Jackie Ritz

Just before we moved, we processed our a brood of meat chickens, and have 50 delicious frozen meat chickens (broilers) in our freezer, waiting for us to use. Some of you may remember going to “Grandma’s House” and having a tasty chicken dinner. Others, like me, have probably heard other people talking about the whole experience of raising—and butchering—chickens. Maybe you’ve even played with the detached chicken feet by pulling on the cut muscles and making those feet still “walk.”…maybe not! 

Raising chickens today is very different than how it was done in the “old days.” The average supermarket chicken never sees the light of day, and may be only 4-5 weeks old when butchered. They are grown in very close quarters with thousands of other birds. Their beaks have been cut off so that the stress of being in uncomfortable living conditions doesn’t lead to pecking their fellows to death. Is it any wonder chicken and eggs today don’t taste like they used to?

It’s for these reasons, and because we want to be sure that the food we eat is as organic and free of pesticides and chemicals as possible that we raise both egg-laying hens and meat chickens. In this blog post we’ll take a look at how to raise meat chickens on pasture, called broilers in most instances. There are 5 steps we will investigate:

1. Should you raise meat chickens?
2. How do you raise baby chicks?
3. What kind of coop should you choose?
4. When do your baby chicks move outside?
5. How do you go about processing your meat chickens?

1. Should you raise meat chickens?

It may seem so easy:

• Buy chicks
• Feed chicks
• Harvest and package
• Eat

But raising meat chickens is very different than raising pullets (egg-laying chickens). There is a greater cost, they require greater maintenance, they stink more, and it is physically, emotionally, and financially draining to do your own butchering. One chicken farmer shared the costs for raising 45 meat chickens from chick to chicken dinner. It was a whopping $1,404.35, or about $40 per bird. (Source)   That’s a pretty expensive chicken dinner. 

But although you need to consider all aspects of raising meat chickens before you start, I have no intention of trying to discourage you from doing it. We will do it again, and we hope you will see the value in it also. We estimated it cost us a little over $20 per bird and for us that is worth it. We know how each chicken lived it’s life, what it ate, and if it was ever sick. 

Make sure you do your own research before you begin. Put a plan together that includes answers to these questions:

• Will you use a pen or day-range production system?
• How many birds will you raise the first year?
• Who will do the work?
• When do you want your first chicks to arrive?
• Who will process the broilers?
• Where will you market the birds, and what do you need to do to make that happen?

You will also need to decide what kind of meat chickens you will raise. The kind of meat chicken that is mass produced is the Cornish Rock Cross, which is a bird that grows so fast that sometimes its heart explodes and its legs give out because it can’t support its unnatural weight. Another slower growing chicken is Freedom Rangers, which is a hybrid breed (cross between commercial and a heritage breed) but has less problems than the Cornish Cross. You may even choose to stick with the older standard breeds like the Delaware or Barred Rock (also laying birds).

2. How do you raise baby chicks?

If you are lucky enough to have a hatchery close by, then you can simply go there to buy your chicks. But if you are like most people, the internet is your answer. We chose to raise a less “commercial” breed this year. This is a hybrid breed this year called Freedom Rangers (you can order them here) and a good alternative to those fast-growing Cornish X. When your chicks arrive in the mail, you will need to have your brooder, feed and water, and a way to keep them clean in order to keep them healthy.  The equipment you will need includes:

Brooding Lamp—This is a 250 watt red light in a reflective housing that provides heat for the chicks, who have no feathers yet to keep them warm. The Brinsea EcoGlow Brooder for Chicks (Here) uses less power and is much safer than a traditional bulb.

Thermometer—The best ones to use are those used to watch food temperatures, which has a probe on a wire attached to a separate base.

Bedding—Paper towels work great for a few days because the chicks tend to want to eat the shavings. Place them on top of pine shavings and then switch to just the pine shavings, a few inches thick. Cedar is toxic to poultry. Make sure there are enough shavings to keep them dry. Put fresh shavings down each day or consider the deep litter method by adding fresh shavings to the top everyday. 

Feeders and Waterers—You are probably feeding a number of chicks, and you don’t want them running out of feed or water. Something like the Little Giant 11 lbs Plastic Hanging Poultry Feeder (Here) will keep you from running out. You have a couple of choices for a waterer. Chicken Nipples (Here) are cheap and easy to hook up. Or you may want something movable like the 5 Gallon Chicken Waterer (Here). Just be sure to give the base a good rinse once in a while.

3. What kind of coop should you use?

There are a couple of different types and features to consider. A chicken coop with a run is a more permanent design. It includes a fenced-in area outside to run around, and a sheltered space inside the coop. You can find several different designs online. If you are able to completely free range your chickens, a wagon-type chicken tractor is the best method. It is a chicken coop on a trailer or wagon frame that you can move about with either a small tractor or an ATV. Your chickens will go in it at night and you can close it up to protect them from predators. In the morning you move them to a new spot, open the door and let them range and forage.

We used a chain link fence with a tarp roof as a coop this year. We would lock them up at night to keep them safe from predators and then open the coop door for them all day long. We had zero predator attacks, but that could be due to the fact we have a livestock guardian dog.  

