Re: [Grass-Fed-Eggs] Digest for grass-fed-eggs@googlegroups.com - 7 Messages in 2 Topics

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Anne Pushkal

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May 26, 2012, 10:27:17 AM5/26/12
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We use an upside- down traffic cone to still the bird. Nail the cone to the fence (you may have to trim the point of the cone first to get the opening big enough for head and a bit of neck to come through). Then proceed as in method 2, with bucket below if you don't want blood on the ground.
Make sure your knife is very sharp. Inhumane to use a dull one.
I never could do the wringing- my arms don't seem to be strong enough to provide the force necessar to do it quickly and cleanly.
The point is to get your nerve up and know what you need to do so there is no suffering involved.

On May 26, 2012 1:21 AM, <grass-f...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/grass-fed-eggs/topics

    jim adams <thetravel...@gmail.com> May 25 08:45PM -0400  

    Hi Agnes .. what we do is put 2 to 4 inches of hay-as-it-comes-off-the-bale
    on the cardboard. Complete cover, no spaces, etc. Then we water it with a
    sprinkler. The hay and cardboard hold the moisture in and the light out.
     
    It's just adding a lot of organic matter to the soil in specific ways which
    enhances the decomposer ecosystem And then, by the 2nd or 3rd year, there
    is a worm population in the garden, converting compost, cardboard and hay
    into organic soil in which any self-respecting vegetable would wiggle its
    roots in delight.
     

     

    Kelly Phillipson <kellyph...@gmail.com> May 25 10:12PM -0700  

    Jim, we are getting ready to do this hopefully next week! So just to
    double-check - you cut a line in the cardboard and then poke the seeds
    down, then they will know where the opening is (by following the sun)? I'm
    just worried they will grow the wrong way and smother like the weeds.
    Also, how do you do zucchini and other veg that need mounds? Just soften
    the cardboard first? My husband also read that you can use plain cardboard
    boxes (fill with soil) as planters, so I think my herbs will go in a couple
    of those.
    Thanks!
    Kelly
     

     

    Fiona Mitchell <fmitch...@gmail.com> May 25 04:52AM -0700  

    I have to put down my chicken - I've tried all the treatments I can
    think of, and she's not responding to anything. She's very alert and
    eating and drinking but can't move.
     
    What's the most humane way to do this - without involving a vet?
     
    Thanks.

     

    "Straight" <stra...@earthlink.net> May 25 02:31PM -0400  

    Well, not seeing anybody else, I'm here.
     
    First------you will have to get your head in order and get a bit of
    distance.
     
    it's a chicken. IT is a chicken. It is a CHICKEN. It's not your child,
    not your husband, not even your dog. There are millions of chickens in the
    world, and they normally have a very short lifespan.
     
    An awful lot of chickens get torn up by dogs or racoons or some other
    predator, chewed on while still alive, or carried off by a hawk, punctured
    by it's claws. This chicken will not go through that, with the accompanying
    pain and fear. Or trucked to a processing plant, in open cages, in the
    winter. I know, I've followed them down the road and felt sorry for them.
    5o mph or more, down the road feathers flying through the snowflakes.
     
    Next-----there are a couple of quick ways. One is to chop off the head.
    The other is to slit the throat. Either way is quick, but you need to know
    the details to do it right.
     
    Get an apron. Blood does stain. And some Kleenex for yourself.
     
    To chop off head you need 2 things-----a surface (block of wood works well)
    and a sharp hatchet or something similar.
     
    Gather up chicken under your left arm, hide her eyes so she is calm. Then
    put her head down on the stump. You can "hypnotize" a chicken by using a
    string or chalk to make a V. Put her head right on the point of the V,
    stretching out the neck some, run your finger down both ways. No, I don't
    know why it works, but it does. Divides their seeing somehow.
     
    Gather up your courage and strike----once----hard!!----and don't hit
    yourself in the nose on the backswing. A normal chicken will then run
    around, unless you tie the legs first. They have a secondary "brain center"
    somewhere in their back that sets off the running response to an alarm.
    This one probably won't. They stop in a few minutes anyway.
     
