$1 a bird to process sure sounds like a good price to me!
I don't know any one to do it for me, so I did it myself.
My hubby is a city boy, he didn't want to help me dress them out, but he did kill them for me.
I just can't bring myself to do the killing after I raised them, but once they are dead I am good for the rest. My hubby had never eaten anything but store bought chicken, he didn't care for the stronger taste and tougher texture of a more mature bird. That's why I am going to try to raise just a few meaties this year to see if he likes them better. You ae the second person to tell me that Marans have a nice carcass when they are dressed out! Those were big birds! Mine looked big, but it all turned out to be fluff!
We just started our flock from hatching eggs a year ago, and our pullets started laying last fall. We just started selling eggs around November. I only live on 3 acres, and my flock really does free range, no fences, I just open the coop door in the morning, and let them go to it. They stay on my property though. I don't know how many chickens a place this small can support free ranging....I wonder what max capacity would be? I also provide a commercial organic feed free choice. I can definitely tell that they are eating way more feed since our first hard freeze. I will be glad when spring arrives! I really don't want to advertise on Craig's list or anything to sell eggs. If I wanted to sell to strangers or at a farmers market, I would have to label the eggs with my farm name and contact info, plus a bunch of other stuff....... I would rather just sell to friends/friends of friends and family, and not put my info out there with strangers.
Well, my daughter changed her mind, and is ready to set eggs again since we successfully moved her Christmas chicks out to the coop. I have the incubator warming up and I plan to set 2 dozen more ameraucanas tomorrow. The spring swaps are starting up in March, so we can sell a few chicks to improve our profit ratio, and pay for all this winter feed.
We just started our flock from hatching eggs a year ago, and our pullets started laying last fall. We just started selling eggs around November. I only live on 3 acres, and my flock really does free range, no fences, I just open the coop door in the morning, and let them go to it. They stay on my property though. I don't know how many chickens a place this small can support free ranging....I wonder what max capacity would be? I also provide a commercial organic feed free choice. I can definitely tell that they are eating way more feed since our first hard freeze. I will be glad when spring arrives! I really don't want to advertise on Craig's list or anything to sell eggs. If I wanted to sell to strangers or at a farmers market, I would have to label the eggs with my farm name and contact info, plus a bunch of other stuff....... I would rather just sell to friends/friends of friends and family, and not put my info out there with strangers.
Well, my daughter changed her mind, and is ready to set eggs again since we successfully moved her Christmas chicks out to the coop. I have the incubator warming up and I plan to set 2 dozen more ameraucanas tomorrow. The spring swaps are starting up in March, so we can sell a few chicks to improve our profit ratio, and pay for all this winter feed.
