Jan in VA

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

Annaquilts

Wonderful job!

sherrill

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.

Rachelcb80

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).

vjengels

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.

feline fanatic

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.

quiltnchik

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.

K.P.

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...

quiltmom04

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

Jeanniejo

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: