Flying Feathers

And Fabio is no more. I'm happy to say I'm not sorry. He was asking for it. He made a pretty big bird, and weighed in the same as our meat chickens, who are supposed to be bred for good meat qualities. He came in a 4.5 lbs. I know his skin doesn't look as pretty as the store bought kind, but that's because I scalded him too long. There is a way to scald them so they look prettier, but it's too much trouble for me. As long as the feathers come off easily, I don't care what the carcass looks like.

My church friends were disappointed we didn't bring him for lunch today, but we're not so sure he'd make a good roaster. He might be too tough. I told DW to cook him in the crock pot and then we'll be sure to have tender chicken.

All together we butchered 6 chickens, including Fabio. We have six more to do next weekend that we wanted to let grow a little longer. The chicken plucker worked WONDERFULLY! It stripped the feathers right off the bird so easily. My plucking time went from 40 minutes to 4 minutes. Quite an improvement if you ask me. I think anyone who gets a mechanical plucker should have to hand pluck at least one chicken so they really know how much better it is.

My father-in-law and I also added a metal side to the overhang we store our round bales under. It will help block the rain during storms and hopefully keep the hay a little drier. Less moisture means less waste.

I'm taking off three days from work next week so DW and I can plant the last of the garden. I'll take pictures of how it's looking sometime next week.