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As many of you know I have ordered from them before and will be starting my seeds soon. If you would like to see the seeds I received hit the home page on my blog.

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Chickens

Since we looked at our property we knew that raising dual purpose chickens was going to happen. We want to be more self-sufficient and eat much healthier and chicken is something we eat the most of. I have done so so much research into breeds, diseases, and common injuries it's a lot to soak in. I believe I finally found the chickens we want! How did I figure it out? Well, I knew we wanted to raise chickens for eggs, meat, to till, and to fertilize the garden. I had to calculate how many eggs we eat in a week. Some chickens don't lay as many eggs as others so that was something to consider when choosing a breed. We need about 2 dozen eggs a week.
Here was my starting list and how I narrowed it down:

Ameraucana- This is a breed that I was told would be best for my family. They are a large fowl but their main purpose is egg laying and only lay about 3 eggs a week.

Astralorp- This breed I hear amazing things about. How friendly they are and great with kids. They're a dual purpose large fowl that lays about 5 eggs a week. That is great! Except... they tend to be broody and we don't need a broody hen we don't want to hatch chicks and won't have a rooster(against our ordinances)

Orpington- Another breed I hear lovely things about and this one was hard for us to not choose. They're a dual purpose large fowl(some are bantams) that only lay about 3 eggs a week and get broody. 

Silkie- These gals are bantams who look like they just left the disco are more for pets. They aren't that great for laying(about 3 per week) or a meat bird. These were on our to purchase list(for a pet, not meat) but nowhere has them for the time frame we need or if they do you have to order a min of 15 Silkies. We want a total of 6 hens so that doesn't work sadly.

Red Star-  I really debated on these ladies I hadn't heard really anything about them anywhere. They are a dual purpose large fowl that lays about 5 eggs per week. I've really only come across the Golden Buffs which we will be purchasing 2 of these.

Speckled Sussex- If you have never seen a Speckled Sussex to me they are just so pretty! These gals are dual purpose large fowl that lay about 4 eggs per week. I'm aware they can go broody but I have also heard people say that theirs never have. We will be ordering 2 of these as well.

Rhode Island Red- Thru all of my research I have read the most about this particular breed. They are great for eggs laying about 5 eggs per week and meat. They don't really get broody and they are so friendly. We will be purchasing 2 of these as well.

Why choose different breeds and not just one? My husband asked the same thing! I want to get 2-3 different breeds that way when we are ready to order more chicks we know which ones we really like. I think the variety is nice! With the chickens, we will be ordering we will get about 28 eggs a week. 

What is your favorite breed?

How Many Meals Can We Make?

I LOVE to save money wherever I can. When you have a family of 5 the cost of healthy food can get a bit pricey(depending on where you live and how much you grow yourself). I had a whole chicken in the freezer and we were able to make 4 meals with it. Yes, you read that right 4!!

Day 1: Roast chicken use half the chicken meat to make chicken gravy. You can put this over bread or potatoes. We chose bread and had a side salad with it.

Chicken Roasting: If it's frozen thaw it. I prefer to rinse mine then pat dry with a paper towel. Soften 1 stick of butter(so it's easily mashable with a fork but NOT melted) add herbs. I chose to add an herb and garlic mix I got at the store. Mix butter and herb mixture together then spread on chicken. Preheat oven to 450 degrees cook for 30 mins turn oven down to 350 and cook for another 40mins. I know this isn't the way people usually make a chicken but that's how I did it and it worked well for me.

Chicken Gravy: Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a saucepan add 1/4 cup flour it will make like a paste. Wait until the flour-butter mixture is a golden color(about 3-4 mins on medium) and slowly whisk in 2 cups of chicken broth. Continue stirring until broth has thickened to desired thickness. Add half of the cooked shredded chicken meat.

Day 2: Shred the other half of the chicken to make Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken & Dumplings. Season chicken I chose minced garlic and the Herbs Garlic seasoning I used before. Chop 4 stalks of celery, 4 carrots, half a medium onion. Add all ingredients to a stock/soup pot and add 10 cups or 2 large Swanson's Chicken Broth. Because everything is cooked except the veggies this really just needs to heat up. I put it on low around noon and it was ready around 3:30pm. Next you'll want to take 1/2 of flour, 2 cups of the broth and mix together and mix into the soup until slightly thickened(about 10 mins). For the dumplings I just used Bisquick it's what I had(I ran out of flour) for that you'll take 2 cups Bisquick mix and 2/3 cups milk and drop into soup by the spoonful. Cook uncovered for 10 mins cover and cook another 10 mins.

Day 3: Chicken Noodle Soup
We had A LOT of Chicken & Dumplings left well... just the soup part the dumplings were gone. I just heated that up added noodles and tada chicken noodle soup.

Day 4: Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Again we had a lot of leftovers so I added from already cooked but frozen potatoes, peas, and corn. Just heat up and it's done. Yes, there are already noodles in it so if you want to leave the potatoes out you certainly could. 

Calculated Cost
Whole Chicken 6-7lbs -$6 at our local grocery store
Celery- 3/$5 or Organic $3.49
Carrots- $1 a frozen bag
Onion- $1 a frozen bag
Broth- $1.94x2
Total: $15.37
Sure I would've spent more had I not already had everything else. But $15.37 for 4 meals for a family of 5 is amazing! So about $3.84 per meal or $0.77 per person per meal that's a win in my book!