6 month report on raising chickens

I've been asked a few times what I've learned in regard to raising chickens, so I thought I might share some of my musings here. I am not an expert and am learning as I go. My opinions are based mostly on what I have read and heard.

We have enjoyed our birds and I would recommend raising them if you are interested in raising your own food. Chickens do not require a large amount of space or time, so they may be a good starting point to work yourself into a "doing chores mode."

We purchased a straight run of Plymouth Barred Rocks from Cackle Hatchery toward the end of April. We purchased a 100 and we received 105 chicks. We lost four over the first couple days, but overall I was quite happy with the quality of the birds. We were able to obtain a wooden chicken coop, equipped with a wooden floor, two windows, and a row of wooden nesting boxes. There are a lot of ideas floating around as to the best structure for raising hens, but I have to confess that I think a permanent wooden structure is the way to go, especially if you live up north in the cold country or in the country where there are varmints looking for a warm chicken to eat.

I have a series of fenced off pens for grazing, although the first day I let them out a predator ran off a couple of birds. As I had all young birds, with no hens or rooster to protect the flock, I bought some plastic netting and put a "lid" over the pens so that I wouldn't have to worry about the predators. Now that they are approaching full grown size, they are able to forage on their own and we have not had any problems with predators.

We fed the birds an organic grain/mineral mix to supplement their foraging. There are those that advocate letting the birds just forage on their own, which I suppose is sufficient, but I think that supplementing is ideal for optimal growth. We were able to purchase an organic grain mix from some folks from our church that operate an organic farm. They are also a wonderful disposal device of left over garden plants and produce!

We found our first egg about three weeks ago. Now we are receving about a dozen eggs a day. Most of the first eggs were rather small, but now some are already "large" and we have found a few "extra large" that were double yoked. They lay brown eggs and I am impressed with how incredibly smooth the shells are.

After about 14 weeks, we started to butcher the roosters. At 14 weeks, they dressed between 3 and 4 pounds. At 17 weeks, they were between 4 and 5. The last batch I did averaged nearly five pounds. The Barred Rocks are a dual purpose bird. We have been happy with the quality of meat - the drumsticks are longer but the breasts are smaller than the hybrid meat birds.
We butchered 46 roosters, leaving three roosters with the flock.

The Barred Rocks are, in my opinion, a breed worth investigating. While i have no ability to compare and contrast, thus far I have no complaints. They grew just a little slower than I expected, but they also are a very calm and mild mannered breed. We had no trouble at all with pecking and fighting. From chick to adult, they are very nice looking breed.

Soon I will learn how they do during the winter! I plan to do a bit of insulating on the ceiling and I turn the light on around 5:30. I plan to plug in a heat lamp during the colder winter days. Check back in April and I will share what I learned!

Taste of Winter

I was somewhat surprised to see the scattered flurries forecast for last night end up coating the ground nearly an inch early this morning. Today was early December cold, with afternoon highs reaching only the middle 30's and not even melting the snow in the shaded areas.

We gathered all the potatoes early in the week and everything was basically out of the garden and the fruit trees. I butchered the last 13 of our roosters a couple days ago. We left three roosters with the flock and the past two days we have gathered two dozen eggs.

This might be the earliest I can recall seeing the ground white with snow. I recall some snow on the ground a couple times near the end of October, but not this early.

I enjoy the fall and winter seasons very much. The wood stove is hot and the house is warm. The aroma of woodsmoke outside reminds me to rejoice in the blessings of winter.

It felt good to come in and stand next to the wood stove!

Thoughts on education

We recently acquired about 30 DVD's worth of homeschooling DVD's that contains 150,000 written pages of reading materials. The DVD's were assembled by the Robinson family and the course of study, which emphasizes self teaching, is entitled "Robinson Self-Teaching Home School Curriculum." While we do not fully rely on the self teaching method of study, we are using the curriculum extensively. Not only have the three oldest children been reading from the book list, I have to confess that there is a lot on the disks that interest me! We also paid extra to purchase the G. A. Henty collection. Our evening reading consists of reading Henty's book on William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. (Now we are ready as good Scottsmen to repel the British!)

When I am out and about, I am often asked about my children and quickly the question seems to be asked "Where do your children go to school?" When I answer that my wife instructs them at home, sometimes I am greeted with a flood of question while others turn white and begin to cower and look for a place to hide. The questions that follow are often difficult to answer, particularly if you are speaking to an unsaved individual.

Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular. While it is true that most homeschoolers tend to be religious in nature, there is an increasing number of families who are disgusted with their local options and opt for alternative opportunities other than the local government school. Many religious families will answer that they homeschool because of various issues they have public schools - sex education, thoery of evolution, bad habits of students. Other just prefer not to delegate the training of their children to others. While all these things can be rightly considered as things to ponder, our reasons for choosing to homeschool are, I believe, much more deeply rooted.

All of education, regardless of the philosophy implemented, is concerned about uncovering and unfolding three basic questions: what is true, what is good (moral, right conduct etc.), and what is beautiful (literature, art, etc.) It is impossible to establish a course of curriculum without attempting to answer and reveal the answers to these three questions. Even a course of curriculum that claims to be tolerant and embraces every system of faith or belief as a viable form of life expressions subtly teaches that that which is true, good, and beautiful cannot be truly known or expressed, rendering that such elements are defined only by the particular beliefs that an individual or a culture express.

