Recent content by eve789

My chickens are *incredibly* friendly and bold. In other words, they associate me with food. In fact, they probably associate all humans with food (and don't draw much of a distinction between us). The ones I hand-tamed as chicks are the friendliest, but even our more recent hatch (now about...

I generally keep my chickens out of my vegetable and flower garden most of the year, but let them in after the first frost to turn over the beds, eat larvae, etc. I've expanded my flower garden this year and have lots of cosmos, zinnias, chamomile, sunflowers and other annuals I hope will go...

Thanks everyone for your support and your feedback. The emotional support helps a lot! It's helpful to hear about others having similar experiences (the emotional ambivalence, messing up the first time, that it gets easier but is never easy). It is so hard to reconcile my deep empathy for...

On getting "harder"/emotionally distancing: I'm reading earlier parts of this thread and it's so helpful to know that for a lot of people, while they get better at it, it doesn't get easier. As in, there is always some emotion involved, and that it's OK. The last thing I'd ever want is to feel...

*Finally* did the deed today (for the first time). It was awful. I processed two roosters. They had to go because we live in a suburb and their noise was threatening the existence of our whole flock. The first was actually not so bad but the second one was just a nightmare. They were naked-neck...

*Finally* did the deed today (for the first time). It was awful. I processed two roosters. They had to go because we live in a suburb and their noise was threatening the existence of our whole flock. The first was actually not so bad but the second one was just a nightmare. They were naked-neck...

Thanks for your replies. I didn't mean that I would keep the rabbits and quail together. More that these are animals people generally keep in very small cages, in habitats that bear no resemblance to their natural states. Our chickens have full run of our two acre yard and while I can't do the...

This one, for example, looks pretty big!

I've been keeping chickens for awhile, primarily for eggs, but today I am processing our two roosters – first time ever (wish me luck!). I would love to continue expanding the variety and amount of food we grow ourselves. We're getting ducks in June. I am also thinking in the long run of...

I am ready to take the plunge, but my husband is getting a little freaked out by all of this. I think we might go to a farm that processes birds the first time around, so we can watch and ask questions before we attempt to do it on our own. Whether or not we become meat bird raisers, we will...

I know. The article was a little ridiculous....and enough to make me want to start growing birds not just for laying but for eating. I am sure many of our birds are being raised in even better conditions, only without the marketing gimmick of "birds raised on the scraps from 4 star restaurant...

@Dstewart: That is good to hear! Somehow knowing they will taste good and be good makes the killing and eating them part a little easier to accept. If I killed the bird and didn't particularly enjoy eating it, it would feel like a waste. We had pastured turkey last year for Thanksgiving for...

Quick question--there's lots on home slaughtering I will dig deeper into it later, but I actually wanted advice on preparing the birds after they are killed & plucked. We have two roosters (an easter egger and a barnevelder) that are 3.5 months old. I did not raise them for meat, but assumed...

Oh, and they are both "naked neck" chickens. I have no idea why. No disease, mites, or picking on---they came this way from the hatchery: http://breedsavers.blogspot.com/2011/05/naked-necks-chickens-that-looks-like.html

Two 3.5 month-old roosters, an Easter Egger and a Barnevelder. The Barnevelder just started crowing yesterday, and honestly, we were so in love with him, we didn't even notice that he wasn't a hen. We wish we can keep him, but that alarm clock....our neighbors...the same old story! Free...