From 50 to 12

I started out with 50 fluffy cute little Freedom Ranger chicks 14 weeks ago. I am down to just 12 now. I just got done butchering 10 more. today. So far of the 38 I have done, none have weighed over 4 pounds. They are just under 4 pounds and up to a little over 2 1/2 pounds. Not big birds at all. And they are 14 weeks old today.

I think they just had too much room to roam in and run off the fat. I have spent way too much money on these guys too. With starter-grower and grower-finisher at $17.00 a 50 pound bag, and they went through 17 bags since I've had them, these are really expensive birds. I don't think I can do this again. I'll have to see if I will break even. Probably not. But they are all sold!

It'll be quiet around here without them all. I do still have my non egg layers. I say non egg layers because I might get 2 eggs a day from 17 less than a year old hens. I am lucky to be getting 2 a day right now, I guess. I am just not very happy with chickens these days. It's so much cheaper to buy eggs from someone else than feed these guys. And I could sell them for $10 each and make a little money that way. But them what would I do with all the sheep and goat poop? The chickens are good at scratching it up and mulching too. So I will probably keep the layers awhile more.

Happy Halloween, y'all!

Change of plans

It's been really windy here the past few days. So windy that I couldn't butcher any chickens yesterday. I had caught 10 and got them in the cage ready for yesterday morning and had to let them out because it was too windy. The grill wouldn't have stayed lit. So they get a few more days of life. I think Thursday will be a warmer day with no wind so I will try again then.

It's so sad to see all the destruction way up in NJ and NY from this massive hurricane. So many lives lost and homes destroyed. But to see the determination and strength in these  people who have lost everything is amazing. I just cannot even imagine what it would be like to lose all I had. My thoughts and prayers are with them all.

Gonna get cold tonight!

Just look at these beautiful veggies! It might freeze tonight, so I went out and picked all the little squash and zucchini. I already had the green beans and radishes and carrots picked. And I went today to the Chattanooga market and found a pretty green cauliflower. Also got a handful of grape leaves and a whole head of garlic and some dill seeds. Opened up my handy Wild Fermentation book and found my recipe for Sour Cucumbers. That is the best way to make pickled cucumbers and it's so easy. The recipe says to add any veggies, so I did.


                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                     I can't figure this darn computer out, so there's no telling where all this will be when I'm done. So I started with a layer of garlic cloves then the grape leaves. Then 4 T of dill seeds. It took the whole little container of seeds. Then started layering the veggies.Green beans, radishes, carrots, zucchini, squash, then the cauliflower. That's the only thing I didn't grow here.

I'm supposed to let it sit about a week with the cheesecloth on. I have to check for any strange looking stuff on the top and skim it off. I have never seen that before though. But different times of the year do different things. Forgot to say I then added 6 T sea salt to a half gallon of water and stirred til the salt was dissolved. Then poured that over the veggies til covered.

Hopefully in a week or so, we'll be eating yummy fermented veggies. And I can add new veggies as the jar gets emptied.

 The grape leaves are supposed to keep the veggies crunchy. And they really do.

Has anyone else done this? I love this book and use it a lot. The author was here in Chattanooga a few months ago and I was going to go but something came up and I missed him. He has a new book out now that I want.

 I hope y'all try this with your fall veggies soon.