Here are the meat birds in the chicken tractor. Notice how we've put a large tarp over the tractor to protect the birds. We had monsoon rains today, but the heat lamp never went out and the birds survived high winds and rains due to the preparations we took. It may not look so pretty, but it got the job done. I'm not sure that this apparatus would be approved in a gated community with an HOA. Ha ha!
We were happy that our birds survived the storm. One year we were not so fortunate. We experienced 60+ mph straight line winds in the middle of the night. The chicken tractor had a tarp on it as well that year, but the winds treated the tarp like the sail on a ship and it flipped the chicken tractor over. By the time we got outside, there were dead or dying chickens scattered all over the yard. What a sight to see! Well, we weren't going to let that happen this year. We were more prepared. Last night we took some long tent stakes and tied some baling twine to them and each corner of the chicken tractor. Then we hammered the stakes into the ground to anchor it.
The stakes held the tractor down despite high winds. All of the birds survived. Good news!
Okay, it is time for the weekly weigh-in. Let's go. I picked up 3 birds and put them in a bucket and carried them to the back patio where I've placed the kitchen scale.
In just looking at the birds, I don't see where they have grown a whole lot over the last week. Let's see what the scale says:
I weighed 3 different birds that I picked up at random. Last week the three birds I picked up averaged 2 lbs. 8 oz. This week the three birds I picked up averaged 3 lbs. 4 oz. So they gained 12 ounces over the last week. Good, but not great.
Here's a comparison with where they are now (3 lbs 4 oz.) compared to previous years at this same time frame:
Week Five 2018: 3 pounds 14 ounces.
Week Five 2017: 2 pounds 15 ounces.
Week Five 2016: 4 pounds
We'll see where we are next Thursday. Hope to see you back.
No comments:
Post a Comment