One of the essentials of a sustainable homestead is the efficient raising and use of small livestock. One of the easiest types of livestock for the beginner is the chicken. Today, I will introduce you to the need for chickens, and some of the basics about raising them.
WHY CHICKENS?
Chickens have been around almost from the beginning of man's history. They are heavy birds that don't fly a whole lot, and as they became domesticated, they almost ceased to fly at all. Mankind bred chickens for meat and for eggs, and as the taste for chicken grew, so did the size of the bird. Most chickens now peck around on the ground, eating bugs, worms, and vegetation, flying only enough to get up on their roost for the night. A healthy hen will lay roughly five eggs a week during the long days of summer, with production declining as the days grow short in winter.
Chickens are an easy choice of livestock for the small homestead:
Added to the price savings, the nutritional advantage is undeniable:
WHAT BREED?
Today, there are many breeds of chicken, depending on the purpose for which they are intended. They range from ornamental bantams and small fighting cocks to heavy egg-layers. Many of the heavier breeds are considered "dual-purpose" -- raised both for eggs and meat. If you want to add chickens to your homestead, the first question you need to answer is, "What do I want, eggs or meat...or both?"
Having raised a lot of different breeds of chicken, and having butchered quite a few, I will say that all chicken is edible. If you're picky about the color of the skin, there are some breeds that have a nice pale skin, while others have yellow or dark skin. If you like a lot of meat on your chicken, go with a meat breed like Cornish Cross.
If all you want is eggs, and you're not concerned about hatching any chicks from your own eggs, Red Sex-Link and Black Sex-Link chickens are a cross of two breeds specifically bred for high production of eggs. (These hybrids go by other names in some of the chicken-hatchery catalogs, like "Golden Comet" for the Red Sex-Link....just read the description to see what exactly you're getting.) The sex-link chickens don't go "broody", which means they don't set eggs to hatch them. Lousy mothers, is what they are, but if you don't want to raise your own chicks that won't matter as much as a consistent production of good brown eggs.
That brings us to another topic....the color of the egg. The color of an egg shell has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutrition of the egg inside. The color is strictly genetic: A Buff Orpington or Plymouth Barred Rock will lay a brown egg, a White Leghorn will lay a white egg, an Ameracauna will lay a green egg, and a Crested Cream Legbar will lay a sky-blue egg. French Copper-Marans will lay a gorgeous chocolate brown egg, but if you cross Marans with Legbars, the resulting pullets will lay olive green eggs!
The nutrition in a chicken's egg depends entirely on two factors: The health of the hen, and what she's been eating.
To educate yourself further on the various breeds of poultry, visit the Murray McMurray Hatchery web site, and click through their online catalog.
NEXT WEEK: Raising chickens, Pt. 2 -- What do I need before I get chickens?
WHY CHICKENS?
Chickens have been around almost from the beginning of man's history. They are heavy birds that don't fly a whole lot, and as they became domesticated, they almost ceased to fly at all. Mankind bred chickens for meat and for eggs, and as the taste for chicken grew, so did the size of the bird. Most chickens now peck around on the ground, eating bugs, worms, and vegetation, flying only enough to get up on their roost for the night. A healthy hen will lay roughly five eggs a week during the long days of summer, with production declining as the days grow short in winter.
Chickens are an easy choice of livestock for the small homestead:
- They are easy to raise.
- They are easy to handle.
- They don't require much space.
- They are not prone to disease.
- If they free-range, they pretty much feed themselves.
- They produce a cheap source of protein daily.
- When their productive life is over (at about 3 years), you can cook them for dinner.
Added to the price savings, the nutritional advantage is undeniable:
- Home-grown eggs are fresh -- a matter of days (or hours!) from hen to table.
- Any home-grown foods are a known quantity.....the grower knows exactly what the animal was fed, what kind of medications -- if any -- were used, etc.
- Free-range eggs are more nutritious, by a long shot. I have read statistics cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing there is no significant difference between free-range eggs and factory-farm eggs, but you have to read the fine print to realize they are only talking about certain characteristics, like the hardness of the shell, or the carbohydrate content. If you look at other characteristics -- the cholesterol level or amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants, for instance -- free-range eggs are much healthier than factory-farm eggs. At one time, our family of six was eating an average of 18 eggs a day from our free-range flock. When I donated blood at a local blood drive, and went online later to see how my cholesterol was doing, it was lower than it had ever been!
- In a factory farm setting so common in modern agriculture, the chickens are raised in a horribly crowded situation, without ever getting to see the sun or peck the ground. Birds are frequently trampled by other chickens or mistreated by their handlers. If you raise your own chickens, you know they have been treated humanely. If you butcher them to eat, you know they have been dispatched humanely.
WHAT BREED?
Today, there are many breeds of chicken, depending on the purpose for which they are intended. They range from ornamental bantams and small fighting cocks to heavy egg-layers. Many of the heavier breeds are considered "dual-purpose" -- raised both for eggs and meat. If you want to add chickens to your homestead, the first question you need to answer is, "What do I want, eggs or meat...or both?"
Having raised a lot of different breeds of chicken, and having butchered quite a few, I will say that all chicken is edible. If you're picky about the color of the skin, there are some breeds that have a nice pale skin, while others have yellow or dark skin. If you like a lot of meat on your chicken, go with a meat breed like Cornish Cross.
If all you want is eggs, and you're not concerned about hatching any chicks from your own eggs, Red Sex-Link and Black Sex-Link chickens are a cross of two breeds specifically bred for high production of eggs. (These hybrids go by other names in some of the chicken-hatchery catalogs, like "Golden Comet" for the Red Sex-Link....just read the description to see what exactly you're getting.) The sex-link chickens don't go "broody", which means they don't set eggs to hatch them. Lousy mothers, is what they are, but if you don't want to raise your own chicks that won't matter as much as a consistent production of good brown eggs.
That brings us to another topic....the color of the egg. The color of an egg shell has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutrition of the egg inside. The color is strictly genetic: A Buff Orpington or Plymouth Barred Rock will lay a brown egg, a White Leghorn will lay a white egg, an Ameracauna will lay a green egg, and a Crested Cream Legbar will lay a sky-blue egg. French Copper-Marans will lay a gorgeous chocolate brown egg, but if you cross Marans with Legbars, the resulting pullets will lay olive green eggs!
The nutrition in a chicken's egg depends entirely on two factors: The health of the hen, and what she's been eating.
To educate yourself further on the various breeds of poultry, visit the Murray McMurray Hatchery web site, and click through their online catalog.
NEXT WEEK: Raising chickens, Pt. 2 -- What do I need before I get chickens?