Friday, 27 April 2012
Later that day....
Still feeling nauseous, which just gets worse everytime I open the fridge and see the rooster in there wrapped in a plastic bag, its seriously turning my stomach. I think it was the feet peeling that did me in, yip I had to be a big hero and peel the feet...sigh....
We culled our first Rooster (details may be found graphic)
Our chicken flock is down to 7 today as we processed our first rooster today. Was a very new process for me as I have only ever kept chickens for eggs before.
Our plan always was to cull the roosters for food, he was our biggest rooster and had begun to get aggressive towards the hens at feeding time, so we knew it was time. I had to mentally prepare myself for a few days, do loads of research, prepare our equipment etc.
Last night he wasn't fed with the other chooks so his crop would be empty this morning, he spent the last night with the other chooks in the coop and then early this morning we went and got him out. The Farmer took him away and did the deed while I fed the other chooks, leaving them in the run until we were well finished and cleaned up.
My stomach was turning and my eyes felt watery, but I just kept reminding myself that if I was going to eat chicken, then this is the most ethical, the least cruel and the most environmentally friendly way to do it. We made sure our boy had a good life while we had him, plenty of good food, paddocks to forage in, a warm coop to sleep in at night, and a very quick end to his life when the time came.
I was called over and "Big Bopper" as we called him was no more. Strangely as I got closer to the body I went to cover my nose, I guess the only other time I had seen a dead animal with all its feathers on it had been a bit "ripe", I laughed a little at myself for being so silly, there was no smell at all, at any stage of the processing.
We started plucking, and then decided to skin him instead, there were too many pin feathers to deal with. The Farmer skillfully took the skin off and cleaned out the insides, we kept the feet, neck, heart, liver, lungs and gizzard aside. It was funny, once the skin was off I instantly felt more comfortable, I guess it began to look more like something I recognised as "food".
Once the chook was all cleaned up he went into the fridge where he'll stay for 3 days till we eat him. The liver is in the freezer waiting for more livers to join it in a pate. I skinned the feet (now that was an experience to almost turn me vegetarian, but gosh darn it if we were going to kill this chicken I was determined to make use of every last bit, even the peeled feet skin went to the dog to eat) and they went into the freezer with the neck, heart and gizzard to be made into a stock at later date. The lungs went to the cats and the head, feathers/skin and intestines got buried deep in the compost heap to be fed to the garden later.
Once everything was cleaned up and put away I let out the rest of the chooks and was surprised that it was business as usual for them, in fact when they got over to the slaughtering area they started eating a few of the pin feathers I had missed picking up. I'm sure they must have a sense of loss for their flock mate, I just hope they aren't too stressed our by his "disapearance"
I have to admit my stomach is still pretty churned up but at least I've got a few days to let it settle down before we cook him up.
What also amazed me was how different the finished product looked from a shop brought chicken, the breasts were smaller as I would have expected, the legs were twice as long, it will be interesting to see what the flavour is like.
This was a very tough experience for me, I didn't grow up on a farm, all our meat always came from the supermarket, neatly packaged, ready to go. Someone else had done the "dirty work" and it was easy to forget, where this product had come from. The more I found out about the commercial poultry production processes the more revolted I became. So although I had found culling our own rooster really hard, I still feel it is the right thing to do if we are to continue eating chicken and it is another milestone in our journey towards self sufficiency.
Our plan always was to cull the roosters for food, he was our biggest rooster and had begun to get aggressive towards the hens at feeding time, so we knew it was time. I had to mentally prepare myself for a few days, do loads of research, prepare our equipment etc.
Last night he wasn't fed with the other chooks so his crop would be empty this morning, he spent the last night with the other chooks in the coop and then early this morning we went and got him out. The Farmer took him away and did the deed while I fed the other chooks, leaving them in the run until we were well finished and cleaned up.
My stomach was turning and my eyes felt watery, but I just kept reminding myself that if I was going to eat chicken, then this is the most ethical, the least cruel and the most environmentally friendly way to do it. We made sure our boy had a good life while we had him, plenty of good food, paddocks to forage in, a warm coop to sleep in at night, and a very quick end to his life when the time came.
