Who doesn’t like chicken? Well…vegetarians and vegans of course, but for this post we’ll just assume you, who are reading this, at some point really craved and enjoyed a good piece of chicken. Now, let’s define ‘good’. The Mc D chicken nuggets are a hit, Subway chicken sandwiches, Hot wings during your favorite playoff game and the always popular KFC….The Colonels chicken is the #1 requested last meal of those inmates on death row you know. Or how about trying to find the best chicken in the local supermarket without having a slight anxiety attack over, vegetarian fed, organic, no hormones, and then you pick out what you think is the best and the price per lb hits you like a bad dream. Then you just settle for what everyone else can afford and hope it doesn’t make you sick.
My Definition of good chicken:
I got a phone call on November 18th from the local post office at 4:30 a.m. saying my 30 chicks had arrived. Immediate panic set in. They hatched yesterday, were put into a box, shipped overnight, Frigid morning of low teens, and chicks need heat immediately and I know the Postal Service doesn’t provide that. I got my truck to the highest temp I could muster before sticking my head out the window for a deep breath. 20 minutes later, I had them safe and sound in a comfy, heated chicken palace in our barn, their innocent chirping subsided to full bellies and nap time.
Fed and watered daily, you could literally watch them grow before your eyes. No time lapse needed. I knew what they were being fed, I was in control of the humane conditions they were raised in, and we knew their outcome would be inevitable, but that is what they were created for.
6 Weeks later and 250 pounds of feed I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything grow so fast. Well, weeds maybe. These Broiler chickens are genetically designed to grow fast. To Feed America Quick. They literally have coronaries due to their rapid growth rate. We lost 6 birds during this experience and were told that is a good ratio. You will rarely end up with the same # you begin with. We sold some to another farmer wanting chicken for his family. We ended up butchering and processing 15 for ourselves.
(the white ones are the meat birds)
(the white ones are the meat birds)To end a life is always a hard experience. If you didn’t feel some sort of sadness, you wouldn’t be normal. If we didn’t kill the chickens, their lives would be wasted and they would eventually grow so large their legs and hearts would not be able to maintain their weight. Which is worse? William did them in and cleaned them. I processed them, by packaging up legs, thighs, breasts, wings and tenders in convenient sized packages for our meal preferences. With each bird I literally stood amazed at how the Lord created them. I love to know how things are made, and my appreciation for such an amazing creation has only increased through this experience. It took us 2 days to finish the butchering and processing. We have approx 100 lbs of chicken in the freezer and that will last us a very long time.
After all that hard work, our backs have a bit of complaining to do, but overall, we will appreciate the experience of raising good chicken. We had meatloaf for supper.
Larae, I too remember getting the call from the post office and being told that a peeping package has arrived. However, the call never came at 4:30 a.m.! How fun it was to get those peeping packages.
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