They got big this week, even with the freeze in Denver. Every chicken thrived, I wrapped the little chicken hut in a moving blanket, wrapped again with a tarp, and put a little lean-to of a tarp over the food and water for the two day storm.
They are getting too big for the medium pet carrier, in about a week I will have to put them in the regular coop.
They’re looking healthy and happy.
Those food, layers, or pets?
layers. I looked into getting meat birds but I’d need a whole set of equipment and I’m not really sure I want to slaughter 20 chickens when Costco will sell them to me for $100, on demand
Makes sense to me. There’s a lot to be said for specialists handling bulk labor like that. Someone with experience will do it faster, and better, so even were you inclined to raise for meat to save a little cost vs labor, it might not make sense to for exactly that reason.
We have pets, the eggs are just a side benefit. I keep thinking about adding a few working girls what with egg prices, but not only is that a big bump in labor, it’s a big outlay for setting up for that. Since our two provide enough for us, I just can’t see gearing up on a hypothetical that I could provide for friends and family.
I love the silly little critters though :)
Honestly I wanted to do it because although I eat meat I don’t agree with factory farming practices. When I was researching it someone said, “In a factory farm every day is a bad day, my chickens only have ONE bad day”
You should give it a try, it’s a little work but not much for the peace of mind that you know exactly how you raised them. I’ve been raising chickens for about 5 years. I keep anywhere from 15-25 chickens, one rooster the rest hens. I raise Plymouth Barred Rock chickens, there decent dual purpose birds, decent egg layers and get to a decent weight for butchering, a bit on the small side compared to Cornish Cross, which are the large store birds.
I hatch my own replacements, keep the best and eat the rest. I’ve been trying to go with a 2 year cycle, where I cull all chickens 2 years old and older, if I gave one a reprieve, that’s where they usually max out on egg production it falls after that. So I end up with a range of ages in my flock from chick, to yearling, to mature 2-3 year old hens/rooster. The new hatching I grow them to about 16 weeks on 20% protein feed, I might go to 30% to see if I get better growth, then cull the ones I don’t want to keep. Those butchered at the 16 week I label them as fryers, they more tender and can be grilled of fried, older ones I label a stew birds.If you use high heat on old birds they get tough and chewy, not fun to eat. Made a mistake of letting a few roosters get to about 6 mounts old and butchered them, then grilled them up. They were still tough and chewy at that young age but that might be more due to their hormones kicking in.
Stew birds I break it down into individual parts and cook low and slow in a slower cooker for 6-8 hours with onions, carrots, garlic, parsley, thyme, black peppercorns, bay leafs and a splash of vinegar. Remove meat from bones and shredded chicken in all kinds of meals. I return the bones to the slow cooker and cook overnight adding water if needed to make homemade chicken broth.
Here’s a walk through tutorial for the butchering process if your interested.
Oh hey, how far away from your bedroom window are your chickens? Do you just learn to tune out the constant noise like someone who lives near a train or something? Even our hens are too damn loud
I live on the outskirts of Phoenix, AZ in a rural type setting. I’m on 1.5 acres, so a large lot, and my chickens are probably 150-200 feet from my house and I don’t hear them.
keep the best and eat the rest
lol, love it.
I’m in the suburbs and not allowed to have a rooster (I don’t mind that law, those things are loud) so I’d have to just buy them as chicks or eggs every year.
Full size chicken for scale:
