We’re Having Chicken Tonight!

For those of you curious to know what happened to those chicks Jon picked up in June….  They turned into these lovely ladies…(and probably a few gentlemen too).

I’m seriously in awe of how fast they grew in eight weeks time—and how much they consume!  From the time they were about three weeks old they’ve been eating all our bread and vegetable scraps as well as their feed.  Did you know that chickens will eat banana peelings, broccoli stems, and lemon rinds?

It made a interesting hobby—one that paid tasty dividends too.  Yesterday, Jon butchered all thirteen remaining chickens.  (A couple of the bigger bullies met their demise early to give the rest a chance to fatten up.)  Both kids observed the whole process from coop to freezer.  They were pretty disgusted by the mess but not enough to stay away.

I had planned to roast one of the chickens right away but Isaiah told me, “I don’t want any chicken until I can forget what happened to them.”  We had pizza instead.

Today, however, Isaiah has discovered that the finished product looks and tastes just like “real” chicken from the store so it’s back at the top of his favorite food list.  Good thing we got 16 more chicks on Wednesday!