It is HOT here today.... In fact, it broke the record . It was 113 F (45 C for those of you outside the US) . That is pretty darn warm. And Elly May made leek and onion soup. Go figure. We ate it cold. The ducks did fine with frequent water changes but I went up to check on the chickens , who don't seem to handle the heat as well .... and noticed our White Rock laying limp under the feeder (it hangs) . I ran over and scooped her up . She was still alive and I cradled her in my arms and rushed up to the house... I was thinking of trying to cool her off in some way... she was sooo warm.... but she died in my arms on the way to the house. I wasn't completely sure at the time so I still put her in the sink and ran water over her neck but then I realized it was all too late and she was gone . ..... I felt sorry for her. She was one of the ones on the very bottom of the pecking order and she got picked on a lot. I'd actually thought of culling her earlier as she didn't look the greatest (all the stress of being the lowest of the low can get to one..) but she was still laying and seemed okay despite having feathers pulled out. Well, now I don't have to do that.... Poor girl.
The ducks are 5 weeks old today.... Where did the time go? They shall be completely feathered out soon. And they shall be gorgeous.
The winter greens I started a couple weeks ago when it was cool are getting fried in this heat... We shall see if they survive. I hope so. The top bed is completely empty (except for a squash plant) and ready for planting. I had a soil test done and found I needed to add gypsum so that has been done. We'll see if that changes anything in the coming growing season. Or it may do nothing and those darn bagrada bugs (imported somehow from Africa two years ago.. they look like small harlequin bugs) will eat everything as they seem to be trying to do already. I wonder if cool weather affects them at all?? I guess we'll find that out too.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Post You've All Been Waing For !!! Chicken Butchering 101
Since you've had so many cute posts in a row with nothing to turn your stomach... I decided it was time for a change. These pics have been in my file for awhile.... long before ducks came along. In fact.. these guys had to go because the ducks were coming along. Anyway... if you are squeamish.. and don't want to see how to kill and gut chickens... skip this post. But if you want to see how we do it... by all means continue. I am not posting this to be graphic. We respect our animals in life and hope to do so in death as well. This is more for people who have asked "just how do I go about doing this" . This is how we do it. When I was learning, and before I did my first one (years ago) , I had nowhere to turn but books. Those were hopelessly inadequate and confusing. They all recommend finding someone to show you. But in case you haven't noticed, there isn't a heck of a lot of chicken processing going on in the city ... not this one anyway, and finding someone to show you is near impossible. So, with book in hand and chicken in the other.... I did my first one... it took me about 1/2 an hour because I had no idea what I was doing (where is the jugular??? where does the knife go exactly? why can't they show the arteries in the pictures???!! what do you mean "remove the entrails with your hand "? how? what am I grabbing? what am I looking for?? I just reach in?? yup ) . But I did it! And I felt so accomplished. It is a dying art.... Being able to make chicken soup from scratch... Really from scratch. Now, over a hundred birds later, I feel quite confident and even have a nice system going where we can do things a lot more efficiently. I am the throat slicer, be header, scalder and plucker . Then I pass them off to Mom and Elly May who are expert gutters. I have a knack for tearing livers and they don't.
How poetic... j/k .. This isn't really in sequence and I don't kill them with a hatchet.. It sends the birds into shock and they don't bleed out as well and they also end up much tougher with all the adrenaline pumping through them.
This is how we do ours. They are upended in a killing cone, you could use an old traffic cone with some minor adjustments (cutting the hole bigger perhaps ). I only have two so I do two at a time. At Polyface they do like... 10 or more at one time. They have an awesome set up . I've been there. Wow.. it was nice. But I'm not doing thousands of birds .. just 10 today.
