# A recent conversation



## Granny Heeney (Dec 14, 2018)

Him:  Bawk, bawk, bawk...
Me: Quit trying to act cute, you pooped all over the computer table. I'm immune to cuteness right now.
Him: Bawk, bawk, bawk...
Me: NO. You are NOT cute. You are NASTY.
Him: Bawk, bawk, bawk...
Me: NASTY. NASTY BIRD.
Him: Bawk, bawk, bawk...


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## GypsyG (Dec 14, 2018)

Pictures of "Him"?


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## Latestarter (Dec 14, 2018)

Ahem, ahem... ummmm why would "Him" have access to, or even the ability/wherewithal to "poop all over the computer table"? Why in the world is "Me" allowing "Him" that sort of access in the first place?


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 14, 2018)

His name is 9 Volt (SD OEGB) and this is a pic of him the day after we rescued him.  I'd post a better photo since he's become healthy but he's at the end of his first molt.  Some day we'll get some glamor shots but there's nothing we can do about those poor, wee little curly feets.


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## GypsyG (Dec 14, 2018)

Granny Heeney said:


> His name is 9 Volt (SD OEGB) and this is a pic of him the day after we rescued him.  I'd post a better photo since he's become healthy but he's at the end of his first molt.  Some day we'll get some glamor shots but there's nothing we can do about those poor, wee little curly feets.
> View attachment 55952


Awww!  What is his rescue story?


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 14, 2018)

Someone at a sale pulled him out of a box and all I saw was a lump of black feathers and a rooster tail--I'd gone there looking for hens on the verge of laying age, but I grabbed the lonely little fella.  My daughter said, "Uh, isn't that a roo?" but something told me the little guy wouldn't have lasted the weekend.  I have no idea where he came from, but I gave $3 for him.  It's a crying shame that whoever sold him got a single red cent but it saved his life.  Everyone who meets him adores him...curled feet, Gonzo beak and all.    In addition, I have high-functioning autism, and I have found it to be therapeutic to snuggle with him when life starts getting hectic--at these times, he'll plant himself in the middle of my chest and would stay there for hours if I let him!  Therapy chicken!


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## Baymule (Dec 14, 2018)

That’s sweet. You saved him and now he’s saving you. Give that $3 boy a treat from his Aunt Baymule.


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## GypsyG (Dec 14, 2018)

Granny Heeney said:


> Someone at a sale pulled him out of a box and all I saw was a lump of black feathers and a rooster tail--I'd gone there looking for hens on the verge of laying age, but I grabbed the lonely little fella.  My daughter said, "Uh, isn't that a roo?" but something told me the little guy wouldn't have lasted the weekend.  I have no idea where he came from, but I gave $3 for him.  It's a crying shame that whoever sold him got a single red cent but it saved his life.  Everyone who meets him adores him...curled feet, Gonzo beak and all.    In addition, I have high-functioning autism, and I have found it to be therapeutic to snuggle with him when life starts getting hectic--at these times, he'll plant himself in the middle of my chest and would stay there for hours if I let him!  Therapy chicken!


That's awesome!  You guys are very lucky to have each other!


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## Latestarter (Dec 14, 2018)

Now that was a perfectly rational and very acceptable reason and explanation! paper towels are "cheep" after all


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## Sheepshape (Dec 17, 2018)

9volt looks SUCH a sweetie....and obviously a 'therapy bird' for you, Granny Heeney. I'd say he's pretty much priceless.

Now I have way too many roosters....I'm not counting....I hatched eggs across the summer and roosters seemed to predominate. Now I'm veggie......so I don't eat them. My old dog is a carnivore (of course!) and he loves rooster....OH dispatches them from time to time (I have to be well away).

Now I have largely big 'posh' birds.....huge Gold and Blue Partridge Brahmas which eat loads, don't lay that well, go broody at least 3 times a year, and as such, are totally inappropriate for me to keep.On the plus side they tend to have lovely dispositions and are friendly to a fault, plus they are 'eye candy' of the highest order. All this preamble is leading up to me talking about JAMES the Jerk......a full pedigree and lovely to look at (when it gets light I'll take some pics.) He is a true survivor......incubated from 'pedigree' eggs....survived an 8 hour power-outage  (egg kept warm by old stove), survived me dropping and breaking his egg whilst candling....sealed up with pink nail varnish. Huge, beautiful, proud....and a total a******e! Uncharacteristic of his breed he REALLY is nasty. He has attacked me and most of my family. I am not afraid of him, and have chased, smacked and even managed to hit his head with my whiteboard eraser. 

His days are now numbered. OH likes him!....says he's 'spirited'.....I don't see it that way.....I now see him as 10 lbs of dog meat. He's only survived this long due to his appearance, but good looks only go so far. If any roosters have shown aggressive tendencies in the past, they have undergone 'Three strikes and you're out'

 Now James'  Blue Partridge son is growing into a stunner, and has inherited his mum's placid ways. So.....there's a new Main Man on the block....and James won't be around too much longer.


