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Britesea
Sustainability Master
We finished closing up the windows yesterday, and it has made a big difference in the noise level at night; since they don't see any light, they aren't crowing. Yesterday we butchered Big Red, the Welsummer. It hurt like the dickons, because he's hands down the prettiest roo we've ever had. But he was the loudest, and didn't have any particular traits I wanted to pass down to my yard birds. He's in the fridge for a couple of days until rigor mortis relaxes and then I think he will be young enough to roast instead of stewing (not quite 4 months old). Today the little Lakenvelder (who never even got a name, poor thing) has to go. He's the shrillest, and too small to be of much use to the Brahma hens. I don't anticipate a very large carcass, but maybe we can make at least one meal out of him. That leaves us with Duke Jr, the lavender Rock, and Puff, the Brahma rooster (all he's got for a tail so far is a big pompom, lol). Puff has never done a lot of crowing, he seems to be very laid back. So maybe this will back our neighbor off and she won't report us.
Next week, we'll start butchering the oldest hens- they are all 4-5 years old, and we're not getting that many eggs from them anyway. That will bring the total numbers down to 18- 6 more than the "legal limit". Since they have the run of the whole half acre during the day, it's really hard to get an accurate count if you're just casually looking at our property, so maybe she won't realize that.
Of course, if she wants to get hard nosed about it, I could, PERFECTLY LEGALLY get 12 Roosters!
Only one more cabbage that has burst. I'll take care of that one today, and I told DH to back off on the watering so maybe the rest of the crop will hold off. I can do 1 head per load in the freeze dryer, and they take just about 24 hours. I only have 6 or 7 heads left, so I should be done by next week, and then I can work on the carrots.
Last night, I fixed oxtongue in the instant pot, with garlic and onion. We had a 2 1/2 pound tongue, and I thought we'd have plenty of leftovers. Apparently DH and DS loved it so much that we barely have 3/4 of a pound left!
Next week, we'll start butchering the oldest hens- they are all 4-5 years old, and we're not getting that many eggs from them anyway. That will bring the total numbers down to 18- 6 more than the "legal limit". Since they have the run of the whole half acre during the day, it's really hard to get an accurate count if you're just casually looking at our property, so maybe she won't realize that.
Of course, if she wants to get hard nosed about it, I could, PERFECTLY LEGALLY get 12 Roosters!
Only one more cabbage that has burst. I'll take care of that one today, and I told DH to back off on the watering so maybe the rest of the crop will hold off. I can do 1 head per load in the freeze dryer, and they take just about 24 hours. I only have 6 or 7 heads left, so I should be done by next week, and then I can work on the carrots.
Last night, I fixed oxtongue in the instant pot, with garlic and onion. We had a 2 1/2 pound tongue, and I thought we'd have plenty of leftovers. Apparently DH and DS loved it so much that we barely have 3/4 of a pound left!
I'm sure it was not a fun decision to make but, maybe the best. When you reduce the flock by the older hens, the roosters will be annoying to those ones left anyway! It's always a day I dislike --dispatching. At least the CCX are only there a short time, you don't get so attached and they all look alike -- fewer favs. Plus, most often they are ready for freezer camp before they crow.
