We slaughtered the first dozen birds ourselves, but it takes us way too long (even though we have a chicken plucker!) Plus, I think the fact that they are processed in a USDA inspected plant, certified weight, professionally packaged and labelled will reflect well on us, being new farmers.

We have another hundred chickens that will be ready in a few weeks. We are pretty proud of our first chicken-raising efforts. No catastrophes–other than losing a few a week to a great horned owl who lives in our woods and takes advantage of the easy pickin’s. He is very wasteful-only consumes the heads. Anyone have ideas for owl deterrence?

Andrea: We’re gonna eat them, and give some away, and trade—small-farm chicken can be quite the hot currency and reward!   (You should get some layers, if you haven’t already!)
Eric: Yes, going through the whole process is very quietly satisfying. Since this post, I helped process 9 birds on another farm, from killing to carrying to the cooler for pre-freeze cooldown. It really made sense. More in another backpost, coming up.
Michaela: Group ordering sounds great. I’ve been thinking a lot about small group things lately. Of course, CSA is like that, but there are lots of other projects that are more doable and fun with a group as well.
Patti: Going to a processor is convenient in some ways, but expensive. DIY may at first sound like a stretch, but it’s actually very straightforward and practical. You’d probably be surprised. Sometimes in farm families, some do the actual killing, others don’t like to but help with cleaning and everything else. It’s all so closely related, though, that when you’ve helped with any part of the process, you could do it all if you had to.
Kari: Haven’t figured out the feed cost yet. It’s definitely at least a bit less than with the first round last year, because they were out foraging so much. The average weight is around 7 lbs, a pound less than last year, but we didn’t have the deaths (lumbering, indoor White Rocks tend to sponteneously keel over, I’ll explain more in another post), so overall, we got way more meat for less feed, compared to letting them eat feed more-or-less continuously.
Cathy: We paid $3 per bird, and 75¢ for halving, plus $8 for saving the feet, and a few more bucks for saving the organs. It adds up! We used a regular processor, not exclusively organic. I think we’ll make a big effort to DIY next time, maybe in batches of 20 at a time.
Chris: That’s something to look into! There’s definitely always a way to use all parts. It felt good getting back the feet this time, a special request from one of our CSA shareholders. They were in great shape. I kept some, will use for soup stock and may try preparing a few for eating.