IMG_0972Tomorrow is the big day. Not always something one looks forward to, but we have been working towards it for some time. We are physically read for processing. We have isolated the Rangers from the other chickens, they had all day to eat and run around; now they are at the no food portion of the evening. We have also placed Lily’s Cornish Cross Rooster in the kennel to keep him safe and also keep him from eating. We also gave him a frozen water bottle, because he was just so incredibly hot. When I left him, he was sitting on it and starting to feel a bit better.  Our Rangers have an oscillating fan that they enjoy laying in front of during the day – it helps keep them cool – they were pretty relaxed when I was in there stealing their food this afternoon.

IMG_0973Dustin and Sue set up the processing area today.  This time we’re going to do it under cover of the car port.  We’re using a huge tarp on loan from Lily to keep everyone on. We think cleanup will be a lot easier this way; we are still picking up feathers from the last time and that was almost 6 months ago! It sounds like Dustin is planning on helping us out – so that may make things easier. We have two cones now; I had explained last time that this was a more humane way to dispatch the chickens. For a great explanation of the killing cone – and detailed instructions on how to make one, in case you’re in need of them – check out this blog post by Razor Family Farms. We didn’t make ours, they are readily available on-line… in case you’re wondering. Our plan is to begin early tomorrow, we have around 13 birds to process. Last time we only had 6 and it took us all day.  We know what we’re doing now, and we have help so it should be faster this time. At least that’s what I’m hoping. If you are the praying type, I’d ask that you’d keep us in your prayers over tomorrow. It does take something out of us and is a long, tiring day. We will document the process as much as we can and share it with you on Monday. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s weather: HOT! It was 102° when I came home this afternoon. At least it wasn’t a humid as it had been. The heat is one of the reasons we moved the processing station to the car port area. At least we will be able to be in the shade for that part. High tomorrow is only supposed to be 94°.

Egg Report: for the last few days, we’ve been getting 7 eggs. That’s a nice number: Lucky Seven Sampson, for you School House Rock fans.