Meat Chickens - Cut, Scald, Pluck, Clean

A couple of weeks ago it was time to process our meat chickens. This was our first ever attempt at growing chickens to eat. We have had layers for egg production for a few years now but this was totally different. Layers don't usually lay their first eggs until they are around 17 weeks old. These girls were ready to be processed at 7 weeks! So it's a fairly short deal start to finish.

The first step was to put them upside down into the cone and slit their Carotid arteries so they just slowly pass out and die as opposed to chopping their head off and then they, yes they really do run around like a chicken with it's head cut off! Next after they have peacefully slipped off into never never land they go into some 140 degree water for 60 seconds to loosen the feathers. Then they go to the plucking table where the feathers are removed.

Next the head and feet are cut off and the evisceration(removing the innards) begins. The livers and gizzards are put into a separate bag and the chicken is ready for the freezer or frying pan.

We were painfully slow as this was the first time but we got faster as we went along. Next spring we will get more broilers and hopefully be even faster yet.

Eating chicken that you grow yourself; that you feed healthy food; that you don't feed antibiotics and hormones is a very rewarding and delicious experience.

Savannah's big Catfish

Yesterday was a big day for us even for a Sunday. Beside church, small group, a birthday slip and a slide party, Savannah and a friend of hers managed to land the biggest fish ever caught in our pond! It was a huge catfish and they had to fight hard and as a team to get him in. Savannah hooked him but quickly saw that a net would be needed to get him in so she sent her friend to get the net. And they persevered and got it in and soon it will be dinner. There are several things I need to get on this blog but none as exciting as this big giant. Great job girls!

Blackberries!

My Mom called Saturday and said that their blackberry crop was flowing like milk and honey! She invited me to come up and get some so Savannah and I rode up there and picked up a few gallons. My Dad had rooted me some blackberry plants and we have 6 planted but they are still pretty small this year. Next year we should be "in the berries" ourselves. These are those huge berries like you see in the stores and another bonus is these plants don't have any thorns!




Well Melissa didn't waste any time getting them cooking and made several jars of blackberry jelly, blackberry jam, and blackberry cobbler filling. We will be enjoying these berries for a long time to come. As well as I can understand, this is the essence of sustainable farming. Harvesting whatever is in season and then preserving enough to make it until the next harvest. Blackberry jelly year round sounds good to me. (In moderation, of course!)

That's right! The Durham clan headed out for a little hiking for the 4th. We headed up into the mountains above Lake Jocassee. It was beautiful and much cooler than here! One funny thing was since our cell phones didn't work there no one had a watch so we didn't know what time it was for two days! But then we didn't need to know what time it was...that was the cool part. Savannah did finally figure out that the camera would show the time on a certain setting. Thanks Meredith for taking the picture.

The games of summer

With yesterday being the first day of summer I guess it should come as no surprise that we would have the first watermellon seed-spitting contest of the year. The watermellon had been chilling in the fridge for a couple of days so it was great. Then came the challenge!

"Do ya'll want to have a watermellon seed spitting contest?"


Let the games begin!

Not a bad mornings work

Last night Savannah asked if we could go fishing this morning before they had to go for their CPR/First Aid training. I told her we would have to go at 6AM and she said OK so we got up and went and the fish cooperated! She caught 6 and I caught 1 :-( It was a great time and we got enough for a great meal for our family It doesn't get any better than that. My Fathers Day weekend is starting off pretty sweet.

We were in the boat and the dogs were following us around the bank as we fished and then I saw one of them up on the deck so I thought they had given up. Then to our surprise here comes Cabella swimming up to the boat! We let her in and made sure to keep her away from the hooks and the fish. She seemed very happy to be in the boat with us so next time we will try just taking her from the start. Koko would follow us around but she was not going to swim out to us. She will get in the water but she has to have a little coaxing.

Well the early-morning fog has burned off and the sun is out so it's on to checking chickens, cows, bees and the garden. Have a great Fathers Day everyone.

Hot Pepper

One plant that must be grown here on the 2811 is hot pepper. Melissa loves it and now she has some of the kids eating it as well. It's a little too hot for me but they love it so we plant a few of them. This one is a Cayenne but we also usually plant Jalapeno and this year we planted one called a cow horn which has been a hit as well. You would think that these fireballs would be bad for your stomach but research actually shows that they are good for it. It kills some of the bad guys that cause trouble.