That is what life is right now. Crazy, crazy.
We unexpectedly had to change our butchering date for the broilers and will now be doing it NEXT MONDAY, so I'm scrambling to make sure that all my customers (er, farm patrons that is) are aware of that fact, see that I have ice, propane, knives, freezer bags, and helpers, and try to make sure that nothing is going to go wrong. Hehe, of course something will go wrong; something always goes wrong! But my fingers are crossed that nothing *too* serious goes amiss, and that the day will go as smoothly as possible. I'm actually looking forward to it a little bit, since I'm eager to implement everything I've learned from Polyface and from the poultry processing facility where I used to work. I have a good team of helpers coming, and with luck we will be fast and efficient. Last year we had way too many people who only had a vague idea of what to do, and it ended up taking us over eight hours to butcher less than 150 chickens. [smacks forehead]. At the processing facility, I learned to butcher and process 100 chicken in 1 hour (that's with help; not by myself! I do 20+ chickens per hour by myself), so hopefully this year will go better!
Also in the radar is a Jersey cow, PLUS a milking machine coming next week!
And tomorrow I have two WWOOF'ers coming here to tour the place, help out, and share stories with. I'm really excited!!
And a post is coming soon about sprouting food for livestock! I started last week and am totally hooked. Why did I never start this sooner?!?!? Talk about a money saver!
Crazy days, but oh how I do enjoy them!
Excellent! Or really I should say eggcellent, I want to sprout for my chickens!!! : ) So glad to have a friend who is figuring it out, cuz I confuzed. LOL
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your processing! I'd probably cut off a finger! Please post a picture of your milker too, a portable one or? How's peaches?
ReplyDeletePeaches is going fabulously! I need to post some good pictures of her... I believe she is getting quite close to 400 lbs. now, and she is just like a TODDLER! She's always getting into trouble, wanting to see what I'm up to, and just generally being an adorable, annoying heifer. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'll post pics of the milking machine once it's in ma' dirty hands! It's a portable one, and I think it might be a belly milker... Not positive on that though.
Oh oops, that first sentence should say, "Peaches is DOING fabulously... Silly me; I clicked the 'G' instead of the 'D'. Duh...
ReplyDeleteYou can process 20+ chickens in an hour? Hmmm, would love to see a video of you processing one to see how it is done efficiently. It took my husband and I 8 hours to process 8 chickens.
ReplyDeleteHow sad is that? I think that I have A LOT to learn.
Heather in PA
Hmm, I can certainly see about doing a video on Monday! ;)
ReplyDeleteIt does help that we use all the professional equipment though... It really makes the day go a whole lot faster!