Ever wondered about raising some of your own meat? We find the chickens we raise taste so much better than the watery chicken we have bought at the grocery store. Once we started raising a few birds every year, we were convinced raising our own chicks for meat was the way to go. Filling the freezer is pretty easy and it only takes 8 weeks from start to finish. Now, almost … [Read more...]
Preparing for Meat Birds
Getting ready for chicks to arrive? Is your order of meat bird chicks ready to be sent through the mail? Here's what you need to know about preparing for meat birds or other chicks. Several days before the meat bird chicks are due to arrive, your meat bird brooder should be completely ready. It's important to check and double check every small detail as it is much … [Read more...]
Is This How Your Chicken Gets Delivered to Your Plate?
The other day, I posted an article that appeared in the New York Times. It was about the terrible conditions of many commercial chicken factories. Here are a few pictures I took when we were driving home from Southern California a couple of years ago. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words. Click on the pictures to see close up the conditions of your meat when it is being taken to … [Read more...]
Homegrown Chicken Dinner
You know what I love? Roasted chicken for dinner. Roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and frozen garden peas. We use a really good quality roasting pan; it's a one time investment and we use it a lot. I'd rather have the peas fresh, but it's not even the middle of April yet so I am content with frozen fresh peas from last year. Our homegrown peas taste much … [Read more...]
It’s Great to Have Chicken in the Freezer Again!
A week ago, we started sending our meat birds to freezer camp. We raise Cornish Giants (which is the Canadian equivalent of Cornish Cross) and these birds are bred to gain weight fast. We got them as chicks and 8 weeks later they were ready to be slaughtered. However, Graham wasn't able to be here when we hit the 8 week mark, so I kept on feeding the birds for what ended up being an extra 3 weeks. … [Read more...]
The Meat Bird Chicks Have Arrived
I went to the local Post Office this morning and picked up 25 chicks, sent to me by a hatchery in Alberta. Normally, a hatchery will add a chick or three to the order, in case some die during transit. The chicks, after hatching, can live up to 3 days without food or water, due to the nutrients they received while in the shell. The order this year contained 26 chicks. I'm hoping for no … [Read more...]
How To Get Started on the Path to Providing for Your Family
Have you been used to buying your groceries at the supermarkets? Never raised animals or had a garden? Are you trying to figure out how to get started on the path to providing for your family? Have you thought about starting a homestead? It can certainly feel overwhelming just to get started. So think about getting started, but doing it on a small level. Trying to do too much too quickly … [Read more...]
What to Do When Your Chicks Arrive
Do you know what to do when your chicks arrive? Be ready for them! Be as sure as you can that you have everything you need. Everything MUST be in place when your chicks arrive at their new home! We keep our chicks in the basement for the first 2 weeks. This is because in our climate, it is usually still too cold down at the barn for day old chicks. We can do a better job … [Read more...]
An Outdoor Run for the Meat Birds
You don't have to provide an outside run for your birds, but it certainly is a nice benefit for them! Sunshine and fresh air is needed by all animals, so we always make an outdoor run for the meat birds. You can see in the picture below that we have set up T-posts around the perimeter of what will be their run. T-posts make fencing pretty easy. I used … [Read more...]