So Many Chickens...

This picture is just a sample of the chickens we raised this year. We have layers, but these are Cornish Cross, the tastiest meat birds around. We ordered 200 birds this spring; attrition has taken that number down more than I would like, but we're still going to have nearly 150 birds processed.

'Processed'. Such a sterile, sanitized word for how a chicken goes from what you see above to the freezer. But I'm not going to go into detail on this. Suffice to say...well, the chickens consider me both their guardian angel who feeds them, and their serial killer who has dwindled their numbers down to a mere handful left in the coop.

And this year, we had people ask us to process their chickens for them...for money. Yes, I was paid to kill chickens this year. You know what that makes me, right? Yep; I'm a chicken assassin.

The surprising thing about the chickens you see is that I didn't expect to see any of them up off the ground; Cornish Cross are both stupid and heavy, and I've never seen one get off the ground at all. They'll run at me flapping their wings like they're trying to take off whenever they see the food bucket in my hand, but actually flying? Not a chance. But here we are, Cornish Cross jumping up and roosting like they are real chickens. It warms my heart.

The nice thing about these chickens is that they don't take a long time to grow; none of these ones are more than 15 weeks old before they meet Mr. Freezer. And even that is longer than I would prefer. But they eat. And eat. A lot of food. I was going through a full 40-kg bag a day for a while, trying to keep all these birds fed. So despite their short lifespan, they end up cost as much as another breed, Rustic Rangers, would cost despite the Rangers taking twice as long to grow out to the proper size.

Raising our own food is a big deal; we know what these birds are eating, so we know what we are eating, too. With my health issues this year, my diet is important. I don't want to screw my health any further than it already was, so I'm watching my intake much more than I used to. And raising and growing our own food is a big part of that. I'm looking forward to getting back to gardening next spring.

So, if you live out in the country, support your local chicken farmer, especially if he's got meat birds you might want to try. If all you're used to eating is store-bought chicken, I guarantee you will taste the difference. And you won't look back.