Today we slaughtered the meat birds, and all thirty made it to graduation day. That is a fantastic outcome. Normal mortality is around five percent, so finishing the season without losing a single bird is a real win.
The birds finished out incredibly well this year. Since this batch was only for our family, we did not bother weighing them, but several looked like they would have tipped the scales at nine pounds or more.
We chose to do cut ups on every bird this time. In the past we have done a mix of whole birds and cut ups, but we consistently use the cut up birds about twice as often as the whole ones. It makes meal planning easier and helps us get the most use out of each harvest.
We are incredibly thankful for another successful season that will feed our family for months to come. The work starts with tiny chicks on pasture and ends with a freezer full of food. It is a cycle we do not take lightly and one we are grateful to complete each year.
