**A note before you read further: I did try to be on the conservative side with a lot of these pictures & not show anything graphic, but there are pictures below, mostly of our kids.**
Since we’ve been incubating eggs to try to increase our flock, we had some extra roosters. One batch of 19 chicks we hatched in March had 15 roosters! Ergo, we needed to have them butchered, which is also awesome so now we have meat & broth for months to come. 😊
So, after a lot of talking & planning, we butchered some of our chickens last week. Last year we had taken some & paid to have them butchered, but we wanted to try doing it ourselves. A friend had done it before & was willing to come help/teach us, which was a HUGE blessing!!
I was very proud of all the kids’ hard work & ability to get the job done. I’m a bit more squeamish than they are, so I’m glad that they are learning skills & things like this from a young age.
Getting set up – several tarp-covered tables, the turkey fryer to scald the bird before being pluckedLucas & Logan manned the kill cones.Logan helping with the pluckerLexa & Lizzy & our friend finishing up after the plucking Keira making a face while working with Lizzy (she didn’t want to smile, but she was a trooper just like everyone else)I know the picture doesn’t show it clearly, but I was taking pictures & all of a sudden some bloody hands came around my sides & right in front of my face. 🤪🙃🤥Emma mostly helped me in the house, but wanted to come down & see what was going on. She didn’t stay very long. Lucas was available to help out wherever & be a runner (Keira floated & was a runner also)Ellenor & I came down from time to time to check on the progress, bring drinks & check on the othersAfter the birds were done, we had a big pot of water almost boiling on the stove, put the bird in the special bag, dipped it into the water for 10 seconds & the bag shrunk around the bird. Fascinating! Ready for the freezer!
