Rearing Chickens For Food?

Discussion in Misc & Others started by Denis Hard • Nov 3, 2014.

  1. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    If you have some space in your backyard, it's very simple. Build a chicken coop. Buy baby chicks or a number of hens and one rooster. Those would breed and in a year you'd have over 40 birds. Those are enough birds to provide meat for one year, right? Those who've never raised chickens might think feeding such a large a number of them would be very expensive. If you have like 10 birds, all table scraps [except those that contain meat] would be enough to feed them.

    Now supplement the left-overs with store-bought poultry feed.
     
  2. Aurora

    AuroraMember

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    This would be easier said than done in my country. We must get approval before we can rear chickens. Moreover, I do not have a backyard in my apartment. It will be difficult to get approval since the breakout of H5N1. All living hens or cocks must be killed every two weeks to prevent the spread of the disease. It seems that life in rural area is much easier than city life as it is difficult to be self-sufficient and relying on others for food supply.
     
  3. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Do you cook your own chickens Denis? I can only imagine the hassle. My dad, when he used to take care of them, he would let other people dismember the chicken after he killed it. He kills the very aggressive chickens that hits his hand with their beak when he gives them food. So I think it's better to just eat their eggs. And I noticed that the meat of old chickens isn't that soft.
     
    #3Nov 5, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2014
  4. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    I do. When you grow up on a farm, there are some things which you learn. It might look a little bit difficult at first or even cruel when you slice open the chicken's neck but well, you get used to it after some time. There are numerous ways to slaughter chicken but you shouldn't ever try this one:
    Because when the chicken jerks around wildly, you'll get blood sprayed all over your clothes.

    The hardest part is plucking the chicken. It can take from 10-20 minutes to do it. But once you're done, cutting it up is somewhat easier.
    Sure. But it's tastier.
     
  5. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Yeah, I can just imagine all that blood splattering on you. Do you keep them in a cage or do you let them roam around freely in your farm? In our case, my dad used to let them roam around freely for years, but it damaged his plants and it pooped everywhere, so he decided to have a cage custom made for them.
     
    #5Nov 30, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2014
  6. Nate5

    Nate5Member

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    It all depends on your local laws. In Vancouver, they're in fact encouraging people to do so by allowing people to own chickens in their backyard. Though I don't own any, I have a friend whose family owns chickens, and let me tell you catching them is hard, not to mention killing them for food. It gives me a better appreciation to what people have to do to get food on the table, especially when you have to kill something living. I don't think I mind the blood, but you have to appreciate the food that you eat, so I'm willing to do that. Also, eggs!
     
  7. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    Even if you are a vegetarian like me, it's a great idea to keep chickens for their eggs, that you can always sell if you can't consume them yourself. I love having chickens around the place as they do a wonderful job taking care of my vegetable garden, while at the same time they provide me with excellent fertilizer. :)
     
  8. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    Or you could sell the chickens themselves. If you have the space, I think it would be a nice way to make some extra money on the side. You wouldn't have to buy an incubator. You just let the hens lay the eggs, hatch the chicks themselves and if all of them survive, at the end of six months you could make a decent amount of cash from them.
     
  9. Allison2021

    Allison2021Active Member

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    I hadn't thought of that. If you want truly a bird free of pesticides, and antibacterial products then you could raise your own chickens. However, You would be responsible for dressing or killing the bird. Then plucking the feathers, and gutting the chicken. Perhaps there could be a local butcher who would do that for you.
     
  10. Happyflowerlady

    HappyflowerladyWell-Known Member

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    I have raised chickens before, and when you have room for them to run around and catch bugs, you don't even have to feed them much, at least in the summer time. Although we did eat a few of the chickens, we mostly had them to get the eggs, which are much tastier and healthier when they come from a farm-raised chicken.
    I live in town now, and the town that I live in does not allow people to raise chickens, although it has gone before the city council at least once for approval. Hopefully, they will reconsider, with the poor economy, because it would really be nice to have at least a couple laying hens out in the back yard.
     
  11. DancingLady

    DancingLadyActive Member

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    I don't think I have enough table scraps to feed even one chicken. I am known to come pretty close to licking my plate when I am alone and I will finish literally everything that can be chewed safely by a human. I eat all fruit and vegetable skins and cut only the very center of the apple core out, the part that has the seeds and can't be chewed. I don't know where people get all these table scraps. Growing up when my mom said "clean your plate if you want a scoop of ice cream" she meant everything on it, not one pea left.
     
  12. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    Yeah, I let them roam around the compound not the farm. We've got lots of predators here. Try to let them out of the fenced area and you'll have fewer chicken in evening.
    Unless you are squeamish, killing a bird isn't all that hard. There are humane ways to do it:
     
  13. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    We're currently rearing a few chickens for food (both their eggs and their meat) but no one at home is really interested in establishing an actual poultry farm. I find it manageable for now since I'm not the one personally tending to them. When my parents are away on vacation, we end up feeding them ourselves. They aren't much but their dung does smell. We feed hens with laying mass and roosters with regular chicken feed bought from our local wet market.
     
  14. valiantx

    valiantxActive Member

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    I don't rear chickens, that doesn't sound right in my opinion and knowledge, but I do help raise chickens since I was a child. Building chicken coops and a fencing is a must, because these guys move everywhere. If raise from eggs, keep inside house under a warm light until eggs hatch, remove shells, and continue feeding chickens inside container - otherwise, let eggs be hatch by mother. I usually feed them rice or corn, whichever is available to give. I trim the wings often to prevent chickens from flying out of backyard, and doe this once a month to month and a half. Clean the area of the chickens often, because tiny critters and mites get attracted to the poop and can infest the chickens - do not wear clothes that has chicken mites into your homes and wash them in hot water with plenty of soap, because these things will infest your whole house and they bite all over your body!

    I don't raise chickens much anymore, but I plan to do so when I live in a bigger house.