I use a double bladed narrow knife.. I think I got this one from Murray McMurray Hatcheries... . Unlike the books I've seen, I don't go along side the artery and then out.. I met a wonderful old man at our church (one of our pastors actually) who used to work in chicken processing and he told me they used to just stick the knife clean through to the other side hitting both arteries. You have to go behind the windpipe and esophagus . This lets them still breath and their heart pumps the blood out for a clean bleed. Some may say this sounds terrible... keeping them alive while they bleed to death but it is actually less traumatic than just whacking the head off. I've heard Susan Weed say (she is an herbalist and midwife) that she has spoken to women who nearly bled to death during childbirth and it actually feels euphoric and pleasant. You slowly slip away and feel light headed. Now, I've never asked a chicken... but I'm assuming it is similar. Anyway, I don't know if you can see my knife coming through there but that is about where you want it. It does take practice and if you don't get blood coming out at a good flow , you must go back and hit the artery or else they will not bleed out properly and they will take much longer to die. Blood should be coming out both sides if done properly .
We stick buckets with mulch or shavings underneath to catch the blood, them compost it. The blood should be bright red... not dark .. If it is dark it is from a vein . Bright red is from and artery. At this point, after they are bled out and dead . I like to remove the head . That is where the hatchet comes in. It seems less bird like and more dinner like at that point. This is just a personal preference .. you certainly don't have to take the head off at this point.. But I don't want to see a featherless chicken with a head.. but again, that is just me.
Then we scald. We use a turkey fryer. It works great. The water is about 145 F . That has seemed to work best for us. Too hot and you cook the skin, to cool and the feathers won't come out. Put a little dish soap in the water and it helps get the water down to the skin and they come out cleaner. ;-) Slosh the birds up and down holding on to the feet for about a minute. Keep checking the feathers. Pull on some wing feathers or tail feathers and stop scalding when they come out easily.
Slosh . Slosh slosh..
Then... you pluck.Take them out of the water, set them on a work surface and just grab handfuls of feathers and pull. Tail feathers are the toughest. Work over the carcass 'til you have it clean. You can singe off little hairs later with some flames. Either a lighter or a blow torch..
I have a plucker.. A Featherman Plucker . You could also build yourself a Whizbang . This is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Right up there with A/C in cars... It is awesome . You throw in a scalded bird and flip the switch... in 30 seconds you have a naked chicken.
Is that cool or what??
Then I pass off the birds to the gutters. The zip ties you see there I use to tie their feet together and then I put a bungee cord on that and hook that to the tree above where I'm bleeding them. This keeps them from flipping themselves out of the cones.... a rather unnerving experience. ... Anyway, the feet go.. They get cut off at the first joint there.
I don't have any pictures of slitting the neck skin to loosen the craw and windpipe.. but you do that. Then you make a small , shallow slice above the vent opening (if the bird is on it's back) through the skin and a layer of fat until you see an opening into the cavity , then you stick your hand in and make the hole bigger. The whole point of this is to NOT cut into the intestines. Then you work your hand around that mass of entrails and start working it loose. You want to go up by the neck and pull the stomach/craw all the way through. This is why you loosened it before when you cut into the neck skin. Ideally, you'll pull all this out in one big mass...
Like so. The intestines are still attached to the vent and you want to now take your knife and cut careful around the vent until you've freed the intestines and you can just pull everything out now. DON'T cut into the intestines. I should also mention here that it is a really good idea to fast your birds for at least 12 hours with just water . Then their craws won't be full of food and their intestines won't be so full. That makes everything a lot more pleasant for all involved.
Going backwards.... here is removing the feet.. After all this, rinse, rinse, rinse. The lungs will be little red spongy things stuck to the back ribs. Using a lung puller (yes, there is such a thing) or your fingers, scrape them loose. Rinse more. Make sure you've got the cavity all cleaned out. Then chill the birds as soon as possible. We put them in coolers with ice water.
Then they get packaged and frozen.
Or chopped up for dinner. Yumm. Don't you feel hungry now? These were old laying hens so they weren't tender like young broilers . Elly May cooked them in a low oven for 3 or 4 hours , braising them with a good Irish Stout. They were very tasty. They make up in flavor what they lack in tenderness.
How poetic... j/k .. This isn't really in sequence and I don't kill them with a hatchet.. It sends the birds into shock and they don't bleed out as well and they also end up much tougher with all the adrenaline pumping through them.
