Chickens Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Redeemed Homestead

Once the layer chickens are ready to graduate from the brooder box, what now?

If you read my previous post, you would have seen that I recommended you order the Premier 1 Supplies for netting around the chickens, but we haven’t discussed the actual housing yet.

Chickens need a place to roost and at night is when they drop most of the fertilizer onto the surface below. So the ideal house would provide:

1. roosting poles (about 1ft width per chicken)
2. a clear path to the ground for the droppings to fertilize below
3. mobile so the fertilizer can be spread around
4. shelter for the birds from the sun
5. dark nesting boxes for hen privacy (1 box per 10 hens minimum)
6. easy to move by hand
7. good defenses against predators

We have used several different houses for our layer chickens, but the one I like the best is the ChickShaw from Justin Rhodes at Abundant Permaculture. He has free plans for two sizes of ChickShaw.

Plans are available here: https://abundantpermaculture.com/Mobile-chicken-coop/

Now before you get all excited about this excellent house and plans…you have to build it yourself. We had a good time building ours over Christmas break in 2019, but it took about two weeks. (Did y’all hear that…2 weeks!)

It is a big job, but at the same time we had some quality family time working on it.

I recommend downloading the plans and reading them entirely before cutting any wood or even buying any wood.

Some things to look out for in the ChickShaw 2.0 plans – Justin has you cutting 2x4x8’s the long way into 2x2x8s, which you need a table saw to do. So if you have a table saw, go for it, if not, buy 2x2x8 for some of the lumber. (Refer to above where I recommend reading the plans entirely first.)

Also, wow, this is not going to be a cheap chicken house. In 2019 this was north of $800 dollars in materials alone. I’d expect this is probably closer to the $1000 mark now if you choose to use Cedar wood. Treated lumber will be a bit cheaper.

Also Justin is working on the ChickShaw 3.0 plans, which from what I can tell the main difference is incorporating a towing option instead of a manual move process. Personally, I like moving it by hand, but loaded with 40 chickens it is pretty heavy.

Okay, so you’ve made the investment, you have all the materials, and you are building this thing…great!!! What do you do when the chickens are ready to graduate from the brooder box?

Evaluate if your chickens will be able to sneak through your Premier 1 poultry netting…and if not:

I would put them out in the ChickShaw (locked in it) for 24 hours or so, to instruct them where they live. (Only if it is going to be above 75 degrees and below 100 degrees.)

Next morning, open the door and let them out within the fencing. Throw some feed on the ground (if you are going to use feed versus grass/bugs/”free-range” only.) Have a good water supply for them and turn on the energizer until dusk.

I like to collect eggs in the late afternoon before dinner…depending on the age of your chickens that is…most chickens won’t start laying for 3-6 months.

When it is dusk, they should know where to go – back into the house to the roosting poles. If they roost up near the nesting boxes – shoo them off and close the nesting box frame. Finally close the main front door of the ChickShaw and they are put to bed. Come morning open the front door and open the nesting box frame.

Twenty Chickens Migrate to the Freezer

We have been growing our 20 broiler chickens for about 12 weeks. Butchering day is finally here! Soon 20 juicy chickens will be ready to eat. We’re making butchering day into a party. We invited all our homestead-lovin’ friends over to do the honors with us. The first two chickens go straight to the crockpot for dinner.

You can do this!

So, lets get down to business. You can do this too! You just need a few fat chickens, the growing/fattening instructions in our broiler growing chicken booklet (found at the store on the menu bar above) and this post! It will take some commitment, some time and some supplies, but we’re here to help you make it as easy as possible. Here are the steps:

1 Get your chickens and grow them for 8-12 weeks until they’re really fat.

Butchering Day

2 Set up your butchering day site and invite others who want to help. A butchering supply list is in the booklet. Start heating up the water in the scalder.

3 Grab your first chicken. The butchering process has officially begun! Put it in the restraining cone head first and sharpen your knife one last time. Pull the chicken’s head down through the hole and slit the chicken’s neck on the side, just above where you feel the jawbone. Please kill it on the first try. Please. Let all the blood drain out.

4 Put the fully dead, drained, and still chicken in the scalder. If it does not meet all the criteria, make it so it does. Once it’s in the scalder, stir it around for 30 seconds to a minute and immediately remove to a bucket of cold water.

5 Pluck it. If you have a plucker, you shave off 15 minutes of time per bird. If you don’t have one, simply do it however you can. Soon, you’ll trade the car for a plucker. (At least, in our experience). Plucking, by the way means pulling the feathers off.

Eviscerating your Chicken

6 Eviscerate it. This means pulling the guts out and is the hardest part. You have to make the decision about which guts and innards you keep and which you throw away. We keep the legs, liver, gizzard and heart.

- Cut off the legs at the joint. The joint is right in the middle of the knee.
- Next, cut off the head with the pruning shears. Then cut off the neck. Your chicken is starting to look like a store-bought chicken!
- Cut off the oil gland sac. It is on the top of the tail. Starting at the middle of the tail, lay your knife parallel to the tail and cut in and up. You should see some yellow goo, which is the oil.
- Cut a slit on the backside. Be very careful not to cut into the guts. Pull the top and bottom of the chicken apart and insert your hand into the cavity. Reach as far back as possible, get a firm hold and pull all the guts out.
- Detach the gizzard. It is oval shaped, mostly red with a little blue and closest to the front of the bird. Cut a slit in the side, long ways, and flip it inside out. Rinse out all the grass and stones. Then, peel the yellow lining away and discard it.
- Detach the liver. It is flat, relatively large and dark red. Try not to break the green sac that is attached. Tall order, right? Yep. Even Hannah, our master eviscerator breaks the sac most of the time. Most of the time.
- If you haven’t already got the heart, get it. It is an upside-down triangle in red.
- Discard the rest of the guts
- Reach inside the chicken and scrap out the lungs. They are bright red-pink and white.
- Cut down both sides of the tail to remove it.
- Finally, give it one last rinse (you’ve probably rinsed it at least ten times already; trust me, it’s a thing,) and toss it in your cooler.