Last Christmas my husband got me something I'd been wanting for a long time, a chicken house and a group of laying hens. This spring I gathered up a bunch of their eggs and hatched them out in an incubator. I hatched out 16 but something got into my chick pen when they were still little and ate 7. It was fenced with heavy wire all the way around, but just chicken wire on top. Probably a coon 'cause it ripped open the chicken wire (lesson learned). So I had 9 left to raise up.

Today was the day to thin out my flock so hubby and I got out there early and got started. The first couple were difficult for me to deal with but it got a little easier as we went along. After it was all said and done I was pretty proud of myself. Everytime I learn a new method of being self sufficient I feel that much more empowered. I also feel good knowing my family is eating food that has been raised in a healthy and humane environment. Just call me pioneer woman. :D

Congratulations. You can be proud of learning to raise good food for your family. Home grown chickens are the best!

That's cool.

That is awesome that you are able to raise your own meat. We are not allowed to have livestock or chickens in my neighborhood but i can grow a garden... just have to have time to do it... I did grow tomatoes this year... only enough to put in the salad but I now know that I can grow food if I have to. :D

Way to go! I'm jealous! I know you're proud.

Good for you. I've only got 2 hens for eggs only, but if I had lots of acreage I'd have some meat birds too.

Oh and this is Rachel getting ready for the "Chicken Huntin'....... :mrgreen:

Billy

great job, I was raised on a farm

Wow, I'm proud of you. I wouldn't know where to start.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! I don't think I could do it, but you have to know you're getting the best chicken available since you raised them yourself. You didn't name them, right? LOL! Enjoy those healthy dinners. Store-bought chickens can be kind of sketchy.

I would only eat fruits and vegetables if I had to kill anything, watched my Mom wring chicken's neck when I was about 6, never left me. Made a bad impression.

LoL, I actually asked DH if we couldn't just shoot them in the head instead of cutting their necks. (and when I say "we" I mean "him". :) ) It just seemed more impersonal that way. :? Needless to say we did it the old fashioned way.

I used to help my daycare woman pluck the chickens as she cut their heads off. It seemed like a lot of work. You must be tired. Stupid question, probably, but after the heads I assume they must be gutted immediately? Do you keep any of the organs?

I used to feel that way until I saw first hand how food animals are raised and treated (we live near a bunch of chicken houses, 25,000 birds in one house crammed together, you can't breath because of the ammonia level). I feel like I'm doing my part to not support an industry that I'm strongly opposed to. That's also why I encourage DH to hunt and bring food to the table that way as well. Every little bit helps.

That brings back childhood memories...

No stupid questions, trust me! DH and I did some learning online and then did the rest of our learning today. :)

After you cut the throat and let the bird bleed out you dunk them in hot water (needs to be about 150 degrees). You dunk them in and out several times until one of the wing feathers comes out easily with your fingers. Pluck them all clean, cut off the legs and head and then you have to gut them from the neck and the rear. After they're cleaned out you put them in a cooler with ice and water to stay fresh until you're all done with each bird.

We didn't keep the organs, just because it's more work than it's worth for me. I'm not much on organs. I did keep the necks though to boil and make stock out of.

Sorry if that was more info than you wanted!

Actually, it's a great lesson on the issue. Living in the city dosen't afford us space, time and effort needed for raising chicks for food. We can keep hens for laying only in parts of the city. My yard is only around 10,000 sq feet LOL...only room for some veggies...but that's something. We had a great crop of taters this year...

My husband hunts, so I never have to buy beef. I talked to him a few times about getting chickens for the fresh eggs, but haven't been able to talk him into it. At least I can get organic fresh eggs from a lady I work with. They are so good and she seems to have an unlimited supply.

there are chickens all around us, altho we don't have any - one thing you have to watch out for around here are snakes...

Isn't it great to raise your own food and know where it comes from and what goes into it? We raised some meat chickens (11) back in the spring and, even though you have to process them at 7 weeks, at least I knew what they ate and that they had a good life for the 7 weeks that they were here. We also raise meat rabbits, and my husband's coworkers are always telling him how 'sick' he is to raise something and then kill it - we just laugh at them... :D

We never wring necks - too much chance of them not dying and ending up being in pain. We just chop the heads off and then drain them over a bucket. I honestly feel sorry for a lot of people if, heaven forbid, something really bad happens and we have to fend for ourselves (no grocery stores, etc.). Quite a few wouldn't make it, sorry to say.

Also, a lot of people have no idea what goes into store-bought chickens, cows, pigs, etc., or that most eggs bought in stores are approximately 3 months old when they reach the store - YUCK!

You should be so proud of yourself, well done. Apart from the fact you are not supporting the growth of "food factories" you are raising healthy, happy birds and providing you and your family with the best thing out...fresh, chemical free food.

I am keen to get some chickens, but my husband is not so sure. He asked me if we would be eating any and who was going to "do the deed". I said I would deal with it...but he wasn't too keen on that!

Well, I don't think I'll share this with my grandsons, but I agree with you about self sufficiency.

You cut open the gizzard and clean it out, it makes real good soup and broth, and I love breaded and fried gizzards. Grew up with them. And the few times I can get some farm raised chicken livers I have to fight my two cats for them. I love chicken livers.
One aside about gizzards...a friend who lived in the mountains above my town had a bunch of geese that escaped from their pen so she let them roam. When came time to butcher them she cut open the gizzards and found a couple of small pieces of gold. The whole family searched for years but could not find where those geese found the gold, and they sure did try!! Mariposa county used to be good gold country a long time ago!!

