Surprise! Surprise!

[S.A. Boggs]

Three years ago when I got cancer I could no longer care for my flock of chickens, so my wife and daughter disposed of them. I had been thinking of getting back into chickens but had forgone the idea. The old chicken house would be hard to get to now with the new construction and even harder to truck up feed and water. I have an unused plot of land behind the propane tank that is nestled between some large trees and quite shady. All I have ever done with it is to cut the grass as it is somewhat tucked out of the way. I had to go to the feed store yesterday for some supplies and was offered a deal. The store was closing out the chicken houses and chicks. I was offered a chicken house @ 50% off of retail, what clinched the deal was what the chick's price was. What was left was Leghorn's with a retail price of $4.00 each, if I took 12 I could get them @ $,50 each! My daughter wasn't too happy to come home and find a light on atop of one of our 50 gallon totes, told her these were MY new friends! Today I will be bringing the 25 mile fence charger down and putting on the front porch and restring the electric wire around where the new chicken yard will be placed. The area is easy to access, all I have to do is to back up my F-150 and drop the tailgate to offload feed. Besides for personal use, I will be again offering eggs for public sale and I still retain my business accreditation for this. Also, some eggs will go to Church to be placed into the "Blessing Box" where food donations go on Sunday. @ most this fence will charge a half mile of line and is quite painful to touch as my daughter's Black Lab found out years ago! I brushed up against it and it certainly gets one's attention in a hurry! For added security I will also have two camera's trained on the area as in addition to four legged critter's there are some two legged critters. I am setting up an intrusion alarm on the driveway and the whole area is seeable from my porch. I don't mind feeding the needy, not the lazy!
Sam

[Art]

For even when we were with you we gave you this rule. "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." Thessalonians 3:10

[Allen]

Well, as an added bonus you won't have to mow that patch of land again either. I hadn't thought of putting up an electric fence to keep the predators out.

My grandparents and parents had chickens and ducks when I was growing up. I wanted my kids to have this experience too but when they were young and I had to work there just wasn't time enough to prepare and take care of a small flock. Now that I'm retired and my 2 acre yard is fully fenced in I have thought about raising some mostly for weed control. Also, I thought about building a chicken tractor, a small chicken coop with a small area to eat and roam, where I can concentrate their eating habits to a small plot of the yard at a time where I want the weeds eradicated. Chickens go "home" to roost at night so they can be let loose to roam if it is safe for them.

I have heard but not seen that some rest homes have a small chicken yard for the residents to watch. It is said that the chickens have a relaxing and therapeutic affect and often brings back childhood memories for the older people. I assume this is w/o roosters.

[RED]

Wow... Perhaps if SHTF the chicken's might be useful. But.. Hello... when do you expect to start wringing necks, plucking feathers, singing feathers, gutting and preparing the chicken for the frying pan. Around here, you can buy a fully cooked rottiesery (sp?) chicken for $6.00. You will spend a lot of time, energy, money, feeding and raising chickens... please tell me you would kill, clean, and cook one of your pet chickens and sell it for $6?

[Allen]

I can't speak for Sam, who has raised them before too, but in my case, like I said, they would only be used for weed control. Chickens will eat 24/7 if they have a light at night. Eggs would be a plus but not cost worthy in my case and they only lay for a few years. I don't want any noisy roosters but a few hens in my yard would live a long natural life till they died, then I would get some young ones and start over. It isn't rocket surgery.

[S.A. Boggs]

This is not my first rodeo as I know what to expect from them. Cost wise, it is comparable to quality eggs at the store. Stores often use eggs/milk as "loss leaders" so I discount any notion of price. I got the chickens for my families food security, along with growing all of our own vegetables and fruit. As for butchering, not a hard thing to do. Put the chicken into the killing cone, cut throat and let drain. Put chicken into a bath of 140-150 degrees for 30 seconds then into the mechanical pluckier, then cut off head and feet, gut then chill in ice bath. Dry and into a vacuum sealed bag then freeze. Counting the blood drain processing takes about 15 minutes per bird, use the assembly line method. Cut grass and vegetable residue goes into the chicken pen, chicken manure onto the compost pile and then later into the outside vegetable patch.
Sam

[Sako]

Boggs, you left out the therapeutic value of raising chickens. It is quite rewarding raising plants and animals.

[S.A. Boggs]

Boggs, you left out the therapeutic value of raising chickens. It is quite rewarding raising plants and animals.

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Sam