My son has chickens, 16 I believe, he has lost a few to predators, they are out of their pen during the day, but the other day he lost the pretty rooster, golden polish, he had won in a pet contest and blue ribbon at the fair. The neighbors dogs escaped their pen and they were awakened by the indoor dog barking his head off, this was 6 a.m. dog inside the pen, it was covered in that chicken mesh stuff, now covered in the heavier wire. He has cochins, a blue silkie (rooster), domineckers, white crested polish, two kinds that came from rural King that I don't know what they are, but they keep to themselves, I would get chickens too, but we have alot of dogs going through as well as all the other varmits..hope you enjoy yours as much as we have theirs.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, roberta. I've been doing some thinking about the issue and a little research, but haven't really had much time this past week with the holidays and broken foot (I am such a klutz sometimes!). I'm still undecided about the omnivorous chicken thing. I'm not really comfortable with the thought of feeding them meat, especially if it's poultry or feeding them back their own eggs. I was advised by "an old guy" who has plenty of farming experience that I shouldn't feed my birds eggs or the shells - cooked or not - because it does encourage egg-eaters. I guess he also comes from a time when there certainly weren't any "extras" to throw out. I definately agree that instinct and experience are two of the most valuable assets a person can have, however, I'm not quite ready to rely upon them soley. Having worked in various branches of research for almost 20 years myself, I have a deep appreciation for what most of the "experts" have to say. I haven't yet met one who isn't driven by the same curiosities and concerns that the rest of us "un-experts" have. Actually, most of them are more driven than the average person will ever be. Also, I'm curious about how you are marketing your products. In your profile page you state you are selling organic meat birds, but it seems that you are talking here about layers? Do you have a dual purpose breed? In regards to the organic label, I'm well aware of the controversies/ambiguity surrounding the term, so I'm wondering how you are defining this for your customers. According to both the USDA and Ag. Canada, "organic" poultry is defined as "grain-fed using only organically grown grains", "free of meat byproducts", "access to open air and sunlight", etc., etc. It seems to me that many people would be assuming that "free of meat by-products" means that the chickens are fed a vegetarian diet. The feed stores here do market feeds with no animal by-products and I've often wondered whether it is because of public perception or if the birds actually perform better on this feed. What are your thoughts on this?

I prefer to use just thighs for chicken and dumplings, but have used the whole chicken on occasion. Cook the chicken ( cut into parts if using whole chicken) and the vegetables (cut into bite sized pieces) in a heavy pot with just enough water or broth to cover, until done. I use quite a lot of vegetables, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, peas, chopped parsley. Allow to cool a bit, debone the chicken and cut it into bite sized pieces. Return to pot with broth and vegetables. You may need to add more broth at this point, you want enough liquid to cook the dumplings. Bring to a very gentle simmer, add dumplings, cover, cook until dumplings are done. (They will almost double in size). Dumplings 1 ½ Sticks butter 2 C water 2 C sifted all purpose flour 1 tsp salt* 4 eggs 1/4 ro ½ C flour * I like to use a seasoned salt. Morton’s Nature’s Seasoning when making chicken & dumplings, or garlic salt for beef stew with dumplings. For ham & dumplings I omit the salt entirely, they pick up enough from the ham broth. In medium saucepan, bring water to boil. Add butter to melt. Add flour and salt all at once, stir and continue to cook until mixture leaves sides of pan. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly. Add the 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, (Be sure each egg is well incorporated into the flour mixture before adding the next one.) For the flatter, strip dumplings, turn dough out onto floured work surface (you may want to do this in sections, about a third at a time.) And pat out with floured hands or use rolling pin. Cut into strips, about 1" X 2". (Or get fancy and make whatever shape you like, squares, diamonds, etc.) If you prefer drop dumplings, skip the rolling out step, and just drop dough by the spoonful into gently simmering broth. (A cookie dough scoop is great for this). Cover and cook until done, about 8 or 10 min. These dumplings will absolutely melt in your mouth!

When I make chicken stock, I don't count the hours spent at a very low simmer as "time spent". So.. I just toss chicken skin, bones, wing tips back bones, into a pot cover with water, whack an onion in quarters, break the leafy tops off of a head of celery, toss in a washed but not peeled carrot, parsley if I have it and a lemon peel from the freezer ( I freeze and save them for things like this). Time spent maybe 5 minutes....because it's as easy to toss stuff into the pot as into the garbage. Then arfer it's simmered about 8 hours...with about 30 seconds here and there and adding more water if needed...I need to spend about 15 minutes straining it out.