    Don't look----turn around, blow nose, give yourself a few minutes respite.
    Put sick chicken and head in the trash-----where the dogs can't get it!! If
    you have to, go find a big trash bin someplace behind a restaurant or
    something. Or you could bag it and stick it in a freezer until trash day
    next week.
     
    Label it and make a note in the kitchen!!
     
    Now, if you want to try the other method--------you will need some cord,
    like garden twine, not crochet thread, maybe 4 feet or so, and a good sharp
    knife with a point. Solid and not very wide. Steak knife.
     
    Remember the apron and the Kleenex.
     
    Make a loop with the cord, find someplace to hang chicken.
    Gather up chicken, double the loop around legs, pull one end through the
    other. Hang up chicken.
     
    Hold head (the chicken's) with one hand, squeeze the sides a little to open
    mouth, stick once, Hard!! to cut the artery in the back of the throat.
    Stick a second time----Hard!----straight up through the top of the mouth
    into the brain. Do not stick yourself!
     
    Bird will hang, relaxed, blood draining out. As the last of it leaves, and
    the heart runs totally out of blood the bird will kick a little. Done.
     
    Turn your back, blow nose, give yourself a few minutes.
    Now get rid of the sick chicken.
     
    Paper bag helps. Out of sight, out of mind. It's over. On to the next
    problem.
     
    This one probably won't give you any trouble. A new prime rooster about 5
    months old can be a real handful. But if they can't see, they stay
    quiet-----you can wrap something around their head.
     
    Of course there is a 3rd option----the one I prefer to use. Get my husband
    to do it. Sometimes it works.
     
    Best wishes, and a big hug,
    You can do it.
     
    Diane S.
     
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Fiona Mitchell" <fmitch...@gmail.com>
    To: "Grass-Fed Eggs" <grass-f...@googlegroups.com>
    Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 7:52 AM
    Subject: [Grass-Fed-Eggs] Euthanasia
     
     

     

    Fiona Mitchell <fmitch...@gmail.com> May 25 03:42PM -0400  

    Wow - Diane - that's a pretty thorough description! Thanks (Your third
    option is not an option though - husband is not compliant in this case!!
     
    Trae - I like your very simple approach - but how? Literally just snap?
     
     
    --
    Fiona Mitchell
    (914) 261 4986

     

    "Straight" <stra...@earthlink.net> May 25 04:47PM -0400  

    Some people just wring their neck. Fast and hard. Breaks the neck, the bones, cuts the nerves. Just like people. Would work for this one since you're not going to eat a sick chicken, don't need to drain the blood.
     
    I've known people who slung them around their head in a circle, hard, just like a towel, to break the chicken's neck too. Didn't work for me, all I got was a mad chicken.
     
    Well, I thought that if you are going to have to do it, you'd want to be able to do a good job, quick and clean. Merciful.
     
    It's fun to practice trying to hypnotize a chicken! All you need is a flat surface. Use a white string, or chalk, or something, make a big V, starting from yourself out, oh maybe a foot long or so.
     
    I learned it from my mother. You can even draw lines on a sheet of paper. Put their head right down with their beak pretty much right at the point, maybe run your finger down the lines to direct their gaze. The chicken will lay right there not moving for quite a while, you can even walk away!
     
    After a few minutes she'll get up, shake herself a few times, and just walk off. And inevitably you will go get another one and try it again, just to see if it really did work. And it does!!
     
    Laughing,-------yes, I enjoy my chickens, they can be funny!
    Diane S.
    ----- Original Message -----

     

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jim adams

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May 26, 2012, 2:31:10 PM5/26/12
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hi Kelly ...  for rows of seeds, we cut a 2 - 4 inch wide strip out of the cardboard and hay and plant in the middle of that open strip.  You can just drag your fingers down the middle of the strip to a depth of 1/2 inch or so.  After you've dropped seeds in, mound 1/2 inch- 3/4 inch of dirt over them, water and wait.

enjoy, jim

Kelly Phillipson

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May 26, 2012, 10:38:43 PM5/26/12
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Great, thanks Jim!
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