This is how we do ours. They are upended in a killing cone, you could use an old traffic cone with some minor adjustments (cutting the hole bigger perhaps ). I only have two so I do two at a time. At Polyface they do like... 10 or more at one time. They have an awesome set up . I've been there. Wow.. it was nice. But I'm not doing thousands of birds .. just 10 today.
I use a double bladed narrow knife.. I think I got this one from Murray McMurray Hatcheries... . Unlike the books I've seen, I don't go along side the artery and then out.. I met a wonderful old man at our church (one of our pastors actually) who used to work in chicken processing and he told me they used to just stick the knife clean through to the other side hitting both arteries. You have to go behind the windpipe and esophagus . This lets them still breath and their heart pumps the blood out for a clean bleed. Some may say this sounds terrible... keeping them alive while they bleed to death but it is actually less traumatic than just whacking the head off. I've heard Susan Weed say (she is an herbalist and midwife) that she has spoken to women who nearly bled to death during childbirth and it actually feels euphoric and pleasant. You slowly slip away and feel light headed. Now, I've never asked a chicken... but I'm assuming it is similar. Anyway, I don't know if you can see my knife coming through there but that is about where you want it. It does take practice and if you don't get blood coming out at a good flow , you must go back and hit the artery or else they will not bleed out properly and they will take much longer to die. Blood should be coming out both sides if done properly .
We stick buckets with mulch or shavings underneath to catch the blood, them compost it. The blood should be bright red... not dark .. If it is dark it is from a vein . Bright red is from and artery. At this point, after they are bled out and dead . I like to remove the head . That is where the hatchet comes in. It seems less bird like and more dinner like at that point. This is just a personal preference .. you certainly don't have to take the head off at this point.. But I don't want to see a featherless chicken with a head.. but again, that is just me.
Then we scald. We use a turkey fryer. It works great. The water is about 145 F . That has seemed to work best for us. Too hot and you cook the skin, to cool and the feathers won't come out. Put a little dish soap in the water and it helps get the water down to the skin and they come out cleaner. ;-) Slosh the birds up and down holding on to the feet for about a minute. Keep checking the feathers. Pull on some wing feathers or tail feathers and stop scalding when they come out easily.
Slosh . Slosh slosh.. 
Then... you pluck.Take them out of the water, set them on a work surface and just grab handfuls of feathers and pull. Tail feathers are the toughest. Work over the carcass 'til you have it clean. You can singe off little hairs later with some flames. Either a lighter or a blow torch..
I have a plucker.. A Featherman Plucker . You could also build yourself a Whizbang . This is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Right up there with A/C in cars... It is awesome . You throw in a scalded bird and flip the switch... in 30 seconds you have a naked chicken. 
Is that cool or what??
Then I pass off the birds to the gutters. The zip ties you see there I use to tie their feet together and then I put a bungee cord on that and hook that to the tree above where I'm bleeding them. This keeps them from flipping themselves out of the cones.... a rather unnerving experience. ... Anyway, the feet go.. They get cut off at the first joint there.
I don't have any pictures of slitting the neck skin to loosen the craw and windpipe.. but you do that. Then you make a small , shallow slice above the vent opening (if the bird is on it's back) through the skin and a layer of fat until you see an opening into the cavity , then you stick your hand in and make the hole bigger. The whole point of this is to NOT cut into the intestines. Then you work your hand around that mass of entrails and start working it loose. You want to go up by the neck and pull the stomach/craw all the way through. This is why you loosened it before when you cut into the neck skin. Ideally, you'll pull all this out in one big mass...
Like so. The intestines are still attached to the vent and you want to now take your knife and cut careful around the vent until you've freed the intestines and you can just pull everything out now. DON'T cut into the intestines. I should also mention here that it is a really good idea to fast your birds for at least 12 hours with just water . Then their craws won't be full of food and their intestines won't be so full. That makes everything a lot more pleasant for all involved.
