Finding more and more to do with those leaves I see! Noticed your slain oats in the next row, and I was wondering if I should do the same to mine or just leave them alone all winter. Or do you think I will have a mess to contend with in the spring? Slaughtered all 24 of our Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys today. smallest was 26 lbs and the largest Toms were between 38 and 44 lbs! I will probably raise them again because for the cost of food to weight of meat, it gives a fairly low cost for the meat. Smoking all the legs left over after everyone of the family gets their Thanksgiving turkey,Fresh, and Xmas one, frozen! I am so glad that chore is out of the way for the winter. Have a Happy Thanksgiving as I will because we have been saved from a fate worse than death with the defeat of the Clinton Crime Machine! CIAO.
Mr. Littlefield, Thanks for the info on your BBB turkey's. My what big boys you had!! We raise Bourbon Reds and we don't get size's like that. We get 17-18 pounds with hens around 11-12 pounds. I must confess to choosing them not only because they are heritage but because I am partial to red animals...being a red head myself. But...I digress, I wanted to ask you if you would/had ever consider(ed) keeping a breeding pair or one tom and few hens? We have done that and it is very interesting. I haven't had as much luck as I had hoped, but I continue to rally, hoping for future success. Regards, Pam
Hi Pam We used to raise the Narragansetts all the time and I just let them roam free. I would keep a young tom and get 3-4 hens from other folks to keep the gene pool as diverse as we could get it. Those things would lay up to 20-25 eggs in a natural nest. Then I'd go steal them all and put them into a big incubator to hatch. We would usually get about 15 from each hen to maturity and then into the freezer they'd go when big enough. Usually butchered around this time every year. Many were brined for 5-6 days and then smoked. Some we sold for exorbitant prices that paid the food bill for them all. This year was a departure from all of that past stuff. Being 78 this year I told the boys, that next year if they wanted them guess who was NOT going to be doing the "tending" all summer and fall! LOLl 1LOL
I would leave your oats alone and see what happens over the winter. They are supposed to die down when they get good and frozen, then you simply rake them up in the spring. That's what I read somewhere. Maybe Eliot Coleman.
Those are some big turkeys. I only raised turkeys one year and they were a lot more fun than chickens. More personality. I know how good it feels to have your poultry (chickens or turkeys) all butchered and in the freezer!
So, I assume there are no anti-Trump demonstrations (or riots) on Block Island after the election?
Well we didn't have any overt demonstrations, but all the precious little snowflakes were certainly gnashing their teeth and beating their breasts in despair. I have a very good friend I've known for 45 years who has a PHD and a few other degrees who is a rabid Dem. and just cannot for the life of him see that Hillary and company have ever done anything except for the good of mankind. I still cannot figure out how someone so smart can be so willfully blind to actually events. A completely different mindset from me! I am going out to dinner with he and his wife in about an hour,who we have had to Thanksgiving dinner for those past 45 years, and politics WILL NOT be a topic of conversation unless they bring it up! If they do , I'll be looking for my gallon bottle of Maalox when I get home. Have a great time on thursday following!
Forgot to say thanks for the info on the Oats. I'll just let them lie. The ones in the High Tunnell are about waist high but don't appear to be wanting to make any oatmeal flakes! Just like me a flake!
I'm just going to let my cover crop winter kill. That may happen this weekend with cold weather and snow expected. If not, it won't be long. I plan on just leaving it in place come spring and use it as a natural mulch. I'm still thinking about how to plant through it for row crops but transplants shouldn't be a problem.
Finding more and more to do with those leaves I see! Noticed your slain oats in the next row, and I was wondering if I should do the same to mine or just leave them alone all winter. Or do you think I will have a mess to contend with in the spring? Slaughtered all 24 of our Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys today. smallest was 26 lbs and the largest Toms were between 38 and 44 lbs! I will probably raise them again because for the cost of food to weight of meat, it gives a fairly low cost for the meat. Smoking all the legs left over after everyone of the family gets their Thanksgiving turkey,Fresh, and Xmas one, frozen! I am so glad that chore is out of the way for the winter. Have a Happy Thanksgiving as I will because we have been saved from a fate worse than death with the defeat of the Clinton Crime Machine! CIAO.
ReplyDeleteMr. Littlefield,
DeleteThanks for the info on your BBB turkey's. My what big boys you had!!
We raise Bourbon Reds and we don't get size's like that. We get 17-18 pounds with hens around 11-12 pounds. I must confess to choosing them not only because they are heritage but because I am partial to red animals...being a red head myself. But...I digress, I wanted to ask you if you would/had ever consider(ed) keeping a breeding pair or one tom and few hens? We have done that and it is very interesting. I haven't had as much luck as I had hoped, but I continue to rally, hoping for future success.
Regards,
Pam
Hi Pam We used to raise the Narragansetts all the time and I just let them roam free. I would keep a young tom and get 3-4 hens from other folks to keep the gene pool as diverse as we could get it. Those things would lay up to 20-25 eggs in a natural nest. Then I'd go steal them all and put them into a big incubator to hatch. We would usually get about 15 from each hen to maturity and then into the freezer they'd go when big enough. Usually butchered around this time every year. Many were brined for 5-6 days and then smoked. Some we sold for exorbitant prices that paid the food bill for them all. This year was a departure from all of that past stuff. Being 78 this year I told the boys, that next year if they wanted them guess who was NOT going to be doing the "tending" all summer and fall! LOLl
Delete1LOL
Hey Everett,
ReplyDeleteI would leave your oats alone and see what happens over the winter. They are supposed to die down when they get good and frozen, then you simply rake them up in the spring. That's what I read somewhere. Maybe Eliot Coleman.
Those are some big turkeys. I only raised turkeys one year and they were a lot more fun than chickens. More personality. I know how good it feels to have your poultry (chickens or turkeys) all butchered and in the freezer!
So, I assume there are no anti-Trump demonstrations (or riots) on Block Island after the election?
Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
Well we didn't have any overt demonstrations, but all the precious little snowflakes were certainly gnashing their teeth and beating their breasts in despair. I have a very good friend I've known for 45 years who has a PHD and a few other degrees who is a rabid Dem. and just cannot for the life of him see that Hillary and company have ever done anything except for the good of mankind. I still cannot figure out how someone so smart can be so willfully blind to actually events. A completely different mindset from me! I am going out to dinner with he and his wife in about an hour,who we have had to Thanksgiving dinner for those past 45 years, and politics WILL NOT be a topic of conversation unless they bring it up! If they do , I'll be looking for my gallon bottle of Maalox when I get home. Have a great time on thursday following!
DeleteForgot to say thanks for the info on the Oats. I'll just let them lie. The ones in the High Tunnell are about waist high but don't appear to be wanting to make any oatmeal flakes! Just like me a flake!
DeleteEverett, Herrick,
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to let my cover crop winter kill. That may happen this weekend with cold weather and snow expected. If not, it won't be long. I plan on just leaving it in place come spring and use it as a natural mulch. I'm still thinking about how to plant through it for row crops but transplants shouldn't be a problem.
Oh, BTW, no protests or riots in West Virginia.