Broilers on Deck

Our Cornish Cross broilers arrived tonight.We picked them up at Orschelns and they are doing just fine.

Transported like little Happy-meals...

 Finally all set up for the evening in the brooder pen. This is just an old baby gate, cardboard floor, and pine wood chips. The silver material in the corner is called Reflectix, and is gold for spot insulation for critters (It's gold Jerry, GOLD !)

Now I just have to get the chicken tractor finished so they will have a home once they are ready to be put outside...

We are raising Pterodactyls apparently

Pulled this out of the nesting box tonight. It's a big egg... 

The Chicken-Tractor Cometh!

Finally got crackin' on the chicken tractor today. We are hoping to pick up a couple of dozen Cornish Cross at the local farm store in the next few weeks and I really need to get this thing finished.

All pressure treated for the exposed lumber:

Starting to frame up:

Finished with the roof support and the framing to hold the water buckets:

Strong enough to support one vigorous chicken dance!

I'll post more as work continues....

Swiper! no Swiping!

Aaaaaw man...

So this little guy has been trying to get to our hens for weeks. In fact, last weekend (using a spotlight) we witnessed it attacking a neighbors cat in the wood-line near our house.

I had tried live-trapping it for the past few weeks but he always manages to get to my secret recipe bait without getting caught in the cage.

Tonight, he was at the hens again so we discussed it and came to terms... That is, I shot him.
Unfortunate really, they are truly beautiful animals.

In case it ever comes up, here is the how MO DNR covers nuisance animals and protecting property in the state regulations:

3 CSR 10-4.130 Owner May Protect Property; Public Safety
http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/3csr/3c10-4.pdf 


A big nod goes to the Boone county Missouri DNR conservation agent, I have worked with him a couple of times now and he has always been super-nice, very helpful and provided solid info.

More red fox information:
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/red-fox

Not to be confused with the hilarious Red Foxx I grew up watching on Sanford and Sons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redd_Foxx

And finally, a little info on the Remington Nylon 66, one of my all-time favorite rifles and as fine a varmint gun one could expect straight-off-the-shelf with no mods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Nylon_66

Wind!

Got a little beat up last night by the wind. The first big gust pushed the rabbit hutch on it's back at some point during the day. At about 9:30 pm, another gust flipped it completely upside down and tore the metal roof off!

After that, we secured the roof and lashed the hutch to the deck posts. Bit of a wild ride for the rabbits but they are doing just fine.  :)

Real Free Range versus "cage free" Prison Eggs

Many times the eggs you buy in the store have been in the packaging and transit line for upwards of a month. this results in a loss of quality and nutrition. Its easy to see when compared to truly fresh eggs. Fresh eggs still have a deep color to their yolks and really maintain their shape.

There are five eggs in this picture that are truly free range, and then five pale "cage free" eggs (prison eggs).
The five store-bought eggs came from this package:

There is no legal definition of "free range" that an egg producer needs to adhere to in order to brand their eggs as such. In fact, many produces call their eggs "cage free" to imply that the eggs are from chickens that are roaming around, pecking and enjoying the sunshine.

Unfortunately, that could not be farther from the truth. Here is are typical "cage free" egg operations:

The bottom line is that if you really want TRUE cage-free, free range eggs, the you can't trust the labeling and need to see for yourself where eggs come from.

Chicken Run!

Nick, taking the ladies on some early-morning calisthenics after being "cooped up" all night...  :D