I took the chickens to the butcher on Friday, and what a RELIEF it was.  Though I am happy to put food on the table for the family, I am not happy with the project in general.  It takes an awful lot of grain to raise a chicken from hatching to finishing.  Most of it is soy and corn that has been genetically modified.  Rabbits do not require those grains to finish (in fact they are not great for them).  People say to eat less meat to be more environmentally friendly.  Though I understand where that viewpoint comes from, I do not totally agree.  I do, however, have respect for the amount of feed that is necessary to make the flesh on the chickens.  I started with 10 birds in March, and I am surprised that I didn’t lose any of them.  The Cornish Cross birds are not at ALL a hardy breed, so I am happy that they made it through the rain and the heat and the other stresses we have had around here lately.

Chickens are easy to process yourself, but you have to have equipment and time, guts and know-how.  I have none of that.  Also, I live in a very residential setting, and my neighbors already have things to say about chickens at times.  I am not sure the reaction I would get if I set up a butcher block and picking station in my garage to process birds.  Instead, I take them to the butcher.  There is a lovely family that runs Mineral Springs Poultry in Willamina.  It is a family operation, but they do a fantastic job.  They have always been very helpful getting my animals processed (they did the goats last year), and they do a great job in every regard.  Even though I may not be the best poultry raiser in the world, they have helped me along without ever making me feel that I was doing something incorrect or wrong.  Additionally, with only a small amount of animals to do, I was happy to pay the less than $2 price tag to have the animals butchered, picked and bagged for me.  I got to play in the park with Daphne while the job as done rather than get blood all over my shirt and anger my neighbors.

I also has my 5 Chukar processed as well.  They are actually quite big, and I am excited to make a nice European meal out of these little birds.

I may, in the future, process my own birds, but in my current situation, I am happy outsourcing.

So, another project has come to a halt.  The freezer is full of lovely meat.