I was called over and "Big Bopper" as we called him was no more. Strangely as I got closer to the body I went to cover my nose, I guess the only other time I had seen a dead animal with all its feathers on it had been a bit "ripe", I laughed a little at myself for being so silly, there was no smell at all, at any stage of the processing.
We started plucking, and then decided to skin him instead, there were too many pin feathers to deal with. The Farmer skillfully took the skin off and cleaned out the insides, we kept the feet, neck, heart, liver, lungs and gizzard aside. It was funny, once the skin was off I instantly felt more comfortable, I guess it began to look more like something I recognised as "food".
Once the chook was all cleaned up he went into the fridge where he'll stay for 3 days till we eat him. The liver is in the freezer waiting for more livers to join it in a pate. I skinned the feet (now that was an experience to almost turn me vegetarian, but gosh darn it if we were going to kill this chicken I was determined to make use of every last bit, even the peeled feet skin went to the dog to eat) and they went into the freezer with the neck, heart and gizzard to be made into a stock at later date. The lungs went to the cats and the head, feathers/skin and intestines got buried deep in the compost heap to be fed to the garden later.
Once everything was cleaned up and put away I let out the rest of the chooks and was surprised that it was business as usual for them, in fact when they got over to the slaughtering area they started eating a few of the pin feathers I had missed picking up. I'm sure they must have a sense of loss for their flock mate, I just hope they aren't too stressed our by his "disapearance"
I have to admit my stomach is still pretty churned up but at least I've got a few days to let it settle down before we cook him up.
What also amazed me was how different the finished product looked from a shop brought chicken, the breasts were smaller as I would have expected, the legs were twice as long, it will be interesting to see what the flavour is like.
This was a very tough experience for me, I didn't grow up on a farm, all our meat always came from the supermarket, neatly packaged, ready to go. Someone else had done the "dirty work" and it was easy to forget, where this product had come from. The more I found out about the commercial poultry production processes the more revolted I became. So although I had found culling our own rooster really hard, I still feel it is the right thing to do if we are to continue eating chicken and it is another milestone in our journey towards self sufficiency.
Monday, 2 April 2012
Sprout Success!
After our tour at Heritage Poultry we were very excited to try sprouting for ourselves, the results are pictured above. The chickens weren't too sure when I first put the dish down, but were very quickly chowing down and really enjoying this new delight.
It is a really simple process. You just take your whole grains (we used wheat and barley)in a bowl or food grade bucket and cover with water till its about an inch above your grains.
Cover with a lid left slightly ajar
After 24hrs drain and cover again with the lid ajar
Leave for about 2 days (your sprouts should be about 10-15mmm long)
then they are ready to feed!
It has been suggested to use organic grains to ensure that they will sprout, but we didn't and it still works, I think the key is that your grains are fresh and not heat treated.
Grains soaking
And The Farmer brought me home a lovely treat from The Bay property, fresh organic figs!
We will be enjoying them fresh for dessert tonight and the rest?
Not sure, may make some fig jam.
And can you believe the chickens turn their noses (well, beaks) up at these!
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Facing the Feijoa Glut
Its that time of the year again when the feijoa trees suddenly burst forth with their mighty harvest of delicious fruit. We are lucky enough to have about 6 established trees in our yard that have joined into one massive hedge of fruit bearing magnificence.
So far I am managing to keep up with the harvest, with only a few going to the birds or the slugs. Bottling jam and chutney and I'll soon be bottling some stewed feijoas as well. Our goal is to fill half a shelf (or more) in our pantry with preserved feijoa, so we are building our stocks of jars and hoping our stamina won't run out!
We are also planning on making some Feijoa Wine and are just gathering the tools and ingrediants at the moment, should be an interesting wee experiment!
