I have always wanted to raise our own food. The Laura Ingalls Wilder stories about living off the land have been in my head since I was young. Of course, those circumstances were not ideal, and I would probably be the first person to whine about no freezer or electric lights, but the charm of providing for my family has always drawn me.

    We live in the mountains. We can’t farm here, the land reproduces rocks, but we do have animals and a small garden plot. We have sheep, a horse, chickens, a dog and cats.  In early June we received a batch of chickens. The meat birds need to grow for approximately 8 weeks before butchering.

     August became the month for butchering. This include d killing, soaking in hot water, plucking, gutting, plucking and more plucking.  DH and Ben do the head chopping, the next set of boys gut and the girls and younger boys pluck. I do the final plucking and rinsing in the house. We then wrap the birds and put them in the freezer. Home grown chickens make the absolute BEST chicken soup. It smells and tastes better than store bought.

     We did the butchering in two sessions, eight one time, six the next. The second go round included a family from our church, who’s girls wanted to help. It was great to see how excited and competent they were in helping out.  They are truly pioneer women.

     I will say that one of their sons and one of our older sons opted to prepare an entire lunch rather than help with the chickens; and my son is an EMT! Lunch was good though.

     It was the first time we had done this and I most certainly would like to continue the practice. My DH jokingly, or perhaps not so jokingly, says it would be far easier to go to Trader Joe’s and buy them, and he’s right. But there is something utterly satisfying in eating a meal that you have raised.  

    You may have guessed that the meat birds were my idea.  DH decided that this is a once a year occurrence, so maybe next year we’ll get 30 birds!!

    I'll wait to post pictures as the boys aren't here to show me how!! I promise they won't be real gruesome.

Blessings!!