Homestead mailing list

[Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Lisa K.V. Perry wrote:

> Because of the darn stray dog, in May he killed all remaining
> chickens (the young productive hens) but one.  That hen has appeared
> to recover but she is our lone hen for now.  We need to split an
> order with a few people or buy some from someone who has plenty,
> would love to have 6 or 8 hens.


Neighbor dog killed all but 8 of my chickens last year, too, leaving me
with 7 hens and a rooster.  All through the summer and especially during
the winter, I kept finding that I needed more eggs than I was getting.
I had to buy eggs more than once last winter. I suppose it depends on
the size of your family, your diet, and how much you use eggs for things
other than breakfast fare.  I bought 25 pullets from the farm store this
year, expecting to lose some to predation, but so far, I still have 24.
 (I traded one to a kid for some garden help)  The bonus was getting the
seven chicks from my broody barred rock, so I'll have close to 40 birds
come winter.  If none die between now and then, I'll probably sell some
of the birds as laying hens are easy to sell here.  I may take several
of the older ones and put them in the stewpot as well.  I think 2 dozen
hens will provide us with a good supply of eggs, for our own consumption
and some to sell.

In reference to Gene's comments about having too many, I guess it would
also depend on how much other gardening you do.  I don't care for canned
squash, for example, but during peak squash season, I'll make a bunch of
 squash casseroles and freeze them.  I do the same with zucchini bread
and other stuff.  When I have a glut of eggs, I have also been known to
bake a lot of egg breads and freeze them, too, in addition to the other
stuff I make using eggs.  Like your boys, Lisa, I will often have a
boiled egg or two for lunch, and they make excellent snacks for trips or
long errand days.  It keeps me from hitting the fast food places.
By the time production drops off in the winter, I get just enough for
fresh breakfast eggs, and the summer glut is already 'stored' in other
foods in the freezer.  This is the South, where casseroles make good
gifts, especially when someone dies and you have to take food.  That
didn't come out right, but you all know what I mean.  I also like to
have a lot of casseroles on hand in the event that a neighbor falls on
hard times and needs a decent meal for their kids.
I know that as I get older, I'll do less of this kind of thing, so I'll
need fewer hens, but I really dread that day because that will mean that
I will have to rely more on the bland grocery store food with all it's
additives and crap.
I went to the grocery store today, and on the way home, I realized that
other than the "grab a gallon of milk on the way home trips", this is
only the third time in 2006 that I have been to the store.  I buy in
bulk for the things I need, and I store a lot of groceries so I don't
have to go that often.  I calculated that we spend a bit less than
$50/week on groceries, and could do even better if I wanted to.  There's
just the two of us now, and we buy a lot more "junk" than we did when
the kids were at home.  We treat ourselves to ice cream, popcorn,
cottage cheese, etc-all things that could easily be homestead produced
again if I got back into dairy goats or decided to grow more popcorn
next year. (And I might) Of course, to see how much we really spend on
food, I would need to take into consideration the cost of feed, the cost
of processing, the cost of running the freezers, etc.

Bev



--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W