Welcome back to the Blog!
Mr. L and I have decided to increase the size of our flock again this spring, as we have done every year that we have had chickens. We started with 6. At the end of the first winter we had 3 left. Now we have 12, a happy blended flock consisting of a Barred Rock, three Rhode Island Reds, a New Hampshire Red, two Easter Eggers, and five Americaunas.
This coming spring, 2019, we have decided to add a couple of Heritage breeds; dual-purpose birds that grow out big enough to eat, lay well, and go broody to hatch their own offspring. We have settled on Speckled Sussex, and are debating between Jersey Giants or Buckeyes. We’re getting straight runs of each, with the intent to eat all but the nicest of the roosters. He (the remaining rooster) will get to live and (hopefully) procreate. We’re looking at adding 12 of each! That’s 24 birds! Mr. L wants to build a set of chicken tractors that I can drag around the yard, to keep the girls safe from the predators we have around. He figures he can build each one big enough for 6 birds without making it too heavy for me to move.
The funny thing about chicken math is that it’s easy to imagine keeping a small flock, just enough to make eggs for your own family. It’s hard to imagine starting with a small flock of 6-10, and in just three short years jumping to 36 birds! During the summer, that could potentially be three dozen eggs a day! I didn’t envision myself ever having that many chickens.
I am excited about adding the heritage breeds. This year I wanted colorful eggs, so we got the Easter Eggers and the Americaunas, but the eggs are much smaller than my other birds lay and they don’t lay as reliably. We had talked about adding meat birds, but I could not come to grips with the production meat birds that I had seen. They get so big, so quickly that they become immobile. I don’t know about you, but I suffered serious growing pains throughout my adolescence, and it was agony. I can’t wrap my head around buying breeds that grow so fast they lose the ability to move. That must be excruciating. Plus, they can’t breed, because they can’t move, so you have to start over every year…
Then my baby sister, M, sent me a copy of Backyard Chickens that featured heritage breeds, which are defined by their ability to lay prolifically, grow sizeable enough to eat (but slowly enough to continue to be able to forage), be smart enough and quick enough to evade most predators, and reproduce naturally. Bingo! Problem solved (although we won’t be trusting their chicken-smarts against the predators we have around here!). According to my reading (because researching is my obsession, remember?) the heritage breeds have better flavor and texture compared to production meat breeds or grocery store chicken. Allegedly, they don’t get “gamey” like you’d expect, but rather have a more pronounced and nuanced chicken flavor.
The theory is that everything tastes like chicken because commercial chicken doesn’t taste like anything.
I’m excited to experience meat raised by us on our property for the first time. Wish us luck! Anyone here have experience with Buckeyes or Jerseys? Feel free to cast a vote by emailing info@honeybunnyhomestead.com. See you next time!