Devonviolet Acres

Bay - is that a gutter pointed away from the building?

It's a downspout from the gutter to direct water away from the bldg.

That's what I thought because I can see a use for that. How is the gutter supported - I can't tell but looks like it's attached to a post? That would be one thing less to have to move or step over.

Yes, @Mike CHS, that's a gutter downspout. We want to eventually put a rain barrel there to catch runoff from the coop roof. Right now the spout going outside the chicken yard minimizes mud.

Thanks @Baymule, for posting that pic of our snow. I've been having problems with internet connection lately. I'll try to post a couple more photos.



As you can see, the animals were staying in out of the cold. This afternoon, the temp was 23° with a windchill of 11°. Brrr! However, I did see the the dogs out playing. They seem to revel in the cold with their thick winter coats.

This morning @Latestarter came over to help us butcher ten chickens. Sorry, we were so focused, on the job at hand, we didn't think to take any photos.

We had five older chickens, that are at least 4 years old. We also had 5 Red Pilgrim Cornish, heritage meat birds, that were 16 weeks old.

The last time we did butchering, we did two roos and three guineas. We opted to skin them, instead of plucking, because we couldn't keep the dunking water hot enough to pluck feathers. It took about 4 hours & we were exhausted.

This time, we bought a propane cook burner, and were able to keep the water hot enough to pluck. Latestarter did the dunking, and a lot of the plucking. The man is a workhorse! He was able to also dunk the feet, so we could peel off the outer coating of the feet, and now can cook the feet & make a collagen rich bone broth.

I have more to add. But today was exhausting & we need to get some rest for another busy day tomorrow. I'll try to add more details, as I have time to post.

Just suffice it to say for now: words can't begin to express how much we appreciate the work and helpful suggestions that Latestarter contributed to our project. Of course, when he is ready to get going on his projects, we will be there to lend a helping hand. That is what this awesome BYH community is all about!!!

Hey... I'm always ready to lend a hand to someone who needs it and asks. It's all good, I did the easiest jobs.

Good company is always good, and surely makes any job easier and much more Fun.

Those tedious jobs have to be easier with extra hands (and minds for a 'different than our usual' banter) to move things along.

Looks like post holes "in the bank" for @Latestarter

Great work! I know it feels good to have this job done and chickens in the freezer. I'm sure the extra help was welcomed, it's always more fun when a friend comes over to pitch in!

Yeh Bay, as long as they aren't telling the same "Story" over and over and over again and again....