The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Ashdoes]

Hey guys, just in case anyone else needed it, the coupon code for OutsidePride.com is GROUND. That's for 20% off all ground covers.

 

[atmaclean]

All the talk about beheading, pithing, bleeding out, headless flapping and boiling has about put me over the edge! I wish I could skip over these posts as much as Stony doesn't want to read the chatty posts.

I am positive now that I could NEVER kill one of my chickens. Just the thought of it after reading all this has made me sick on my stomach. If it ever comes to that, I will have to take my chickens to someone else and have them "processed".

WAAAYYY too much information for my sensitivities. Think I'll take a break from reading for a while and maybe the topic will change.

 

[jendodd79]

We're back home and no new eggs from our Blue maran. So she laid her first last Thursday, was singing an egg song on Friday morning for about a half hour and then say in the nesting box on Fri for an hour and nothing! I need some patience!!

 

[Mumsy]

All the talk about beheading, pithing, bleeding out, headless flapping and boiling has about put me over the edge! I wish I could skip over these posts as much as Stony doesn't want to read the chatty posts.

I am positive now that I could NEVER kill one of my chickens. Just the thought of it after reading all this has made me sick on my stomach. If it ever comes to that, I will have to take my chickens to someone else and have them "processed".

WAAAYYY too much information for my sensitivities. Think I'll take a break from reading for a while and maybe the topic will change.

I do tend to agree with you in one way. Writing and reading about it is harder in many ways than actually doing it. And if you raise chickens long enough, it will need to be done eventually. If you choose to pass that deed on to someone else, that is your choice. For many on this thread, we take the responsibility very seriously and strive to learn the best and most humane ways possible. Their lives and often their deaths are our responsibility, are they not?

 

[stonykill]

All the talk about beheading, pithing, bleeding out, headless flapping and boiling has about put me over the edge! I wish I could skip over these posts as much as Stony doesn't want to read the chatty posts.

I am positive now that I could NEVER kill one of my chickens. Just the thought of it after reading all this has made me sick on my stomach. If it ever comes to that, I will have to take my chickens to someone else and have them "processed".

WAAAYYY too much information for my sensitivities. Think I'll take a break from reading for a while and maybe the topic will change.

as the title of the thread says Natural Chicken Keeping. It is part of it. A very important part of it. An important subject to talk about, discuss, learn from and for those of us with more experience hopefully pick up a few things to try out for ourselves. THIS is exactly what this thread is about, Natural Chicken Keeping. Nothing more natural than knowing where your food comes from

 

[Bulldogma]

I once thought I could never, ever Kill one of my chickens - or any other animal, for that matter. Then I had an injured bird and there was nobody about but me to put her out of her misery. It was hard, and I cried...

Fast forward a few months and, while killing will never be easy, I have a different view on it now. I believe I'd rather eat meat that I know came from a well treated, free ranged, happy bird than from some poor creature that lived its short life stuffed in a small wire cage with 4 other unhappy birds - never to have the sun shine on its back.

Oddly enough, over these past few months, that very philosophy has led me to want to raise my own meat birds, knowing that I could raise them well and give them a humane death.

My biggest girl, "Tanker."

(Going through a molt and with NuStock all over her legs - hopefully I can get some prettier pictures in the next month or so.)

Normally I would never name a meat bird, but this one will be kept around for a while, I think. Just since bringing them home on Saturday, the 4 girls have given me 4 eggs (that I know of - - as they tend to bury them in the hay - LOL). The plan is that the best quality offspring will be kept and bred, while the lesser-quality birds will live good lives and then feed my family.

No - culling is never easy, but giving them a happy, healthy life is! It took me over 40 years to get to this point, and each and every one of us will have different approaches to the whole life/death philosophy. Do what is right for you, and the rest of us will support your choices.

 

[Mumsy]

My biggest girl, "Tanker."

Oh my! All I can think of now is raising a bunch of 'Tanks'!!! Such an awesome girl!

 

[delisha]

Does tank have thick and knoby legs and toes?
She almost looks like she has corn legs
I want some eggs from her..PLEASE
After two months

 

[Mumsy]

Does tank have thick and knoby legs and toes?
She almost looks like she has corn legs
I want some eggs from her..PLEASE
After two months

Can I PLEASE be #2 on the waiting list for Tanker eggs after delisha? I will trade you for someday Catdance eggs. (Gots to get a breeding pen going real quick after April).

 

[Bulldogma]

Does tank have thick and knoby legs and toes?
She almost looks like she has corn legs
I want some eggs from her..PLEASE
After two months

LOL - her legs look like stumps. Giant, knoby stumps. Once upon a time, she apparently did well in shows. My Cornish rooster is not this impressive, sadly - but I'm hoping to get a good quality roo someday. (I totally want one of those blue laced red Cornish I have seen pictures of... WOW!)

And Delisha - yes - I will send you some of her eggs someday!