Butchering Nasty Beasties...

I never understood why many of my friends told me that chickens were nasty.  That they smelled and were...did I mention, NASTY?  Well, I do now.  Because many people have raised meat chickens.  In particular, Cornish Rock cross meaties.  I have had many chickens in one or more coops at a time, and I have to say, they have never had an odor, and I genuinely enjoy them.  I didn't enjoy raising these Cornish Rocks though.  Did I mention they were NASTY?  They stunk!  As soon as you would walk into our huge barn, the smell of unprocessed chicken poop would accost you, and you couldn't help but wrinkle your nose.  I added fresh bedding, changed the feeders, waters, cleaned them, did everything I could think of--but they still were the stinkiest birds EVER.  They just don't digest their food like regular chickens.  And they don't move around a lot.  They were so gluttonous, that they would fall asleep with their faces in the feeders to wake up to keep eating.  They were so immobile, they wore off the feathers from their breasts to their vents (bottoms). 

They start off cute like these little yellow chicks. 

 A week later...they are still cute....

 At 4 weeks, they have grown so much that chicks their same age look tiny compared to them...

 Here's a stock picture of a Cornish Rock Rooster.  We had several that looked like him.  Splayed legs, and big barrel chests.

 Here is the first one we caught and butchered.  As you can see, his chest feathers (those left) were soiled, nasty and crusted with poop.  YUCK!

I hung them "out to dry" essentially.  They go into a hypnotic state when upside down, then I cut their throats.  They quietly bleed out, and then we scald them.   If you want to see my past buchering post with step by step instructions, go here: http://farmwithoutaname.blogspot.com/2012/07/butcher-time.html

 This is the coolest chicken plucker EVER!  I went in with 4 families to buy the supplies, and our friend's husband, Andrew, put it together.  Check out how to make yours by Googling "Whizbang chicken plucker".  It worked beautifully!  This was the only positive about butchering the chickens...seeing how effective this thing worked!  Within 15 seconds, the chicken was perfectly plucked!  I have a video to share, but was having difficulty uploading it.  I'll try again.

 Here are some of the feathers from 8 chickens. 

 I saved the feet and necks for broth....

 And the livers for Shannon's Great Aunt that apparently makes the BEST fried chicken livers.  I say APPARENTLY because that turns my stomach.  However, I'm all about using all parts of the chicken and not wasting any...we also saved the heads and guts for the dogs.  They were quite happy with me.  I aim to please. 

 After finishing the cleaning, I put them in a large cooler with ice waterto let them CHILL OUT.  lol  ...where Hammish cat decided to get a sip of water.  Yuck!  Oh, well...all is well that ends well.  I now have 80 lbs of chicken in the freezer.  The roosters weighed in at 10 lbs fully dressed and the hens weighed in at 9 lbs fully dressed...and they were only 8 weeks old at butchering.  Crazy Mutant Natsty Beasties!

Chicken Tractor

My mom and dad came down for Easter and my dad brought with him his design for a chicken tractor. You may be wondering, "What in the world is a CHICKEN TRACTOR??"  It's essentially an open bottomed cage for chickens.  You put them on grass, and they scratch, peck, eat bugs, grass, and fertilize your yard.  Every day or so, you move the tractor, to a fresh spot and repeat.  

Most of the plans dad and I looked at were made out of wood, and dad wanted something that was bit more lightweight and manageable for a little lady like myself.  So, dad, being the mechanical engineer that he is, designed a tractor out of PVC.  Originally, it was to be 6x20 hoop-house style.  Our plans quickly changed...

It set up very quickly, but we soon realized after putting the first 20 foot section of wire on, we needed bracing.  

So, we all put our heads together, and decided to make it into a 6'x10' chicken tractor framed like a house.  It turned out great.  The key to great designs is having the ability to be flexible and roll with the punches.  

I then went out and bought 25 Cornish Rock broiler chicks.  They are the little yellow ones above.

Gandolf had to inspect his new charges...

I also bought 8 Cuckoo Marans at the same time (the little black ones).  

Gandolf really loves his job.  He is so sweet with them.  They cuddled up in and around his arms and tummy to stay warm.  He was sure not to move.  The CR broilers quickly grew, and now, at 3 weeks old, were ready for their transition to the chicken tractor.  Pyper and Raegan helped me last night.

We sat out there for about an hour watching the chicks peck, scratch, eat, and poo.  Fun times on the farm.  Especially when Pyper asked when we're going to eat them.  Gotta love a girl who knows where her food comes from!