The Nitty Gritty

Tomorrow is chicken processing day.

No, not these birds. The pastured broilers.
I have raised them the exact same way as last year, using the Joel Salatin model for pastured poultry.
This year, however, I used a non-GMO, certified organic broiler feed. It. Was. Expensive.

It also didn't have the best results for growth, It used split peas for protein and the birds just didn't like the peas. I had to run them an extra week for growth and then the rain came.

It has rained every day for the last week. The ground is saturated and the creeks and rivers are flooded.
Today the sun came out between storms and as a result the humidity is very, very high. The air is almost as thick as the grass.
The pasture is sprouting mushrooms.
The bugs were out in full force. The cicadas are singing along with the toads.
It feels like summer in Georgia.

This evening we have been preparing for the long and busy day tomorrow.
The birds cannot be fed tonight so I gave them fresh water and moved their pens to a fresh spot of grass. They will have the grass eaten  down by morning.
They are all healthy birds.

Part of prepping includes meal preparation for the next day. I have divided chores and duties amongst the children.
The oldest, Journee, will help with the chicken processing.
The next oldest, Quinn, doesn't like the hands on farm processing. That is fine because I will need her to prepare meals and take care of the young children, as well as keep up house chores.
Number three child, Indiana, and number four child, Willow, will milk the cow and do all of the morning chores with the hens and cows.
Later they will help by bringing the chickens to us as we process.

I made sure that we had some food in the house, and then I prepared some easy and quick snacks such as jello and fruit cups. Fletcher was happy to watch and help in the kitchen!

That is how I organize and prepare for the long 12 hour day we will likely have tomorrow.
Devin is putting up his large canopy so that we will have cover in case it......rains:-)

It's the nitty gritty of raising pastured poultry.

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