CHICKENS!

From the time that I was in middle school until my mom passed away in 1986 we had chickens. It started off harmless enough - just 6 chickens (it might have been a dozen) and a rooster too. Yeah, okay...this is kinda cool. We don't have to buy eggs at the store! We just go out and check the nesting boxes and BOOM - eggs.

Well, after awhile a duck made it home with my dad. He "found" this big ol' ugly duck that turned out to be a muscovy duck. Yeah, I don't know how he got that thing home, but he did. The mill is located 5 miles from the house and he drove home with a duck in his pick-up. Yeah, just let that sink in. It wasn't the only critter that he brought home, but it was unique.

Anyway, I'm thinking that the whole collect the whole set mentality started after that duck arrived at our house. Over the next year or two more of a coop was built, more chickens of various varieties were added as well as other types of birds. It started with chickens, then the duck, then a couple other ducks to keep the original duck company, then geese, doves, pheasants...and a Peacock and peahen. To say the least, our house became a landmark. Not only did we have ducks and geese...there were more than one variety of breed. OMG - REALLY?

Okay, so fast forward to where we are now....

For a lot of years I always said that I didn't want to do chickens on our property. In the last couple of years my desire for home grown veggies has become more of a priority rather than a fad. I am interested in choosing "local" as much as possible, but sometimes it's not. Local can be within Washington or Oregon - because for us that is local. Ideally I like organic, but I'm not always convinced of the growing practices and that is just another post altogether. However, we have tried to do better as far as growing more stuff in the garden that we'll put on our table and choosing our produce as wisely as possible for the things that are not in the garden.

NOW...we shall add meat to the mix. A friend of ours was mentioning a book that she read and how chicken is the worst of all meat that is available at the store. I can see it, mass produced chicken in close quarters have to be "treated" with antibiotics and chemicals to make sure that the chickens are "healthy" for the consumer. You have to ask, how long are those antibiotics detectable in the now butchered chicken? Where did this chicken come from? Is it local? How about the food that is put in front of that chicken? Is it free of chemicals? So many things to consider.

Right now so many things are an experiment - growing stuff from seed, growing tomatoes in the hoop house, growing fall/winter crops. Why not add growing chickens for meat?

Why Not In-DEED?!

So, in the spring we plan to do a test run. Hopefully make this a small group project - and try to get some plump chickens into our freezer and into the freezers at homes of our friends! I have the breed all figured out, Cornish Cross.

The chicks at 1 day old (photo credit: Whitehurst Heritage Farms)

Nothing terribly special about these dudes.

I don't proclaim to know how to raise chickens, but I have more experience than those who might join us in this experiment. Also, I have NO IDEA how to raise a chick to maturity to graduate to the freezer.

The good thing is we have been following Justin Rhodes of Abundant Permaculture and he has excellent resources in different forms - we usually watch his YouTube channel. There is a film, there are plans for coops...a series of videos on chickens and also references that point to other people who raise the mighty chicken.

I have researched where to get chicks and where to rent the poultry processing equipment - research food and all that stuff too. Justin Rhodes talks of a thing called "magic water" that he thinks gives the chicks a jumpstart in their immunity.

This should be a fun experience. Growing veggies AND meat...