Posts Tagged ‘Homestead’
Raising Meat Chickens in Suburbia
From Day Old to Dinner Entrée – If you want to make sure the chicken in your oven is raised well and processed humanely –Raise them yourself!
Most of my friends cringe when I tell them that we raise our own meat chickens and my daughter NEVER tells her friends for fear they will avoid eating over. But, this relatively simple process has become an integral part of our suburban homestead and food storage plan.
I’ve always had laying hens to provide us with eggs for the table and manure for the garden. And, when the girls were too old to lay they got to live out their life scratching around for bugs, churning up the soil and adding manure where ever they went; a mutually beneficial relationship I think.
It wasn’t until my friend Sandy bought and raised her first batch of meat birds that I really started to get interested in raising our own chickens for meat. But, raising 50 chicks seemed a bit too ambitious for a beginner, not to mention someone who lived in suburbia. So, several years ago I began by raising 8 Cornish/White Rock crosses, usually referred to as Cornish Rocks. These fast growing birds are the same breed raised commercially and sold to restaurants and supermarkets either as whole birds or in cut-up parts.
My test project was a huge success! All 8 chicks lived to their 8-week maturity, were healthy and seemingly happy, and the processing of the birds was nothing like I had imagined. When the project was over and we were feasting on own homegrown chicken, juicy and full of flavor I was determined that meat chickens would be an annual crop raised on our little suburban homestead. Read the rest of the story »
The Great Chicken Debate – Cornish Rock Crosses vs. Heritage Breeds
Today’s grocery store chickens are hybridized to be exactly the same as all the other grocery store chickens. They are bred to grow the same, finish out the same and be similar in weight. This fast-growing breed is called a Cornish Rock Cross. Typically, they range in age from 4-weeks, for a Cornish Game Hen, to 8 to 10 weeks for a full grown roaster. The chickens are the same; only their name has been changed, taking labels given to chickens from days gone by.
So, if you’re thinking that a Cornish Game hen is not a Cornish Game hen at all, but rather a baby Cornish Rock Cross, you’d be right. Cornish Game hens are not raised commercially any longer because they take too long to grow to a marketable weight.
Modern grocery store chickens also have white feathers and were developed in the 1980’s to gain weight fast on a limited amount of feed. It is true that some birds grow so fast that they sometimes have heart attacks or break down in their legs before ever reaching a butcherable weight. But, I think that is a factor in commercially raised birds more than homestead or small farm raised birds. Some growers even limit the feeding schedule to slow down the birds’ growth.
And, what about those white feathers? Well—the average consumer wants a pretty carcass to make a pretty roasted chicken to put on her family’s dinner table. Non-white feathered chickens can have black spots in the skin where the pin feathers broke off during plucking. This happens to white chickens too; only the consumer can’t see them because they are white. Read the rest of the story »
Happy New Year!
May the New Year bring you closer to your dreams and farther from your troubles.
May you find peace in simplicity and joy in the smallest of accomplishments.
From all of us at,
Suburban Homesteading (dot) com
Opossum Update
The opossum problem I wrote about last week has finally been resolved. We caught the mamma last Friday night and each night since we have caught one of her litter. Finally, last night, after setting traps every night, the trap was empty for the second night in a row. So, I think we’ve caught and relocated all of the juvenile youngins – 6 in all.
Because of the attack and the uncertainty over whether or not the remaining meat chickens have been exposed to rabies they were destroyed. An expensive loss for our small homestead, but a necessary one. No sense in taking any chances.
Another mystery has also been solved. From the first night we caught the mamma opossum our egg production has gone up. After not getting any eggs for weeks and thinking my girls were too old and needed to be replaced we are now getting 5 to 6 eggs a days. A pleasant turn about.
Plans are in the making for another batch of meat birds and new ideas for more secure meat bird housing is also in the works. So – come September we’ll be back in the chicken business, and none too soon either. The freezer is getting a little thin where poultry is concerned.
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
I am totally hooked on this 1987 BBC television show entitled “The Victorian Kitchen Garden.” As soon as I watched the first episode I was lost in the epic month-by-month restoration of a walled kitchen garden at the Chilton Foliat estate in Wiltshire England. Having been to England and reveled in each garden I visited this show was like a long overdue garden junky fix.
Each 30-minute episode is chalk full of interesting history on the Victorian era, English estate gardening and useful gardening tips. The cinematography is fabulous too, just what a starved gardener in the dead of winter needs to get the creative planning juices going. It is a Masterpiece Classic of gardening. And, the best part…there are 13 episodes to get you revved up for spring.
After each episode I sit back and dream, plan and wish my little homestead could be as functional and productive as this garden, certainly something to strive for, right?
I thought I’d give you all the chance to join the fun by posting each episode on the blog. Sad news though, I searched for the DVDs, but they don’t seem to be available in America. The links below are for YouTube versions. God bless people who take the time to post things we can all enjoy. Maybe if we all make inquiries about the series someone will show it again. We can hope, can’t we?
PBS, are you listening?
Enjoy the fun, folks! I sure did. Read the rest of the story »
Great Summer Read!
Suburban homesteads come in many shapes and sizes, taking their own path to self-sufficiency, but, in my mind, a true homestead needs livestock to be complete. Whether two footed or four; feathered or furred or wooled, animals are what turn a backyard garden into a full fledged farm. Without them all you have is a garden, which is nice, but a homestead is a little more scrappy. It’s loud and it’s dusty and sometimes messy when it’s full of feathers and cloven hooves, paws and fur.
