Well, I've slaughtered five chickens now. I wouldn't say I'm a pro though. I'm doing it every Thursday morning. The first Thursday, as I've mentioned, I was steely as anything. But once it was all over I allowed myself to feel a bit weak and emotional. That was fine. But I noticed that as the next Thursday rolled around, I was still feeling weak and emotional. The thought of doing it again was just hideous. In fact I felt quite nauseous thinking about it. Still I knew I had to go through with it, no matter what. After all that build up, actually doing it turned out to be less painful than the thinking about it beforehands. I vowed that in future, I won't dwell on it. It's not making it nicer for the chickens, my feeling miserable about their deaths.
So, this last Thursday, I didn't think about it at all, beyond the basics of what I had to do to prepare. Still, I found myself getting somewhat antsy in the lead up to the chop. Afterwards I felt exhausted. I couldn't rest - I had a big day of preserving and gardening jobs that simply had to happen. Next week I'll do everything I can to make it a day off once my chickens are slaughtered.
I can't tell you, though, what immense satisfaction it was to eat the first one. It tasted delicious, simply exquisite. We stuffed it and roasted it, then had roast chicken pickings in the fridge for days - many delicious meals from that chook. We saved all the bones and Paula has cooked it into a stock, which I hope to start on tomorrow. It was a glorious feeling of abundance, having that whole chook in the fridge, and it feels even more abundant to know that our freezer is slowly filling up with chickens.
I have had to simplify their food though. I simply couldn't source and process enough free protein to keep up with what my chooks eat. Here's my new, easier, but still highly nutritious recipe, from ingredients bought at the stockfeed store:
20kg sack of mixed grains (I get wheat, oats, milo, and corn)
5kg bag of meat meal or fish meal
1kg bag of seaweed
10 tablespoons of molasses (I bought a large bucket and am slowly working through it)
150ml cod liver oil (I bought a large bottle).
When I get home, I mix it all up, and keep it in a drum for the chickens. I've bought 3 batches of the above so far, along with some other smaller homemade batches of my previous recipe. I've got nine chooks left, and they are eight weeks old. Five have been slaughtered so far. I must point out that the above recipe does not constitute the cheapest way to feed chickens. I've lost track, somewhat, of the costs involved in feeding them, but it's been expensive, to say the least. I could definitely do it more economically, but a high priority for me is to make my meat ultra-nutritious, and I'd rather pay more for that.
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