Well, it was inevitable. With chicken feed prices up to $13.50 a bag, and a bag only lasting about 2 weeks, the 3 dozen eggs we got in that amount of time just didn't make it worthwhile. Even though I insisted back when we got chicks that the only way I would go for it is if I didn't have to help kill them, you know how that goes. I have to admit, it was a well, memorable experience for me when I was young (hence the reason I didn't want to help this go around...) and so it was as memorable for our kids.
Keaton digs in to pull of those feathers. Luckily, Grandpa Ballard came over to help.
Our neighbor Luke Willmore helped a ton. He was much more brave than any of us. In fact, Tanner ended up in on the couch with a stomach ache. Poor little guy.
This one cracks me up! We did the dishtowels on the heads to mimic a picture (I wish we had it scanned so we could share) of Dan's mom and her sister cleaning chickens. I think it's so funny to see the difference in the size of the chickens before and after feathers removed. 
This one cracks me up! We did the dishtowels on the heads to mimic a picture (I wish we had it scanned so we could share) of Dan's mom and her sister cleaning chickens. I think it's so funny to see the difference in the size of the chickens before and after feathers removed. 
Things the kids learned, and that I was reminded of:
1. The saying "running around like a chicken with its head cut off" has real merit.
2. The smell of a blanched feathered covered hen is just like it was, oh, thirty years ago.
3. Once you've grabbed the first handful of warm feathers off it gets a little easier...until you have to start scraping out the inside like pumpkin guts.
4. The one thing that is more interesting than it is gross is the eggs in all the different stages of development. (but not by very far)
Amazingly, I've kind of agreed to getting chicks this spring. Will I ever learn?
We'll let you know how they taste. :)
5 comments:
how many did you end up with?
Eleven. I'm trying homemade chicken noodles today. I think I can stomach it now that it's been a week--hopefully they'll just look like any other chicken I'm taking out of the freezer.
Wow! That's so crazy! My best friend's family in TN did this every year... along with killing their pigs too. I think there may be a day in the future when everyone will have to do this just to eat. At least you've had good practice!
oh this is way sick and brings back lots of memeories. remind me to tell you the story about your Dad and killing of a pig that I rememeber.
I don't think I can eat chicken now - my meat choices are getting smaller by the day. I forgot where chickens came from. :-(
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