Well here is the interesting situation for us. About 45 minutes ago we had a storm pass through and had a lighting strike so close to the house we thought it had hit us. We went outside to check on the house and noticed that when we walked by 4 of our hens that were under the van didn't move. THEY ARE DEAD! Just sitting there like normal with their legs stuck straight out. I am sure that the van was hit because all of the electrical lights up goofy when we start it.
My question is would you butcher the hens for meat. I don't think they would bleed out correctly, so I am leaning against it.
ANY ADVICE????
Need ADVICE ASAP Lighting Strike
oh my goodness... I have no advice, but all I can say is.. wow...
I not only don't think they would bleed out right, but wouldn't they be partialy cooked?
Darn... I'll be thinking of this one for awhile...
I laugh, but with a heavy heart. I have never seen anything like this before. Just sitting right there like statues, but with legs blown out behind them. And these were 4 of the 7 we have laying right now. I think that the others were in the chicken house in the nesting boxes laying at the time and that was all that saved them, since they yend to run around like a gang.
My mom brought up a good point that all of the big commercial butchering places electricute (sp?) their birds. But not with lighting I assume! lol.
Sheila
hmm, I really didn't know that Sheila.. I think I would go ahead and process them.. asap.. then find out.. only because time is passing.. I would hate for you to miss a time window.
Open one up and check it out. If it's a go then process teh rest. No sense in wasting. Very strange though. what are the statistics on that one I wonder???
aren't they mor eliekly to get eaten by an aligator than struck by lightning? LOL
sorry, this is quite dreadful! i too would give it a shot. if it doesn't seem good enough for human consumpotion, you likely have some pets that would enjoy it. there could also be some fat in their to save for stock...
and then there is the BUCKET...
sorry this happened to you, sound like you are willing to make the best of it. you know there will be lots of little eggs inside them, you could feed those to your chickens...
Okay TF I have to ask, isn't Ron White from Fritch, TX. He was one of my favorite comedians. Just wanting to know also what the BUCKET is for.
Sheila
Oh GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sheila asked about the bucket! Sheila, never never ask about the bucket (EG) : )
okay I have to ask again about the BUCKET. You have my curiosity provoked.
Sheila
No! NO! DO NOT ask about the BUCKET!!!!!
(Although it is an awfully clever idea).
Oh no....another potential bucket hanger? Oh boy! Sheila, you really sound like you are chomping at the bit to find out about the buckets.....oh ewwww, how gross would actually 'chomping' at the buckets be? My DH had one started on accident.......with chicken inards he had sitting for too long....the little buggers were already crawling around and everything and he said, yep....starting me up a protein project.......thought he was sold on the idea and then he burned the bucket. Well, maybe with the seed planted, we might end up with hanging buckets too.....although ours will be yellow and not white.
So, who's gonna let Sheila in on the 'secret' of the buckets? Maybe tf will be by soon and tell her?
Sorry about what happened with your hens Shelia! Let us know what you end up doing. Gee, I can't imagine the odds of that happening.
Christy
We'll just sit here and bait (ewww, no pun intended) Sheila with the bucket for awhile. : ) I'm sure TF will be by soon to break the bucket to her.
I don't know, Patchouli, tf has gotten a little sensitive about the bucket.
Shelia, whatever you do don't ridicule or be frightened by the bucket. Just act like everything is okay and you understand. Genius can be frightening.
well, I have been waiting all day... are they worth processing??
Is the bucket full, has it started to morph yet?
(Giggling) ; 0 )
wow i didnt know that could happen poor chickens
Okay - sorry to keep everybody in suspense. At first I thought about trying to salvage the meat. Got a closer look and in about 1 hr the hens were smelling scorched and I was to worried about not bleeding them out good. So we will no be processing them. I would rather be safe then sorry.
I have them saved. Think I know what the bucket is for. Just need the genious (sp?) to get back on line and let me in on the secret.
I would never ridicule the bucket. Just waiting on the instructions and pros and cons lists. LOL
Sheila
better late than never?
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Feeding-Chickens-Maggots.html
;-)
tf
LOL
oh boy tf......think you might have a bucket follower.......she even has the meat sitting right there and waiting! So Sheila......you gonna do it? I can't wait to hear!
I am now looking at every dead critter and inards left from butchering and thinking, dang, sure with I had a bucket! It is really seeming like a waste to throw them on the burn pile.....or if DH doesn't get to it in time the 'project' takes off on it's own and that really seems like the grosser version over than setting up a bucket and doing it on purpose for a good reason. With the animals we have had die on us in the last few weeks plus the butchering left overs I could have been easily 'feeding' into the bucket. We had a BLeghorn fall over and die for no apparent reason, then a pigeon get hit in the road, then last week a gray talouse/buff cross goose got hit in the road.......like I said, it now is starting to seem like a bigger waste than it already is. Haven't sold DH on the idea of it though........but I know where the drill is.......hey tf.....what size should the holes be and how many? (hee hee)
Oh boy, I might be the next one to 'grow' free protein! Oh geez.....I can't believe I'm coming around to thinking the idea is brilliant!
