Warning Graphic Photos!: My weekend Learning to process Chickens

I actually debated on if I should post these photos or not. Many people are very sensitive about butchering animals. But my goal here is to share with everyone things I have learned through our adventures in homesteading. Too many people now a days are disconnected with their food. They would rather buy meat from factories where the animals have no quality of life whatsoever and are pumped full of antibiotics and medicated feeds. These birds that we butchered were free ranged in EVERY sense of the word(NO chicken tractors for them) even though people will swear up and down and left and right that you cannot free range meat kings that their hearts and legs cant handle it or that they are too lazy and wont range. The methods that I was taught were both ethical, fast, and respectful. The birds that were lovingly raised weren’t stressed by a long trek to a facility and they were killed in a way that they only thrashed after their hearts actually gave out(Death throws).

we processed. All 25 birds with no issue at all thanks to the plucker our friend borrowed. I’m hoping I might be included in a co-share on a plucker in the future if all goes well!

Our friends dog enjoying processing day!(Chicken feet are GREAT for dogs teeth!)

WARNING: Graphic Photos Below!

Hay day is a long day.

Yesterday one of my friends and I went out to get hay. The night before I tried to go to sleep but couldn’t fall asleep. I would go to bed try to fall asleep then get back up, go read, surf the internet etc. Until I gave up at 6:30 AM and just got up. I went out to record it for posterity. You can see by the sun rising how early it was.

My rooster sounded rather loud for some reason so I went to the coop only to find the door wide open and all of my chickens out apparently having spent all night partying! Im lucky our resident fox didnt come and kill them all

Morning mom!

I went about doing my chores. Made some homemade dishwasher and laundry detergent  then went out and fed and watered the chickens. Then filled their outdoor tub. Its not REALLY needed but just super entertaining to watch them all converge on it

scratching at some feed I gave them to eat

I kept hearing my turkey chicks crying but couldn’t see them anywhere. Went around to the front of the house following the noise to see Steven and Penelope out front

And these two popped up

Since I was up my friend came to pick me up early so we could have breakfast before heading out to pick up the way. I still wonder if it was the right thing to do.  These were taken while we waited.

And waited…

Apparently it takes 45 minutes to make this

And this

and an HOUR to make french toast! He also clearly ordered french toast and the waiter first brought him pancakes.

Let me just state that I was raised by a mother who has been working in the restaurant industry much longer than I have been around(Shes a chef) and I married a husband who is a chef also. I’ve been cooking since I was 5. I am extremely easygoing when it comes to restaurants BUT there are other things that I am very strict or picky on. This is also the only place to go have a proper sit down breakfast in my area and it wasn’t busy at all. There were eight tables. Only two other tables were full before we sat down. By the time we got our food everyone else had already had their meals.

So then we headed off to pick up the trailer for the hay

GET IN THE CAR!(This was literally what he said as I was taking this photo.)

And we have a full load! 50 bails of hay. Hooray!

I’m glad we got to pick some more hay up. I’m still looking for someone who can deliver me 200 bails at a time or something of the sort as we need to start putting hay away for winter.

One of our friends came down from the city to play gurps(Its a role playing game like dungeons and dragons) so by the time I went to bed it was one in the morning. Long day but a fun filled day of adventures! Real ones and not so real ones.

Strawberry Picking Adventure with Mom

So my mom and I left early this morning to go Strawberry Picking. I would like to suggest NOT to go Strawberry picking when you’ve only managed to fall asleep at 5:30 AM because you work late then wake up at 7:30 to get ready to head out! We had a great time but were in a rush as my mother works for a kids camp and had to get to work early. I didnt get to fill my bucket up but got it half full which was good. We are going back next week which I’m excited to get more Strawberries.

This was their gorgeous Canola field in front of the Strawberry fields. I wish I could have captured how deep yellow the field was!

Strawberry fields with a few people already picking

My mothers Berries. Good Job mom!

My bucket. i didn’t do half bad. Especially since I am anemic and get light headed when I’m crouched down for long periods of time(Let me just say that it is hell to rasp my horses hooves 😉 )

I know for Americans this price would probably be considered expensive. over here this was an amazing price for good quality berries.

The owner of the U-pick She is the cutest woman ever. Originally from Holland. Very friendly and great service 🙂

I am so sad she came out blurry in this photo as this was something important to her. She promotes Haskap berried which are full of anti-oxidants. They have a nice slightly bitter taste to them. I bought a quart of them and Will be making some Jam with it.

Finally home. Took a nap for a few hours then proceeded to get these delectable berries ready for the freezer so I can make jam with them later on when I have time.

The tops of the Strawberries. I wonder what I am going to do with them…

That’s right. Chicken treats! They go crazy for them.

They are all ready and I am not putting them on cookie sheets to freeze in the freezer and deep freeze

Ready to freeze. Once their frozen solid I transfer them to plastic bags and back in the fridge they do untill Im ready to Jam

Hope you all enjoyed the photos of our little outing. I look forward to going again next week!

Related articles

• Strawberry Smoothie Dessert (simplywholefoods.com)
• Strawberry Fields Forever – Part 2 (msmousecleanshouse.wordpress.com)
• 5 Berry-Licious U-Pick Strawberry Farms (redtri.com)