This was a tiny bantam rooster hatched earlier this year. The bantams hatched by their mothers are kept away from human interaction and are flighty and unfriendly, but are simply the best foragers on the farm. They eat less than regular chickens too, but find a great deal of their own food for the months that there is no snow on the ground. The unfortunate part is that they fly well and tend to roost in the trees and are not willing to relocate to the coop when it is cold. Some went under the coop and of course they froze to death. They need to perch to keep their body temperature regular. The frozen cold ground will freeze their feet and their breasts and they simply never wake up. But they still do not come into the coop.
I have locked them in a cage inside the coop for two weeks straight and then when they were freed, they flew up to the trees again. They were locked in for longer and most of them wintered inside the coop, but returned to the safety of their cage, even though the door was left open.
This is a chicken that is 4 months old and weighs just over 1 pound. Actually, there was yellow fat on the carcass and when I cooked this chicken, it made excellent soup broth plus a delicious meal of chicken meat for one person. It could have been stretched for two people quite easily. Surprisingly, the breast was full, but the legs were no bigger than commercial chicken wings. Still, it was a free bird, hen hatched and raised and mostly fended for itself. The cost to process the bird at the poultry house was about 5 dollars, which then made it a bit more expensive. It got me thinking about raising Cornish game hens because they are about the right size for a meal for one or two. I will have to look into that.
Another bonus is that the bantams lay eggs quite profusely, depending on the bird, of course. I don't usually slaughter females because there are customers who always want to purchase bantams. This year, 10 were sold and they were lovely, lively and colourful birds. Perhaps raising bantams is the answer to less feed less waste and less housing. Hmmmm.
I have locked them in a cage inside the coop for two weeks straight and then when they were freed, they flew up to the trees again. They were locked in for longer and most of them wintered inside the coop, but returned to the safety of their cage, even though the door was left open.
This is a chicken that is 4 months old and weighs just over 1 pound. Actually, there was yellow fat on the carcass and when I cooked this chicken, it made excellent soup broth plus a delicious meal of chicken meat for one person. It could have been stretched for two people quite easily. Surprisingly, the breast was full, but the legs were no bigger than commercial chicken wings. Still, it was a free bird, hen hatched and raised and mostly fended for itself. The cost to process the bird at the poultry house was about 5 dollars, which then made it a bit more expensive. It got me thinking about raising Cornish game hens because they are about the right size for a meal for one or two. I will have to look into that.
Another bonus is that the bantams lay eggs quite profusely, depending on the bird, of course. I don't usually slaughter females because there are customers who always want to purchase bantams. This year, 10 were sold and they were lovely, lively and colourful birds. Perhaps raising bantams is the answer to less feed less waste and less housing. Hmmmm.
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