Our chickens and the breeds!

Hi, everyone.
     As promised I want to introduce everyone to our chickens.  They are new here but are the sweetest and most loving chickens I have ever seen in my life.  They love to be held and petted.  No pecking on us or anything.  I could hardly believe it. 

Cuckoo Marans

    We have 2 of these hens.  What I love most about this breed is the color of their eggs.  The lay really deep, dark brown eggs that are large in size.  So dark brown that they have a tint of maroon in them.  This breed originates from France and are considered heavy chickens with roosters that get between 7-8 lbs and an average hen is 6 1/2 lbs.   They lay about 150 eggs a year or 2-3 a week.  They are mainly egg layers but they do possess really fine meat qualities also.

White Leghorn

   We have 2 of the White Leghorns.  These are just like the bird in the cartoon "Foghorn Leghorn" but the word is really pronounced "Leggern".  Anyway, these are the birds that lay the eggs you find at the supermarket.  They lay X-large white eggs almost every day and average about 300 eggs a year.  They are really hardy chickens and can stand really cold winters and hot summers.  They are considered to be medium in size and weigh on the average about 6 lbs.  They originate from Tuscany, Italy.  They are egg layers and not viable as a meat producer.

Cinnamon Queen

   We also have 2 of these pretty hens.  The Cinnamon Queen is also called the Cinnamon Queen Sex Link.  It is called a sex link because it is a crossbreed from a Silver Laced Wyandotte and a New Hampshire rooster.  The Cinnamon Queen are known for their fast body development and fast egg production.  Meaning that these hens start to lay their eggs at a much younger age than most other breeds.  They lay large brown eggs and are considered to be a dual purpose bird.

Golden Laced Wyandotte

       We have one of these little pullets.  At maturity, the hen will lay a decent sized brown egg 4 times a week or an average of about 200 a year.  The roosters get to be about 8 1/2 lbs. and the hens weigh about 6 1/2 lbs.  They are a dual purpose breed (meat (large breasts) and eggs) and make good show birds.

Silkie Bantams

Buff Silkie

Black Silkie

Blue Silkie

We have one of each of these colors:  one buff silkie; one black silkie; and one blue silkie.  I know they lay very small eggs but I think they are so beautiful that I was a bit impractical and bought them anyway.  :-)

These are really neat because of the hair-like plumage they get and they are also different because their skin and bones are both dark blue/black and they have 5 toes instead of the normal 4.  The meat is very different so they are not usually eaten but they make awesome moms.  In fact, they will lay on other chickens' eggs, as well as duck or turkey eggs too.   They do make great show quality hens also.  Silkies are quite small with the males weighing 2 1/2 lbs. and the females at 2 lbs.  They lay small cream colored eggs about 2 times a week and average just 100 eggs a year.  

    Well, that is it.  So, what do you think of our new additions?   Feel free to leave your comments and subscribe to this blog.

As always, please help support my blog by clicking on an ad and supporting my sponsors.

In Christ,
Melody

Loving wife of Ronald and incredibly blessed home educating mother with fantastic children.

‎"Tough times never last, tough people do." -Robert Schuller

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Chicken Run

     As promised, I am going to write about our new chicken venture today.  As you may or may not know, I left on Friday afternoon to go over to Mulberry, AR (a 2 hour drive) to pick up some chickens.  We have been wanting to become more self-sustaining and decided chickens would be a good way to begin.  We already live on a secluded large area of land, have a few wells, a creek close by, a lake within walking distance, many fruit and nut trees on our property, etc.   We just want to be able to provide for ourselves better since the economy is so bad and money is so tight. 
     Anyway, Friday, Ron and I went to the lumber yard and bought the necessary supplies so he and Bubba (our 13 year old son) could begin building the Chicken run and coop while I headed out to get the chickens.  We only have an older, small car but we put 2 small dog pens in the back seat and I left.  I kept in contact with Ron and the boys via a cellphone and found out progress was going mighty slow.  It was 108 with an even higher heat index and the 2 x 4's we had were so dry and hard that it took a great deal of effort to drill the screws into each board.  They would work for 30 minutes and then go and cool off. 
    Here is the area that the coop and run will sit.

  
And here is their progress on the run.  The finished size of the run is 8 foot by 8 foot and it is 4 feet tall.  We will build more of these and separate them by breeds in a few months, when we get our roosters.