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## Latestarter (Dec 17, 2018)




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## Sheepshape (Dec 17, 2018)

So here's James (The A******e)






 

 

Very cocky....well. I suppose that's reasonable

And here's Jimi



 

 


Jimi has a better gene profile for breeding variety. He's only 6 months old and so his saddle feathers, wattles etc have a way to grow. He'll about double in weight, too. He's nice and thick set and has a better personality....so who to keep is becoming a 'no-brainer'


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## Rammy (Dec 17, 2018)

You have more patience tban I would. Id of shot him by now. Will NOT keep a mean rooster. Went thru about six before the k e I have nkw. Hes my avatar. Never has even thought about attacking me. Thats why hes not gone to freezer camp.......yet.


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## Baymule (Dec 17, 2018)

Jimi is beautiful! I hate mean roosters, have one now I keep a shovel handle for and have knocked him flat with it. One of these days I'll snatch him up and that will be the end of him. Our son likes_ real_ fried chicken, guess Mr. Meanie needs to be the star attraction.


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## Latestarter (Dec 17, 2018)

Both are good looking, I don't think I'd want to deal with feather footed birds with the mud that you have though.


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## Sheepshape (Dec 17, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> I don't think I'd want to deal with feather footed birds with the mud that you have though.


They cope remarkably well....but end up with foot snowballs when there's snow around. They manage very well in cold weather being both big (fat!) and feathery legged.

 Those big boys can crow really loudly.....but nobody complains out here and they are far enough away from the house to be troubled by them. They go into the sheep shed to crow by day as the sound is amplified there.

Chickens are great for food waste....I've never used our food recycling bin once  as the chickens will eat just about anything.


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## Baymule (Dec 17, 2018)

I love having chickens and pigs. NOTHING goes to waste! LOL


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## Sheepshape (Dec 18, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I love having chickens and pigs. NOTHING goes to waste! LOL


How right you are. I don't have any pigs, but with sheep, lots of chickens, a dog and cat....that's pretty much every foodstuff catered for.....and most of my family can seriously EAT!


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> 9volt looks SUCH a sweetie....and obviously a 'therapy bird' for you, Granny Heeney. I'd say he's pretty much priceless.
> 
> Now I have way too many roosters....I'm not counting....I hatched eggs across the summer and roosters seemed to predominate. Now I'm veggie......so I don't eat them. My old dog is a carnivore (of course!) and he loves rooster....OH dispatches them from time to time (I have to be well away).
> 
> ...


Oh, *definitely* post some pics!  That feller has to be gorgeous for you to put up with so much guff!  :-o


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> So here's James (The A******e)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They are amazing!  :-o  I have a soft spot for anything blue, but that cranky boy is show-stopping, too.  It sure answered my question of whether anyone had ever owned an aggressive one.


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Rammy said:


> You have more patience tban I would. Id of shot him by now. Will NOT keep a mean rooster. Went thru about six before the k e I have nkw. Hes my avatar. Never has even thought about attacking me. Thats why hes not gone to freezer camp.......yet.


I love his speckles, Rammy


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Jimi is beautiful! I hate mean roosters, have one now I keep a shovel handle for and have knocked him flat with it. One of these days I'll snatch him up and that will be the end of him. Our son likes_ real_ fried chicken, guess Mr. Meanie needs to be the star attraction.


Ooooh, if you serve him up, give a holler about how you did it.  Home-grown roo has got to be the best fried chicken on the planet.    Nobody around here is old enough/big enough yet!


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Both are good looking, I don't think I'd want to deal with feather footed birds with the mud that you have though.


Yah, the feather feets are currently a pain in the neck--y'alls coops are so pretty and mine is 4 inches of mud right now.


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 18, 2018)

Latestarter said:


>


What in the----!!!  ROFL!!!


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## Sheepshape (Dec 18, 2018)

Granny Heeney said:


> Ooooh, if you serve him up, give a holler about how you did it. Home-grown roo has got to be the best fried chicken on the planet.  Nobody around here is old enough/big enough yet!


Now here's the thing......I'm one of those vegetarian whimps who has now clue about the taste. OH dispatches them......I have to be well away, and then I pluck them and gut them. Once they are dead I can proceed like a surgeon. 

So...plucking. Do it straightway, while the bird is warm as the feathers come out really easily then. If you can't pluck them straight away pour boiling water over them and the feathers will come out easily.

