This is a picture of our most recently purchased laying chickens.We have two Americanas two Rhode Island reds one of which is a rooster two silver laced wyandottes and a mystery bird as of yet. We decided to keep 4 of our last birds as well 3 Rhode Island reds and one buff orpington all of which have been exceptional birds to date. We were averaging around 4 eggs a day sometimes as few as 2 or as many as 7 before we butchered 3 of our egg layers in July. So when our new birds get to age we are thinking we should get around 5 to 10 eggs a day. They have been wonderful with the kids and we all enjoy watching them pick through the yard getting rid of those pesky ticks and other pesky bugs. We let our birds free range the last few hours of every day and haven not lost a bird yet doing this so we can keep an eye on any predators and keep them out of our neighbors yard...usually. I clean the coop once a week and fill their feeders a few times a week as well except for the obvious collecting eggs every day and some minor coop repair they are extremely easy animals. Honestly our dog Roxie can be more of a hassle at times though we love her to death. They love to eat our suitable kitchen scraps every chance they get between them and our compost we only have one bag of garbage a week and with twins that is unheard of. We do butcher them after they start to slow down laying which is about two years or so but the meat is only suitable for soups from what is have experienced so far. My only real problem with them is they do have a knack for destroying landscaping when they are foraging around the house.
Pictured above is our bucket fodder that helps supplement the birds and give them a bit of grass to eat during the day before i get home to let them out of the run. It is so easy and very cheap just water it twice a day in buckets or some kind of well drained container to keep mold from forming. It takes about 12 days for mine to form well enough to pull out and feed the birds. Day one you just put about a half inch of whole oat seed (there are many other options though) in a bucket and let it soak over night the nest day pour it into one of the well drained buckets that we just drilled small holes in the bottom to let the water drain. Use the bucket that you just pulled your fodder from to feed the birds so you never have an empty bucket blowing around your yard. Next we just refill the bucket from our first day and water all the buckets twice usually once in the morning and one in the evening and that is all so easy and the result is a few seeds to a couple pounds of grass,roots and seed. Also my birds love it they come bolting out of the coop when they see me coming with all that oat goodness.
We do try to let the girls get into the yard and woods as much as possible but with dogs,neighbors and predators i usually like to be home when they are loose. Anyone that has birds that free range know how much they like to get into your landscaping and tear it up but for me that is a small price to pay for the reward of having them and the benefits of them being partially grass fed. Another downfall of free ranging them is sometimes they decide to hide their eggs from you and that can become a bit of an issue. I have found eggs hidden both individually and in piles of up to 10 and when you are raising them for that purpose it kind of hurts finding almost a dozen bad eggs laying around. From my experience there is not much that can be done about this but as i said before i still believe it is well worth it.
The hardest day around here has nothing to do with work it is on slaughter day. Even though we have raised the birds to be slaughtered and then eaten it still takes a bit of a toll on me killing something i have raised from a chick. Today was the day and as usual i think it will get easier the more i do it but it most defiantly does not from the first bird to the last i apologize to every single hen and rooster. I behead them two at a time then dunk them in 180 degree water for about ten seconds slowly moving the bird around in the water. When i take them out i immediately start plucking them tail feathers first they seem to be much easier when the birds are still how then i continue to the other tough feathers around the legs then continue to the breast and back feathers. After all the feathers are taken off and the bird is clean i cut their legs off by cutting at the knee joint carefully and it separates very easily after that. The next step is to gut them and clean all the organs out this all has to be done very carefully because the intestine is very easy to puncture and this could possibly taint the meat. I can understand how this all seems like alot of work for your food but not only is it very rewarding eating something you raised but we know what it was fed and the conditions it has lived in. Not to mention my kids love helping me with the birds and i believe that when they get older it will be a good step to help them develop a sensible work ethic and see the rewards of your work.
Above is the only picture i took when slaughtering due to its graphic nature. And to the left is a shot of my freezer with about half the birds we slaughtered shown.
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The above pictures are of our broilers soon after I purchased them and they have gained a little weight since as you can see from ones four week picture. Honestly they look like little white foot balls waddling around the yard this is the Cornish X breed they are extremely fast growers. They have been breed and cross bred over the years to develop these traits such as large legs, breasts and their fast growing. They do come with risks though from what i have read they have circulatory problems and are prone to leg problems. They are not an heritage breed and do have resistance from a lot of people claiming they are unnatural or "modified". Obviously i haven't seen enough evidence to convince me that they could be harmful to me or my family. We will be butchering them at 8 weeks of age and they should dress out at a decent weight especially for their age. I do have turkeys on the heading but didn't do any this year opted instead for 20 meat birds. last year i did 5 turkeys and in my experience the meat birds are much cleaner and just seem to be a better fit for me. The turkeys had horrible attitudes and as funny as that sounds they really do have their own personalities they really aren't "just a dumb bird". Though in full disclosure i did loose a turkey because she ate the wood chips a choked this was very frustrating and saddening so i did mutter some derogatory terms about that bird mainly talking about her intelligence.
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