On the topic of poultry, I've been known to wax lyrical. I can appreciate the musical crow of a giant Croad Langshan rooster, the fine dark speckling on the shell of a freshly laid Barnevelder egg, and the amazing genetics behind the feather colouring on a Blue-Laced Gold Wyandotte are enough to keep me talking as long as you'll listen.
I'm an advocate of "backyard chickens" in general. I'd recommend them as a starter pet over guinea pigs for your kids any day. They're a great "gateway" livestock animal, and have so many benefits to your garden and kitchen.... wait, did I just say KITCHEN???
I must be talking about eggs, right? Sure. Free range or pastured hens eggs are fantastic. Bright yolks, the colour of which can't be artificially replicated, the product of your chickens running free in the backyard during the day... But only half the chicks you hatch will grow up to lay eggs.
So there's more than just yummy eggs to be had from backyard chickens. Home-raised chicken has a flavour that by far surpasses the meat you buy in a store. There's a slight colour to the flesh and fat, that only comes from birds that roam freely and eat grass.
This is the part most people don't like to think about...
Today I sent a couple of cockerels to fridge camp. They're 18 weeks old. and by this age, you can clearly tell that these birds are not going to be laying hens. Even with your most androgynous birds, by 18 weeks you can tell if they're about to start making eggs or crowing!
The method I use is quick and simple. One blow from a freshly sharpened hatchet, and the bird is hung by a string to bleed out. There's very little blood in a chicken, it takes almost no time to drain. I don't pluck my birds unless I'm roasting, I mostly skin them instead - very similar to skinning a rabbit, and much easier to gut, just one good scoop and the innards fall out freely.
Hangin' on the line....
I take the legs off at the knee joint, and the wing tips off at the elbow. By this stage, the bird looks similar to what you'll find in the supermarket, but longer of limb, and much more slender. A naturally raised cockerel of a laying breed won't be stumpy, pudgy and ghostly pale like birds raised in a shed. I give him a good rinse under running water, and it's done.
Because the bird is young, he can be used for frying or roasting, or I can take the bones out and do stir fry, he'll be quite tender. If I process older birds - say, spent hens, or a breeding rooster that has turned nasty of temperament, then they go straight into the stewpot, as older birds can be tough, although very very flavoursome, the older bird the better the broth!
I've often been asked the question "How can you eat your pets?" or "How can you eat an animal that you know?" and the best response to this questions is another question... "How can you eat one that you don't?"
With a home raised bird I know that he's hormone and anti-biotic free. He's not been pumped full of water to make him weigh more, and not been treated with a chemical to make his flesh appear pink.
16 weeks, the smallest of the four boys, still a good and tasty feed for my family.
But most importantly for the people asking that question, all food aside, is I know 100% for certain that this bird has had a good life. He's enjoyed his life, running in the grass with his flockmates, eating green things, and bugs. He's been able to roost comfortably and naturally in a secure coop at night. No cold floors, overcrowded or unclean sheds for this bird.
And I honour the bird by keeping him and eating him. Many people who keep fowl will sell their males off at the markets, to meet with someone else's axe. Or, they may even kill them at one day old, if they are able to tell the sex!
When I want to hatch some babies out, to grow for replacement laying hens, or some hens to sell to others, I don't worry about how many boys vs girls I have. Because both are valuable, and able to provide for my family.
M
