Questions for fellow Homesteaders

[BarredBuff]

I was thinking about doing these things next year and I would like to know what your epierience or comments are on the subject. Thanks!!

1. Meat Chickens
2. Cold Frames
3. Raising Corn for meal
4. Raising chicken corn
5. Buying a hand grinder

 

[Wifezilla]

Got a hand grain grinder. Haven't used it yet, but it was at goodwill really cheap

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Got a handgrinder. I use it when I need a big batch of flour/meal (like for 4 loaves of bread, pretty rare actually) When I need just a small amount ground, I have a coffee grinder (electric) that I use to grind up a cup or two of nuts, wheat berries or corn. I found it at salvation army for $2

I got my grinder here. http://www.homevillage.us/hihocairgrco.html

On the meal corn, you want a flint or dent corn for the best. Also called field corn.

 

[bibliophile birds]

for meat chickens i'd suggest the Freedom Rangers, or a heritage breed if you don't mind the extra time. tractor them if you can because it will cut down on your feed costs AND make them super yummy.

 

[~gd]

Got a handgrinder. I use it when I need a big batch of flour/meal (like for 4 loaves of bread, pretty rare actually) When I need just a small amount ground, I have a coffee grinder (electric) that I use to grind up a cup or two of nuts, wheat berries or corn. I found it at salvation army for $2

I got my grinder here. http://www.homevillage.us/hihocairgrco.html

On the meal corn, you want a flint or dent corn for the best. Also called field corn.

flint and dent corn are not the same thing, Flint corn has a very hard coat (popcorn isa type of flint corn) flint is usually used for homity and is not a hybrid. dent corn is much softer and is often hybrid. Which makes the best meal is a subject for debate,

 

[SKR8PN]

I was thinking about doing these things next year and I would like to know what your epierience or comments are on the subject. Thanks!!

1. Meat Chickens
2. Cold Frames
3. Raising Corn for meal
4. Raising chicken corn
5. Buying a hand grinder

My cousin and I went together and raised 75 meat birds. We just processed them this past weekend. Simply can not beat the taste and quality. We raised them in a 10x20 dog kennel with a shade cloth and a fan on them. Moved them every week or so.

Cold frames. Been there-done that(still do) and am graduating to a greenhouse in the next few days.

We raise sweet corn for us to can and freeze, haven't done corn for meal yet.

I get a screaming deal on cracked corn for our hens, so no need to raise any yet. Besides that, the hens LOVE to chomp on our leftover sweet corn cobs.

Haven't got a hand grinder yet.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

On the meal corn, you want a flint or dent corn for the best. Also called field corn.

flint and dent corn are not the same thing, Flint corn has a very hard coat (popcorn isa type of flint corn) flint is usually used for homity and is not a hybrid. dent corn is much softer and is often hybrid. Which makes the best meal is a subject for debate,

Which is why I said "or" as both of them are used for meal and both are sometimes called field corn.

 

[BarredBuff]

How long would it take a white rock cockerel to be eating size? Whats a good heirloom yellow field corn variety?

 

[lorihadams]

We did cornish x's last year and we're still eating on them but we did 30 in a tractor that was moved to fresh grass every day and we did them in the fall so we didn't have to deal with heat issues. We processed the week of Thanksgiving.

Haven't done anything else but hubby scored on some free windows so I am hoping to build some cold frames and try those out. I'm fairly new to gardening so I'm still learning.

I would love to get a grinder, we have a mennonite couple that runs a "country foods and furniture" store not too far away and they sell whole grains. Hubby got me a bread machine recipe book so I have to go through it and venture out into different recipes....

Haven't had a piece of land big enough to grow corn yet but we do now! May try it next year....little too late now for it. I'm down to 6 hens and 4 adult ducks so I don't use a lot of feed, especially now that the weather is nice, they get their own. Only thing I feed mine right now is BOSS and one scoop of pellets for the day. They would rather scratch around in the woods for bugs anyway.

 

[Icu4dzs]

farmboy wrote:
I was thinking about doing these things next year and I would like to know what your epierience or comments are on the subject. Thanks!!

1. Meat Chickens
2. Cold Frames
3. Raising Corn for meal
4. Raising chicken corn
5. Buying a hand grinder

The question that truly bears answering is not the quetion of the items but rather do you have the skills and necessary equipment and land to do what you are suggesting?

Corn takes some land and different strains will cross polinate if they are too close. You'll probably notice that not too many folks in a field corn community grow sweet corn because they will cross polinate and the sweet corn won't be all that sweet. Growing corn requires some equipment unless you think you can do it by hand.

An acre of corn will provide about 100 bushels at about
58 lb/bushel but it only sells for just under $3/bushel. If you buy it from the elevator (fill your pickup truck bed with it, you'll have plenty and get about 35 bushels without any hard labor and disappointment from the weather and other hazards to farming. That 35 bushels of corn or more will feed your chickens for a long time, or you can grind it for corn meal and eat that too. So unless you have a tractor, cultivator, planter, fertilizer spreader or manure spreader if you prefer the organic approach, and combine to harvest it, I'd recommend paying a visit to the elevator and buying the corn you need. The other thing to realize is corn requires nitrogen in the soil so you have to grow beans in between corn crops to replenish the nitrogen. So it is probably starting to look a bit complex now, huh? In summary, $150 spent at the elevator will yield a lot more for your money than starting a farming operation.

On the subject of hand grinders, I have the Country Living Grain Mill which is by far the best I have experienced in terms of flour production. You may want the electric motor modification though unless you have oodles of time and a strong right arm.

It can be ordered with a small modification so that you can grind not only wheat but other things such as corn and beans. The variety of opportunity is endless but that thing is VERY spendy. If you research it you'l find out it is nearly $500 when you add shipping. That is a considerable investment, but then it will be useful to your great grandchildren...and on into the future. I grind just enough wheat at one time to make one loaf of bread and that is still a challenge when you do it by hand. So, Hand grinder $500, 2 lbs wheat, $.50, yeast $2.50 for a jar, honey $6/pound Reward for making your own bread? Priceless

The question about meat chickens is addressed in the same way. I personally don't raise meat chickens. I raise egg layers and if when they become old they stop laying, then they go to the stew pot. In the mean time they give an egg/day and only 3 hens will feed you quite well for very little effort and cost. The primary effort is providing them with a safe environment. I've lost over 30 hens to varmints. It really devastates you emotionally to put all that work into raising those hens for a year before they start to lay and then have them killed. Feed for layers is about $10 for 50lb bag and that goes rather fast with 20 hens. Protection is the most important thing, believe me. Fresh water every day is a must. Have it close to the coop so you won't have to haul it by hand...which gets old when it is -40F like it gets here at times.

Cold frames are great. They are a lot of work to start but are very handy if you have late planting season. Getting the plants acclimated early by putting them into cold frames is a really good way to get ahead of the game, and it saves money.

Hope this gives you some perspective. If you are staring out from living in the city and want to do this stuff, prepare your mind for a lot of work, a lot of cost and a few hard winters. The rewards though are like no other...PRICELESS!