Christy
LOL Christy, I will be doing it also, just need to find the buckets. Wish I had one right now just cleaned out the fridg and I have lots of gross stuff that would attract flies. I forgot to look yesterday while at the farm supply for buckets. I could get some of those kitty litter buckets, what could I use the kitty litter for? Garden wise or chickens???? I dont have a concrete drive. My cat is outside cat so do need a little box for her.
kitty litter is a good cleaner, check the frugal living forum for ideas... it svery abosrbent.
holes are 3/8", and we only put them in the bottom, but apparently they shoudl be on the sides and top too! if you don't have a nice tight lid for your bucket [anysized bucket would do] then just put another bucket on top of it! you just need the one on the bottom to have a handle, your bucket MUST be hanging, or you will just increase the fly population without ever feeding your birds...
those buckets are also good for nesting in...
gee, i wish i could take credit for all o fthis. you all woul dnever guess who introduced me to it, none other than TAYNORS!!!
ha ha ha should have know it would be Taynors. Ok I will check thanks Tam.
hmmmm.....3/8" you say? Do the flies come in those as well and then can get out? I think I even know where I might hang one.........
Christy
Taynors was at my house yesterday, and she nebber said one word about no buckets, and I gave her the grand Tour of the brooder house too!!! LOL
yes, that allows the flies to go in, from the sides and top. mine just has openings in the top for flies, but i see they like the bottome better, where it drips... allegedly the flies don't come back out... but the holes in the bottom are for when the larvae are big enough to want to burrow into the ground. the first bucket i had a piece of ply under, not certain the chickens would get them fast enough. this time, well, there is rarely and instance when some chick isn't chekcing out the bucket, and will sitck around till they are full, then go on, and another chick comes along... so it just drips onto the ground. now that is referred to as the "bucket pen" and i rarely go in there. the mama duck and five ducklings were missing the othe rnight, finally found them with a flaslight, at the North end of the "bucket pen"...
before you hang it, consider your most intense/common breeze direction... you don't want to smell this. and hang it low enough to reach when you want to add things to it. you never really empty it...
tf
what????!!!! she got to see YOUR brooder house, and couldn't even CALL ME from there!!!
as you can guess, she passes this kind of info onto me, then lets me chance it and take the teasing in case it doesn't "fly"... LOL
OK< taynors, I WANT PICTURES!!!
I'm glad you found your missing duck and ducklings tf! Thank goodness!
Good advice about the wind direction. No, don't think I want to smell it......bad enough when DH doesn't take care of dead critters right away and I catch a whiff.....or don't know where one of the dogs drug it off to and then wonder where it went. At least this way I would KNOW where the smell was coming from though. I wonder if I just do it, like I have with other things, like the broody's, if DH would just fall in line and go with it? : )
Now, what about removing the things that are not consumed.....feathers, bones, fur? Wouldn't the little white nasties be all stuck to that and how do you get it out without also dragging out the free protein too?
Christy
TF my dear....You DO realize she hasn't moved into her Farm yet...What she is doing, is making you test drive everything so when she gets there, she will know what will work, and what won't.....ROFLLLLLLLLL
ha ha ha ha.....that is TOO funny! : )
yea for sure, we can call someone else the enabler now!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeppers, i know, she uses me like that all the time, LOL...
Chritsy, that is what i did, i got the bucket, said where'd the drill, etc... we didn't cut anything into pieces, cause they were small to begin with. feathers and all, just leave it in there, it all decomposes eventually...
they dont 'stick to anything, when they are rady to pupate to a fly, they burrow down, fall through the whole, and get gobbled up, PRONTO!!! every week we have less and less flies here...
JUST DO IT!
sounds good to me,esp since she doesn't seem to be here to defend herslef...
I need to get rid of my fly population badly, I will be doing this next week, drill in hand and ask Dh how do i put this sharp thingy in that drill thingy. I wont have to do it then.
you are SOOO smart!
LOL........just make sure to call the drill thingy the electric screwdriver thingy and I bet he moves REALLY fast and asks questions later! (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle)
Drats, wish that one would work with my DH!
Christy
lol yea that would work
hee hee, I can't wait to hear how that one goes!
Christy
Okay I have read the dreaded link. Sounds like a good idea to me, BUT I do have a few questions.
Do you hang your bucket in the chicken house??? Do you hang it over something to catch the protein. How bad is the smell????
I can handle a lot, but here comes the gross question. Queasy people close now.
If the larvae are grown on dead animals, they have to smell bad. With all the talk about water tainting the taste of your eggs. Could these also make them taste bad?? Really not looking forward to eggs that taste like roadkill.
SHeila
P.S. We need to change the name of the thread to the bucket list. LOL