Yum!

very interesting subject! I have been wanting to raise egg and meat chikens for a while but the city I live in does not allow it.... yet. If not one day we will move to a rural area so that we can start doing things like this. I would love to have at least an acre of land just for a garden too. I do grow a small city garden. Usually salsa veggies and herbs.

Why at 7 weeks? Our chickens are Rhode Island Reds, so meant for eggs not meat, but they weren't full grown at 7 weeks.

Another plus about raising your own meat is you're not adding to the air pollution by transporting this meat from the farm to the butcher to the store and then to your house.

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I am with You. I could not do, or delegate the killing either.
I know it is life...and many can do it...but that's not me.
Oh well.....raising veggies is more my style. No hatchet needed there.. ! !! !! ......LOL

Ours were Cornish X - genetically engineered to be ready for slaughter at 7 weeks. If you don't slaughter them early enough, they will literally either start breaking legs or dropping dead of heart attacks. Ours weighed around 5-6# each at 7 weeks of age.

I miss living on the farm. We raised our own pigs, chickens, turkeys and a cow every year. My kids were 12 and 13 when we got the first 4 pigs and we explained to them what we were raising them for. They named them "Pork Chop, Bacon, Ham and Ribs" because they said that is what they were going to be. They helped feed them and there were no problems when butchering time came or with eating any of the meat. Everything tastes better when you raise it yourself.

Oh, I beg to differ, LOL!
Several summers we had a "volunteer" okra plant that became a darn tree! I actually had to stand on the step ladder to pick from the thing. Boy did the ants love it!. By the end of the third year, the base, the "trunk" as it were, was as big around as my wrist and we had to cut it down with a hatchet!
Jan in VA

Wonderful job!

Go for it or become a vegitarian I say. Growers only care about size and money,not about the taste.
We used to raise hens for eggs for a season then slaughter them,they tasted mmighty fine.

After yesterday's lessons I can't imagine why anyone would wring a neck. It's much easier and less trauma for the bird to just get the neck cut. We actually hung some orange road cones (bought new) upside down and cut a little larger hole in the top. Put the chicken in head first so just the head and neck was coming out the top. Cut the neck and they stay put with no flopping around since they're wedged down in the cone. It's a quick death.

It's unbelievable what goes into commercially raised meat. These chickens down the road live in the nastiest conditions, no access to fresh outside air or light, their feed is made from ground up leftover chicken parts and the day of collection is so brutal. They come in with big cages with spring loaded doors. They sling the chickens head first into the cages and many of the birds suffer broken wings, legs, etc. They ride on the back of those flatbed 18 wheelers, in whatever the weather condition is, to wherever the processing plant is. I have no idea what goes on from there but what I know is enough.

My next step is getting a little weanling steer and raising him up. Right now all we have is an electric fence for my horse and that's definitely not enough for a cow, but someday we'll get a better fence put up.

Milk is the one area I'm stuck on. I can't be here every morning and evening to milk a cow and it's illegal to buy/sell raw milk in the state of MS (and many other states for that matter).

That is a funny story! I remember when I was around 7 we moved from Detriot to a small farming community . My Mother got 150 LegHorns when it was time to 'process' our flock, we managed to almost do 1 hen before my Mother called a processor!.
I do what you mean about gaining the knowledge and experience to be self sufficient. I make my own bath , laundry soap, softener, do as much 'urban gathering' as I can , I offer some of the processed produce to the owner of the tree in exchange for the fruit. Otherwise in my neighborhood it would rot on the tree..... My co-workers always comment on how crazy it is to go thru all that work when you can just buy it! I respond with " when civilization goes to crap, I'll have skills to trade" that always quiets them pretty quickly.

Good for you! And what a fine group of processed chickens you have for the freezer. I raise my own egg birds and work with some friends every year to process meat birds. I have been doing it for years. My friends have all the equipment for processing such as a scalder for dunking them in the hot water and a plucker which is a big round drum with rubber cones all sticking out on the inside. It will pluck out 3 at a time and is very convenient. Then the chickens come to the eviscerators which is my job. The first time I did it the only thing that kind of freaked me out was gutting the bird while it was still warm. But after the first couple it was no big deal. This year I had way too many roosters so a few of them came with me to processing this year. These boys were too old to do anything with but slow cooked recipes but still taste fine as one has already hit my crockpot. Young birds are much more tender and easier to clean too. I have also done turkeys for thanksgiving.

What about a nanny goat for milk? Goat's milk is the closest to human milk, which means humans don't have the problems with it that are prevalent with cow's milk (lactose intolerance, etc.). Just a thought.

I grew up in the country and we bought 150 baby chicks every year, raised them to poulet size and slaughtered about half for the freezer for fried chicken. We kept most of the hens for laying and a couple of yard roosters; they too eventually got eaten, and made a great pot of soup, but not until months later and lots of fresh eggs. Also had setting hens that would always add to the flock throughout the year. It was a chore when it was killing time, but we never went hungry and we were never sick growing up from all the processing/additives. We raised our own beef/pork as well, made our own sausage, had fresh eggs and milked 2 cows for milk morning and night, had plenty of fresh butter/cream. It was a lot of work, especially slaughtering a calf and hog & cutting it all up/packaging for the freezer, but looking back now, I wouldn't change a thing. Many have no idea how much work that was. I agree with someone that said, if we suddenly had no available grocery stores, many would not make it...

Not me! I have to be disassociated from my meat. I don't think I could eat something that looked at me!

I was raised on a farm and we raised chickens as well. With 11 in our family we had one day in the fall when we all killed, plucked and froze 100 chickens. The sure were good eating in the winter, and no blood around the bones like the store bought chickens have. You should be proud of your accomplishment !!! :thumbup: