It started with a few baby chicks from the local farm store. If I had been innovative, I would have set up the incubator and hatched those little chicks from our own chicken eggs. It is a lot of work and 21 days to hatch chicks. It was so easy to go to the store and pick out what you want.
Usually, a good time to start is in the spring when not much heat is needed. Regardless of the weather, the day-old chicks need heat. This time is called the brooder stage. There are special brooders you can purchase, but to keep it simple and not expensive, we use a plastic sled with a heat light. I have used a large cardboard box and a regular light bulb inside the house to keep a few chicks warm but they can’t stay long or you will want to move out for the odor and dust. Once they can be moved from the brooder, they still need to be in a confined area.
I am an Amazon Associate and may receive a benefit if you purchase items that I suggest. This is a fantastic brooder box if you are starting small. https://amzn.to/4hqocYK
We usually get 30 or more chicks and use a sled, heat light, and wood chips to keep them clean. We keep several of these sleds on the farm. There are many ways to use them, especially when harvesting. https://amzn.to/47zgKHf
Summer has arrived, and they can start forging in a safe area outside. Watch out for Hawks and Falcons from above, the pullets are easy prey. Notice now they are called pullets, but if you have too many roosters, you should process them for fried chicken. While they are still young, around 3 months, they make tender meat. By early fall 5 months, the young chickens should start laying eggs. Make them some nesting boxes that are closed in on 3 sides; they enjoy privacy when laying eggs. If you don’t have any scrap wood to build a box, these on Amazon are great and the eggs will be clean. https://amzn.to/4qEb2f5
You may choose a less expensive box, but you will need to add clean hay or chips frequently to keep the eggs clean. https://amzn.to/43n3inq
We have had success with laying chickens for 2 to 3 years, then we replace them with young ones. Start the new chicks in the spring, and by fall, when they start laying, the older ones can be processed for eating. We do not use the old hens for fried, roasted, or grilled chicken, but they are great for chicken salad and canned chicken for soup in the winter months. Use a pressure cooker for canning and follow the instructions with your canner. I cook 2 of the chickens with water in my pressure boiler for 1 hour for chicken broth. Then, after this process, place the bones back in the pressure boiler with water and cook for 2 to 3 hours for bone broth. The bones will crumble, and these are given back to the chickens for calcium. This is the cycle of life.
A good pressure cooker can be expensive, but it will last for all the years you process meat and vegetables. For fruits I use a water bath method that does not require the pressure canner. My suggestion is to purchase a stainless steel canner so that it has multiple purposes. If it is not the safe metal, you can only use it for closed jars when canning. Cooking in an open pot, I use stainless steel or iron. This is a picture of my pressure cooker that I have used for 20+ years and my pressure boiler for 5 years. I never cook directly in the Aluminum pressure canner, only use the canning jars. The pressure boiler is stainless steel and holds 2 chickens to make the chicken broth and bone broth. https://amzn.to/3Wj7BMH
The pressure cooker was a gift from my son and was purchased several years ago. The newer models can be found on Amazon. https://amzn.to/4hrsBdY