4. When do your baby chicks move outside?

When you see that your chicks have feathered out they are old enough to go outside. Give them 12 hours with feed, and 12 without. Most chicks forage more in the morning when they are moved to a new location, and will fill up on grass, which helps to cut feed costs. Your local feed store can help you decide on the right grain mix. If you are raising your birds chemical free, you will need to avoid medicated feeds and use alternatives (such as vinegar or garlic cloves in the water) to keep the chicks thriving. A broiler will eat 9-15 pounds of feed during its lifetime.

We held feed in the morning when they woke up hungry till about 10am. This forced them to forage and peck around the grass and bugs when we let them out. This isn’t necessary if you are unable to do this because of work schedules. 

It will be critical to keep water in front of the birds at all times, especially in hot weather. Check the pens several times a day to be sure your waterers are working properly or purchase a very large waterer. 

Losing a bird or two either to health issues or predators throughout their life span is normal for these chickens. Keep a close eye on them so you can spot any sick ones and isolate them from the others.

5. How do you go about processing your meat chickens?

Most broilers are ready to process at eight weeks of age, and will be four to six pounds processed weight. Our Freedom Rangers took about ten weeks and they all came out to 5-6 pounds finished! Our Cornish X’s that we raised 2 years ago took only 8 weeks. 

Butchering your own chickens is not for the faint of heart. You first need to kill them quickly, dunk them in hot water, get their feathers off, gut them, and package them. An easier way is to take them to a processor or butcher shop. You will be eating this food, so do your research. Talk to them about costs and packaging. Most will vacuum seal the birds, at a cost per bird.

If you are planning on processing your own chickens for meat, you will find complete instructions for setting up your processing station and processing your birds here. 

There is an emotional component to raising chickens. We raise them from babies, laugh at their antics and work hard to give them a good life with nutritious food and a comfortable home. Then it becomes time to kill them. We choose to treat all living things with reverence and thank them for providing food for us. That doesn’t mean that there’s not some sadness, but over-all, this works best for us.

Sources

1. https://greenthumbfarming.com/raising-meat-chickens/
2. https://stonybrookfarm.wordpress.com/farming-practices/farming-practices-meat-chickens-aka-broilers/
3. https://ecofriendly.com/raising-meat-chickens/
4. https://www.chickenthistlefarm.com/pasture-raised-chickens/
5. https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/raising-chickens-for-meat-zmaz09jjzraw.aspx

Have you ever wondered what to do with that too-old-to-even-lay-eggs-much-anymore chicken that still pecks around in your flock? Or did one of your hens get injured and there is no saving her? Many people have asked if it’s possible to cook this spent hen and how to cook a stewing hen.

Just like some of their human counterparts, spent hens grow cranky and surly in their old age, and some even pick up nasty habits like pecking at eggs and people who come to collect the eggs. Granny Miller.com says, “One…hen was so quarrelsome and aggressive with me that I gave up trying to be nice or reasonable with her. To collect her eggs I would unceremoniously lift her up by the neck and off her nest; and then throw her out the open door. It never fazed her a bit—next day it was the same routine.”¹

Just like their outward behavior, these stewing hens are tough and stringy, and have compact, scrawny breasts and long and muscular legs. You can’t roast a stewing hen successfully, but once you know how to cook the hen correctly, a stewing hen yields delicious meat and rich, flavorful chicken stock. Many cooks will use nothing for chicken stews, soup, and stock, and others say that because they enjoyed an active lifestyle and a balanced natural diet they have a distinct chicken taste that is impossible to duplicate.

If you don’t raise your own free-range chickens, you might be so lucky to see stewing hens at your local farmers market. If so, be sure to grab it up in a hurry because the flavor of a stewing hen is incredible. Remember, meat chickens have been bred for muscle meat, whereas pastured laying chickens are bred for egg production. This lighter and leaner chicken requires a little more extra care in cooking — remember long and low! 

So let’s adopt the policy of Great-Grandma—let’s waste not, want not—and discover how to maximize the usefulness and taste of those old, better-with-age, stewing hens we will all encounter in the process of raising pastured, free range chickens. We’ll look at three steps in the process:

1. What is my old stewing hen good for?
2. What’s the best way to cook my stewing hen?
3. What are some sample recipes I could use?

1. What is my old stewing hen good for?

I’ve already mentioned that stewing hens make the best chicken stew, chicken soup, and chicken broth. But their usefulness in your menu planning doesn’t stop there. The possibilities are endless—chicken tacos, enchiladas, stir fries, pasta sauce, chicken and dumplings, and BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, just to name a few. (Note: You may also have experienced the tirades of that aggressive, mean-spirited, old rooster who attacks your other barnyard animals and even your kids. He can be prepared in just the same way that an old stewing hen is cooked, and will give you the same depth of flavor to your stews and stocks.) The hen’s age brings a wonderfully rich flavor and the grass they eat yields a delightful yellow fat (which you will be able to use!).

It can be hard to decide when to cull your older laying hens. Some keep their hens for a few years before culling, and others choose to cull at the onset of the hen’s first molt. Your chickens will produce larger eggs in their second year, and each year after, but there will be fewer eggs farther between each molt. They may be 8-10 years old before they cease to produce any eggs.

