Mostly, they had White Leghorn chickens from Leghorn, Italy ( Livorno).
Golly I’m smart. Lol. These chickens lay white eggs and live a nice, long life.
Broilers, on the other hand, (“ain’t you glad you got two hands”. ). Are not egg layers, but are known for their taste. Poor broilers. They don’t live long
Some afternoons, a gent would come by and say to my uncle, “Ted, I need 4 broilers today”. I’d think’”Oh S—t “. Cause I knew what’s next.
Ted , with me at heal, would head to the broiler coop. he’d grab a hook and catch four poor, plump chickens by a foot ; put them one at a time between his knees and slit their throats. Then he’d let them loose or toss them a bit. They would each do the “chicken dance”. As their last act alive
( a grotesque bouncing, flailing last act)
It ain’t over yet folks. Then my cousin Nancy and I had the fun job of plucking the feathers off them. We’d get 2 large buckets Fill them with hot water. Immerse the dead chickens in that water and begin to pluck feathers. Cousin Nancy was the champion chicken plucker. I was the intern and kinda slow. After a few minutes and a lot of foul smelling chicken feathers, we had 4 plucked broilers for the customer.
Impact: For years. Right up to marrying my bride of over 59 years, I wouldn’t eat chicken. Somehow, I got over that problem.
Mostly, I tended to the white leghorns.
Warning. You will now learn about the feeding habits of White Leghorns on a small farm in 1953ish. In upstate NY.
They had about 100 layers in three different small coops. They literally ate three different meals. Early AM breakfast – Oats and fresh water
Lunch about noon – mash ( ground up some brownish grain). Check water
Supper 5 ish .. corn in grain form. Check water Fill as required.
About twice a week I’d feed them some
Ground oyster shell. This is what helps them have nice hard shells and not just a membrane as the outside of the egg.
Occasionally, we found an egg with only a membrane ( no hard shell). That called for me and my buddy, Pete to play catch to see who could catch the egg without breaking it. Yuk , what a mess.
Between those feedings we did collect eggs frequently. After all, that was the $$ maker. Each chicken lays an average 1 egg per day. Not a big $$ maker.
Sometimes I’d get excused from a feeding chore to go swimming at Yankee Lake ( a 10 minute drive) with Pete and his family. Great fun.
