tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post8719665584428873790..comments2018-02-02T05:43:08.996-05:00Comments on The Senesac Family Homestead: A New and Interesting ExperienceMelissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03117737137094880758noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-74655984508362531882010-02-02T15:39:09.373-05:002010-02-02T15:39:09.373-05:00Hi Missamy!
This is a really tight timeline. Chic...Hi Missamy!<br />This is a really tight timeline. Chickens don't normally start laying until they are around 5 months old. If you got your chickens next month you would only have a few months of eggs- which might not bother you at all. Another option would be to buy chickens that are already laying eggs- depending on where you live this could be as easy as finding some (potentially free) on Craigslist. Some hatcheries sell older chickens as well which could be an option. You'll want to be sure you get a 'dual purpose' breed so it will be worth the effort.<br />I definitely recommend raising chickens. They are super low-maintenance and are great at taking care of kitchen scraps.<br />Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions!<br />Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully we'll see you again sometime soon.<br />-MMelissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931912146494340497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-72209065647007849312010-02-02T15:26:04.082-05:002010-02-02T15:26:04.082-05:00THANK YOU for sharing this! We're looking int...THANK YOU for sharing this! We're looking into raising chickens this year - but fear the slaughter part... You really made it sound do-able. Could I ask - is it realistic to raise chicks in the spring, harvest eggs in the summer/fall, and slaughter around November?missamynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-28972987275992231862009-11-10T07:28:14.458-05:002009-11-10T07:28:14.458-05:00Hi Oxray! Welcome and thanks for stopping by!! :...Hi Oxray! Welcome and thanks for stopping by!! :)<br /><br />Yes, the chicken plucker was just a 6" long piece of PVC pipe with a cap on one end that was epoxied onto an old drill bit or driver head. Then there were half a dozen or so 2" long pieces of those black rubber bungee cords that were punched through the PVC pipe at different levels. It was attached to a hand-held power drill. I'll try to remember to take a closer picture of it tonight and post it so you can see it up close, it was ALOT faster than plucking by hand.<br /><br />Thanks again for stopping by! Hope to see you again!<br />MMelissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931912146494340497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-50044010645684731512009-11-09T22:19:22.067-05:002009-11-09T22:19:22.067-05:00Hi I am new to your blog and I must say NICE JOB!!...Hi I am new to your blog and I must say NICE JOB!! The home grown chickens look yummy! We are in the works for doing that ourselves. Can you tell me what the home made chicken plucker is? That is such a wonderful idea, I am sure it saved you TONS of time. <br /><br />Thank you for blogging it's good to find others who are on this crazy sustainable journey too! :o)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-34128300418141656492009-10-25T20:40:09.778-04:002009-10-25T20:40:09.778-04:00Wow Beth. That is an amazing story. Thank you so ...Wow Beth. That is an amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing that. It must have been difficult eating that duck knowing that it was the one you had so diligently looked after. Yet he was so lucky to have lived so long thanks to you.<br /><br />:) By the way I love the new picture of Rory, he's such a cutie.Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931912146494340497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7690609452025111218.post-3486466489441909552009-10-25T17:09:01.589-04:002009-10-25T17:09:01.589-04:00I understand completely about doing in your roasti...I understand completely about doing in your roasting chickens. Tough thing to go through.<br /><br />I raised ducks once for food. They were a cross between white domestic and mallards so they were black and white and a bit smaller than the whites. I lived on 9 acres then and had a barn and a pond for the ducks. They would make the trip from the barn to the pond and back again every day. Finally I took them to an Amish family to dispatch and clean for me. They weren't pets though. One of them as a baby had gotten ripped open by a snapping turtle. I took it to my vet and he said,'What do you want me to do?' I said,"heal it". So he sewed it up and I had to squirt "purple sturr" into the wound a couple times a day until it was healed. I kept it in a dog crate and I had to move the crate everyday so he would be on clean grass. He lived and grew up just fine to be indistinguishable from the other ducks. When we got them back from being butchered, there was his big scar.<br /><br />I always had a big garden and this year after a gap of 26 years, I had one again. It was wonderful and there really is no comparison in quality and taste of food.CONEFLOWERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13547544109039910307noreply@blogger.com