Eating the Fruits of the Boy's Labor

What an exciting day we had a few days ago...well, it was exciting for us!  There are so many skills to learn as new homesteaders.  One is the raising and butchering of our own livestock.  Mom has butchered some chickens, dad has done it as well, but this time Nathan and Ben wanted to "man up" and do the actual killing.  The first time seems to be the hardest, but they were successful!  I will spare you the grotesque pictures of the killing and de-feathering and gutting, but here is a great shot of our dinner a few nights ago, thanks to the boys!!

So it has come full circle...they raised the birds, processed the birds and ate the birds.  What a great night around the family table, eating the fruits of their labor!

Thursday's Broiler Biography

Time flies when you're taking care of chicks!  Hard to believe it's already Thursday again!  There has been definite growth in these little guys.  They are still little yellow fluff balls, but a lot more active.  They love to sleep on top of each other...it's so cute!  When they hear us coming they start "peeping" all at once.  It's like a little song for us!

 

Here is a good picture of the obvious difference in size between the broiler and our barred rocks, both hatched the same day...and they are being fed the same exact feed!!

We have been decreasing the temperature of the brooder slowly to harden them off before putting them out to pasture...that way they're not in complete shock from the cold grass that is full of dew in the mornings!  Probably sometime in the next two weeks that will be done.  What a neat experience to have the kids raise their own food...nothing like it!

Chicks have arrived!

THEY'RE HERE!! We received a phone call this morning from the post office informing us a package of rambunctious chicks was waiting for us to come and get them!  How cute are they?

The black with white spots are our barred rock hens for egg laying.  The pale yellow ones are our cornish rock cross for meat...aka, the broiler.  We got 25 of each.

Graycie's just a bit excited!

Starting with today, every THURSDAY for the next 8 weeks we will post a photo of one of these cuties, our cornish rock cross, or broilers.  They are bred to grow extremely fast and we want to document it!  Check back next Thursday to see what this little one looks like in a week!! 

South Greenville Fair

Thanks to my friend Susan we found out about a local fair that was going on today!  I have been long wanting to have the kids enter their farm animals in a fair setting, you know, like a Charlotte's Web movie type thing?...just cute and fun with a bit of competition.  Come to find out, after some research on this local fair, they were holding livestock entries for competition!  So late last night and early this morning the kids and I got everything ready to head to the fair!  Nathan and Caitlin decided to enter their 2 bunnies from the last litter. Ben took along his barred rock rooster that he has been diligently taking care of these last 5 months, Christian picked out a barred rock hen, and Graycie entered her rumpless rooster!  Well what a surprise we got today.....

Caitlin and Nathan's bunnies being judged.

They both won first place!  First place for their particular breed and first place for color!

Ben and Christian patiently waiting to see if their chickens won...

And yes, they did!  Not only did they win first place but Ben's rooster won champion overall!!  Woot-woot!!  That's one proud boy :)

Believe it or not, Graycie's little rumpless also placed first!  Here she is collecting her ribbon and prize money!

It was SO MUCH FUN and such a great experience for the kids.  Their daily hard work has paid off with a fun-filled day, ribbons, and a few bucks to spend on kettle corn and lemonade at the fair!  Here are some pictures of the other events we enjoyed at the fair today.

Ben and Christian decided to participate in the sidewalk chalk art contest.

Some vintage tractors...can't wait to have one of these one day!

A vintage corn shucker run by water!

Watching the dairy goat competition.  We will be a part of this next year!  We couldn't do it this year since participating was all so last minute.  Our goats are at our friend's farm until we get some property.

Dairy cattle competion...would love to be a part of this.

Ellie LOVES her Graycie

Boys and I stayed to watch the tractor parade.

 And this is my favorite shot of the day...watching Caitlin freely and happily share her bunny and put a smile on someone else's face.