I’ve heard of some people who refuse to cull their own laying hen of many, many years and drive their spent chickens to a forest or woods and let them loose – letting nature decide how their life will end. However, this wonderful bird has given them hundreds upon hundreds of delicious eggs, why not continue to allow this bird to nourish you even more by providing you, yet another, delicious meal with her meat and then nearly 4 quarts of stock with her bones and organs? Waste not, want not! 

2. What’s the best way to cook a stewing hen?

Your stewing hen has lots of rich flavor if you know how to extract it. The only way to cook them is over low heat with lots of liquid—to stew them. As muscles get older, they develop lots of connective tissue, and a long slow cooking time is needed to bread that tissue down, which in turn flavors the broth around it tremendously. This is the same principle behind all braised dishes, which makes use of cheaper tough cuts—while they are not suited for fast preparations like grilling, they are the more flavorful parts of meat. Some of the traditionally most flavorful restaurant menu entrees, like Coq au Vin, traditionally prepared from a younger rooster, can be prepared with your old rooster and hen—just as long as you remember that your tough old bird won’t be fork tender for several hours.

You will cull your stewing hen and prepare it for cooking just as you would any chicken. But once you start the cooking process, everything is different. There are several slow cooking methods you can use, including stewing in a low temp oven or in a dutch oven on the stove top for several hours (see how to cook your hen on the stove top here), using a pressure cooker (see Granny Miller’s recipe for cooking in a pressure cooker here), or putting your stewing hen in your crock pot. I prefer the crock pot method (I use this crockpot ) because it is so much easier.

One of the first things you will notice about your stewing hen is the amount of yellow fat around her vent area, which is fairly typical in an older hen. With any method, you will want to skim off the fat once the cooking is complete. Don’t throw that fat away—it makes a very good shortening for dumplings and pie crusts for any type of meat pie.

3. What are some sample recipes I could use?

You will soon become an expert at cooking and using the delicious broth and meat from your stewing chickens. However, here are a few sample recipes to get you started.

Bone Broth

I’ve blogged about the healing benefits of good bone broth before. An old proverb says: “Good broth will resurrect the dead.” That’s an exaggeration, but it speaks of the great value of this wholesome food. You can read my blog on Bone Broth here, and find my recipe for preparing your broth. Remember that slow cooking is required for your stewing hen, so you will want to leave your hen cooking longer than 2 hours before you try to separate the meat from the bones, and put the carcass back in the crock pot to simmer another 12-24 hours.

Chicken Stew

When cooler temperatures are in the air, it’s time to make soups and stews. Most cooks agree that the best chicken stew begins with a pastured stewing hen. It’s the magic ingredient to give you flavor, texture, and color you will never get from a hen who lived its life in a cage, or even from a young hen raised in the pasture. You will find a great Chicken Stew recipe here.  If you want to make a traditional meal of chicken and dumplings, you might want to try the Paleo Chicken and Dumplings recipe found here. 

Paleo Kickin’ BBQ Shredded Chicken

Many of your regular chicken stew, soup, or shredded recipes can be adapted for your stewing hen, as long as you remember that low and slow cooking is the requirement. You may want to use two stewing chickens instead of one because of the smaller amount of meat you will get. But believe me when I say that this chicken meat will be some of the most flavorful chicken you’ve ever eaten. During the hot, grilling and outdoor picnic days of summer, you can make some crock pot shredded stewing chicken BBQ that will taste wonderful. You can find one recipe for it here.  This will be a recipe you want to repeat many times.

Paleo Chicken Enchiladas

Your cooked and shredded stewing chicken meat will be great for many Tex-Mex recipes, including tacos and enchiladas. If you are predominantly Paleo, as I am, and many others are also, you have probably missed the chicken enchiladas stuffed with not only chicken, but also cheese and heaped in a corn tortilla. Well, now you have a new recipe you can try for Paleo Chicken Enchiladas that may satisfy that longing you have. You can find the recipe here. 

Or you may want to do what my family does most often and just fix a big bowl of Taco Salad, using that delicious stewing chicken meat. Use your own creativity to create a delicious salad, or you may want to try my Green or Red Chile Pork Taco Salad (found here) and substitute your delicious chicken meat for the pork in the recipe.

Whatever cooking process or recipe you decide to use, it’s time to conquer your stewing hen fears and get to making some delicious meals from the cranky old hen or rooster no longer needed in your barnyard.

Sources:

1. https://www.granny-miller.com/cooking-old-stewing-hens/
2. https://www.thepauperedchef.com/2008/04/on-stewing-hens.html
3. https://wholenaturallife.com/2011/11/14/how-to-cook-stewing-hens/
4. https://wholenaturallife.com/2011/11/14/how-to-cook-stewing-hens/
5. https://www.springrainfarmandorchard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/What-Do-I-Do-With-a-SpringRain-Farm-Stewing-Hen.pdf
6. https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/07/cook-old-chicken.html
7. https://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/11/how-to-cull-your-old-laying-hens.html