running around 4 lbs instead of close to 5 lbs. That probably allows them to get their feet inside.
While I was thinking longer cones were the answer, maybe it's shorter cones.

Jami McBride wrote:Great detailed information Kathleen.

What type/size of gun would a person need for butchering med. size animals like goats?
Would a .22 do the job with one shot?

I watched a neighbor slaughter a couple of hogs with a .22 rifle and it took five shots to the head to put one down. To say the least there was a lot of screaming going on (from the hog and some internal screaming from me).

I had to shoot a ram lamb last year that was ready for slaughter and we could not catch it as it got out into the pasture. I used my .22 magnum rifle and took it down with one clean shot to the head. I was told that the .22 magnum is so much more powerful than a .22 and will stun the animal, killing it instantly. Also, a rifle is a lot safer than a pistol.

In addition to an occasional straight run of layers where I slaughter the cockrels, I also raise a few batches of 50 straight run cornish cross and slow grow broilers. The meat birds are raised on pasture in a Salatin style moveable pen.
I use two killing cones during slaughter. One I made from sheet metal and one was purchased. My problem is that very often during the final shutters of the chickens nervous system shutting down, the chicken will come out of the cone and then flail around on the ground until I pick it up and put it back in. This last batch was especially good at ejecting from the cones. The one I made is quite deep where the entire chicken is in the cone and the purchased one is less deep but wider and was designed for meat birds.
I am thinking of using a bungee cord to try to hold them in but was wondering if anyone else had come up with a better solution.
allen