THE LITTLE THINGS - RASING CHICKENS

HOME GROWN (LEFT) VS. STORE BOUGHT (RIGHT)

During the Great Depression, many Americans raised their own food, either supplementing it or entirely from whatever land was available.  Our German relatives grew much of what they ate from the garden in the years immediately after WWII.  Both my paternal and maternal grandparents had victory gardens then as well, though they typically had an excess they shared with friends and neighbors.  One of the common practices was keeping chickens. 

These are marvelous birds. Besides requiring little attention, they are intelligent, resourceful and often amusing.  There are a variety of inexpensive commercial feeds readily available for them at farm supply and some hardware or garden stores. They can also be fed most food scraps and are good foragers. Chickens come in a great variety, but the two most basic categories are production hens and broiler.  Production hens are bred for egg laying, while broilers are raised for meat.  The former are typically rather scrawny and don't have a lot of meat on them.  The latter are heavy and make a hearty meal when plucked, cleaned and cooked, but lay relatively few if any eggs.  A mix of the two will serve the family table well, and there are some varieties that supposedly meet both criteria - though I haven't seen one yet.

HOMEGROWN (LEFT) STORE BOUGHT (RIGHT)

For me, the production Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock are my favorites for egg laying. I also like the blue-green eggs of the Araucana. The idea of actually eating one of my chickens repels me, so I haven't raised any broilers yet.  I've heard that Rock Cornish grow fast but have inbred traits that are undesirable such as weak legs and ravenous appetites.  I've raised a few dual purpose birds with good results.

With eggs still under $2 a dozen here for medium white eggs, this is not an economical project.  I spent the better part of a week building the coop which was made from salvaged wooden pallets,  Another $30 went into the feeding and watering equipment. Then we go through about 50 lbs of supplemental feed for a flock of a dozen birds every month.  That costs about $16 at the feed store.  It would be more, but our birds are free to roam about the yard and are also fed table scraps.



They do a fair job of keeping the insect population down.  Some neighbors have swarms of locusts and grasshoppers in their fields. We have an initial infestation after a few good rains, but they quickly disappear and reappear as fresh eggs. :)  It's not the same for the potato bugs.  The chickens won't touch them even if I gather them and hand feed them.

If you have neighbors, free ranging chickens may not work well.  Mine love to scratch about in the flower beds and toss the mulch in all directions. I don't mind sweeping ti back once a week or so, but an unsympathetic neighbor called the police when they scavenged in her flower beds.  She called animal control who fined me $100 and warned me it could go as high as $100 per loose bird. Later, my entire flock at the time was killed violently under mysterious circumstances. Thankfully that neighbor is long gone and my current neighbors like the chickens.  I think the chickens do a fine job of mulching the leaf compost I spread under the shrubbery and they do a bit of weeding too.  We haven't seen any snakes around since the birds moved in either, though they were common before.

In the morning our one rooster crows lustily and repeatedly and helps me overcome the tendency to succumb to the force of gravity until the sun rises.  So, he's a good supplement to the alarm clock. During the day our chickens roam about searching for food, entertaining themselves and harassing the turkeys.  (I had to pen the turkey because they ate the seedlings in the garden and the tom killed at east one hen.)  It's nearly impossible to catch them on the run.  Although their legs are a minute fraction of my own in length, the birds are very light an maneuverable.  They can accelerate, decelerate and turn with great alacrity.  Only with determined effort and careful strategy can I corner and catch these escape artists.

However, in the evening they birds gather on the half door of the shed to roost for the night.  At sundown they become quiet and tractable.  I can walk up to them and pet them gently with no fuss.  We look eye to eye at each other with no hint of the desperate chase scenes played out in the fine East Texas dust earlier the same day.  I admire their colorful plumage and combs, their bright orange and yellow eyes, and the strong, yellow scaled feet the birds use so well.  Dutifully I check them over for injuries, infections and infestations, and typically find them in good health.  Its nice to see them put aside their own personal squabbles with each other to roost peacefully for the night.

All considered, it's the eggs that make it all worth while though.  I have eaten eggs nearly my entire life and enjoyed them in a variety f forms.  My favorite is scrambled, but they are good sunny side up, easy over, poached, boiled, deviled and many other ways.  I'll even admit to baking them in quiche - bacon flavored being my favorite.  What makes raising my own is not just the satisfaction of knowing the birds are well kept, but the vast improvement in appearance and flavor.

Store bought eggs cannot compare favorable to the home grown variety. In appearance, the store bought eggs have a much lighter yellow color and the white are thinner and runnier.  I prefer the rich, dark yellow, almost orange color of eggs from our "yard birds.'  For the taste is also far better.  After eating free range, home grown eggs, I find those bought in stores almost unpalatable.  Even well seasoned, they commercial varieties taste bland, metallic and just "off."  Those from our birds have a pleasant odor when cooked and served, and the taste is real and natural.  That makes all the effort worthwhile!

A nice plus is seeing how happy the birds are. This spring we hatched our first pullets.  I had bought them before and raised them myself providing ample food, water and a warm safe place to grow.  But this could not compare to watching a hen raise them herself.  The little chicks stayed warm and safe under her breast and wings.  When out and about they were never far from her and often perched on her back and shoulders.  She clucked contentedly when they were near and often took them for walks, showing them how to navigate and avoid danger. The three siblings went about together everywhere and were best of Friends.  I tried to introduce four store bought chicks to her, but she killed two before I moved them in with the quail instead.  They grew up OK, but not as happily as those with a real mother hen.

When I see pictures of factory raised chickens or pass trucks with cages crammed full of broilers destined for the slaughter house it confirms my decision to raise my own birds.  It's expensive, demanding and often complicated , but it's the best way.