D- Day in our house

It's a weird feeling to wake up in the morning with the knowledge that today is the day....

Today is the infamous "chicken day" in our house. We have raised these chickens from a few days old and now we've come to the day we've set to butcher. If you've followed me for very long, you know that this part of our lives is definitely a new venture for us and it's not one that we have decided upon lightly. I see it as a necessity rather than a choice tho. I see it as being responsible about our food and our way of life... if we are going to be meat eaters we need to do it in a respectful manner and I can honestly say that these guys have had the best life that we could offer. They have not been pumped full of hormones or antibiotics, they have not been held in cages that they could not even turn around in, they have had access to green grass and fresh air outdoors.... and yet still these chickens are just as freaky as everyone told us they would be...

I guess I was a bit naive to think that if they were treated kindly they would be any different... but these guys really are that much different. You can even see it in the picture above... these chicks are the same age.... yet one is like a giant and had very little feathers and the other is small and fully feathered. I have found myself apologizing to them every morning as I feed them... sorry that I too fed in to this need for bigger and better- gotta have it right now!I really thought that it would be different.

These chickens are a cross between different breeds of chickens... they grow so fast that at times their bodies can't stand the growth and they have heart attacks or break legs from the weight of their own body!  Not to mention their temperaments!! From the time they were little, they were not the nice little chicks that our other ones were... and now that they have gotten bigger, they are just down right mean!! So much so that my hubby has to wear leather gloves when he feeds them!!

So today is a mix of emotions.... I will be relieved to have this chapter of our chicken adventure over with. There is some sadness knowing that by the end of the day they will have all been turned in to meat for the freezer but on the flip side... by the end of the day I will have a freezer full of meat! :) I am trying to go in to this as taking back our freedom, taking back the ability to be self reliant.... I also find it interesting that by chance we are having our butchering day on Flag Day... maybe I'm a bit strange but I just kinda feel like this is the perfect way to celebrate flag day....What's more American than providing food for your own family!? :)