Maine

[Egiroux]

I have never processed birds, but have been doing my research. Have processed plenty of other critters - deer, rabbits, etc. I've got neighbors so given those timeframes I don't think holding onto roosters will be in my future, atleast not at my current house. I do plan to process the hens once they pass their first couple years of laying though. Thanks for the info.

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Quote:
I like the idea for plans! I'll talk to my boyfriend and see if we can't come up with a good "how to" to sell. Any idea where to put up fliers? The farm store where I buy my feed sells mini brooders and coops, I doubt they'd want the competition!

With my new interest in wood-working, I'd probably buy the plans and try my hand at it

 

[Gordonhillfarm]

uncle henrys -- craigslist -- nothing wrong with a flyer at the feed store -- I've seen some for different hutches and such at my feed stores . tractor supply lets us sell just about anything farm related and they are a farm supply . I say go for it -- whats the worst that could happen

( someones says they perfer you not too) Just remember it has been on here now and if you don't someone will and then your gunna be like my mom and her coffee cup lid idea -- she swears it was her idea to have a open flap on the throw away cup

well I'm off to work ~~~ Tammy

 

[joanie_maine]

I just bought a Ronco Rotisserie to cook my home raised meat birds from last year.

When I was baking them or stewing them, they just weren't tender or juicy.

Now I brine them when they are thawed from the freezer and use the rotisserie

The skin is brown, cripsy and the meat is SO GOOD!

 

[kinsey228]

Processing your own chickens isn't that hard to do. My Hubby and I do our own.

 

[buckabucka]

I'm trying to figure out how long to keep the hens before I replace them. Many will be 2 years old in May, and while I'm fond of some of them, it seems like it may not be economical to support them through another winter. I really want to do some hatching this spring, which is another reason to thin them out. How long do other people hang onto laying hens?

I've never cooked older birds, but the roosters we raised for about 6 months were good cooked in our pressure cooker. The meat stayed moist.

I'm kind of enjoying this non-winter, but I agree it is weird. I like winter, I just wish it were shorter. We're already gained 6 minutes of daylight now! I sent in my seed order yesterday.

 

[kinsey228]

Are they still laying well, or have they stopped ?

 

[buckabucka]

Quote:
Well, there are 17 hens that are "older", and they all molted this fall. Only one (leghorn) is laying. We get 2-4 eggs per day, but the other eggs are from 5 pullets. We had lots of eggs last summer, but there were always at least 2 broody hens from spring right into fall, so some did not even really produce all summer.

I really want to hatch eggs this spring, but I have no room for more chickens, so I have to either ditch some of the older girls ( which will be hard for me), or give up the hatching idea. Of course, last year I hatched and got mostly roosters!

I have even more pullets in quarantine, so in total, I have one rooster and 27 hens!

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Processing your own chickens isn't that hard to do. My Hubby and I do our own.

X 2.

I did two roosters (we have a no rooster agreement here, the Man of the House & I) last summer. Its one of those things that is worse in the moments before than the rest, honestly.
I was quite attached to one of the roosters, too. He was all of our favorite & respectful enough for a hormonal rooster.
It was not an experience I relished, but I felt like it was important to know how to do it. My FIL came & helped me along - he has raised countless chickens, turkeys, geese, pigs & the like.

I felt, once the processing was underway, in a calm setting with experienced help, like it was a good thing to know how to do - especially in the event of something happening to one of my chickens...
As someone who has never hunted, and was a vegetarian for 15 years, and is an extraordinarily inept fisherwoman, it was the first time I really experienced the whole process of what it takes to get an animal to table.​

 

[MKandtheforce]

Hi all! Just figured I'd drop in, since I'm a Mainer, too. I'm in the Lincoln county area and only just getting started in the chicken world. I spent about two hours with my stepfather today, planning out the materials I'll need for my chicken coop. I've never had a big project like this before, and I'm pretty excited. I've already learned a lot. My mistake, though, is that I've already fallen in love with the idea of having chickens. I watched some of my friends have some when I was growing up, but we never had our own. So I've decided to do it now.

At some point, I'd like to branch out into turkeys and quail, maybe even peafowl, but that's for once I get my own land. I'm just ITCHING to be able to start a homestead of my own, but for now, I'm still living with my parents (still going to college). At least we've got a decent sized chunk of cleared land for my chickens to hop around on and start a beehive.

@m.kitchengirl - I think it's awesome that you were a vegetarian. I'm a vegetarian now, but I think that if I raise something myself, I'll be fine with eating it, as backwards as it seems. Then I'll have known where it came from and how it was raised, the typical vegetarian argument.

I'd like to learn how to process someday, so it's heartening to know that an ex-vegetarian like yourself seems to have not had much trouble!