Keeping livestock, Chickens and things

The chickens for eggs is based on our 6 hybrids we have brought with us from our previous house. We have grown them from chicks which we purchased in March 2009. They started laying in July and we have discovered a lot about how they perform in response to day light as winter approached. We have collated considerable data on egg production versus costs as well as the effect of day light on egg production. This will be of interest to any back yard chicken keeper.

Rabbits are kept for meat. Many people have never eaten rabbit, many just think of them as pets, but for hundreds of years rabbits have been important sources of meat. Today is no different. With intensive farming of chickens, imported pork and supermarket fast turnover of meat, the quality has declined. Growing your own meat means you can regain control and return to better quality meals. Rabbits are an easy way of doing this. They provide high quality protein which is similar to chicken. It is lean and fine grained.

If you eat meat then you should know where it comes from and how it is produced. If not then you are in danger of being sold poor quality, unhealthy food. You should know what an intensive chicken farm looks (and smells) like and how 30,000 birds live together (see video below). You should know how they are slaughtered and how it goes from crowded farm to high street chicken meals. Only then can you make choices about what you eat. Ignoring the fact that your supermarket meat, on its foam tray covered with cling film, was once alive and kicking is burrowing your head in the sand.

Growing your own meat is not as convenient. It takes planning and effort, as well as husbandry skills. In practice we probably eat less meat than someone regularly visiting the famous burger outlets several times a week. We know what we have eaten is as good as it gets, can the burger customer say the same?

Convenience food is cheap, readily available and of course “guilt free”. It is only guilt free because you cannot see the truth behind the ingredients and you are not forced to think about the consequence of your actions. Perhaps more honest labelling of food and transparency into the practices and processes to get your cheap food to the table would make many consumers think again. Many would become vegetarians, others would reconsider their meat eating options. Some would grow their own.

More to discover on the Quest for the Good Life . . .

You may also be interested in reading about our Chickens or the Wildlife we encourage. Follow our attempts at jam & chutney making, our preferences for home made food. We want to brew more beer, wine & cider to sit and enjoy in front of our stove which burns mostly wood. Read about our philosophy to do with supermarkets and dependence on oil. If you are interested in making your own chicken house or planting vegetables we have some useful downloads for you. If you keep an eye on our news pages, we will publish the latest on the Quest for the Good Life.

So if you think keeping your own rabbits, chickens or even pigs is a little on the barbaric side and some kind of primitive regression, then please take a look at the you tube video. It is a look at the way in which your cheap chicken is produced. We have seen this ourselves too so we can verify this. Watch the video and then think about your finger licking good next meal of cheap chicken. Enjoy!