 The bottom frame.

 The side frames are up.

 Bub holding the frame together so Ron can secure it.

 Bub nailing up some of the chicken wire.  We put welded wire on it too to keep out predators.

    By the time I got home, it was already dark and the guys were sopping wet from sweat and exhausted.  The run was done but they had not begun on the coop.   We put a tarp over the top, cut some milk crates (for temporary nesting boxes) and called it a day.  The chickens seem satisfied and we will build the coop beginning of the week. 

Tune in tomorrow and I will introduce you to our chickens!  :-)

As always, please help support my blog by clicking on an ad and supporting my sponsors.

In Christ,
Melody

Loving wife of Ronald and incredibly blessed home educating mother with fantastic children.

‎"Tough times never last, tough people do." -Robert Schuller

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Bulk Cooking

     I was wanting to talk a bit today about bulk cooking.  Bulk cooking scares or intimidates a lot of people but once you start doing some bulk cooking, you'll love it.  It saves time and money.  I also like the convenience.  If  I am not feeling well or if someone has a death in the family, I can always pull something out of the deep freeze for them.
    Today, I had planned on making meatloaf for lunch.  Instead, I made 2 meatloaves.  One for our lunch and then I double wrapped the other one in foil (uncooked) and  then put it in a marked freezer bag for the future.  My meatloaf is really easy to make and tastes unbelievable.  At the end of this post, I will post my cooking methods for both items I am discussing today.
   I did some homemade rotisserie chicken for supper and prepared another one to be our supper for tomorrow.  We will not eat all of either chicken so after we eat our fill, I will shred the chicken for some chicken sandwiches next week, chicken pot pie, chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, etc.  The rest of the 2nd chicken will be shredded and froze for future meals. 
                                         Easy Melody Meatloaf

2 lbs. hamburger meat                                    2 small cans tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce                                2 eggs
1 box stuffing mix                                            2 T. chopped onions
1 tsp. seasoning salt                                         1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together by hand.  Form into 2 equal loaves.  Double wrap one in foil and then place in freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.  The other one place in a sprayed pan and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees.  Ten minutes before it is done, make a glaze of 3 T. worcestershire sauce and 6 T. ketchup.  Pour onto meatloaf and finish cooking.  This meatloaf is really moist and so delicious.  Meatloaf always tastes better warmed up the next day but this meatloaf never makes it to day two.  :-)


                                          Homemade Rotisserie Chicken

Make a rub with the following ingredients:
 

• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon Dead sea salt (if not available, just use 1 tsp. more of salt)
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder

    This rub will be enough for a 10 pound chicken or 2 five pound fryers.  I used the 2 fryers. 
Once the rub is complete, wash and rinse the chickens.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  The first fryer will be cooked in the crockpot.  Melt a tablespoon or 2 of butter per bird.  Rub the butter over the outside of the chicken.  Rub some of the mixture into the cavity of the chicken then place a half onion inside.  Rub more onto the outside of the bird.  Place in a crockpot on high for one hour.  After an hour, turn the crockpot to low and cook 8-10 hours.

The second chicken, prepare the same way but put in a large freezer baggie and place in the refrigerator to marinate for a minimum of 4 hours.  I like it to stay in the over night. 
The next day, turn on the oven to 250 degrees to preheat.  Slice up some potatoes and carrots and place in a cake pan or roaster.  Remove the chicken from the freezer bag and place on top of the vegetables.  Bake uncovered for 2 hours.  At this point, turn the oven to  275 and cook for 45 minutes.  Next, turn the oven back to 250 and bake 1 1/2-2 hours more.  Once the juices run clear, remove from oven and drizzle the pan drippings over the chicken. 
It is great like this but you can make a gravy out of the pan drippings by adding 1 can of chicken broth and a tablespoon of cornstarch.  No other spices or needed.  Bring it to a boil and let it thicken and it will turn out great. 

As I said before, these turn out wonderful.  Let your family eat their fill and then shred the rest for future meals.  You get to eat wonderful food for a great price!   Once you try it out, let me hear your comments!


In Christ,
Melody

Loving wife of Ronald and incredibly blessed home educating mother with fantastic children.

‎"Tough times never last, tough people do." -Robert Schuller

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher