Thursday, December 04, 2008

Marci's Good Old Fashioned Chicken Soup

Marci's Good Old Fashioned Chicken Soup - Good for what ails ya!!

First you start with day old chicks that come in the mail. I usually drive to the post office to pick mine up. It is better for the chicks since many times they are made to ride in the trunk because the mail man does not like the happy sounds they make. :) Here is a batch of day old chicks. The ones on the right (all yellow) are for eating. The ones on the left are for laying eggs. They don't play into this post. :)

You put the chicks into the brooder and keep them warm and fed for 2 to 3 weeks. We make sure we feed them a good healthy ration made to our recipe. No hormones or antibiotics in these little chickies.
Once they are 2 to 3 weeks old, you pick a nicer day and put them out on pasture in movable pens like the one you see below. You make sure they have lots of fresh water and feed. You move them onto new ground each day so that they can eat the grass and bugs.
I figured I would spare you the pictures of how they are gathered from the pen and then processed and put in our freezer. Then we take one out of the freezer and put it in some water (run through our Berkey Water Filter of course) with some onions and garlic and spices. Cook them on top of your wood cookstove until it falls apart as you get it out of the pot. Notice the 2 detached legs.
This is the rich broth that is left. Take some noodles (I used organic kamut veggie spirals) and put them in the broth and cook them. Pull some of the meat off of the bones and put it in with the cooked noodles and broth.

Then you put it in a bowl and serve for that down home old fashioned goodness. This is a true comfort food and one that helps you when your feelin' poorly.
*** We have been asked for our feed recipe. Here it is for a #1000 batch.
550# corn
300# soybean
100# Oats
30# Poultry Nutri-balancer by Fertrell
10# Grit
25# Fish Meal

10 comments:

Unknown said...

LOL! Could you give a little more detail, darling?

Anonymous said...

That was great! Thankyou!
I guess you probably knew that another question would be coming your way,so... what is in the ration that you feed them?

Boysaplenty!! said...

Hi Marci,

Just wondering about your special recipe for chicken feed. Would you share it?
Thanks,
Pam

Kelly said...

They're being good...for the most part....lol!

Unknown said...

Awe those sweet little chicks. Soup looks good )
Have a great day.
Lisa

Sharri said...

I loved this post! :)

Scott or Pam said...

Oooo! I love to see other Fertrell users! Good for you! DId your friend find a dealer?
Scott

Jodi said...

Awwwww....I'm so glad you spared us the sad pictures, but I feel better that they were raised with love and kindness!

Do the noodles get soggy? I don't often make chicken noodle soup (I'm vegetarian, but my hubby and older kids are not.), but I always make the noodles separately and add them to each bowl because I'm afraid they'll get soggy if they sit in the broth.

Patricia said...

Well! That is from start to finish!! lol Oh how Sage wants chickens! We told her when we move she can raise some. ;) I bet she would love a visit to Aunt Marci's farm!
Patricia

LadySnow said...

The soup looks delicious! It makes you appreciate your food more...doesn't it? :-D