high hopes gardens » Animals – Chickens

October 7th, 2012 – Chickens to the Freezer

highhopesgardens — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:40:16 +0000

Today we were grateful most of our chickens made it safely to maturity (unlike the 10 turkeys this year who all perished by deformed leg problems, storm, or dog).

Martin hauls the chickens to the killing cones, where I deftly make a cut on the side of the neck where they bleed out.

Next, it’s a few dips in about 150 degree water. The chickens are ready to scald when wing feathers pull out easily.

The chickens before the plucker spins.

About 30 seconds later, most of the feathers are gone.

Then the chickens go to a different pair of hands for cleaning and later cutting up into meal-sized portions. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly fun day, but it is rewarding have control of the chickens from chick to freezer - knowing how they’ve lived and been processed.

August 31, 2012 – Trying out “Ranger” Chickens

highhopesgardens — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 02:46:21 +0000

We’re trying out a new (for us) breed of broiler chickens. Called “red rangers” or “freedom rangers” they grow a bit slower than the super hybrid chickens used in confinement (8 weeks to a 4 lb chicken) and faster than the standard breeds (14 weeks for white rocks or barred rocks).

These guys looks good so far and are supposed to be good foragers as well, wo they maybe a better match for the chicken tractors if they do a great job of foraging.

October 3, 2011 – Chicken Butchering Commences

highhopesgardens — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:20:55 +0000

Yesterday was the day to put the chickens in the freezer. We skipped the first step in the photo sequence of butchering.

Here a nice bird is ready for the scalder.

A few dips and twists in the hot water and as soon as a wing feather can be plucked off easily by hand, it’s done.

Into the plucker.

about 15 seconds later, they look a lot like rubber chickens.

Emma and Linda cutting them up.

When we went to the chicken tractor, we found one critter had eaten part of a chicken through the wires. It’s always disheartening to feed an animal to its last day and lose it, but it was only one, and it could have been, and has been worse.

one year ago…”Marching Band Contest”

October 2, 2011 – Getting Ready to Fill the Freezer with Chicken

highhopesgardens — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 02:19:37 +0000

Here’s the scene the before the chicken butchering commenced. We’ve now done it enough times that we’ve got it down pretty well.

The line starts in the distance where the chickens are first hung upside down and bled out, then brought to the scalder, then the plucker, then the eviserating, and finally a couple of cold rinses before they are later either washed and bagged whole or cut up.

one year ago…”Chicken Butchering”

September 4, 2011 – Red Roof Inn

highhopesgardens — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:48:50 +0000

Here’s some of the chickens out on pasture in their fancy red roof inn.

They are about 3-4 weeks old now.

Three of the bonfire piles await the burning tile in the background.

one year ago…”Monarch Migration Respite”

March 19, 2011 – New Fence

highhopesgardens — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:28:16 +0000

One thing that is under-appreciated by most urban dwellers is the work and importance of fences. They’re more work than they seem with branches falling on them in storms and mulberries growing up in them. Lately, we’ve been having too many chicken escapes – they are scratching up the garlic beds and going where they are not supposed to go. We don’t allow them in the gardens during the growing season.

We put up 150 feet of woven wire around part of the chicken yard. It used to be cattle panels, with old bits of lath jimmied between the wider squares near the ground the chickens could sneak through. Now any chickens that get over are flying and get a “wing haircut” to keep them in their place!

We dragged the panels to the back pasture where we could extend our back pasture a bit more as well. It pretty much shot the afternoon.

one year ago…”Last Lambs Hit the Ground”

January 29, 2011 – Smallest Chicken Egg Ever!

highhopesgardens — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 01:12:24 +0000

There was a bit of a surprise in the chicken coop this evening – a mini-egg! This egg was so small it would fall right through the egg basket!

We’ve had some weird eggs before, but never one this small. I guess if you were on a low cholesterol diet, you couldn’t get into much trouble eating this one. I was hoping it would have a perfect little yolk, but it was all egg white inside. Wouldn’t that have been cute in the frying pan?

one year ago…”How Much Noise Does a Skystream Make”

November 17, 2010 – Winter Layer Ration Delivery

highhopesgardens — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:16:34 +0000

Today we got one ton of layer mix – which should hold us until spring. I make a supplemental cocktail with ingredients from Des Moines Feed mill on Hubbell Ave. There’s a guy there named Stan who thinks a lot about feed mixes. Interestingly, there is not any GMO corn in the facility.

For the chickens, I have a mix of probiotics, kelp and many other goodies. I bring that to the local mill to mix in with the usual feed. Most of a ton fits in the corn caddy and the rest go in an old stock tank.

one year ago…”Corn Caddy”

October 11, 2010 – Lovin’ the Garden Chickens!

highhopesgardens — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:40:07 +0000

In addition to the mechanically-managed garden spaces, an even better method is the chickens! These chickens are in the garden that contained early season crops and was planted to buckwheat that was allowed to go to seed. Now, the chickens forage over the buckwheat and leave their trail of fertilization.

The left side of the photo shows ground the chickens have already passed over and the chicken tractor will now be moved downhill towards the camera. I like this because it cleans up the buckwheat and some other seeds but yet leaves some plant material that decomposes easily on the gardens over winter to protect the soil.

“one year ago…”Front Page News: Part 2″

October 2, 2010 – Chicken Butchering

highhopesgardens — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:22:03 +0000

Today, we helped some neighbors butcher their chickens. It was great to see all the kids help with most aspects of the process. I was particularly enamored with a five year old girl in pink pants and chore boots who carried chickens from the killing cones over to me at the plucker.

These kids have skills!

one year ago…”Applesauce Day”