The first day we brought the chickies home.
What they look like today.
We took the plunge and on my sons 3rd birthday bought 8 Rhode Island Red chickies from the feed store. That is a dual-purpose breed and will be great laying hens but they are also meaty enough to be good for eating as well. They are supposed to be mild-mannered, hardy, and good foragers. They are now a little over 2 weeks old, have more than doubled in size, and are almost fully feathered. They should begin laying somewhere around 18-20 weeks which will be in September sometime. My husband is building the coop as we speak. We are building it much larger than necessary as we have a tendency to expand :-). I'd also like to try my hand at some meat birds next year.
For those of you not familiar with meat birds, virtually all commercially raised chicken is some kind of a Cornish Cross. They are bred to gain weight extremely fast, so fast in fact that the rest of their body systems can't keep up and they are prone to heart failure and other illnesses. They are also bred to be lazy and thus are not good for free ranging. I recently learned about some meat birds from European stock (used for most ranging systems all over France) that mature just a week or two later than the Cornish Crosses but are much more healthy and active and good for ranging. I'm planning on trying some of these next year (although, the coop is almost finished, I might be able to squeeze some in this summer...don't tell my husband :-) )Here is a link to a hatchery that offers them--J.M Hatchery. They are called Colored Range Broilers.
We will be starting our hens just on the bagged layer pellets from the feed store supplemented with the multitude of bugs, worms, crickets, and greens they will harvest themselves along with some kitchen scraps. I am interested in becoming more self-sufficient regarding their feed to economize and approach a more natural diet. I have been reading interesting articles about how to breed worms, maggots, mealworms, and crickets. I'm sure I'll have more info on that down the road and can provide some links.
Another interesting article I came across mentioned a study where they added 3% garlic powder to the chicken feed. Supposedly, it virtually eliminated any manure odor and made the coop smell like a pizzeria! Also, in taste tests, testers preferred the eggs from the garlic fed hens. Garlic is also immunity boosting and insecticidal. I will definitely be trying that one out!
3 comments:
You think you'll be able to kill the birdies for food? Just curious. I think it's great to be self-sufficient like that. I just don't know if I ever would be able to kill an animal myself to eat it...I should probably go vegetarian again.
We ate most of the ducks we raised at our last place. It isn't fun but its reality and the way this terrestrial world is designed. I think everyone should kill their own food at least once. I think it actually makes a person more careful and sensitive to life and not less so, at least that was my personal experience. It would be more unpleasant though to slaughter a larger animal although I would do it if necessary. Luckily, when its that time for our future pigs and calves we'll just take them to the meat processor. At least this way I know they were raised humanely instead of in some of the horrible confinement facilities.
Oh, I totally agree with you. I just know I wouldn't be able to do it, and instead choose to go vegetarian again. I used to be vegetarian until I came to the States. Maybe it's time for a switch again. Hmmm....
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