Chickens

[pigman]

I bet that soap would make the feathers clean and could use them for a pillow or feather bed.   Of course on this side of the Mason and Dixon line we don't need feather beds cause it is almost warm.
Bob in a border state

[wiam]

Bob
One year I had a guy come and butcher mine. (very pricy)  He told about a customer that picked up the feathers after butchering and took them to the local laundrymat.  She ruined a washer.

Will

[farmerdoug]

Boy do I remmber bucthering chickens when I was young.  My Dad raised chickens for eggs and meat.  We had 2000 laying hens at one time.  Cleaning eggs was not fun anymore.  With that many hens and being that my Dad hatched all of our chickens in a 400 egg incubator we had alot of roosters.  So he took orders and we plucked and dressed them on Saturdays.  I was very happy to see those chickens go.  We still have a couple of dozen for fresh eggs but we let the hens hatch and raise the little ones now.  The extra roosters make excellent fried chicken.

[Furby]

Thanks for the info everyone, I'm taking notes.

Tom, I figure 2 weeks past the use by date is old. I can be real forgetfull!

Ian, I was wondering how to tell. I read someplace once that if the clear white part started to look cloudy after cracking open the egg, it was going bad. Just didn't know if it was true.

Paschale, A friend of my Mom sells fresh eggs. Just off Lk Mich Dr. before you get to the river going to Allendale. I can get you info if you want.

[Patty]

I don't know why we add soap to the water, that is how I was taught over 100 years ago.   

I imagine it is to make them easier to pluck. We have been skinning them to save time the past few years, but I don't think they taste as good that way.   We certainly could use one of those fancy chicken pluckers.....and NO I don't mean me with my Sunday clothes on!   

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Yer a fine lookin gal to be over 100 years old, Patty !!!!!

[Roxie]

Patty, your explanation reminds me of something that happened in my family.  My Grandmother taught my Mother to cook, and Mom taught me.  One Easter weekend, I was in Mom's kitchen with her and my Grandmother and I was getting the ham ready to go into the oven.  I cut off the back part of the ham, like I'd been doing for years and years and sat it aside.  I then reached over and picked that hunk of ham up and said, "Why do we cut this part of the ham off before we cook it?"  My Mother just looked at me, and then turned to my Grandmother and said, "Why DO we Mom?"  My grandmother said, "Well, I don't know why you're doing it, but I did it because the ham wouldn't fit in the pan I had."   

[Buzz-sawyer]

Fla said" I'm from the old country. No soap on my chikins"
New Jersey is old world

[sawguy21]

Don't know why you add soap. Those buggers were hard enough to hang on to I still remember the smell of the chickens being plucked too and it aint pleasant

[Norm]

Jeez Louise....don't you guys know anything. The reason we add soap to the water is to clean the chickens at the same time as plucking em. 

I'll always remember when my oldest son was 3 years old or so, I had been out squirrel hunting and was in the garage getting ready to clean them. He showed up and asked "what you doing dad". I explained I was gonna clean up the squirrels for supper. He disappeared and showed up a couple of minutes latter with a scrub brush to help.

[TN_man]

We really like the Black Sexlink. They lay big brown eggs and are pretty consistent layers. No more of those old weak tasting store bought eggs for us. We started saleing eggs to church members a few years back and now the majority of the church buyes farm fresh eggs.

[Stump Jumper]

Everybody Now!

Gone Country
Look at those boots

Gone Country
new kind of roots

Gone Country
a new kind of suit!!

I'm not much of a musician.  But you will have these things showing up in the yard that I like to call chicken nuggets and yes they will get on your boots if you don't watch were you walk.

We have 4 hens that we let free range we have 2 rhode island reds, barred rock and a black hen.  We had a golden comet and she was the friendliest she died last summer.  We will probably get some more golden comets.

[hiya]

We do about 400 meat birds a year. We put soap in the scald water. It makes them clean. We have a barrow picker I built. can do 2-4 chickens in about 30 seconds. The scald has to be right. We keep 50-75 for our use and sell the rest.
The secert to cook a tender chicken is a little lower heat and a little longer.Just ate some breast meat, cut it with my fork.
Richard

[Roxie]

Hiya!  How long does it take to get your birds up to selling weight?  How heavy do you like them to be when they're ready?  And, one last thing I've wondered.....do those birds give eggs too?   

[johncinquo]

Hey Jason, odd minds think alike, I was just thinking of setting up a coop for a few birds again.  I had one for a long time, but was raising pheasants, quail, wood ducks and partridge back then.  I figured a few chickens would be fun and I need something to keep my 8 year old boy a little busier! 

You can get good feed cheap enough at the farmers Co-op just south of you on M37.  I always bought the high protein blend for the birds, but I imagine che-kens could do with the cheaper stuff. 

One thing I always did when I had young chicks was fill the base of the waterer with marbles.  Does two things, keeps their heads out of the hole so they dont drown themselves (yep it happens believe it or not) and the light reflecting through the glass attracts their eye and they peck at it, and end up drinking more water with keeps em from getting dehydrated.  Dumb little things can die from the craziest things. 

When I had quail mature ones could lay about 30 eggs a day.  I only could incubate about 50 at a time so I had so many extra eggs I started hard boiling them and then making little pickeled eggs out of em.  Break them babbies out at a cocktail party and watch the fun!   A pain to shell though. 

[Dana]

Roxie, We raise chickens for sale from chicks. It takes 2-3 months to get 2 to 3 lb chickens. This is the age they are most tender. If you let them get to 7 months plus they get huge 7 to 10 lbs and need to be roasted or stewed. At that age they have the flavor you may remember as a kid at grandma's. Meat chickens do lay eggs just not as consistently as egg layers. Check out our website www.greenleaffarms.net for more info if you like. Dana

[submarinesailor]

All this talk about eggs brings back memories of riding submarines out of Guam.  The eggs were what the Navy “Sea Service Eggs”, they had been dipped in a wax or an oil.  However, after 45 days under water, you sure could tell when the cook started breakfast.  The smell is one that I will never forget.    You looked forward to the power eggs.  Remind me to tell you guys about the green ring bologna after being submerged for 75 days.

subsailor

[Buzz-sawyer]

dana
So how long do you keep laying hens, at what point do you butcher them?
Do you keep any roosters around?
Buzz

[Patty]

    That's funny Roxie! I imagine that is how alot of traditions get started....no real reason behind them except for the person who started it.  Our hens lay real good for about 3 years, then they start to slack off some. We don't butcher them, we just let them die of old age.

FDH....yes I do look remarkebly good for being over 100; and don't you forget it either! I have to remind Norm daily about how beautiful I am, he keeps forgetting. 

[Fla._Deadheader]