Comments on: Farm Boys Raising Chickens http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/ A multi-generational vision for advancing the Kingdom of Christ Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:06:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Birth Dynamics Blog » Blog Archive » Raising Your Own Meat - For those that have asked… http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1442 Birth Dynamics Blog » Blog Archive » Raising Your Own Meat - For those that have asked… Sat, 10 Feb 2007 22:30:45 +0000 http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1442 [...] If you are wanting to raise your own meat, the best advice I could give is to find a family who has already done this before and have them teach you!  We learned by helping and watching friends of ours who showed us “how it is done”.  When it came time to process our own birds, we knew what to do.  If you haven’t followed the chicken raising experience, you can check out the Family Farming section of my blog. Where to get birds: We ordered our chicks from a man who owns a small hatchery in Kentucky.  Our chicks arrived early one morning and my husband and boys went to the post office to pick them up. What Kind: We ordered a cornish rock cross which means that his parents looked something like Rocky on Chicken Run and his mother looked something like the round fat cornish hen. In fact, with this bird, they grow to be so overweight, that their legs will break just from the weight if you do not process them within a 7 to 12 week time frame. They are true meat chickens. There are 3 different types of chickens: Meat birds, Layers, and Dual Purpose. If you are wanting to raise a bunch of birds at one time for meat…you would want to get meat birds.  However, this spring I will be ordering a dual purpose bird mainly for eggs, but after the egg production lifespan is over, it can be for food as well. How many: We bought 100 birds and spilt half of them with another family in our church. Where to keep them: In the beginning, as baby chicks, we kept them in a warm pen with straw and a warming light.  It is best to have a pen that does not have corners, octagon or circle shape is best.  When bigger, we wanted our chickens to be able to forage for bugs and grass, however we didn’t want them running around the yard at will. We had predator concerns with dogs and opossums so we kept ours in an electric fenced area. Ideally, next time we will build a special chicken tractor to keep them in that will protect them from predators but also enable us to move them around the yard to eat bugs and grass. [...] […] If you are wanting to raise your own meat, the best advice I could give is to find a family who has already done this before and have them teach you!  We learned by helping and watching friends of ours who showed us “how it is done”.  When it came time to process our own birds, we knew what to do.  If you haven’t followed the chicken raising experience, you can check out the Family Farming section of my blog. Where to get birds: We ordered our chicks from a man who owns a small hatchery in Kentucky.  Our chicks arrived early one morning and my husband and boys went to the post office to pick them up. What Kind: We ordered a cornish rock cross which means that his parents looked something like Rocky on Chicken Run and his mother looked something like the round fat cornish hen. In fact, with this bird, they grow to be so overweight, that their legs will break just from the weight if you do not process them within a 7 to 12 week time frame. They are true meat chickens. There are 3 different types of chickens: Meat birds, Layers, and Dual Purpose. If you are wanting to raise a bunch of birds at one time for meat…you would want to get meat birds.  However, this spring I will be ordering a dual purpose bird mainly for eggs, but after the egg production lifespan is over, it can be for food as well. How many: We bought 100 birds and spilt half of them with another family in our church. Where to keep them: In the beginning, as baby chicks, we kept them in a warm pen with straw and a warming light.  It is best to have a pen that does not have corners, octagon or circle shape is best.  When bigger, we wanted our chickens to be able to forage for bugs and grass, however we didn’t want them running around the yard at will. We had predator concerns with dogs and opossums so we kept ours in an electric fenced area. Ideally, next time we will build a special chicken tractor to keep them in that will protect them from predators but also enable us to move them around the yard to eat bugs and grass. […]

]]> By: Bethany http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1441 Bethany Thu, 02 Nov 2006 05:08:36 +0000 http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1441 The cost??? 'I am VERY interested in how much this whole thing is going to cost..... Yes we are keeping up with how much this is going to cost us from beginning to end. We will figure that out after we process them because we aren't sure how much more food we are going to have to buy....they are going through a lot of it though --- WHOOOOHHOOOO Vacuum sealer here I come!!!! That is my job! This weekend we are going over to our friends house and help them with their chickens....so I will get to test the food saver and see how it does! The cost??? ‘I am VERY interested in how much this whole thing is going to cost…..

Yes we are keeping up with how much this is going to cost us from beginning to end. We will figure that out after we process them because we aren’t sure how much more food we are going to have to buy….they are going through a lot of it though —

WHOOOOHHOOOO Vacuum sealer here I come!!!! That is my job!

This weekend we are going over to our friends house and help them with their chickens….so I will get to test the food saver and see how it does!

]]> By: sarah walston http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1440 sarah walston Wed, 01 Nov 2006 01:33:09 +0000 http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1440 WOW! I'm impressed. Are you calculating the cost of everything? I'd be interested in knowing how much you save doing this vs. buying free range chicken at the store. These must be the birds that Sams uses for their rotisserie chickens - they are gigantic. WOW! I’m impressed. Are you calculating the cost of everything? I’d be interested in knowing how much you save doing this vs. buying free range chicken at the store.

These must be the birds that Sams uses for their rotisserie chickens - they are gigantic.

]]> By: sarah http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1439 sarah Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:53:08 +0000 http://vaughnshire.com/2006/10/31/farm-boys-raising-chickens/#comment-1439 very cute!!! Is Pierce camera shy? I'd be willing to bet you will be vacuum sealing a lot of chicken soon... ;) very cute!!! Is Pierce camera shy?

I’d be willing to bet you will be vacuum sealing a lot of chicken soon… ;)

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