So far I am managing to keep up with the harvest, with only a few going to the birds or the slugs. Bottling jam and chutney and I'll soon be bottling some stewed feijoas as well. Our goal is to fill half a shelf (or more) in our pantry with preserved feijoa, so we are building our stocks of jars and hoping our stamina won't run out!
Chutney on the left, Jam on the right
Recipe for Feijoa Jam
4 cups Feijoa (flesh scooped from the skin)
3 cups Sugar
1/2 t Citric Acid (can omit)
3 small - medium jars
Place Feijoa and Sugar in a large pot and bring to the boil
At the same time put your jars in a large pot and cover with boiling water
Sit your lids in some boiling water to cover
Boil everything for 15 minutes
Add citric acid to jam
Test the jam for readiness by placing a spoonful on a plate, cool and then run your finger through to create channel in jam, if the channel doesn't close together your jam is ready to jar!
Drain jars and place on tray
Fill jars to over flowing and then carefully lid
When lids are on tightly, wipe jars clean
and you are good to go!
And The Farmer has collected some Quince from The Bay property, looking forward to making some jelly from it, will be the first time I've cooked with Quice but looking forward to it!
We are also planning on making some Feijoa Wine and are just gathering the tools and ingrediants at the moment, should be an interesting wee experiment!
Saturday, 31 March 2012
April Already?!
Can't believe it is April already! Where does the time go??
The farm is settling down for the winter, over half our lambs have gone off on the truck now, as have our big steers and we can concentrate on pampering our ewes.
We've got a gorgeous new Suffolk ram "Boy" he was straight into work with our current ram "Neil" Hes only a 2 tooth so we look forward to having him for many years to come.
In an happy turn of events we have been offered another 40 acres to manage in the area, so are looking forward to getting stuck in there, starting out with another flock of 30 ewe lambs, very exciting!
The chickens are growing fast and free ranging for a good 3 hours a day now, they are behaving themselves very well in the garden, as long as we have the vegies well netted off!
We did a tour at "Heritage Poultry" which we are very lucky to have just down the road. It was facinating! Even The Farmer thoroughly enjoyed it! We learned everything we were hoping to learn about natural wormers, Diatomaceous Earth, sprouting grains, the deep litter system, feeding, breeding, diseases, culling and so much more. I left with pages of notes and saw some absolutely stunning birds. It was well worth it.
We brought some "Stockmans Friend" with is a natural tonic for animals, with ACV, Honey, Garlic and Seaweed which we gave to the chooks as soon as we got home. And followed up with a bowl of yogurt with their breakfast this morning. At first they looked at me like I was crazy when I gave it to them but after eating a little bit off my fingers they were soon all into it and loved it!
Also brought some whole wheat and barley which we are currently sprouting for them, can't wait to see how they react.
We'll be preparing the Chicken house for winter shortly, covering the run with a roof so it stays dry and getting out deep litter system started in the house, got to make sure the girls are warm and dry!
In other news it turns out The Huntaway is very allergic to Bees/Wasps. I was sitting with her having my lunch about a week ago and I noticed she had a few bumps coming up on her legs, nek minnit - she face had swollen up, eye, ears, and she had come up in lumps all over her body. I immediatly threw her in the car and screamed off to the vet. After a hefty shot of anti-inflamitery steroids she began to deflate. but boy! It was scary. Luckily she didn't have any respiratory distress, but she now has steroid pills I have to take with The Huntaway where ever we may be, in case she is stung again. Sadly The Vet says this is a condition with will worsen as she gets older. The Farmer and I will have to be on our toes...
The farm is settling down for the winter, over half our lambs have gone off on the truck now, as have our big steers and we can concentrate on pampering our ewes.
We've got a gorgeous new Suffolk ram "Boy" he was straight into work with our current ram "Neil" Hes only a 2 tooth so we look forward to having him for many years to come.
In an happy turn of events we have been offered another 40 acres to manage in the area, so are looking forward to getting stuck in there, starting out with another flock of 30 ewe lambs, very exciting!
The strawberry patch! I actually weeded this out today and let the chickens have a little scratch around, then recovered it with mesh and fed with seaweed tea, so is looking a bit better than this now!
