Thursday, January 5, 2012

Our First Butchering Experience

January 2, a day none of us will ever forget!  Daddy had to go back to work but the rest of us weren't quiet ready to get back to the books....so we decided to do some hands-on learning instead.  Besides, becoming more self-sufficient by raising and butchering our own livestock is one of the main reasons we moved from Florida...it was time to find out what it was like.  Honestly, slitting the poor hen's throat was the hardest part...I felt so bad killing an animal, and having all the kids, plus the neighbor's kids, there to watch me do it!!  But, "God gave us animals to enjoy and eat,"...that's what I kept repeating outloud as I was killing it!  Once that was done, the rest was great fun for everyone who wanted a part in it!
taking the headless bird to be scalded
scalding the hen to make plucking easier
plucking was fun but messy!

We went through each internal organ to learn what they look like.  Here is Cait cutting open the gizzard.
a teachable moment :)
and the fruit of our labor...yummy chicken parmesean! 
It is so much fun raising our own food.  Knowing how the chickens are being treated, cared for, and being in charge of important decisions like what they are fed makes a huge difference to us...its just comforting knowing every detail about our food.  We can't wait to expand to cows for all our dairy needs and beef, of course.  And tilling that first garden in a few months is going to be so much fun as well!