Last week, I scheduled the chickens’ demise for Wednesday noon. Tuesday morning, I woke up and saw the chicken pen was empty. I had left their door unlatched the night before and they were gone. It was sort of a mistake, but I wouldn’t mind a bit if the roosters ran away and tried their luck elsewhere. Unfortunately, they didn’t go far. They all said Hi when I found them in the tall grass next to the ditch. When I suggested that they might want to go back to their pen, a dozen promptly toddled in. The last six took a little herding by Jessie, but they’ve become institutionalized: they like their enclosure and their little toys. They don’t want to run away.
I fed them treats all day Tuesday. I made them a pot of rice (their favorite leftover), and they loved it so much that I made them another. I went out at midnight last night to take their feeder away (no food for 12 hours before slaughter so their guts aren’t full), and they looked so sweet all roosting together.
This morning dawned bright,
and the roosters all started crowing.
It’s a secondary sex characteristic. They’ve only just learned how to do it.
As sorry as I’ll be to see the chickens go, well, not everyone feels so fondly.
Better you then me! You’ll have to share some of your favorite chicken receipes in the coming months!
Ooooooo - this is the part that I just couldn’t do. I’m with MVPat - better you than me. I think I heard/read somewhere that if we had to kill our own food, more of us would be vegetarians. Your chickens probably taste better than what a lot of us get since you control their diet.
Again, like MVPat suggested, you’ll have to share your favorite chicken recipes with us.
Good luck to you.
Alice, this week in http://www.mvtimes.com they had an interesting article about small farms on the island and the art of humane slaughtering…interesting check it out….type in slaughter on mvtimes search bar. Hey, have a nice weekend. You to, Barb!
Thanks for the link, Pat!