The front garden, cleared out of all the tired old petunias, I need to get in and de-head the lavender next, looking forward to all the polyanthus flowering this spring
New growth of Artichoke coming through, there is just the one old plant left on the end that didn't sprout out new growth?? May have to pull out old plant and separate one of the other Artichoke to replace it
The Passionfruit had a nice feed of seaweed tea today, hopefully we may get a few fruit off it next year
The raised bed planted out with new Beetroot, Brussel Sprout, assorted Cauliflower and about a million Leek
The Farmers hot red Chillies!
The big boys before they were off on the truck to their new home
We did a tour at "Heritage Poultry" which we are very lucky to have just down the road. It was facinating! Even The Farmer thoroughly enjoyed it! We learned everything we were hoping to learn about natural wormers, Diatomaceous Earth, sprouting grains, the deep litter system, feeding, breeding, diseases, culling and so much more. I left with pages of notes and saw some absolutely stunning birds. It was well worth it.
We brought some "Stockmans Friend" with is a natural tonic for animals, with ACV, Honey, Garlic and Seaweed which we gave to the chooks as soon as we got home. And followed up with a bowl of yogurt with their breakfast this morning. At first they looked at me like I was crazy when I gave it to them but after eating a little bit off my fingers they were soon all into it and loved it!
Also brought some whole wheat and barley which we are currently sprouting for them, can't wait to see how they react.
We'll be preparing the Chicken house for winter shortly, covering the run with a roof so it stays dry and getting out deep litter system started in the house, got to make sure the girls are warm and dry!
In other news it turns out The Huntaway is very allergic to Bees/Wasps. I was sitting with her having my lunch about a week ago and I noticed she had a few bumps coming up on her legs, nek minnit - she face had swollen up, eye, ears, and she had come up in lumps all over her body. I immediatly threw her in the car and screamed off to the vet. After a hefty shot of anti-inflamitery steroids she began to deflate. but boy! It was scary. Luckily she didn't have any respiratory distress, but she now has steroid pills I have to take with The Huntaway where ever we may be, in case she is stung again. Sadly The Vet says this is a condition with will worsen as she gets older. The Farmer and I will have to be on our toes...
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Love is in the Air
And in the paddock on the farm. Our Ram "Neil", has just been returned to all his girlfriends this week, and was very pleased to see them, and to be honest they seemed quite excited to see him too! So love is in the air, and before we know it there will be babies on the farm again.
Last years lambs are looking to go to sale very soon, and they are looking good, all the rain we have had this summer has certainly made for excellent grass growth and excellent lamb growth!
The chickens are growing fast, we've been collecting them some sand from beach as it is full of Sand Hoppers and they love it! I think this has multiple benefits as it also adds some sand to the base of the run, there are little shells for calcium and sand for their gizzards, protein from the sand hoppers and fun from hunting them! And fun for us watching too!
They are very friendly and happy climb over me when I am sitting in the run with them, they love it when I scratch up the hay for them, or turn over the pieces of wood so they can scratch up all the goodies underneath.
Hopefully it wont be long before we can let them out to free range, just waiting for them to get a little bigger so as our wee moggies won't be keen for some chicken nibbles.
Yes Yes Yes!
Last years lambs are looking to go to sale very soon, and they are looking good, all the rain we have had this summer has certainly made for excellent grass growth and excellent lamb growth!
The chickens are growing fast, we've been collecting them some sand from beach as it is full of Sand Hoppers and they love it! I think this has multiple benefits as it also adds some sand to the base of the run, there are little shells for calcium and sand for their gizzards, protein from the sand hoppers and fun from hunting them! And fun for us watching too!
They are very friendly and happy climb over me when I am sitting in the run with them, they love it when I scratch up the hay for them, or turn over the pieces of wood so they can scratch up all the goodies underneath.
Hopefully it wont be long before we can let them out to free range, just waiting for them to get a little bigger so as our wee moggies won't be keen for some chicken nibbles.
In other news, this was a very timely quote for me to read today
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