Whew! I was gonna come post last night, but I was exhausted! We did 20 yesterday, turned out the hubby had too many hours at work this week and they made him take off sunday, so we had him all day. Ended up with the boy cutting and bleeding out, girl and I plucking, hubby gutting, and me cleaning and processing to the freezer. They ranged from 3 1/2 pounds to 5. Got a bit sloppy at the end, so when I cook them I'm gonna have a little feather pulling to do, but all in all, for our first time out, not bad at all. I bought 24 from Meyer- got 20 to the table. One dead on arrival, 1 with a broken beak, never did grow, one lost to the brooder box and one we cut open yesterday, it didn't look quite right to hubby and he trashed it. Not worth any chance at all. Might be a week or so before anybody actually wants to eat chicken, but it all good! I do need a whizbanger next time, and the family has voted, yes, we will do this again, but Mom must keep it to a dozen next time.
Thanks everybody- all the hints, videos, and encouragement were very handy, and yes to you new people- if the city girl from Baltimore can do this- so can you.
I cannot WAIT to boil some of this up and feed to my 5 month old grandson- no antibiotics, no steroids, no nothing but chicken as God intended it to be. (They- meaning the family- did have a moment of hysterical laughter yesterday morning because I insisted we go to the barn and pray over the birds before slaughter - and yes, I still think it was neccesary to give thanks for the life those birds gave, to sustain ours.)
Thanks everybody- all the hints, videos, and encouragement were very handy, and yes to you new people- if the city girl from Baltimore can do this- so can you.
I cannot WAIT to boil some of this up and feed to my 5 month old grandson- no antibiotics, no steroids, no nothing but chicken as God intended it to be. (They- meaning the family- did have a moment of hysterical laughter yesterday morning because I insisted we go to the barn and pray over the birds before slaughter - and yes, I still think it was neccesary to give thanks for the life those birds gave, to sustain ours.)
