Farewell Rosco and Chickman

Today was 'The Day.' I butchered the roosters. My friend Nija had the day off today and offered to help me with the deed because she's a bit of a veteran in the butchering of livestock department. She was running a bit late and I had already been pacing around the driveway for an hour- my table was ready, chopping block and hatchet in place and I was running on adrenaline. Not because I was excited but more because I wanted to get it over with. I had committed to doing this today and didn't want to chicken out(bad pun?) Finally I grabbed the baseball bat and headed up to the coop where the roosters were. We all said our good byes(the kids were insisting on watching despite the fact that I thought it was a bad idea) and then I got on with it. I decided to use the baseball bat because there is just something about chopping off a live chicken's head that I found totally inhumane. Atleast if you knock them out hard enough first they are already dead. That was the worst part of the whole thing- whacking them on the head and then cutting it off after. Nija showed up within 10 minutes of us killing the two birds.

The easiest way to pluck a chicken is to dip it in boiling water beforehand. I've obviously never plucked a chicken before but it seemed to work well. The rest was easy. The kids got to see all the innards which they of course found fascinating. The crop especially, with its little bits of gravel to grind up the food. All in all it was certainly a learning experience. I think it will be easier next time and there will be a next time because I want to grow chickens for food as well as eggs. I am after all living the country life!