a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: About My Chickens

  • Roasting a Rooster

    This is a seven and a half month old Golden Buff rooster, butchered at 224 days, and let to rest for four days in the refrigerator. Three to four days is a good time to let a chicken rest before roasting, especially these chickens which exercise so much every day.

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    Roasting a rooster step 1
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    Roasting a rooster step 10

    These are not birds which sit around all day, doing nothing but eating and growing fat. They aren’t crowded together cheek by jowl. What they do provide is a big story and a big taste. A chicken does a lot of living in seven months. As chickens go, it’s seen the world, traveled far from it’s roost every day, had the chance to experience romance and live a full life. At times they go so deep into the woods they can’t see another chicken. You’ll never find chicken like this in your supermarket.

  • Three Week Old Chicks

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    At three weeks the chicks are traveling a long distance with their mother. At times she is the one who is following them as they go in search of good things to eat.

    Worms and bugs make up a big portion of a chicken’s diet. They are great to have around to keep the bug population in check. But if you are growing vegetables or flower beds, you need to keep them out, or they will quickly dig up all your vegetables and flowers as they search for worms and bugs.

  • 17 Day Old Chicks

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    At 17 days of age, these chicks are spending most of the day outdoors. Their mother takes them outside at the crack of dawn in search of good things to eat. In a matter of hours, they will travel further than broiler chickens travel their entire lives. When you see how far chickens like to go in search of food, you understand how intolerable it is to raise them in densities of one chicken per square foot. With a mother, chicks enjoy a very rich life.

  • Fresh Liver

    Fresh Liver
    Fresh Liver

    You’ll never find liver like this in the store. Liver from chickens which exercise much of the day, get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, is plump and dry.

    When chickens are out walking all day, rummaging for food, playing, and having a good time, they are pumping copious amounts of oxygenated blood through their bodies, much like people who exercise. Chickens raised in cramp quarters and butchered at a very young age, never attain the level of health of chickens raised outdoors. And this shows in the quality of their livers.

    Cooked Liver
    Cooked Liver

    Fried in butter, chicken fat, or olive oil for several minutes on each side, it has so much flavor that no salt is needed. In fact,  you should first taste it before adding any salt. Often salt, instead of enhancing the flavor of foods, just makes foods taste like salt.

    Dish of Liver
    Dish of Liver

    Liver is best eaten within a few hours of processing a chicken. Are there any stores which sell chicken liver from chickens butchered that day? Let me know if you find one. The next time you buy chicken liver in a store, ask the grocer when the liver was taken. If they don’t know, what does that say about their concern for the quality of the food they sell to you?

  • Frosty Morning

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    <p>A little frost doesn’t bother the chickens. It’s a cloudless morning and the sun will soon melt the frost.</p>