Nerve wracking
What is it with the sudden heat waves right before butchering?!?
When I got up this morning I asked Madeline how warm it was supposed to get today. She's always on top of the weather report for some reason.
87 degrees.
I freaked.
87? 87!!!
Thankfully I had the day off, and upon hearing the 87 degree news Matt took it off as well. That way we could keep a close eye on them. He hooked up the trailer and stationed it in the pasture. If needed we would load them up and bring them up to the house to be hosed down.
We took several precautions - at least we're learning, I guess. Shut them out of the shed, took up their feed. Every hour and a half one of us went out to refill waters and see how they were taking the heat. They panted away like plump little feathery white dogs, but without tongues hanging out.
But nobody died. It's still possible one might succumb, simply from the stress of today. But I think we're out of the woods now. It's not supposed to get above 80 tomorrow.
Tomorrow after work we'll load them up in the trailer and haul them to Greene. First thing Wednesday morning they'll be butchered. I'll go down and pick them up, bring them back here to the farm and get them labeled and in the freezers. Another year of chickening done.
posted by sugarcreekfarm at Monday, October 02, 2006
4 Comments:
i have been checking around the local area for a place that will butcher chickens without success. i guess we'll have to stick to butchering them ourselves. good luck for the last few days and may you have no casualties.
Karl - it's too bad you don't live closer to this lady:
http://renewingthecountryside.org/index.php?option=&mode=region&task=view&category=13&Itemid=43&limit=1&limitstart=2
But it sounds like she might be opening a second processing plant closer to you in another year or two?
As someone lurking the shadows, learning about farming from others, I wonder... is the pay-off worth it? It seems like so much work and time. A day doesn't pass that my husband doesn't say he wants to farm.
Juli - it depends on your reasons for wanting to farm. Financially, most would probably say it's not worth it. But when we sit down and eat a supper that consists mainly of the foods we've grown, and our kids are so proud of it, that's when it seems most worth it.
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