Raising Chickens application info
Raising Chickens
Backyard Laying Hens and Small Farm Meat Birds
Second Edition, 2011
The ultimate guide to keeping chickens.
Whether you'd like to keep chickens as pets, for fun, for profit, or start raising chickens for a supply of eggs and meat for the freezer; this book will get you started and carry you through all aspects of raising chickens in your backyard or on a small farm.
PREFACE by Laura Childs of GoodByeCityLife.com
Not long after moving myself and toddler to the country the power went out for five consecutive days.
On the second day our new neighbor called to see how we were managing and if there was anything we needed. She read right through my shaky voice and could tell that I was already having second thoughts about this lifestyle change.
This downtown city girl to country bumpkin with a baby on my hip, without electrical power in the middle of winter was a tad drastic. She quickly invited us to breakfast and just as quickly we accepted.
Our new neighbors came from a long line of country folk raising chickens and they were eager to share their table and their knowledge with us.
As we walked into the house the smell of hot coffee filled the air. Their house - unlike ours - was warm. We could hear bacon snapping on the cookstove. As I peered over my hostess' shoulder I could see a large mess of eggs gently cooking in a square cast iron pan.
It might have been that my senses were heightened from hunger but those eggs didn't look the same as the eggs I'd eaten my entire life. The yolk was a deep and dark golden yellow. The white stayed firm around the yolk without flattening and running off to the edge of the pan.
Such is a farm-raised egg from a free-range hen. After breakfast, I vowed never to eat a store bought egg again.
One week later, Veronica (not quite three years old) and I made our way to a country livestock auction and purchased a dozen laying hens to call our own.
Not long after our first taste of country living the same neighbor called to check in on us again. This time she wanted to know if we would be ordering chickens for the upcoming summer.
?I already have laying hens," I said "We have more eggs than we need. Why would I want more chickens??
That was her cue. She invited us to dinner that very night where we feasted on a farm raised, free range, roast chicken that was at least twice the size of one of my laying hens.
True to form, the taste of a home-grown chicken converted me to state that I'd never eat chicken from a grocery store again.
That night we learned how to order, care for, and prepare meat birds for the freezer. The taste of that chicken, raised without steroids; allowed to roam in the sunshine; living off bugs, tender shoots, and garden scraps, is beyond comparison to the bland, poorly textured, chicken from the grocery store. This bird ? raised in fresh country air ? has chewier meat, is more satisfying, and twice as much flavor.
To discover how to raise your own chickens as pets, a hobby, for eggs or for meat, download GoodByeCityLife's newest Country Living app on Raising Chickens today.
