Homemade Chicken Broth

Well I bet you thought I died or something!  No just started trying to organize life and keep on keeping on.  I'll blog in a minute about what I've been doing.  So today I want to share about this website I found.  You would think I would have thought of this already but no..not me..  I found a site on making your own chicken broth.  I have tried this before but have gone about it all wrong..terribly terribly wrong.  Live and learn I guess.  So here is the right way lol.  http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/10/homemade-chicken-broth.html  I love this website along with another called Stacy Makes Cents.  I've spent hours today reading on different things to help our family with living frugally.  So today I decided to make chicken broth.  I actually found a video first about doing it and not this recipe so I'm going to give you what I have put in. 

Chicken Broth
1-chicken carcass
8-baby carrots
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar
2 TBS salt
1 TBS pepper
1 bay leaf
a handful of dried carrot tops
a handful of dried onions
handful of fresh spinach

Put in your crockpot, put just enough water to cover the carcass, put on low and leave for 24 hours.  Strain off the liquid when its done and put it in a mason jar. Store in the fridge or use it right away.  Then the stuff left in the crock pot keep in there and fill it again with water and vinegar until it is just covering the carcass and let go again for 24 hours.  You apparently can get like 4 or 5 batches this way before things start completely falling apart.

So I had this problem and now its solved.  I butchered some of my chickens..the older, nonlaying ones.  I needed to make room.  I did 5 and cooked them on the stove till they were almost done.  My plan was to take off the meat and can it.  Well needless to say the meat did not come off the bone.  So I put all my chickens in the freezer in bags..carcass and all.  I was just going to pressure cook them the day we were going to eat them.  I came across this recipe and though...hm....I have a carcass laying around..in fact I have 5!  So I put one in the crockpot and away we go.  You will have to add seasoning to your taste.  What I've done is put that amount in and add stuff here and there as its cooking.  Its been on for almost 12 hours now and is developing a nice flavor.  The reason for the vinegar, I am really suppose to put in 1/4 cup..but I'm too scared, is to help break down the bone and allow the nutrients to come forth.  Something about breaking down the phytic acid.  Its the same concept on people soaking grains too..makes them easier to digest.  Apparently its all the rage and I didnt get the memo.  Anyway its already delicious.  Sorry I dont have a picture  :(                                      OH and one person said that when your carcass finally falls apart after all those batches..you can feed it to the dog as mushy dog food!  Cool no waste!

Saddened by a loss

Everytime I get a favorite chicken and become attached, they end up dead somehow.  It happened again.  My beloved peachy cream.  She was a mostly white golden comet.  I loved her dearly.  She was such a human.  She would always be the last one in, making sure all were in bed.  She would come up to me and "talk" to me, love on me, and she just generally cared that I loved her.  Its sad to say but instead of being angry at a neighbors dog or at a coon, hawk, or skunk...I have to be mad at one of my cats.  Its the only explanation of the time of day she disappeared and the location I found all the feathers.  I"m so upset, I want to cry but its my third favorite that died.  She had gotten out of her pen like she always does and goes picking around the yard, mostly in my garden.  Apparently that was her downfall this time.  The cats have never even hinted at the chickens.  They walk by them when the free range and dont even look at them.  Its just sad to say but I miss her terribly.  Its almost better not knowing sometimes.  I guess I will be finding homes for my cats and reinforce the chicken run so none can get out.  I went out this morning and all the others of the same kind and size were all "talking" to me telling me what happened.   Goodbye my beloved peachy cream, I'll miss you.

My chicken setup

Chickens are a great way to be self sufficient.  If you can free range they take very little food. They give you chicken and eggs.  You can feed them leftovers and peelings from the garden.  You still want to buy chicken feed to make sure their nutrition is complete but you dont have to have very many and they can live in about anything as a coop.  Here is what I have.  We used an old shed that was once a shed, dog kennel, and now is a chicken coop.

My chickens

Two years ago I got chickens.  We had chickens growing up and I thought the idea of eggs whenever we needed them was a great idea.  It has been an adventure to say the least.  Here is a picture of my chicken set up outside.  I have two openings to my gardens and I also have a way to open the two runs together to make one.

When we first started with chickens we bought 10. Two of many different ones to see what we liked the best.  We got Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Isa Browns, and Silver Laced Wyandottes.  Unfortunatly we have irresponsible dog owners and coons out here and we lost both our Isa Browns, which are by far my favorite breed.  Last year we bought 10 broilers. They stank horrid and ate me out of house and home. I didnt have a good way to keep them or kill them.  I vowed I would never get them again, but now that I am wiser I"m thinking about it again but they definitly will be well away from the house.  We also got 5 Rhode Island Reds and unfortunately we only have 2 left.  One made it till this spring but when we put in our newest chicks she was too much of a bully and she ended up as dinner.
     This year we bought 6 Golden comets, 3 more Easter Eggers, 3 Golden Laced Wyandottes, and one silkie.  We also got a rescue hen (black australorp) because my friends dog brought one home.  Currently we have 24. 11 of which lay eggs.  The extra eggs we give to little ol ladies who are now living in senior centers and they all used to live on farms.  We use the shavings to line the paths in our gardens, as mulch in flower beds, and compost most over winter.  We use shredded newspaper and bills for the nesting boxes and then that gets composted eventually also.  I try to let my girls free range as much as possible but with the dogs running around here whenever they feel like it, I have to make sure I am home and outside all day.   This winter I already know I will have to cull at least 5 for canning.  My coop is too small to hold them all inside for winter.  I plan on placing my webcam out there and keeping track of who's laying eggs on a daily basis here.  The ones who are not...well...