Convince me to get chickens

[MotherGoose]

I like the idea of having chickens for eggs and/or meat and to improve my garden. There is a farm nearby from which we get meat and eggs, but it would be cheaper growing our own. Of course my girls would learn a lot. Here are my concerns: my girls (and me) being okay with eating our own chickens, and being confined by another critter to take care of--can't exactly load them up and take them to my parents' house like I do the dogs. How long can I leave them unattended--with automatic waterers etc? How do your children cope with eating their own chickens? We have 5 acres of land so space is no problem.

[ondreeuh]

We have 10 layers but I'm hoping to get some meat chickens next year. Our experience with the layers has been very positive. We put way more work into building the coop & run than I thought we would, but I love it. The coop is a shed-type with full size door so it's very easy to clean, and the run is pretty big, so we can go in and sit and visit.

 

I use buckets with poultry nipples on them, which provides them enough water for at least a week (at that point I rinse it out, but it's still clean). Think of a rabbit waterer, and it's kind of the same idea, but cleaner. For feeders I use 4" pvc pipe with a wye attachment at the bottom, and I fill it from the top and cap it. It holds several days' worth of food. If we leave for a few days I still need someone to collect eggs and just keep an eye on the food/water, but that's easy enough for a neighbor kid to do.

 

There are several breeds of "dual purpose" chickens that can be used for both meat and eggs, but they take around 20 weeks to get big enough to butcher. In the meantime, the roosters are crowing and fighting, and probably harassing the hens. Most people get different birds for layers and meat. The most common "meat chicken" is the cornish cross because it will reach butcher weight in about 6 weeks, but that fast growth comes at a price (health problems & mortality). If I get meat chickens I will get slower growing ones (like "slow cornish," "red cornish," "red broilers," "freedom rangers") that are ready to butcher in 10-12 weeks.

 

I will take my meat chickens to a processing facility to be butchered - even if I could stomach it, it's worth $3-5 a bird to have someone else make sure it's done right. Plenty of people butcher their own and get used to it. I think it helps if the meat chickens all look alike and aren't named, and are kept separate from the "pet" layers.

 

backyardchickens.com is a fantastic resource. I learned a TON from that site - also from Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

[MotherGoose]

So how do you plan to handle the whole "we're eating our chickens" thing? My girls are 4 and 18 months old--too young to understand. My father has beef cattle, and I remember having real issues with thinking of them being eaten. We didn't butcher any of them, but my dad did recently and I am fine with that now that I am old enough to understand feedlots, and inhumane treatment, and all of that. I really believe that if I'm going to eat meat, I must be okay with looking that animal in the eye beforehand, although I am fine with not actually doing the butchering myself! :)

[ColoradoMom]

I have way too many chickens right now - about 18 hens and 3 roosters...not to mention 25 ducks...

 

But YES - having fresh eggs is WONDERFUL! My girls are in the middle of their molt right now so they are not laying very much - but I get eggs all winter. Not the dozen+ I get in the summer but seriously who needs a dozen eggs a day. YOu can get a giant hanging feeder and leave them go for a fairly long time - ditto for a waterer. If it is winter you'll just need a water heater base or something if you live in snow.

 

You should definitely get chickens! :D

 

And yes - go to Backyard Chickens for info - they will quickly talk you into it though - be warned. I am DuckyBoys over there - so say Hi if you join!

Edited September 18, 2010 by ColoradoMom

[ondreeuh]

So how do you plan to handle the whole "we're eating our chickens" thing? My girls are 4 and 18 months old--too young to understand. My father has beef cattle, and I remember having real issues with thinking of them being eaten. We didn't butcher any of them, but my dad did recently and I am fine with that now that I am old enough to understand feedlots, and inhumane treatment, and all of that. I really believe that if I'm going to eat meat, I must be okay with looking that animal in the eye beforehand, although I am fine with not actually doing the butchering myself! :)

 

My oldest is a vegetarian and hasn't eaten meat for over 2 years, so she is really not on board with raising chickens for meat. My 9 year old is sensitive and I really don't know how he'll do. I'm not sure my toddler has made the connection between the chickens in our yard and the chicken on his plate. I'm not going to make them care for the meat chickens but they can if they want to.

 

I'm expecting that once the chicken is served, it will seem like any other chicken meat. I only serve meat 1x a week and we always have leftovers available, so if my kids don't want to eat the chicken we raised they will be able to grab one of the vegetarian options in the fridge or freezer.

 

I'm looking forward to eating really good chicken meat! Grass-fed beef is impractical for me to raise, but chickens I can do. I might just do 6 for the first batch (which would last us several months anyhow).

[Mothersweets]

Having chickens is wonderful! One of the sweetest things ever is seeing a mama hen clucking to her chicks/ teaching them how to "be chickens".

 

Raising meat chickens is different; keeping them separate from your layers is the way to go.

 

The Backyard Chickens link posted above is a great resource. Have fun!!

[Momling]

We love our 6 hens (we're in a town and that's all we're allowed). We'll eventually eat them when they're about 2 - 2 1/2 yrs old. We get between 4-6 eggs/day. Plus, they're fun to watch. Our hens are probably spoiled, but they're awesome. The construction of our coop cost a lot more than I expected, so it would probably take a while to actually make it worthwhile financially.

[kristavws]

I like the idea of having chickens for eggs and/or meat and to improve my garden. There is a farm nearby from which we get meat and eggs, but it would be cheaper growing our own. Of course my girls would learn a lot. Here are my concerns: my girls (and me) being okay with eating our own chickens, and being confined by another critter to take care of--can't exactly load them up and take them to my parents' house like I do the dogs. How long can I leave them unattended--with automatic waterers etc? How do your children cope with eating their own chickens? We have 5 acres of land so space is no problem.

 

You definitely want to get chickens! Out of all the farm animals we have, they are by far the easiest to take care of. We currently have 19 laying hens. I actually turned over their care to my 9-year old this year. He let's them out to free range around noon, collects the eggs, and makes sure their food and water is full. We use auto-waterers and feeders, and they only have to be filled once or twice a week depending on the season. In the summer, they mostly forage, and do not eat as much. I also keep a kiddie pool full of water outside that they can drink out of when they are free-ranging, so that they do not have to go back to their house for a drink. I pay my son 50 cents for every dozen eggs I sell, so he usually ends up making about $4 per week. All of my laying hens go back into their house on their own at night. I lock them up in the evening after they have all gone in, because we do have coyotes around here.

 

We also raise a batch of meat chickens in the summer to be butchered for the freezer. These chickens are kept in a separate area from our layers, and most importantly, they do not receive names! We actually had to move the batch from this summer to a different area. This had to be done by hand, so everyone grabbed a chicken and started relocating them. My 7-year old commented as he was carrying one - "Wow, this one is really plump - it is going to make some great chicken wild rice soup :D " So, as long as your girls realize where the chickens are ultimately going to end up, they should not have a problem eating them.

 

I would recommend reading Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. It is a great book for helping you to get started.

 

Krista