Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Young Heritage]

Quote:
I have a small drum on a electric motor plucks a chicken in about a couple minutes dry.... Will work with 12 volt or AC.

I have not heard of one that is used dry. I like that idea better. Can you post or PM a pic of yours please? Thanks

 

[aceschix]

Quote:

I can slap at you if you want but the world is lacking in common sense these days!

 

[kefiren]

Hello everyone, THANKS so much for the thread. I'm not an Old Timer, but at this long enough to see the wisdom in the advice.

After 7 years of chicken keeping in MA, last month I finally butchered my first 3 birds. It was very freeing, and I agree:
wyododge wrote: 1. The only way to fully appreciate livestock is to kill, butcher and eat them.
And I have already learned so much about chicken bodies and body types just from this one experience.

I already 100% agreed with this:
wyododge wrote: 3. Dirt makes for healthy chickens, get them in it early.
6. Bacteria was possibly the first life form created on this earth. You would probably be wiser to embrace it than to fight it.
I use a cold frame for chick vacations whenever the weather isn't horrible. Chicken grit also helps, but it doesn't have the flora that the ground does. Living foods like yogurt, probiotics.

Please tell me how you sweeten water? It does sound smart (for humans as well?).
wyododge wrote: 5. The greatest thing about lakes and streams is mother nature has had an opportunity to sweeten the water. You would be well advised to let her do the same to the water your chickens get.

A few years back, one of my chickens took a big drink of water and shook her head and all her water ended up in my mouth. An old timer friend said: "keep ur mouth shut!"
wyododge wrote: 7. You aint lived till you've had your mouth filled with fresh cow manure

I did disagree back a few pages about skinning the 12 roosters and not plucking. I'm surprised at this advice--to me it is very new-fangled. It is an abomination to waste home-raised food!

A rooster doesn't have much fat to give, but that chicken skin contains life-giving fats and nutrients and belongs in the stock pot. Even worse--if you are throwing out organs. Try making a delicious pate with the hearts and livers--salt it well and serve it on crackers. These are concentrated foods maintain a robust farmer!

I've been gardening for 35 years, and my gardening made a quantum leap when I began keeping chickens. A mixed farm should be everyone's goal.

I like to raise and dry smaller, multi-head "moulin rouge" sunflowers for my chickens. The deers bother them less than grey stripe. Save a few heads for yourself and plant them again next year for free. I also did very well with flint corn for me and the chickens this year. Flint isn't half as popular with the bug pests as sweet corn is, though I will be fencing the deer out of it next year. In fall I mulch my beds with manure hay straight from the coop. (I'm a lazy farmer).

My first coop was a little chicken tractor. Makes a great breeding pen when you move up to a real coop. My real coop floor is stone dust and we like it very much. Stone dust also makes gardens grow (remineralizes the soil). I need to top it up this year, it does disappear over time.

Renee

 

[Clay Mudd]

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That's because these days the world slaps people for having common sense!

 

[aceschix]

Quote:
That's because these days the world slaps people for having common sense!

I agree and refuse to buy in!

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
I have a small drum on a electric motor plucks a chicken in about a couple minutes dry.... Will work with 12 volt or AC.

I have not heard of one that is used dry. I like that idea better. Can you post or PM a pic of yours please? Thanks

This model is basically the same as drill type for ducks, wild game, etc. and by dry I mean we do not dip in hot water and after washing the blood off (they are damp) we simply pluck them with no problems. Lots less messy, smells better, and still gets the job done including most pin feathers. Wear an apron

 

[Young Heritage]

Thanks for the info. I think this will be the route I take when the time comes to build a plucker. I did not want to spend the money most of the larger ones cost. Thanks again.

BTW, what RPM is the motor since I will assume it is a 12 volt motor. Any other specs would be appreciated as well.

 

[Beekissed]

I did disagree back a few pages about skinning the 12 roosters and not plucking. I'm surprised at this advice--to me it is very new-fangled. It is an abomination to waste home-raised food!

You are absolutely correct on this and in retrospect, I think I was thinking more along the lines of a newbie processor who was learning for the first time, older roo skin which is thin and often hard to really pluck clean along the back and doesn't hold much fat for roasting, and the time frame for a newbie to scald those birds, hand pluck and clean....thought it best to have them skin them the first time. The skin is not wasted at my house, as all the waste becomes food for the other animals.

But...you are right. To really do birds right and really gain the full benefit of what you've grown, plucking and preserving the skin is worth it depending on if you EAT the skin. I'd gotten so used to not eating my skin to avoid the fat content, that it is hard to get that back into my mind as the GOOD kind of fat....isn't it funny how medical advice seems to waver from fats are bad, now fats are good, salt is bad, now salt is good, etc.?

By all means...your homegrown birds should be eaten from the skin down. Even the feet are valuable for chicken stock and my granny loved to eat them!​

 

[loanwizard]

How do you eat Chicken feet? I will try anything once. Tried Milk Bone Dog Biscuits in my wilder days..... thought it intimidated other teams in pool league.... I digress....

Do they have flavor?

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a link to a short article on it and some pics of peeling the feet:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/chicken-feet-stock/

My grandma used to boil them for the good chicken stock...they contain the same ingredient that makes gelatin setup but can't think of the name of it right now no matter how I rack the OT brain. Then she would gnaw on them...said it was the best part of the chicken. Me? I give them to the dog after I use them for stock and it seems to be a GREAT treat for the dog....he loves them. I'm sure they are good for him also. There is very little meat except on the ball of the foot, which is a delicacy in China.