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  • GRIT Country Skills Series

    Raising Meat Chickens

    Feb 09, 2018 5 minutes
    By Candi Johns,
    FarmFreshForLife.com

    Two categories of chickens grace our farm: layers and broilers. The layers lay eggs. The broilers are raised for meat. The layers are known for making lots of wonderful eggs. The broilers specialize in getting really large really fast.

    A layer hen can take more than seven months to reach maturity and usually begins to lay small eggs around 6 months of age. A broiler goes from a tiny chick to the size of a basketball in less than two months. Now that’s fast!

    If you would like to begin producing some of your own meat, broiler chickens are a great place to start.

    Raising chickens is relatively easy. They don’t require fancy equipment, pastures or knowledge. And it’s over in six to eight weeks. Bonus!

    Broiler chickens need food, water, and a

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