Progress!

[Larry Caldwell]

Wild turkeys are great eating. In my region, they are native to ponderosa pine forests and are plentiful. We have both a spring and fall hunting season.

Like all game, they need to be taken care of. Store bought turkeys are needled with a broth brine to 15% of their body weight, more than 20% of their muscle mass. It keeps them moist in the oven and seasons the meat with salt. Wild turkey needs to be brined and cooked mostly covered.

 

[newbury]

Like all game, they need to be taken care of. Store bought turkeys are needled with a broth brine to 15% of their body weight, more than 20% of their muscle mass. It keeps them moist in the oven and seasons the meat with salt. Wild turkey needs to be brined and cooked mostly covered.

It also adds to the weight and you usually pay per lb. So one ends up paying a $1 or 2 per lb for salted water.

 

[JethroB]

It also adds to the weight and you usually pay per lb. So one ends up paying a $1 or 2 per lb for salted water.

Not necessarily. The price per pound is discounted for the water injected into the birds, at least from the processor to wholesale level. It’s called green vs. injected weight.

 

[Torvy]

UPDATE: We finally signed a contract and paid the first installment on our garage/shop. Should have a pad in the next 2-8 weeks and a building by the time school starts in the fall. 40x60x16.

Once it is complete, I can get the tractor!

 

[Torvy]

Update: signed for the house. 2000 Sq ft, should be done sometime between Feb and Apr. I'll work until the end of the year to mitigate the inflation factor.

 

[Raul-02]

A lot less trees, more space between the trees, and less brush. This is the main reason turkeys don't do well here.

In NJ we have lots and lots of turkeys I have an albino one on the property somewhere. they Live in the bush and trees. Maybe your Texas turkeys are different. Come on up here and trap a few.

 

[EddieWalker]

The State Biologist have been trying to reestablish wild turkeys for decades with poor to fair results. The last time I talked to one of them, they where hopeful that they are on the right track with blocking in at least 10 square miles of land, then doing massive releases at a time. The challenge has been getting that many landowners to allow them access to their land to monitor the birds. Over the last decade, this has worked to establish a stable population that is slowly growing.

 

[EddieWalker]

Update: signed for the house. 2000 Sq ft, should be done sometime between Feb and Apr. I'll work until the end of the year to mitigate the inflation factor.

Congrats on your progress.

If you haven't built a house before, one of the biggest red flags for me that might indicate things are not going well is in how they prepare your slab. Best practice is to have rebar on a 24 inch grid, sitting on chairs so the rebar is not touching the ground. If they tell you that they will pick up the rebar as they are pouring it, they are lying to you. While they might do this for photo's when the pour starts, they will abandon pretending once the real work starts and spreading it becomes more important then posing for photo's. Rebar will end up in the dirt if they do not use chairs. It's cheap and easy, but it trips them when working, so they don't like to deal with it if they can avoid it. I personally space my rebar on an 18 inch grid, which they hate even more, but they deal with it.

The other thing that happens almost all of the time is they will add extra water to the mix. More water makes it easier to spread out. More water is also why concrete cracks within a week of the pour. Once all the excess water evaporates, the concrete cracks because the volume the water took has left the slab. Good rebar will help hold it together, but if they really go crazy and max out the water, the cracks can be significant. Slump is in how much the concrete will stand up on it's own. For a residential slab, all you really need is enough slump for it to not spread on it's own, and pile up on top of itself. If it flows freely, you are in trouble!!!! Reading up on slump will help you deal with a contractor that tries to add water to the mix. Every one of them will do this, but if you stop them, then they will do it the way it's supposed to be done.

Since there isn't any Code outside of city limits, and very little inside city limits, the Contractor that you hire to build the house will ensure that the rebar is done right, or let it slide. After that, it's harder to catch whatever else he cuts corners on. Taking tons of pictures will help catch something. I know a few local Contractors in Tyler that have been sued successfully because of the pictures that where taken during construction.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The contractor for my shop did a good job on the concrete, but knocked the UFER ground over and buried it in the concrete. I had to establish ground rod grounding for the electrical service.

 

[etpm]

I have had two slabs and two foundations with walls poured. The first set went badly and I git ripped off. The second set, for my house, went very well. Maybe part of the reason was the contract stating they would not get paid if the concrete work was not done as I required and was promised. Please be watchful of the folks building your house, it could save you tons of head and heart aches.
Eric