March On The Homestead

Sunshine at 27 weeks old

Neverland Homestead sits on just under a half acre of land, which includes the house, buildings, gardens, trees, and of course the chickens.  My flock has slightly more than 1/8 of an acre or 5600 sf in which to range in the winter.  When planting time comes, their territory shrinks by necessity, down to 4000 sf.  

But with the extra birds, I have finally run out of forage in their range area.  There are still plenty of rodents, and worms and trees, but it's time to let the plants recover in the hen yard.

I decided it was time to start rotating the flock through the remaining space within our boundaries and to replant forage in the now fully primed soil within the hen yard.  I decided to plant bee forage plants, which will grow lush and be ready to receive the flock again in early Autumn.  I like housing the flock in this area during Winter because there are enough larger trees to shelter the flock during rain and snow as well as a metal shed which acts as a day barn for them to stay dry in.  Though they refuse to sleep there, they love to socialize and lay most of their eggs in that building.

In August I was introduced by my broody hen, Blossom, to 5 newly hatched chicks, three of which turned out to be cockerels.  As you can imagine, you simply cannot have 4 roosters within the confines of 4000 sf for long.  I had separated the youngsters from the flock for about 3 weeks and then opened up more land to them and reintegrated them.  This worked for another few weeks, but eventually the hens were being run ragged, and the fights among the male population were escalating.  Too much stress on the flock!  I had considered keeping one of them to start a new flock with, but it has become increasingly obvious that I simply don't have enough land to house two separate flocks.

In the end I chose to harvest two of the cockerels as food and keep one until I can no longer afford to.

Economics

One of the deciding factors involved in making this decision was that we have for a long time lived on a shoestring, to coin an old phrase.  Meaning, we manage to exist on very little money.  Currently, I buy grain for the flock as their main food source.  Good quality, organic, non gmo grain.  And I am lucky enough to get it for a really good price.  My cost is 17 cents a day per adult bird, or with 14 birds, $2.38 per day.  My seasoned Papa Rooster, and his predecessor before him always seemed to eat very little, putting the hens needs before theirs.  But my three hooligans were chasing the hens away from the food, and gorging themselves.  Also they were constantly trying to mate with the hens, and at times, 3 males on 1 female.  Sparky, my head rooster was run ragged just trying to keep the hens from being beat into the ground by those little ruffians.

I simply didn't have the time or the resources to manage 4 roosters, with only 10 hens.  It didn't make sense.  It wasn't good for the hens, it wasn't good for Sparky and it wasn't good for me.  So even with all that room, it just wasn't working out.  Plus I had to separate the cockerels at night from the flock, because I was afraid of the potential damage.

I went outside one evening to "manage" the flock into their separate buildings, and found my white rooster Sunshine, was pink.  He was covered in blood from fighting, and though not badly wounded, he was a mess.  In order to give him time to heal, I separated him from the flock, and he seemed content, but I began to notice he was always shivering with the cold, and that he was losing weight.  I could see that he would not be the logical choice to keep.

Meanwhile, the Weasley Twins (which is how I had begun to think of my two redheads with their vivid plumage and ability to get into trouble), were still with the flock.  It became clear to me that Sparky had less tolerance for Sunshine and Robin, then he had for Oliver.  For some reason, Oliver was not getting attacked, and while he was my last choice to keep for breeding stock, I decided since he was being tolerated, that he would be the one to stay on for a while longer, until planting time, when I began to rotate the flock through other "pasture" on the homestead.

So on the 1st of March, two of my young roosters fulfilled their last mission, and became food for the cats, us humans, the flock, and the land.  I had approximately $20 apiece into each of them, and they saved us further cost in grain, plus having to buy a chicken for the cats and us for a week, since we get it locally it typically costs us almost $40 for a bird weighing just over 6 pounds.  I have my reasons for spending that much for one chicken every week.
1.  It's local, so my food miles are ridiculously low,
2.  We have worked it out so that I don't have the bird packaged in plastic.
3.  I support a local small farm.
4.  I used to be able to trade services for it, although that option has recently changed back to trading for money.
5.  I know how the birds are fed, raised and treated, and have seen them harvested with my own eyes, so I know they are as humanely killed as death can be.  It is very quick and done gently and with respect.
6.  My cats are eating raw organic local chicken-and I have more quality control over their diet.
7.  1/2 the bird goes to feed my husband and self every week.

I just want to add that I have a very close relationship with my flock.  I love them, I respect them, and we have a partnership.  I provide shelter, food, and a place for them to live as naturally as domestic chickens can on a homestead.  I have had to be guardian to two broods hatched out here because their "mums" were finished with them after two or three weeks.  And I try to stay out of flock dynamics and not over manage them.

They in turn provide me with eggs, fertilizer, pest control, composting,  and light tillage.  Above all, they provide me with deep joy and the chance to know and observe them.  They are better teachers than any farmer, or online source of information, and I say it again.  I love them.  For anyone who can't understand how you can love and respect an animal and still kill and eat it, I can not possibly explain it.  All I can say, is that you can not know the answer to that, until you have lived life in this way.

Oliver (left) and Robin (right)