Money’s tight and the grocery bills are climbing, and I can’t cut back much more than I already have. This year I decided to raise my own meat and expand on the garden so I can freeze and can more. I had nothing ready this Spring, and winter dragged on forever. When the snow finally cleared I had a good solid 2 months of work to get everything ready.
Chickens are the best!! I had to get rid of all the extra animals around when I got cancer, but I miss my chickens the most. They would eat ALL the leftovers we had, so that all the leftover food got turned into eggs and meat. Mine adored pizza, and spaghetti, and mac 'n cheese. They’re the best investment as far as a little money in…lotta food out.
I started a garden this year. It is more of an experiment this year than anything else since I have never done this before, but I hope everything turns out well and I will have an even better idea about how to grow my own food for next year.
I also started to look into growing chickens. I live in an inner suburb with lots of neighboors very close by. I don’t think hens make a lot of noise, but I am having a lawyer friend look into the legality of it in my community. Somehow I think this might be “frowned upon”.
I have a fenced in back yard, can I just let them run around all over the place and just build a coop that they can chill out in if they want?
Awesome pics, Masterofnone! Creative use of space under the hutch there. Hopefully, it will hold the predators out until the birds are big enough to be eaten by you (I just lost another chick to that stupid cat, so I’m extra paranoid)
And the Kidlet is an awesome accessory.
The pigs ain’t bad either.
Stinkyburrito:
Remember, chickens can’t fly outright, but they can jump really high. I’ve heard stories of feral chickens roosting 30 feet up in trees. If the birds are loose in your yard, even if they come into a coop to roost at night, they’ll likely spend the day foraging all over the neighborhood. That might piss off your neighbors. Or get your birds eaten by dogs. It also means they can lay their eggs where ever they want. There are lots of cute coop designs out there that give your birds access to grass and sunshine while keeping them enclosed and are relatively simple to build. PM me if you have trouble finding them. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens is a great place to start. Don’t forget: chickens will happily eat your garden veggies, too.
Thanks - I have seen a number of coop designs and found a number of chicken raising websites, but I am holding off on worrying about it all until I hear back from my lawyer buddy. If I decide to go forward with it, you probably will hear from me, though.
It’s kind of fun to be a mini farmer, isn’t it, masterofnone! Your pigs look delicious by the way.
Oooh, very jealous. This is what I hope to do one day. I don’t know if I can convince the husband to get a pig or two, but we’re definitely hoping for some sort of poultry & large mammal of some sort.
That chicken plucker almost caused some bladder leakage in this office. Ha!
Sorry I didn’t respond yesterday - I tried to, but my connection got all flaky and I kept getting timed out.
StinkyBurrito: You may want to google “chicken tractor”. They’re great for keeping a small flock in predator free areas. Hens aren’t very loud, but roosters are. Are you planning to raise them for meat or eggs? Meat birds are great, as you’re in and out in 7 weeks. Layers are a long term project, as they don’t start to lay eggs for (6?) months, and will produce for years.
cmyk: Never heard of that before - had to google it. You learn something new every day!
I don’t have the facilities to keep anything over the winter (yet). Hogs are also a short term project, as they reach market weight in 5-6 months. Contrary to popular belief, they’re very clean animals and don’t stink if kept properly. They’re the only farm animal I know of that maintains a separate manuering area.
This guy wrote the book on building the chicken plucker, though I didn’t buy the book, as it’s pretty simple. His son sells the plucker fingers on a site linked to his. They’re replacements for a commercial unit.
(I just lost another chick to that stupid cat, so I’m extra paranoid)
