First Year Homesteaders PROCESSING Their Own CHICKENS

[@sheiladuncan1027]

With those broody hens ? You should mark each egg so you know if there are any fresh ones added in so you can remove them, and check the nests daily. When they are about 10 days along, use a bright flashlight to " candle" each egg. If they are fertile you should see veins, and a heart. Sometimes you'll even see the chick move. The children will enjoy that show !

[@AcresOfAdventure]

That is a great idea! Unfortunately we had to break her broodiness because of mites. But we do have one sitting on eggs now so we might try again and will try this out, thanks Sheila!

[@MemoirsofaLongArmQuilter]

Thank you for sharing your first processing adventure with us. We will be getting our first laying chickens in July. Then the following year possibly those for meat. I teared up when you were loading them up and fully cried when I saw the empty pen afterwards. I know it will take time and I pray that I can find someone as you did to walk us thru the process when the time comes.

[@AcresOfAdventure]

It’s hard to think about but you just have to make sure you understand that and give thanks to them and the whole process

[@randygreen007]

I guess by pulling the egg out of the “roo-hen” you found out that the chicken came before the egg. What a blessed family to have a leader like this!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Haha thanks Randy! And I am not the leader, we have someone higher up doing that for our family. Thank you for the kind words though

[@backyardfarm7945]

Wow♥️

[@AcresOfAdventure]

It was a great experience we hope more people start to learn it!

[@hmoser6416]

Awesome!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tanilleshaj7693]

thanks for this video!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Of course #1 subscriber!

[@jG-gm2mz]

I would love to see you grill one of those birds and see how it comes out.

[@AcresOfAdventure]

We baked a few we will have to grill one this weekend!

[@Schroederhillsidefarm]

Pulling an egg out of a chicken is awesome. We don’t have chickens now but both my husband and I grew up with them. My husband’s family processed 50 chickens themselves one year, the following year they brought their meat chickens to a processor. It was definitely a valuable experience but doing so many was a lot to take on.

[@AcresOfAdventure]

It is a lot to take on, we plan do do it 3 times next season and do at most 15 at a time to help split it up. We want to keep making this a habit and hopefully teach other down the road.

[@not_festive]

Great video!!!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Good to hear from you Festive! btw thanks for helping out carry those chickens!

[@tammyolis5519]

I would love to get some meat chickens. Finding someone to help you the first time through this process is a great idea. So glad you had a successful day! Thanks for sharing!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Thanks for watching Tammy! It definitely helped us gain some confidence with learning the skill & we plan on doing some more next year.

[@jamiekerbleski]

Bless you guys, and this video!!!! In two days I am processing my turkeys. This is a first for me also (both processing and turkeys). I really am feeling anxious and nervous. This was always the intention for these animals but after 19 weeks of raising there’s a lot of emotional investment too. I am blessed to have a friend with equipment and experience who will be helping (especially loading a 50lb Tom into a cone 😬😬) I really needed to see this video as a pep talk 😂

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Did it go well Jamie? Thanks for the comment we are trying our best here and want others to know that if we can do it then you can to. How is it raising turkeys? We would like to add them maybe next spring

[@jamiekerbleski]

@@AcresOfAdventure It went very well! I learned a lot. And according to my friend, turkeys are much harder than chickens so he feels I’m well prepared for chickens should I ever decide to do them too. As far as raising turkeys. It wasn’t bad. They are really big babies, not very smart, fairly ugly, and eat and drink water like crazy!!! I was very impressed with the sizes they ended up. We will be eating very well this holiday season 😉

[@AHomesteadingHustle]

Great job guys!! Definitely worth it!! We usually don't feed our chickens within 12 hours of butcher so their intestinal tract is clean (or cleaner...lol). We have seen the yolks (which is a mess) but no formed eggs, crazy!!

[@AcresOfAdventure]

I meant to put for that part of the video that it was 1 day previous…fail 🙈 there food was withheld for like 16 hours

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Thank you it was a great experience!

[@Rizik1986]

This is my first year raiding chickies and I started with intention of only for eggs. Now its gone well I've thought about raising birds for meat since I eat chicken and figure I can produce as good chicken meat as anything I'd get from a store or meat market. Seeing them loaded into the car and their hearts just dropped now I wonder if that is something I can do. I might stick to egg layers for now. Great video 👍🍀🇺🇸

[@AcresOfAdventure]

It is a little hard but you will have to feel good that they had good care and a nice life and it will be good for you. I think you should try!

[@Rizik1986]

@@AcresOfAdventure TY for the motivation. I certainly will try at some point. I feel a little hypocritical I'd eat chicken someone else raised killed and butchered but not one I'd raise on my own. It's a lot to learn but I will get there!

[@organixgirl]

How did they turn out a lot of people say they come out tough

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Not tough at all, I believe that happens with hens that you have had for years. But these chickens turned out great!

[@lolaloveamericamartir3222]

Have you every thought of rabbits?

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Yes we have! But I feel like I would have a hard time butchering something so CUTE!

[@pamelaremme38]

We were wondering the same thing....what were those little balls? I also found out little tiny eggs!!! It was very emotional for me. I am getting cornish cross next year. May I ask why you are not going to get cornish cross? Also what state are you in?

[@AcresOfAdventure]

We will make the video about that soon! We just didn’t like the experience. And we are out of Michigan!

[@pamelaremme38]

Don't you guys feed your meat birds the home made mix feed? Also I just butchered my red broiler meat birds. It was very very hard for me. Also you are suppose to withhold feed for 24 hours. I couldn't do that so I stopped at 12 hours prior. Your meat birds look very healthy for meat birds. Lots of feathers. Great job. Next time....put them in the fridge for 48 hours to "rest" rigamortis releases then. Not so tough meat then.

[@AcresOfAdventure]

No homemade mix for the meat birds, since they need more protein we never decided to make our own for them. We did stop feeding them 24 hours before, the part where we say it’s there last meal I meant to but the it was one day later and forgot🙈 thanks for watching Pamela!

[@pamelaremme38]

@@AcresOfAdventure Thank you for clarifying. Can't wait till you touch on IF you are going to get ANY meat birds or if the experience was so rough for you that you just don't want to do it anymore. Love your channel, glad I found you.

[@Rich.Staples]

Thank you for not putting a brave face on.

[@AcresOfAdventure]

I’m not afraid to say what I can’t do or what I’m nervous about. I want people to know the real us and how these experiences go for us. Thank you for watching!

[@Rich.Staples]

@@AcresOfAdventure thank you for being you.

[@milagrosplair4659]

yuo nont need to kill animals for food plants are the beast for that im out

[@AcresOfAdventure]

Sorry, but we make sure they live a great life while we have them