In order to reduce feed costs we supplement commercially-made pellets with fermented whole grains. Here, in Fairbanks, it is hard to find commercial chicken food for less than $0.58 per pound. So, we buy whatever grains or seeds can be found for a better price and mix them together in a tote bin. Usually, it […]
One of the Pearl White Leghorn hens died. A quick examination revealed an egg stuck in her vent. For lack of any other evidence, I have ruled the cause of death to be “complications from becoming egg-bound.” That hen had particularly messy feathers on her backside for a couple of weeks before she died.
Normally, we don’t retire all our hens at once. Typically, we keep a hen for two years and replace about half of the flock with new birds each year. The advantage of that practice is that there are always young birds laying eggs in greater numbers while the older birds lay fewer eggs of better
Today, we harvested the last chickens for the year. It was a pleasure to cross that off my to-do list. This group consisted of retiring hens and one accidental rooster from the pullet pen. The hens were all close to done with laying eggs. One gave us an unlaid egg when we cleaned her carcass.
Chicken Harvest Completed Read More »
On harvest day, we focus on getting the live birds cleaned and into the ice water bath as efficiently as possible. We usually spend the next day on final cleaning, cutting the birds into pieces, and packaging the meat for storage. The plucker does a great job removing the feathers from the birds. In seconds,
Cutting and Packaging Chickens Read More »
The rainy weather has been a continuing frustration to our progress, since we have limited indoor work space. We planned on someday buying a carport from Costco, because they have been offering one that has all the features we would want. We didn’t get it in the spring, when they had it in stock, because
Preparing to Harvest Chickens Read More »
When I arrived to take care of the birds in the new pen, I discovered the black cockerel patrolling the perimeter. He was in no distress so I let him continue on while I was inside dealing with the food and water. When I saw him approaching the door, I opened it and stepped away.
We moved the first group of birds to the new pen in the afternoon. In this group there were nine of the smallest Big Red Broilers and three accidental roosters from the pullet pen. The broilers are so large, now, that they desperately needed more space. The pen has almost four times the area of
Filling the New Pen Read More »
One of the reasons for our purchase of the farm site is that the land is zoned for agriculture. Currently, our operation is based on land that is zoned for general commercial use or residential use. Keeping chickens on these lots is legal (we checked!), but people live nearby and we don’t want to be
The New Chicken Pen Read More »
The Big Red Broiler cockerels have been growing steadily and I was getting curious as to their actual weight. I caught one and weighed it. It was surprisingly easy. These birds are far more docile than the hens and pullets. The bird I selected weighed in at 5.3 pounds. If he were dressed, he would
The Broilers Are Growing Read More »