This little guy is one of the 100 Cornish Cross chickens that we raise every spring.... yep, for the freezer. Isn't he adorable? You should have heard the poor little chickies chirping and cheeping in their box when we picked them up. It is amazing how loud such little creatures can be.
Believe it or not, these chicks will be ready to be eaten in just 8-10 weeks! When we put them in the freezer, they will weigh as much as 6-8lbs each. Suffice it to say, they will only be cute for a short, short time. They are bred to be eating machines. I am so grateful for the opportunity to raise such healthy, delicious meat each year for our family.
Enjoying the rhythms of the seasons here...
Psa 104:27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season.
Ecc 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
Blessings and all grace to you....
Susan
Posts
I so enjoyed all you've shared this week! Your chicks and seedlings, the hymns, and your thoughts about desiring the milk of the Word- all refreshing and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful rest-of-the-week!
Do you all butcher them yourselves? We have raised chicken for the freezer before but had someone butcher them.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteHi There! Yes, we do butcher our own chickens! I'm a city girl, so it was a little difficult for me at first, but now that we have raised them for almost 10 years it doesn't bother me at all. (Mean, calloused person that I am!) Mind you, I haven't actually been called upon to actually cut their heads off (sorry if that's too graphic for anyone...), as the boys really like to do that, but I'm a pretty fast "gutter," if I do say so myself!
The first few years we plucked them "by hand," but for the last several years we have been able to use a chicken plucker which *really* speeds up the process!
I am so grateful to be able to have such good organic meat and to know how it was handled in processing, etc.
We're going to be raising another 50 in a few weeks to tide us over the winter.