I have been planning our vegetable garden over the last few days and I hope to start seeds indoors in February. We have a large garden area and a small orchard with peach and apple trees in hopes of becoming more self-sufficient. It appears that the economy still has a way to go before we will feel comfortable so we are preparing for lean times by stockpiling non-perishable food and supplies. After our harvest in 2013, we will store things like squash & potatoes in the basement and freeze more delicate vegetables which can be used next winter.
We plan to purchase some Cornish X chickens for slaughter in late summer. We have 37 hens that we are able to get eggs from (some are no longer laying so they are part of our Hen Retirement Community). On good days, we get a dozen or so eggs but, because of the cold temperatures and storminess lately, we have been only getting 4 or 5 a day. That's to be expected, though.
Christmas was quiet this year ~ we got to see our daughters and grandsons but my husband and I had dinner alone since our daughters and their families were with their husband's relatives this year. We enjoyed our day with a nice roast chicken, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits and cranberry sauce. With the leftover chicken, I made a chicken pot pie and then a chicken soup. Waste not.....want not.
Hello from Highlands Farm. I am new to chickens (I know, how odd is it for a 60+ farmwife not to have a background with chickens!). But, thanks to Craig's List freebies (farm folks going south for the winter) I now have 2 chickens and a rooster. So I am learning. I'd like to do a batch of cornish broilers in the summer also. Have you done them before? Wondering where you get your chicks?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Brenda at Highlands Farm. I hope that it's warmer where you are than it is here at Moose Hollow Farm (2 degrees right now at 8:08 am). Brrrr!!!!! My husband is in the barn retrieving wood for the wood stove and he'll let the chickens out of their coop after that. I feel bad for the chickens and my husband right now.
ReplyDeleteChickens are great ~ you'll enjoy watching their antics as well as eating the eggs. This is our 4th year having a flock and I can't imagine life without our chickeroos. We have never had cornish broilers before but we want to give it a whirl this spring. As long as they don't become pets, we'll be okay with it. I'm not sure if my husband is up to slaughtering them or whether we'll find a local person who can do it for us ~ we'll just have to wait and see. I usually order my chicks from Murray McMurray Hatcheries ~ they have a website and you can order a catalog (I do that so that I can have a chance to compare hardiness & qualities of breeds before buying). I love going to the Post Office and getting the box of peeping little fluffballs. Well, good luck, Brenda ~ have fun with your chickens.
Have you gotten any eggs yet or are they still too young?