I had posted a picture a couple of months ago of some cute little chicks and mentioned that it was our new science/business venture. Well that little venture grew into a big venture with a coop and a fenced yard for 15. We began with the idea of raising hens for eggs for health reasons, science, and if we end up with more than we can eat, to sell. When we went to a local farm to put a deposit on a coop, he gave the kids free week old chicks. We told the kids up front that if they grew up to be boys, we were going to eat them, and sure enough, 2 of them for sure are/were roosters.
It has become such a part of daily life that I haven't mentioned it much, but if you were wondering how that turned out, I'll s hare a story from this one of this week's homeschool lessons. Jeb was reading a short story about bad foxes who planned to nab some pigs for a snack. I asked what nab means and he couldn't remember, so I gave him a clue. "What do the foxes have to do before they eat a pig?"
He answered "Well first you have to kill it and let all the blood drain out. Then you put it in hot water so you can pluck it, then you cut it up and cook it, and then you eat it.". He went on to argue that the foxes aren't bad, they just want to eat some pigs, and eating animals is not bad. Just another day on the farm :)
A couple of weeks before we heard our first crow, a friend who also has chickens needed to get rid of 2 roosters who had started crowing. She was ok with them becoming dinner, she just didn't want them on her table, so she gave them to us. They were silkie chickens which are black chickens. Their bones, skin, and even parts of the meat have a gray/blue/blackish tint. Kind of strange, but they were delicious!
Those of you who know Eric will be very surprised that at the last minute, he made the decision to do the processing himself, rather than pay a butcher to do it. To be honest, right up until he came in and said the deed was done, I was kind of expecting him to come back in and, appropriately, chicken out. But he did it and he did great! We found a step by step website with pictures, and it really wasn't all that hard. This weekend he processed the first chicken we raised ourselves, he's resting in the fridge waiting to be carved up, and this morning the other one we're sure is a rooster started attempting to crow. We knew his time was coming because both guys started picking on the hens a few days before they started crowing. There are 2 more that we're not sure of yet, so until they lay an egg or crow, they get to stay and keep getting fatter :)
No eggs yet, we should start getting them by the end of the month.
Here are a couple of pictures, all grown up.
It has become such a part of daily life that I haven't mentioned it much, but if you were wondering how that turned out, I'll s hare a story from this one of this week's homeschool lessons. Jeb was reading a short story about bad foxes who planned to nab some pigs for a snack. I asked what nab means and he couldn't remember, so I gave him a clue. "What do the foxes have to do before they eat a pig?"
He answered "Well first you have to kill it and let all the blood drain out. Then you put it in hot water so you can pluck it, then you cut it up and cook it, and then you eat it.". He went on to argue that the foxes aren't bad, they just want to eat some pigs, and eating animals is not bad. Just another day on the farm :)
A couple of weeks before we heard our first crow, a friend who also has chickens needed to get rid of 2 roosters who had started crowing. She was ok with them becoming dinner, she just didn't want them on her table, so she gave them to us. They were silkie chickens which are black chickens. Their bones, skin, and even parts of the meat have a gray/blue/blackish tint. Kind of strange, but they were delicious!
Those of you who know Eric will be very surprised that at the last minute, he made the decision to do the processing himself, rather than pay a butcher to do it. To be honest, right up until he came in and said the deed was done, I was kind of expecting him to come back in and, appropriately, chicken out. But he did it and he did great! We found a step by step website with pictures, and it really wasn't all that hard. This weekend he processed the first chicken we raised ourselves, he's resting in the fridge waiting to be carved up, and this morning the other one we're sure is a rooster started attempting to crow. We knew his time was coming because both guys started picking on the hens a few days before they started crowing. There are 2 more that we're not sure of yet, so until they lay an egg or crow, they get to stay and keep getting fatter :)
No eggs yet, we should start getting them by the end of the month.
Here are a couple of pictures, all grown up.
This girl should lay greenish eggs
The guy with the black head and brown wings below is in our freezer
I am impressed that Eric took care of processing the chicken!
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