Tag Archive for ‘Light Brahmas’ at Beside the Stream

Tag Archive for 'Light Brahmas'

My chickens have no breasts

Published on July 26, 2008 in birds. 6 Comments

I called Holly to set a date to process the chickens. It’s not hard at all, she said. Once you see how we do it, you and Bob can do it at home next year. I’m thinking, or not. They have an efficient outdoor set-up with a professional scalding tub, a plucker, and a stainless counter and faucet that drains into a 5-gallon bucket. I took lots of pictures, but had no computer card in my camera… so I don’t have to sort through 100 scenes of butchery, and you don’t have to see any either.

Suffice it to say that in the morning my chickens looked like this,

in the evening they looked like this, and in between wasn’t horrible at all.

Their carcasses looked so angular to me that I bought an all-natural chicken from the store for a side by side comparison.

These chickens both weigh about 3 pounds, but mine is over 11 weeks old and the grocery one is probably 8 weeks max. My chicken has yellow skin from eating bugs and grass, it’s legs are much bigger,

and my birds have no breasts. Literally.

I raised Light Brahma chickens, an heirloom variety, because they were supposed to be the friendliest and calmest. I chose a meat bird based on temperament, and I ended up with 18 leggy, breastless birds.

This is Caravaggio’s <Supper at Emmaus> from 1601

and this is the chicken they’re serving.

Oh my Lord I’ve raised Caravaggio’s chickens.

The chickens staged a break-out

Published on June 26, 2008 in birds. 3 Comments

I looked out the window around dawn, and there were 20 little Dutch boys in grey pantaloons racing around the back field. The chickens had staged a break-out.

They got out in a corner where a few staples were missing. They stretched out the wire and left blood and feathers behind in their desire to be free. When I looked closer I saw one chicken was still inside, but he had a big flap of skin and feathers hanging from his bloody neck.

There was a group finding insects on the lawn,

and another group working the forest floor.

These chickens want such simple things. They want to scratch,

and to eat the delicious grubs they turn up.

I stapled the chicken wire back into place, and got the chickens back inside by 8AM. And the flock went from 20 to 18. Bob found one set of body parts out back, and the other’s just gone. Our local predators have marked us as the home of 20 tender tasty bites.

Meanwhile, we have two 14-yr-olds visiting from Ohio, so I called to make rafting reservations. The owner of the rafting company said they started the winter with 23 peacocks, and at the end of the winter they had 3 left, which they gave away. A bobcat took them one by one.

The bobcat at Suzy’s has now killed two geese and one duck.

And Miss Roberta says her mother loved her chickens, always had a flock loose in the yard, and there was never any problem at all. Never. Eighty years ago, there wasn’t a coyote or bobcat in the county.

You can have a world that’s safe for chickens, or one that includes predators. But not both.

PS. I was told that the chicken with the flap of feathered skin hanging from his neck will be fine. People said, chickens are tough.

Chicks are arriving!

Published on April 26, 2008 in birds. 4 Comments

I have 25 chicks arriving Monday or Tuesday. I ended up choosing them by temperament: there was one kind of meat chicken that people commented on as having the nicest disposition, so that’s what I got. Light Brahmas.

According to Murray McMurray, Light Brahmas are a big old breed that probably originated in India, with fully feathered legs and toes. They’re good in cold weather, and exceptionally quiet and gentle; the hens are good layers of brown eggs, especially in winter. “Cockerels develop a tremendous frame, grow rather slowly, but when fully fleshed make a beautiful roasting chicken.”

If I wanted a mixed run or females, I had to wait until June. So I’m getting 25 roosters and hoping for the best. I have the kiddy pool that used to belong to Shaq the Newfoundland filled with a few inches of wood shavings; I bought a 2 ft. feeder, a one gallon chick-waterer, and a 250W red bulb. I’m good to go. And I’m keeping them in my office while they’re babies (at least I think I am.)

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