Going backwards.... here is removing the feet.. After all this, rinse, rinse, rinse. The lungs will be little red spongy things stuck to the back ribs. Using a lung puller (yes, there is such a thing) or your fingers, scrape them loose. Rinse more. Make sure you've got the cavity all cleaned out. Then chill the birds as soon as possible. We put them in coolers with ice water.
Then they get packaged and frozen.
Or chopped up for dinner. Yumm. Don't you feel hungry now? These were old laying hens so they weren't tender like young broilers . Elly May cooked them in a low oven for 3 or 4 hours , braising them with a good Irish Stout. They were very tasty. They make up in flavor what they lack in tenderness. Ta da!! It isn't that complicated. I tried to keep the pictures as least nauseating as I could while still showing the essentials. We'll go back to garden and duck posts here soon. ;-)
4 weeks old...
It has hard to believe that it has been 4 weeks since these little guys came into our lives. They have grown so much! And they are starting to have distinct personalities ....
Little Zooey... (like Zoe..) .. is the smallest , has the darkest bill... and is always behind. She loves to stuff her face though and is the best eater of grubs and other pest critters.
Marny there next to her is going to be quite the looker and already has a honk/quack thing going on . Don't you love her fat cheeks?
Ondine there in the middle with the really dark head and brown breast feathers loves the water. She'll just sit there... How fitting considering her name.
She is going to be so beautiful....
Vesper.. very stately.
After a bath we like to preen!
Penelope closest to my thumb there.. ..Comfrey.. yumm!!.. Who am I missing? Oh.. Jemima is in there somewhere.. They are becoming quite grown up don't you think? They should be fully feathered out soon. And much easier to tell apart. ;-)
Little Zooey... (like Zoe..) .. is the smallest , has the darkest bill... and is always behind. She loves to stuff her face though and is the best eater of grubs and other pest critters.
Marny there next to her is going to be quite the looker and already has a honk/quack thing going on . Don't you love her fat cheeks?
Ondine there in the middle with the really dark head and brown breast feathers loves the water. She'll just sit there... How fitting considering her name.
She is going to be so beautiful....
Vesper.. very stately.
After a bath we like to preen!
Penelope closest to my thumb there.. ..Comfrey.. yumm!!.. Who am I missing? Oh.. Jemima is in there somewhere.. They are becoming quite grown up don't you think? They should be fully feathered out soon. And much easier to tell apart. ;-) Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Inspiration from Daddy-Long-Legs
"Did you ever hear of such a discouraging series of events? It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh --- I really think that requires spirit ."
" It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones-- I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy , and that is to live in the now . Not to be forever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant. It's like farming . You can have extensive farming and intensive farming ; well, I am going to have intensive living after this. I'm going to enjoy every second , and I'm going to know I'm enjoying it while I'm enjoying it . Most people don't live ; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful , tranquil country they are passing through ;and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out , and it doesn't make any difference whether they've reached the goal or not . I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses , even if I never become a Great Author . Did you ever know such a philosopheress as I am developing into?
Yours ever,
Judy
P.S It's raining cats and dogs tonight. Two puppies and a kitten have just landed on the window-sill. "
All quotes taken from Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs
" It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones-- I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy , and that is to live in the now . Not to be forever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant. It's like farming . You can have extensive farming and intensive farming ; well, I am going to have intensive living after this. I'm going to enjoy every second , and I'm going to know I'm enjoying it while I'm enjoying it . Most people don't live ; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful , tranquil country they are passing through ;and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out , and it doesn't make any difference whether they've reached the goal or not . I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses , even if I never become a Great Author . Did you ever know such a philosopheress as I am developing into?
Yours ever,
Judy
P.S It's raining cats and dogs tonight. Two puppies and a kitten have just landed on the window-sill. "
All quotes taken from Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs
Monday, September 13, 2010
Because they grow so fast...
Yet MORE duckling photos.... You don't mind really, do you? Today I had them out for then sunshine and swim , reading a book (me , not them) and watching the skies when a hawk showed up. It just perched on the transmission wires looking down .... I quickly scooped the girls out of the water, much to their dismay , and packed them off to their gravel yard which is completely covered with chicken wire (so hawks can't get in..) . Not as fun as the upper garden bed , but so much safer and better for my peace of mind. Stinkin' hawk.
