Such is life on the farm

We did our first butchering on Thursday after Rick got home from work. It was dark, cold and neither he nor I had a clue what we were doing. Really. We had read some tutorials online and he has had experience with gutting deer, so we plunged ahead with our meager knowledge and a desire for fresh organic chicken.


We rigged up our little butchering station with garbage cans, a kitchen sink, the kitchen island, camp stove and various sharp knives.

Tension's were high. Anticipation palatable.

We managed to get the first bird mostly done in about half an hour. The second bird took less time. There were no major mishaps. Just a few surprises.

Like:
Did you know that chickens are hairy?? As in, grandma's chin whiskers, hairy.
After 4 days with no food, only water, the crops of the chickens were still full. What is that about?
There is a fowl foul odor.
The birds legs stick straight out from their bodies when the rig out. Try as we might we couldn't get those girls to put their legs down like their store bought cousins. (read: I had one heck of a time getting those chickens in the roasting pan tonight with their wonky legs stickin' out all over the place. )

As I can smell the wonderful aroma of roasting chicken floating through the house, it is my dearest wish that dinner tonight is worth every lovin' spoonful of pain-in-the-ass work that went into raising/butchering our first batch of meat birds.