OrtumAntiqua
Chirping
- Jul 29, 2022
- 9
- 66
- 54
Hello,
I was raised on a subsistence farm in Northern Michigan where we have continuously had chickens of all sorts over the 47 years we have been here. We have raised Guineafowl, geese, turkey and of course lots of chickens for butchering and egg production. My parents are in thier 80's and all the cattle and milk animals are gone but we still keep chickens for eggs and meat.
I recently moved back to my family farm from the city (NYC) and have been raising chickens for a couple years now. Last year I had a flock of Freedom Rangers that I raised with my version of the french method for meat chickens, high protein start, into the yard at 35 days and finished them inside on barley for 30 days and air cooled them after butchering. They were very good. This year I got my hands on some Bresse and Bresse - Maran cross chicks and am raising them by the same method. They were hatched by a home breeder near Iron Mountain, MI for me on July 8th.
Currently I have a 10 member laying brood and am raising 31 White Bresse, 32 White Bresse - Black Maran cross and 4 turkey poults for meat this year.
Current Breeds on the farm:
Buff Orpington (?) - rooster
Australorp - egg brood
Lavender Orpington (?) - egg brood
Rhode Island Red (?) - egg brood
White Bresse (American Bresse) - meat poults
White Bresse - Black Maran - meat poults
Sweetgrass Turkey - meat poult
Blue Slate Turkey - meat poult
Narraganset Turkey - meat poult
Blue Slate - Black Turkey (Black Slate?) - meat poult
I enjoy the birds themselves, watching them grow from chick to chicken and caring for them. I try to raise enough chicken for meat each year to significantly offset or eliminate the amount of meat I buy from commercial sources. I have a strong distaste for young chicken raised cheap and fast for white meat. I respect others who like it but it's not my thing. Flavor and quality are very important to me and I try to raise the most flavorful chicken possible. I prefer dark meat and finish birds a little later than most to develop depth of flavor. I grow chickens for myself and family not for sale.
Aside from raising chickens I enjoy wood working, building an off grid homestead and making art (ceramics & cyanotypes). I live near my family farm with my dog Gibbous (Boxer - Australian Shepard Mix). Looking forward to sharing my experience and talking about chickens!
Ortum Antiqua
I was raised on a subsistence farm in Northern Michigan where we have continuously had chickens of all sorts over the 47 years we have been here. We have raised Guineafowl, geese, turkey and of course lots of chickens for butchering and egg production. My parents are in thier 80's and all the cattle and milk animals are gone but we still keep chickens for eggs and meat.
I recently moved back to my family farm from the city (NYC) and have been raising chickens for a couple years now. Last year I had a flock of Freedom Rangers that I raised with my version of the french method for meat chickens, high protein start, into the yard at 35 days and finished them inside on barley for 30 days and air cooled them after butchering. They were very good. This year I got my hands on some Bresse and Bresse - Maran cross chicks and am raising them by the same method. They were hatched by a home breeder near Iron Mountain, MI for me on July 8th.
Currently I have a 10 member laying brood and am raising 31 White Bresse, 32 White Bresse - Black Maran cross and 4 turkey poults for meat this year.
Current Breeds on the farm:
Buff Orpington (?) - rooster
Australorp - egg brood
Lavender Orpington (?) - egg brood
Rhode Island Red (?) - egg brood
White Bresse (American Bresse) - meat poults
White Bresse - Black Maran - meat poults
Sweetgrass Turkey - meat poult
Blue Slate Turkey - meat poult
Narraganset Turkey - meat poult
Blue Slate - Black Turkey (Black Slate?) - meat poult
I enjoy the birds themselves, watching them grow from chick to chicken and caring for them. I try to raise enough chicken for meat each year to significantly offset or eliminate the amount of meat I buy from commercial sources. I have a strong distaste for young chicken raised cheap and fast for white meat. I respect others who like it but it's not my thing. Flavor and quality are very important to me and I try to raise the most flavorful chicken possible. I prefer dark meat and finish birds a little later than most to develop depth of flavor. I grow chickens for myself and family not for sale.
Aside from raising chickens I enjoy wood working, building an off grid homestead and making art (ceramics & cyanotypes). I live near my family farm with my dog Gibbous (Boxer - Australian Shepard Mix). Looking forward to sharing my experience and talking about chickens!
Ortum Antiqua
