Broilers - are chickens bred and raised specifically for meat production, hence the size of them.
We bought 4 broilers, that where really big and ready for eating. When we released the broilers into the coop, they could hardly walk, they literally bee lined it for the food, walking with a wiggle and wobble, they lay down right next to the tray and ate the entire day, we couldn't believe it. "Oh man, we-going-to -have-buy-a-lot-more-food". They couldn't climb up the ramp on there own so every evening we would have to pick them up and gently placed them into the coop. Now, having to remember to put the broilers into the coop every evening amongst many other chores needed around the farm, was becoming very taxing. So after alot of thought we decided to fill our freezers, we started with two, which where delicious and huge! Oh my word!
Slowly but surely the other two broilers noticed there where other interesting things to do, other than sitting and eating. They started to scratch around and eventually started to come out of the chicken run, when I open it up in the afternoon. Almost as if they were learning about being a chicken again.
The one day my 2,5yr son and I were sitting in the garden having one of our serious and meaningful conversations, when these two broilers came up and lay down next to us and listened in. We loved it, he was stroking and chatting away to them. And that's when we came up with the name "Snow" and "White", these chickens are no longer for the pot but are now part of the family. To this day, they are so tame and friendly.
On Firefly Farm we have a rule, once it has a name it's no longer food.
Snow and White dominating the feeding trough again.
The broilers and the layers are very chilled and relaxed, they just like being around us. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the slice of bread we feed them every afternoon. :)
My 1yr old daughter loves stroking and feeding them, I really am impressed at how well they tolerate being handled.
This post links to:
Adventures Of A DIY Mom