Gut them.Strong advice...wear disposable gloves....it stinks. Open up with a cut big enough to get your hand in running parallel to the abdomen side and starting with the vent. The smell will be bad. Take everything you find out. Throw away the intestines. You'll find a thick-walled purplish thing attached to the intestines...this is the stomach/gizzard. Open it and peel off the stomach lining and half-digested stuff and retain for making stock. Take out the liver and cut off the small bottle green thing (gall bladder) and do the same. Take out the heart...stock. If you like (or for animal food)you can add the lungs, the testicles...light pink, squidgy, about 2 cm long and lying along the back. If, for any reason, you kill a hen, the developing eggs can be taken out too. Then move to the neck. The crop will be a softish swelling in the neck to the right of the midline. Open the neck and remove it and the trachea (windpipe)....has rings of cartilage in it. Apologies if this sounds too gross for the uninitiated....but most of you guys are used to grossnessss in all of it's forms.

Then cook it. Here I'm very short on detail. As you may imagine, 'Meat Cooking for Vegetarians" is not on the list of bestsellers. As my roosters end up in my lovely Border Collie's belly all I do is place the bird in a large pot and cook until he's fairly soft. As bactericidal  kill isn't necessary for my dog, and as roosters who have run around the farmyard are as tough as old boots with bones like iron, 'when they are cooked' can be anyones' guess. Ah....and I hack the meat off the bones as I don't want my lovely old dog to eat the bones and get splinters in his gut.

Granny Heeney, my plucking and gutting instructions are worth listening to, my cooking instructions are total pants.

We have an utter sea of mud at the moment due to what seems to have been constant rain since September. My 'Feather Foot' birds just take themselves off into the sheep shed where they can strut and eat all day.


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## Rammy (Dec 19, 2018)

Eeewwwwww!


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## Granny Heeney (Dec 19, 2018)

I bred New Zealands and Californians for the freezer during my teens (also lots of hunting/trapping) so I don't figure the general cleaning will be too difficult, but the feathers will be interesting.  I keep remembering those old movies with Granny out on the back porch, fluff flying like a little wind storm as she plucked.  Thanks for the tips on what to stash and what to trash!


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## Baymule (Dec 19, 2018)

We fry the liver and gizzards of YOUNG birds, but not OLD birds. We with hold feed the day before slaughter, so I don't have to deal with a full crop or intestines. I flip the guts to the dogs, they love them. I don't let them have the heads and if I give them the feet, I cut the toenails off first. 

After they are dead, I will turn the hose nozzle on their vent, washing out what poo remains, to help keep the meat clean. Then I proceed with plucking or skinning. 

I put mine in a rolled up, duct taped cardboard cone, pulling their head out the bottom. I cut their throat and let them bleed out. DH will hold their legs so they don't kick out of the cone. 

I don't think they stink that bad. I've cleaned gut shot deer. If I can do that, I can do anything.


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## Latestarter (Dec 19, 2018)

Why the "Eeewwwww" Rammy?    Thought you were a farm girl?   Haven't you butchered any animals? I mean I know you've got a bunch of chickens, and you have the cows which will become meals for someone. My chickens never seem to grow and breast meat on them...  They get plenty of good stuff to eat, and are happy hunt and peck'ers. They just never develop breasts.   Can feel their keel bone and nothing to either side.


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## Sheepshape (Dec 19, 2018)

I autopsied  a couple of sheep to find out the cause od death.....and they were really whiffy.......also had to make a puncture wound to let out the evil gasses before opening the belly.


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## greybeard (Dec 19, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Take out the heart.



Stock or.........catfish bait. Far superior to chicken livers because it will stay on the hook well and, you can fill it's now empty cavity with the smelly catfish bait of your choice. Channel cats will pass up both liver and gizzards for a chicken heart and you can usually catch several on the same heart before having to put on a new one.

You can make a wire hanger out of 3/16 thick wire that you slip the poultry's feet into to hang them upside down. A little rubber strap goes accross their breast to keep them from flopping and you just hold onto the head and do the deed with a sharp knife.  I did several hundred this way decades ago, and everything but the feathers and good parts fell into a gut bucket below.
(Had a motorized drum plucker to pluck with)


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## Rammy (Dec 19, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Why the "Eeewwwww" Rammy?    Thought you were a farm girl?   Haven't you butchered any animals? I mean I know you've got a bunch of chickens, and you have the cows which will become meals for someone. My chickens never seem to grow and breast meat on them...  They get plenty of good stuff to eat, and are happy hunt and peck'ers. They just never develop breasts.   Can feel their keel bone and nothing to either side.


Nope!! Never killed or gutted anything. If I did or do decide to butcher something, Im having someone else do it. I cant do it. Now, shooting a predator? No problem. But I aint gutting it.


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## Sheepshape (Dec 19, 2018)

Rammy said:


> Now, shooting a predator?


Sounds like we are a team, Rammy. No way could I shoot anything apart from with my camera. SO....you shoot it, then I'll pluck it/skin it, disembowel it and butcher it. 

What irony....and how strange we folk are.!


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