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Raising Meat Chickens Part 2

Published November 11, 2011 by Kevin and Amy Jo

I think we’ve all heard of how Grandma would go out and butcher a chicken to roast up for dinner!  I see visions of a chicken running around with his head cut off…ugh!   What are we getting ourselves into?

If you haven’t read Raising Meat Chickens Part 1, click on the link!

When we got meat chicks to raise in the spring, we knew that we wanted to try butchering them ourselves this time.  Kevin did some research and we began to gather the equipment that we would use.  We bought 30 Cornish X chicks early in the spring and began raising them.  They grew unbelievably fast and within 2 1/2 months we were ready to start butchering.  It almost doesn’t seem right that they would grow so fast and we’ve already begun looking into other meat chicken breeds for next year!

Kevin came across this video that gave him some good information about how to butcher a chicken the most humanely:

YouTube Preview Image

 

This is the process we used:

1)  We used an old 5 gal. bucket and put a hole in the bottom of it.  Hanging it from a tall/stable ladder, we put the chicken upside down and pulled his head through the hole in the bottom.  Kevin cut the jugular vein and let them bleed out and then cut the head all the way off.

2)  We placed the chicken into a large tub of boiling water…holding by the feet, he dunked them a few times until we could pull out the feathers easily.  This is called scalding and makes the feather plucking job pretty easy.

3)  We both tag-teamed the feather plucking job and then proceeded to cut off the feet and gut the bird out.  We kept the gizzards, hearts, livers and necks and filled up a bag of chicken feet (for making bone broth).

4)  Once the birds were gutted out and free of feathers, we washed them up and placed them into a cooler of ice water.  After a few minutes, they were bagged up and placed into the freezer.

We had 27 chickens to butcher total (3 baby chicks died)…and we had about 60% roosters and 40% hens. The roosters weighed in at 8-9lbs and the hens 7-8lbs bagged! So much better than a wimpy 5lb organic chicken from the store!

We butchered 4-5 chickens at a time and got them all done within a 2 week period.  That worked best for us.  I think if we were to do it again, we would make or invest in a killing cone and build or buy a Whizbang Chicken Plucker.  All in all, we were pretty happy with how it all went!

What a BLESSING to have 27 free-range chickens in the freezer!  I can’t believe how much more rich these chickens make my Bone Broth…I get a thick layer of fat on the top now and the broth tastes so so yummy!

From Our Family To Yours,

Kevin and Amy Jo

Here are some fun photos of our Chicken Butchering adventures >>


 

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Homemade Almond Butter!

Published May 22, 2011 by Kevin and Amy Jo

Almond & Peanut Butter are almost a daily staple in our family diet.  A couple of years ago, when I was learning about the health benefits of Almond Butter over Peanut Butter, I began playing with making homemade Almond Butter.  I used different types of oils and techniques to get the right consistency and taste.  I thought I’d share our tried and true Almond Butter Recipe with you today!

Homemade Almond Butter

Ingredients: 4 cups raw Almonds & 1 cup of melted Coconut Oil

How To:

Pour 4 cups of raw Almonds into a food processor.  Using the processor blade, chop the almonds into tiny bits. Pour 1 cup of melted coconut oil over the chopped up almonds in a small stream.  Blend until smooth.  I will usually stop the processor, take off the lid and test the texture with a hard spatula.  It should stick together and be spreadable.  If not, add more coconut oil.  Once you like the texture, scoop it out and put it in a glass jar with a lid.  We store our jar of homemade Almond Butter at room temperature because it’s usually gone within a week.  Consider refrigerating it if you won’t eat it that quickly.

Tip #1 –  Coconut Oil will harden when it’s cold.  When the weather is cold or if you keep it in the fridge, place a small amount in a glass dish and warm it up in a convection oven for a couple of minutes.  This will melt the coconut oil so it is spreadable!

Tip #2 – We use a “dull” blade in our food processor for chopping up Almonds or other hard nuts.  If you use a brand new blade, it may cause it to become dull over time.  We ended up getting 2 blades…1 for chopping up hard nuts and 1 for everything else.

Tip #3 - (Optional)  We will soak our raw Almonds in pure water with 2 Tbsps of Lemon Juice or Kombucha for 24 hours.  Drain and place in a dehydrator for another 24 hours.  This creates what are called “crispy nuts” out of Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions.  In short, it removes most of the phytic acid from the nuts, thus creating them to be more digestible.  You can read more about this at Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s blog.

Here are some photos:


Ways To Eat Homemade Almond Butter:

  1. Almond Butter and Jam/Honey sandwiches – a favorite lunch at our house!
  2. Putting on pancakes or waffles with maple syrup on top!
  3. Putting on homemade English Muffins!
  4. Eating with sliced apples!

HOW do you eat your Almond Butter?  Let us know if the comment section below >>

From Our Family To Yours,

Kevin and Amy Jo

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Healthy Teeth: Amalgam Fillings

Published February 9, 2011 by Kevin and Amy Jo

When talking about natural dentistry and tooth care, the issue of Amalgam (mercury) fillings and the use of Flouride are at the top.  It seems the things that become common practice are later seen to be a problem, when it comes to our health.  I guess it means that we need to take the time to research for ourselves what is the best treatment for caring for our teeth!

Here are our previous Healthy Teeth posts to read.

  1. Healthy Teeth: Healing Cavities
  2. Healthy Teeth: Root Canals

Amalgam (Mercury) Fillings

Amalgam fillings were first introduced to the dental community in 1833. Many dentists were outraged at the suggestion of putting such a highly toxic metal into their patients’ mouths.  Amalgam was actually called “Quacksilber” and anyone who placed amalgams was called a “Quack.”  This controversy was later termed the “First Amalgam War”.  The war ended when proponents of mercury insisted that the mercury was safe because it was stabilized in the hardened amalgam compound of silver, copper, tin, and zinc, and did not come out.  Since amalgam was less expensive and easier to work with than the standard gold fillings, it was not long before silver amalgam was routinely used for filling cavities. Continue Reading

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Healthy Teeth: Root Canals

Published January 27, 2011 by Kevin and Amy Jo

Last time, we talked about how to keep our teeth strong and healthy.  We also talked about how we can heal our teeth naturally by Diet and Natural Therapies.  It is amazing how the body works!  God didn’t miss a beat when he created us in his image.  Every part of our body can heal, correct and repair itself…even out Teeth!

If you missed Healthy Teeth: Healing Cavities, click on the link and go back and read it.

Now, let’s take a look at Root Canals.  What are they and are they safe?

Continue Reading

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Healthy Teeth: Healing Cavities

Published January 25, 2011 by Kevin and Amy Jo

Did you know that each one of us has the God-given potential to have good health and to have healthy teeth? God created us to be optimally healthy and gave each of us the ability to heal, correct and repair itself.


Baylee lost a tooth!




We’ve known this for many years, but it wasn’t until this last year, when God played this out in our own lives in regards to our teeth.


My Story

Having 4 pregnancies and births in the last 8 years can wear on a Mom’s body.  Not to mention the many nights of interrupted sleep, keeping up with the housework, meals, homeschooling etc…  Now, don’t get me wrong…children are a Blessing and so much fun!  But when life gets busy, Mom seems to take a back seat in caring for herself.   That was the case for me (Amy Jo).  I ate pretty well, I took quality supplements, I tried to exercise everyday (walks & rebounder) and spent time outside everyday.  However, during my last pregnancy, I began to experience severe tooth decay.  I had several cavities developing along the gum line.  Previous to this pregnancy, my teeth had been pain-free, no cavities or fillings of any kind.  My mouth was pretty healthy…or so I thought.

Continue Reading

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