the best feeder I've ever owned for poultry is a 4 inch pvc pipe with both ends capped. It's about 3 feet long. one third of the pipe is cut away, like a slice off the length. The caps are screwed on to two triangular pieces of treated 2x6. Those are about8 inches high and about 12 inches long. the capps are then glued on to the pipe. It's like a trough. they can't peck the feed out or sratch it out. You can also use it for water if you put the screws toward the top of the cap. I have one also made from 2 inch pipe for chicks, keeps the mama from scratching all the chick starter out..and keeps the wee babes out of the water.

More wise folks than I will no doubt chime in here, but this is my two cents. The weighted gauge is a primary standard, which means it is accurate when used correctly no matter what the dial gauge reads. Dial gauges need to be calibrated, even when brand new, and even then can be off by up to several pounds in either direction. So, you should do your canning by using the weighted gauge, not the dial. The dial is just a " rough approximation" of your pressure. If you let the weight jiggle more than the 1-4 times per minute, your pressure is actually somewhat higher than the nominal pressure on the weight. Your food will be "overcooked" slightly in that it will have been canned at a slightly higher pressure than is needed. This is perfectly safe, AS LONG AS you don't run out of water in the canner. Food can always be canned at a higher pressure and/or for a longer time than the recipe states with no safety concerns, if ALL OTHER FACTORS ARE STILL EQUAL ( proper packing of jars, venting of canner, proper canner cool-down, etc). The food may have quality issues, but not safety ones. Increasing pressure and/or time is never a substitute for proper safe procedures. On the other hand, if your canner did boil dry, the food is underprocessed, and you risk damage (warping) the canner. Once the canner boils dry, there is no longer the correct amount of steam inside the canner, and therefore the temperature is no longer correct, either. The safe thing to do, especially considering that we are talking about meat, is to either reprocess within 24 hours (but preferably sooner) those jars that were in the canner when it boiled dry, OR to freeze the meat as soon as it cooled down. But first, check your canner carefully to make sure the canner and lid are not warped. To prevent boiling the canner dry, remember that you can add more water to the canner initially, especially if you are doing a long processing time. The water level can come halfway up the jars when you first load the canner. After the canner vents and starts building pressure, start turning your heat level down on the stove so that you "coast" up to the correct pressure instead of "blasting" up to pressure. When the canner is running at pressure, you may only need your stove to be a medium, or even lower to manintain the correct pressure. Fiddling too much with the heat (to get up to pressure as fast as possible, then turning it way down because you are overpressure) causes siphoning, which is when the liquid in the jar is drawn out during canning. So, it is best to find the "sweet spot" on your stove heat dial where your canner will hold the right pressure, and not fiddle with the temperature much if at all during the actual canning. You may want to try canning a few jars of colored water to find that sweet spot on your stove. Sharon

From everything I have read, the best way to do it is to defrost the chicken, and then put it in the crockpot -- either on on high or low. The unfortunate part about putting frozen chicken in a low heat situation is -- you guessed it -- the heat doesn't get hot enough to kill the "bad bugs" before they have time to proliferate. I wouldn't risk it, especially if a simple defrosting would prevent the problem. As for putting them in on high in a frozen state, would PROBABLY work, but again, why take the risk? I was just reading where virtually 90% of our chicken supply is contaminated with something -- usually salmonella -- due to the way they are processed. So it just makes sense to me to take extra precautions, especially if you have any young children, immunocompromised or elderly people in the home. MacThayer

I have frozen this recipe it has turned out fine. Here's my recipe: 3 boneless/skinless whole chicken breasts) 1 can of cream of chicken(campbells) 1 can of canned vegetable mix(veg-all) drained! 1 box of Pillsbury pie crusts(located in dairy section) 3 tablespoons melted butter salt&pepper, other seasonings 1/2 to 1 cup of water(depends on what consistency you want) First cook chicken, add seasoning such as salt and pepper to chicken while cooking. After chicken is done pull apart or dice. In a mixing bowl add chicken, drained vegetables, cream of chicken, water, butter, seasonings. Put 1 pie crust in dish, preferably glass, pour in mixture, put 2nd pie crust on top and pinch sides all the way around. Cut 4, 1 inch slits in the top to vent and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!