Barred Rocks are a handsome looking bird too. You must have a bucolic little acreage, like English cottage country.I started raising birds and rabbits for the table a little over 10 years ago after seeing how birds are raised and processed for the supermarket. Last year we decided to raise Barred Plymouth Rocks again. The first clutch was all females and we couldn't get a straight run until late summer. When we sorted them all into two flocks we had too many roosters but I decided to keep them until spring. We're in the process of choosing two roosters for each flock. I've been saving eggs to incubate and will start some chickens and turkeys this weekend. We're also going to start raising ducks again!
I raised turkeys to pay for part of my Univeristy costs, 500 of them one year, free range. Beaks and claws are no nonsense. We rarely had the birds long enough for them to become aggressive. One Tom was still around in late November, strutting and puffing through the barnyard, with a four inch beard. He dressed out at 39lbs. He had to be frozen and band sawed in half so we could cook him, only half would fit in the oven at a time. I wish I had pictures because it sounds like a Paul Bunyan story.
With story telling in mind, I'll have Mark Twain in the Legend and quietly finish my coffee.