Now we are three weeks old.
What are you looking at?
Heading up the plank for a swim.
And you all thought my garden was so beautiful . Ha!! All the tomatoes were ripped out. They were at the end of the line and hand mites. The peppers are still there and producing a bit. I'm leaving them for cover at the moment.. the ducks like them. And the squash is still there at the end. We already harvested the big beautiful one. I'll have pictures of that eventually (nearly all 20lbs of it!) . A cover crop and salad greens will be going in here soon. But then where will they play???
We have the ability to dirty any water in 10 seconds. Quite the talent..
Some hide out in the peppers... stripping leaves here and there the little dears.
So big!
Cuddle time... but we really don't like that camera thing.... We'll stay down here until you put that contraption away!
Well, as long as you are going to keep poking that thing at us we will go over here..
What beauties!
Now we are three weeks old.
What are you looking at?
Heading up the plank for a swim.
And you all thought my garden was so beautiful . Ha!! All the tomatoes were ripped out. They were at the end of the line and hand mites. The peppers are still there and producing a bit. I'm leaving them for cover at the moment.. the ducks like them. And the squash is still there at the end. We already harvested the big beautiful one. I'll have pictures of that eventually (nearly all 20lbs of it!) . A cover crop and salad greens will be going in here soon. But then where will they play???
We have the ability to dirty any water in 10 seconds. Quite the talent..
Some hide out in the peppers... stripping leaves here and there the little dears.
So big!
Cuddle time... but we really don't like that camera thing.... We'll stay down here until you put that contraption away!
Well, as long as you are going to keep poking that thing at us we will go over here..
What beauties!Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Cuddle Time
There are 6 ... really... they are just buried.
We're so sleeeeepy.
But not too sleepy to bomb arms with tomato poo....
We love our salsa.. yes we do..Friday, September 3, 2010
New Babies
I know , it has been ages. I've had pictures ready to go for other posts... ... like chicken butchering (which I know you are all just dying to see..) and more canning and stuff... but I'm going to forget about those for now and give you a post full of nice scenery instead to make up for my absenteeism . We've been planning on getting ducks for a long time now. We cleared the other coop of chickens (later post... if you really do want to see..) ... filled the freezer. Brought two tons (yes... four thousand pounds!!) of pea gravel in and unloaded it all by hand (luckily I was having a brief run of energy... it soon faded... I think it was crushed under all the gravel...) and put it into the new duck run so it wouldn't get all muddy and soggy. Cleaned out the old chicken house.. removed roosts (ducks don't roost) ... disinfected the whole thing... then ordered ducklings. They didn't arrive for about 3 weeks so we had plenty of time to get things ready. Though I was still dashing around at the last minute... as usual. But... they are here now and they are so cute. All six of them . They are Welsh Harlequins ... a breed very closely related to the Khaki Campbell (thus excellent egg layers) but much prettier ... in my opinion. And supposedly a bit calmer... but we'll see about that.
When the post office called we dashed out of the house so fast I didn't take any ID . I wasn't driving anyway so figured why bother? But when I got in there and asked for the ducks they wanted to see my ID.. as if random people come into the post office and ask for ducklings. Like they'd know they were there ! Ha... yeah.. well.. I told him my name ... where they were from... "JUST GIVE THEM TOO ME!!! " I wanted to yell... But they were nice about it and got them for me anyway. Anyway.. . without further ado... pictures.
Sorry about the blur.. but isn't she cute??
On the ride home from the post office.
I tried hard to convince them that shavings were not an primary or alternative food source. They were not convinced and I was afraid they were going to make themselves sick so we had to cover the shavings with newspaper to begin with. That made them slip and slide a bit on their awkward legs but they eventually decided that food tasted a big better than that dry stuff.... but not much... (they continue to eat the stuff occasionally. Maybe they consider it fiber?? ) and I was able to remove the paper.
