One Misty Moisty Morning
When cloudy was the weather
The pullets got nestboxes
We all rejoiced together!
I ordered new nest boxes…real nest boxes. Not the wooden jalopy I normally make but galvanized metal.
I’ll build some sort of framework to hold it after work today but for now I’m just glad I don’t have to hunt for eggs every day.
While we’re taking pictures of the chickens, the younger pullets are coming along nicely.
…and we’re just about ready to harvest our Thanksgiving dinner. I need to order a couple of turkey-sized bags for the freezer.
Chism Heritage Farm 
nice nestboxes! did you attach it to the structure, or do you just move it each time? how heavy is that thing? is it roll-out type, or do you reach in from the front?
I think I’ll make a simple frame of 2x4s. One board across the top, one across the bottom to hang the nest boxes from. Then a leg straight down and a leg at a 45 out adding stability. OR I’ll hang them back to back in the center with a similar support structure. They don’t weigh a whole lot so I should still be comfortable moving the whole thing with the dolly.
You will not be surprised to learn that I have the very same nestboxes, which got shipped to us in the winter, still in their flat pack in the basement :). Yours look great. So you need some way to keep them from tipping, while still being moveable, and also able to move them to the hoophouse in the winter. Looking forward to the solution.
LOL I know how that goes. Time flies.
The go together very quickly but the instructions could be better. Stay tuned for the solution. I may go through several design iterations but we’ll get there.
Question about turkey processing…I understand that it’s the same premise as chickens but they are so much bigger than the chickens. Do you still put them in a killing cone? Are they as “relaxed” as the chickens are while they’re in the cone (assuming that you use them). Looking at that big tom is intimidating to me versus the 4-5 lb broiler.
It is intimidating. Last year I carried them 200 yards from the pasture to the processing area. One bird at a time. One 30 pound bird at a time. Tucked under my left arm. Tucked under my tired left arm.
I had a homemade cone screwed (with two screws) to the side of the garage with a sheet of plastic behind the cone hanging down. Those birds beat the tar out of that killing cone. I had to hold their feet. We were scalding in a big stewpot all last year. 30 pound turkeys don’t fit in a stewpot. We did the bottom half for about a minute, then the top half. Then we mostly plucked each bird by hand as 30 pound turkeys don’t fit in Whizbang pluckers. From there on it was just like a big, big chicken with a gizzard the size of a softball. We broke out the bottoms of several bags from Cornerstone Farm Ventures getting them bagged.
They tasted great.
Thanks for the info. I’m sure they were tasty. How many birds did you raise last year versus this year? I have to admit it makes me a little sad to hear that they “beat the tar” out of the killing cone. I assume that means that they didn’t go down without a fight. Do they bleed out as quickly as the yard birds? Don’t worry…I’ll still eat my turkey bird with a side of gravy and extra stuffing 🙂
No, just like chickens the lights went out quickly. Unlike chickens, there is so much weight and strength in a turkey when the nervous system causes them to flap and kick it’s hard on the cone. A 7 pound chicken is nothing compared to a 30 pound turkey.
We raised 19/20 birds last year. We got 10 poults this year but lost 7 in the first few days. Different hatchery, different conditions…who knows. Turkey poults are fragile.