As a Christian, I hold to an exclusive definition of what is good, true, and beautiful. While there is a segment of Christianity that is bothered by being accused of being intolerant and exclusive, we understand that Christ spoke an exclusive word in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me." I consider the Christian Scriptures, the Bible, to be the authoritative rule for mankind. I believe the Bible to be the very Word of God, written by men who were inspired by the Spirit of God. The Scriptures for me are my rule of faith and practice.

Truth, goodness, and beauty are thus defined by what God has said. To dig even deeper into these things, it should be said that these three things exist only because God is. Truth, goodness, and beauty are not established by an aribitrary set of standards, but rather are established because they are defined by and flow through the very essence of God Himself. Because God is true, good, and beautiful and has been pleased to reveal Himself and His will to mankind, we can, as those who bear the image of God, attempt to define these three elements as we seek to live our our days on this earth.

King Solomon wrote "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." While education certainly can and does help to establish a civilization, intrinsically an education apart from the fear of God is an empty and vain thing. "What does a profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?" Knowledge is established and ultimately profitable only as the student begins his course of education by acknowledging that God exists and has set the standard as to what establishes truth, goodness, and beauty.

It is our desire to raise children that will love God and neighbor. It is our hope that we will leave behind a legacy of godly children that will marry godly spouses and raise up godly children of their own. We hope that they pattern their lives after the Word of God and that through them God will be pleased to confound the wisdom of the world. We pray that God might be merciful to us and pour out His grace upon our children and our children's children as we strive to be faithful to raise up our children in the way they should go.


Proverbs 23:24 "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice." When we turn old and gray, I imagine the glow of the temporal pursuits that we have labored over throughout our lives will begin to fade in importance and relevance. As a carpenter and craftsmen, I know that some of the things that I have made and built will outlast my lifetime. Yet all that these things that these hands of mine can produce ultimately will be destroyed. As I sit in my rocking chair, I am hopeful that I can rejoice greatly in watching my children raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What point is there, ultimately, to leave behind a bunch of cabinets and a few houses? How will these things ultimately better my land and my countrymen? The answer is that they will not - what is of greater importance is that I leave behind sons and daughters that will work with their hands to the glory of God and will preach the gospel both in word and deed. I want them to grow up knowing that it is the fear of God that is beginning of knowledge.

As my children study history, they are going to understand these things not as the chance meanderings of the world of men, but rather as the unfolding of God's sovereign will as He unfolds His plan of redemptions and established a house for His name. They are going to be raised with the understanding that it is God who establishes and destroys both men and civilizations. They are going to understand the laws of science and mathematics are established becuase God exists and has made them and decreed them into existence. They are going to be taught that truth is established by the Word of God and that they should regard God as true and every man a liar. They need to be instructed how to live and how to formulate opinions as to the rightness of a situation by what the Scriptures declares. They need to establish beauty as it is defined by God himself. What makes a successful individual? What marks a beautiful woman? All of our works, even our poems and drawings, should be done to the glory of God.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." It is our belief that even our education, regardless of what it make look like in the details, should be grounded upon the fear of the Lord and acknowledge God as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Our edcuation should be steeped in the gospel of Christ. I have friends and relatives that choose not to educate their children themselves, preferring rather to make use of the public school system. It is not my desire to impugn their motives and desires for their children and I do not beat down their doors to complain about and mock their choices. Such a choice cannot be my own, however, for I cannot bear the thought of delegating the responsibility of shaping and training of my children to those who have no fear of God before their eyes, nor can I see any wisdom in rearing children within an educational system that is godless.

The souls of my children are precious to me and unfortunately, the parents of my children are weak and beggarly. There is much that we have yet to learn and we tremble before an Almighty God and earnestly enquire that He might guide and sustain us as we attempt to raise the children that He has given us for His glory. The shaping and nurturing of our children's heart belongs ultimately to God and I pray that as we are faithful to teach and preach Christ that God might be pleased with our efforts. We both fear God - and this is the beginning of knowledge.

Chicken butchering

We found time to butcher about 35 roosters the past week or so. The boys selected the biggest of the roosters two at a time, which I inserted into the killing cones. Once inserted, I cut their throats and let them bleed out for a minute of so. Some folk just simply cut their heads off and let the headless birds flounder around, but I have read that cutting the vein produces a more effective bleed. I prefer having the blood all poured out into one place rather than having it scattered all over.

After the birds have bled, I scalded them in water heated in a large electric pot. 140 degrees does a good job of loosening the pores so that the feathers can be plucked off. I borrowed a plucker from a farmer that I worked for. The rubber fingers rotate and do a good job at removing the feathers. After removing the feathers, my neighbor (some of his boys are pictured) and I cut them up. I checked for any remaining feathers and cut off the head and feet while Art gutted the birds. We have consumed a couple of them now, one of them baked in the oven and another deep fried. Both of them were excellent!

We raised barred rocks, which are combination meat/egg bird. Most of the birds butchered weighed betwen 4-5 pounds dressed. We are gathering eggs now. Yesterday I found 5, which marks the most we have found thus far in a single day.

It is enjoyable to be able to tend some creatures and to use the land that God has given us to provide some of our food. I am elated that our kids have a chance to learn from these experiences that there is a reward for laboring with our hands.