Michelle Marine - How to raise chickens for meat: the backyard guide to caring for, feeding, and butchering your birds

Text and photographs copyright 2020 by Michelle Marine, except Getty Images

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Laura Klynstra

Cover photo credit: Michelle Marine

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-5104-0

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5106-4

Printed in China

This book is dedicated to my grandma, Ruth Shafer, who sparked my interest in homesteading with her beautiful farm, autobiography, and pictures of her chicken flocks; my grandpa, Tom Moore, who rose above his sharecropper beginning to help integrate rural schools and told the funniest stories about his early life on the farm; my parents, Lynn and Fran Shafer, who taught me I can do anything I set my mind to; and my husband and kids, Dan, Anna, Ben, Cora, and Sara Marine, who love and support me in spite of my crazy obsession with healthy food, backyard chickens, turkeys, geese, guineas, ducks, and peacocks .

CONTENTS

Introduction

Thank you for picking up a copy of How to Raise Chickens for Meat . Im Michelle, and Ill be your guide, providing practical tips and tricks as you raise, butcher, and cook your meat chickens. You are embarking on an emotional journey, but one that is so fulfilling. In this day and age, when many people dont even know potatoes grow in dirt, raising your own meat chickens may seem drastic and unnecessary but can be an important step in becoming more self-sufficient.

I stumbled upon raising meat chickens accidentally when a friend brought me several chicks and a few ducks in need of a good home. Neither she nor I originally knew that the chickens were meat birds. They were purchased around Easter from a farm supply store by a city-dwelling youngster who had no idea that they would grow big and stinky. Being the frugal-minded person I am, I immediately offered up my homestead when the chickens needed to be relocated. Who wouldnt want free egg-layers, after all? And so, the chicks came to live with me.

After they arrived, however, it was obvious these birds werent egg-layers after all. They had huge feet. They were missing feathers, and it looked like they had bubbles on their chests. After a bit of research, I realized that they were actually meat birds. Thats when the panic set in. How would I raise broilers? Did I want to raise these Franken chickens? What if they exploded on me? How would I know when they would be ready to butcher? Most importantly, how on earth was I going to butcher them when it was their time?

Not only did I need to butcher those first few chickens that I had been so happy to get for free, but around the same time, my dog mauled one of my egg-layers. She didnt manage to kill the chicken but hurt her badly enough that she needed to be put down. Thats when I realized that learning how to kill and butcher chickens was not just part of raising meat birds, but it was also a necessary skill for any humane chicken flock owner.

I wish I could say the story got better from there. But the first time I butchered chickens was a total disaster. In retrospect, I suppose total disaster isnt really a fair description. The chickens did end up in my freezer, after all, and we ate them. However, it wasnt perhaps the most humane ending for my chickens and was more traumatic for me and my family than Id hoped. My hope is that this book will help you have a much better outcome than my first experience!

Divided into four easy-to-navigate sections, How to Raise Chickens for Meat is packed with practical information. The first section, Getting Started , includes information on breed specifics, timing, and quantity. This section will help you analyze options and make informed decisions.

The second section, Care & Feeding , dives into the specifics of keeping your flock healthy. Learn how to set up a brooder, what to feed your chickens, how to safely pasture them, and how to keep your flock stress-free.

The third section, Butchering , prepares you for one of the more challenging parts of raising chickens for meat. It addresses some of the emotions you may feel along with the actual process of butchering and provides practical tips to make it easier. It also discusses alternative options if you dont want to process your own chickens.

The book concludes with cooking tips and delicious tried-and-true farm-to-table recipes to impress even the most doubtful family member!

If self-sufficiency and raising your own food are important to you, this book will help you pull together a complete farm-to-table experience. With beautiful photography, practical tips, check lists, and funny stories, How to Raise Chickens for Meat is the resource your homestead library has been missing.

Part I

Getting Started

WHY RAISE CHICKENS FOR MEAT?

I must have been about four or five years old in my earliest memories of my Grandma and Grandpa Shafers farm in Southeast Missouri. I loved visiting my grandparents farm. They had many outbuildings that were fun to explore: a gorgeous red barn, an empty chicken coop, a shed full of cool old things, and even a pond.

The chicken coop was always the subject of most of my speculation. You see, before my father was born (hes the youngest of six), my grandparents lived in that old chicken coop for about seven months while they built a new house. My father wasnt around to experience it, but I remember my grandma telling me stories. She also wrote about it in her autobiography, How I Became Whatever It Is I Am .

One summer in 1945, my grandpa needed to build a new house, and they didnt have anywhere else to live, so they moved the chickens out of the four-hundred-square-foot chicken house they had built themselves for $500. My grandma cleaned and fumigated, though my father assures me that her chicken coop was never allowed to get as dirty as mine, and they moved their family of seven into that coop.