I found a new book for my homestead library recently – The Backyard Homestead’s Guide to Raising Farm Animals.
It’s the livestock companion to the original Backyard Homestead, and it’s a fine introduction to jumping on the livestock bandwagon. At first it may seem a little elementary for the more seasoned livestock person, but it’s perfect for those who have dreams of turning their landscaped suburban lot into a thriving mini-farm, or those who have never held a chick or readied a hutch for kits.
It’s a friendly read, full of easy to understand information about the basics of starting a flock of chickens, ducks, turkey’s or geese; a hutch or two of rabbits; or a herd of goats, sheep or pigs. It even has information about raising cattle on a small suburban homestead. It will give you a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into, along with wonderful plot maps on how to lay out your farm if you’re just getting started.
The illustrations and sidebar instructions are great and each species is broken into its own chapter, so you can read only those parts that interest you. Want goats, but not pigs. Fine. Can’t have bees, but can have chickens. No problem, just read the chapters you want.
Even with my years of livestock experience I’m still able to glean useful information from new sources. It’s becoming a new favorite around here. Grab one for yourself.
Suburban Homestead Pork
Can a suburban homesteader raise a pig on their city lot? The answer is YES…sort of.
Any time I talk about raising livestock the first question I ask is “What are you zoned for?” This is the first question any suburban homesteader should ask when thinking about raising livestock, because there is nothing worse than disgruntled neighbors or an angry city.
The next question you should ask yourself is, “Can you do the big “B”?” The big “B” being butchering your pig. You don’t have to do it yourself, someone else can, but the question is, are you okay with butchering something that you’ve feed and cared for, for months. If the answer is no, then you’d better stop right here. But, if the answer is yes, you’ll soon be on your way to providing your family with fresh, tasty pork that has been well cared for and humanely processed.
First things first, though. First decide if you have the space to raise a pig.
Although a small piglet can live in smaller quarters a full grown pig will need about 80-square feet and a shelter to be happy and content. That’s an 8’x10’ pen, with a simple shade area so pig can get out of the sun. Next you’ll need to decide if you have the materials to build a pig pen or do you want to spend the money to buy materials. Pigs are notorious escape artists and the pen will need to be strong. Some of my friends use cemented posts with panels welded to them, but my pig raising friends say that’s overkill. No matter what you use it needs to be secure.
If you’re still onboard with raising a pig, the next question to ask yourself is “How many pigs should I raise” and “Where can I buy a piglet?” Read the rest of the story »
Coop Quilts
We all know about bed quilts. And I’m sure you’ve read about barn quilts, those 8-foot square pieces of folk art that adorn barns from Kansas to Iowa to Pennsylvania. But, have you heard of Coop Quilts? Probably not.
After reading a magazine article on the history of barn quilts and the renewed interest in displaying barn quilts on farms of all sizes, I just had to have one of my own. But, how? I’m not a farmer living on large acreage with a barn bigger than a house to mount the wooden quilt to. I’m a suburban farmer with things done on a smaller scale, including my barn. Well folks, where there’s a will there’s a way. Right?
I spent a bit of time looking at my barn and looking over the pictures in the article and came up with the idea of a Coop Quilt, a barn quilt in miniature, just like everything else on my suburban homestead. I used a scrap piece of plywood and cut it to 24” X 24”. I found some leftover white primer and painted the board on all sides, including the edges, with two coats. While it was drying I searched the internet for a quilt block pattern I liked. Nothing to intricate or complicated, I wanted the pattern and the colors to stand out. I also gathered up all the leftover paint to see what colors I had that would go well together.
After the primer had dried and I had found a quilt block pattern I liked, I traced the pattern onto the board with pencil. Working from the center out, I taped off a section at a time with blue painter’s tape, so the lines would be nice and crisp. I tried to paint sections of the same color all at once. When each section was finished I let the quilt dry completely before starting on the next section. In just a few hours my Coop Quilt was complete and ready for hanging on my barn.
Since my barn is not very tall and there isn’t much room over the end doors, I opted to mount my quilt on the side where I could see it from anywhere in the yard.
Not bad for Yankee ingenuity, aye.
**The quilt pattern I chose was “Hens and Chicks”. Very appropriate, don’t you think?
Come on in and Grab a Seat
Well folks, I can hardly believe it. Our little blog is approaching its second anniversary.
It’s this time of year that I like to ask all you folks to Come on in and Grab a Seat, meaning we’d like to hear from you. You can share a little about yourself, your homestead or your dreams of starting a homestead, give as much or as little information as you’d like. Or, perhaps you’d like to make a suggestion for the blog – topics, projects, recipes, etc. This is a way for us to see who we are writing to, get to know you a little better and meet the needs of people who stop by to read what’s going on.
It’s also a way for all of you to connect with like-minded folks in your area. How cool would that be? The internet is great, but it keeps us indoors and disconnected a little too much. It’s a tool for networking and learning to be sure, but should not replace person-to-person communication and relationships. By saying hello here you might just find a new friend right in your town that has the same wants and desires and dreams as you. It may spark a new gardening club or potluck or meet up or someone to attend that sustainable farming lecture with.
So come on in, grab a seat and say hello.
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