They were sooo tiny!!
Ahh.. now we are growing .. and looking wise.
Bath time! Taking care to have warm water (and a very warm day) so they didn't get chilled (because they don't have oil from their mother to protect them like wild ducks or ducks raised with a mother), they got their first bath. And they loved it . I like the punk spiked hair look we are going for here.
Looking on.... I don't trust him at all. He had to be removed from the premises immediately because he was a tad too interested in having a snack.
Who is that up there?
Now we get to run around in one of the garden beds so mama duck can air out her room! They've been in a large Rubbermaid in my room (next to my bed) for the past week and a half and I think we are ready to move to the duck house. Then I won't have to have a light burning all night long and have to get up several times a night to refill their water. Or be hit with that .... shall we say... fragrant aroma every time I walk into my room (despite daily cleaning) . I've enjoyed having them so close and being able to cuddle with them whenever I want but it is time.
Punker Man looks on. I don't really trust him either but he is fine if I'm out there with him. He listens ... enough to leave them alone when I threaten his life if he so much as drools in their direction.
Drying off afer a bath. Chillin with the pepper plants.
And now... today... they are about twice ... or three times the size as a week and a half ago when they got here. But still fluffy... still peeping.. and still cute.
Until I was putting together the pictures for this post I didn't realize how much they'd grown . And so fast. Well... they are putting away enough food. We'll see how they like sleeping out in the new duck house tonight. I think I shall worry about them a bit.... but only a bit . I think I'll be enjoying the opportunity to sleep without having to refill waters at 3 am.
When the post office called we dashed out of the house so fast I didn't take any ID . I wasn't driving anyway so figured why bother? But when I got in there and asked for the ducks they wanted to see my ID.. as if random people come into the post office and ask for ducklings. Like they'd know they were there ! Ha... yeah.. well.. I told him my name ... where they were from... "JUST GIVE THEM TOO ME!!! " I wanted to yell... But they were nice about it and got them for me anyway. Anyway.. . without further ado... pictures.
Sorry about the blur.. but isn't she cute??
On the ride home from the post office.
I tried hard to convince them that shavings were not an primary or alternative food source. They were not convinced and I was afraid they were going to make themselves sick so we had to cover the shavings with newspaper to begin with. That made them slip and slide a bit on their awkward legs but they eventually decided that food tasted a big better than that dry stuff.... but not much... (they continue to eat the stuff occasionally. Maybe they consider it fiber?? ) and I was able to remove the paper.
They were sooo tiny!!
Ahh.. now we are growing .. and looking wise.
Bath time! Taking care to have warm water (and a very warm day) so they didn't get chilled (because they don't have oil from their mother to protect them like wild ducks or ducks raised with a mother), they got their first bath. And they loved it . I like the punk spiked hair look we are going for here.
Looking on.... I don't trust him at all. He had to be removed from the premises immediately because he was a tad too interested in having a snack.
Who is that up there?
Now we get to run around in one of the garden beds so mama duck can air out her room! They've been in a large Rubbermaid in my room (next to my bed) for the past week and a half and I think we are ready to move to the duck house. Then I won't have to have a light burning all night long and have to get up several times a night to refill their water. Or be hit with that .... shall we say... fragrant aroma every time I walk into my room (despite daily cleaning) . I've enjoyed having them so close and being able to cuddle with them whenever I want but it is time.
Punker Man looks on. I don't really trust him either but he is fine if I'm out there with him. He listens ... enough to leave them alone when I threaten his life if he so much as drools in their direction.
Drying off afer a bath. Chillin with the pepper plants.
And now... today... they are about twice ... or three times the size as a week and a half ago when they got here. But still fluffy... still peeping.. and still cute.
Until I was putting together the pictures for this post I didn't realize how much they'd grown . And so fast. Well... they are putting away enough food. We'll see how they like sleeping out in the new duck house tonight. I think I shall worry about them a bit.... but only a bit . I think I'll be enjoying the opportunity to sleep without having to refill waters at 3 am.
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