Friday, November 13, 2009

Holmestead II

The chicken flock. We have 5 hens and 21 young roosters running around the backyard. I believe the hen in the center is an australorp. We picked three of these up at the Amish fowl auction. One is a good layer but I'm not so sure about the other two. They may become chicken noodle soup if I don't see more evidence of ovulation. Between the three australorps and two plymouth barred rock pullets we have all the eggs we need and Jane uses the extras to help "pay" for her piano lessons. In the background you can see a few of our future suppers. About half are plymouth barred rock and the other half might be buff orpingtons (do they look like buff orpingtons to you Carly?).


Here's our first home grown chicken dinner. He had a broken leg from where a predator that got in last week took a chomp on him so it was time to put him to good use. (I am now packing heat and waiting for the varmit to return. It's probably time to invest in a good trap.) At any rate he tasted pretty good!


The electric co-op cleared out brush and trees along our power line. I asked them to leave the wood chips and bring us as much as they can from other jobs in the area. I've got six big piles and hope more is on the way. This stuff will be great because our soil is very sandy (my one complaint about our place). Adding loads of organic matter to the soil will help it hold onto water and nutrients that would otherwise seep right out. I will use it for our plants and as bedding for future Holmestead livestock.


On Tuesday I was able to fill up my pickup with spilled corn from one of my colleague's corn fields. I scooped it all from a few spilled piles where they had loaded after harvest. This was easily 700-800 lbs. The kids had a blast playing in it. Now I just need something to crack it with.


Hey big pile of junk from previous owners: you just got a BURN NOTICE!

11 comments:

  1. uhh...awesome.

    How hard is it to slaughter and pluck a chicken?

    Once I saw a show on PBS where a free range chicken farmer had a harris's hawk that would occasionally eat a chicken but would keep all other predators, including coyotes away. Naturally I assumed you were doing the same thing. I'm obviously disappointed.

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  2. Wow... this post was a nice break from my mind numbing thesis. I can easily say, that the stuff going on at the Holmestead is way outside of anything I have, or plan to experience (raising chickens and such).

    Cool post.

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  3. Holy crap, dude. Packin' heat and killing your own supper... someone's living the dream.

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  4. Benson. I'll get to work on that Harris Hawk idea. They're not native here so maybe I will have to work with something else.

    I don't pluck the bird, I just whack it and skin it. It's pretty easy once you've tried it. I guess I should pluck one just to see what it's like, but most people that do a large number of birds have a plucker machine that you put the bird in after you scald it.

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  5. I bet a Harris Hawk could handle central Kansan climate. They've got one patrolling the grounds for pigeons at BMO field, where Toronto FC play.

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  6. How do your kids feel about eating the animals they see daily? I could imagine that might be hard for kids.

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  7. I think the kids handled it better than I did-believe it or not--although that may be because they didn't actually see the butchering process. I do want them to see how it all works. People should know where their food comes from.

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  8. Rob, I agree. It's an important lesson for kids to learn where meat comes from. I learned it when my dad made us raise rabbits as a kid, and then kill and eat the same rabbits. It was awful.

    As important as the lesson is, I think it would be a hard one to teach.

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  9. Rob--you'd really enjoy "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." Pick up a copy at the library when you get a free minute.

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  10. I read that. I really liked the concept and I've toyed with the idea myself. I did find something annoying about Kingsolver's writing. Maybe it was too self-congratulatory.

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