Farm Friday: I Lost It. Yes, "It".

Ick. 
At a time when my blog has more followers and more traffic than ever, my Top Mommy Blog votes are dropping. I'm off the first page!  Just a week or so ago I was up to #14! 
If everyone who visits could take one second to click this brown button, it would shoot me straight back up again.
Pretty please? With sugar on top?
Thanks!!




**********************




I've lost my homesteader virginity.

Some might think I lost it when I got goats.

Nah, that was just makin' out.

Some would say I lost it when I got chickens and started getting eggs.

Uh-uh. That would be more like 2nd base.

But raising chickens for meat?
Taking them to slaughter and then eating them?

Yep. Lost my virginity.



And while I'll admit I had a first-timer's jitters, it went just fine.

I loaded them into a dog crate in the back of the car.

The big boys wanted me to drop them off at the Amish Market on my way to the "chicken drop".

They were none too pleased driving there with a crate of chickens just the other side of their seat.

Ohhh, Mom, really? Do we have to drive there with the chickens?
Why are they making all that noise?
Why do they smell?
Oh my God, now they smell even worse! Did they POOP?
Open the windows!
Ahhhhhh!


Yeah. They just love me....

Anyway, like I said, other than offending the boys' delicate sensibilities, it went fine.

The place I took them to runs a smooth, efficient operation.

Though they process two or three hundred chickens there every Saturday morning, you would never know it from the look or the smell or the sound. It was quiet, it was clean, it was neat. Nothing behind closed doors, either, so you can see every step of the process, if you're so inclined.




So here they are  all buckled in and ready to go.
And I can now add feathers and chicken sh** to the stuff in my car that shouldn't be.

The drop.

Loaded back into the car for the ride home.
A little quieter. A little less poopy.

And then I came home, put one in the crockpot, a couple in the fridge, and the rest in the freezer.

And when the first chicken finished cooking and cooling, I pulled the meat off the bones and bagged it. And ate a few morsels.

And ohmygosh, YUM!


Next week I'll give you a breakdown on costs.

So what do you think? Are you proud of me? Disgusted?
Don't be shy, let me know....


************

Read it. Like it? Follow it. Please? Thanks.
(Follow my blog by adding yourself as a follower with Google Friends Connect in my sidebar!)


***************************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!



***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday:
Homestead Revival's Barn Hop
Natural Living Mamma's Natural Living Mondays
The Chicken Chick's Clever Chicks
A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras
Ponder Wonder's Soul Food Monday
@ Home Take 2's Mom's Monday Mingle
DIY Dreamer's Pinterest Repin Party
DIY Home Sweet Home's More the Merrier Monday
Tuesday:
Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday
Crafty Garden Mama's Tuesday Greens
The Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday:
My Life and Kids Finding the Funny
Tilly's Nest's Down Home
Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk's Mom's Library Link-Up
Crafty Spices Wordless Wednesday
Thursday:
A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop
Two In Diapers' Mommy Brain Mixer
Friday:
Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday
Fresh Eggs Daily's FarmGirl Friday
Little Becky Homecky's Fantabulous Friday
@Home Take 2's Weekend Blog Walk
Oh So Amelia's Friday Chaos
Saturday:
Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop
Tutus and Tea Parties' Pinteresting Party
Sunday:
Dawn's Disaster's Super Sunday Link


Come join the fun!

*************

Rudeness disclaimer:

I love all your comments,
I read every one!
But I can't hit 'reply',
I've no time for fun.
Please don't judge me,
Please don't hate.
If you have a question that just can't wait,
Send me an email at farmbeachgal@yahoo.com,
And I'll answer right back because I'm, you know, the Mom.

8 Cruelest Foods You Eat

I ran across this little gem of an article in Yahoo News earlier this week.

With all my talk lately about me trying my hand at raising animals for meat, I thought it would be perfect to post the article here.

I know the author can do a better job of 'splainin' about this stuff than I can.

So read on!


*************


By the time that cheeseburger arrives on your plate, it’s hard to think about anything but how tasty it’ll be. But when you trace the origins of each ingredient—the beef, the fried egg, the splurge-worthy bacon—some uncomfortable truths emerge.

That we’re uneasy about the origins of our food is no surprise. After all, in our shrink-wrapped, pre-cooked, fast-food world, it’s easy to ignore. Fortunately, though, awareness is growing where it matters: Big Food. In just this year alone, shocking cases of documented animal abuse have persuaded many of the biggest meat purchasers—McDonald’s, Burger King, and Subway—to make their chains more humane.

Still, we’re a long way off from feeling good about what’s for dinner, whether it’s beef, chicken, or even eggs. Join us as we check in with the 8 Cruelest Foods You Eat—plus, what’s being done about them, and what to eat in the meantime.



8 Cruelest Foods You Eat | Yahoo! Health

Image courtsy: ihopanimalcruelty.com


************

Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!



***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, The Chicken Chick's Clever Chicks, A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras Link-Up, and @ Home Take 2's Mom's Monday Mingle
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday,   Crafty Garden Mama's Tuesday Greens, and The Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny, Tilly's Nest's Down Home, and Crafty Spices Wordless Wednesday
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop, and Two In Diapers' Mommy Brain Mixer
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, Fresh Eggs Daily's Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest,Little Becky Homecky's Fantabulous Friday, and Oh So Amelia's Friday Chaos
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up.

Since today is Friday, that means I'm linking today's post with Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, Fresh Eggs Daily's Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest, Little Becky Homecky's Fantabulous Friday, and my post "Sniffing the Vomit" with Oh So Amelia's Friday Chaos.

Come join the fun!

Farm Friday: Chick Update

If you follow along regularly, you'll remember last week I dropped the bomb that I am raising some chicks for meat.

With luck, you'll have collected yourself by now.

So I thought it would be a good time to give you an update.

In a nutshell, they are now two weeks old, and they're growing.

A lot.

They've gotten big enough that they seem crowded in the rabbit hutch make-shift brooder they started out in, and they're starting to fight a bit.

So now I keep them all in there at night, for safety, but in the morning, I let them roam around in the space surrounding the hutch.

They have a lot of room to run around and scratch and peck, and they still do a bit of fighting, but they seem happy.

I should also mention that when the company sent me the chicks I ordered, they also sent "filler chicks".

Filler chicks are layer breed males that the company throws into the boxes of smaller orders, for "warmth and packing". In other words, they are those plastic air bubbles or styrofoam peanuts.

I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I figure I'll just raise them for meat along with the others. They will take longer to mature to a decent weight, so they will go through more food, but then again, they were free, so maybe as far as cost goes, it will be a wash. They may not be as tender as the Cornish-Rocks, but I don't know. We'll see. From what I've seen from that awful video, if layer breed males are not used as packing peanuts, they are ground up (live) for God knows what.  Dog food, maybe?  So even though they'll still end up as meat by staying here, at least they're getting a chance to have a good - if short- life.


Here are a few pics of them I took yesterday....

Look at the gams!

I put a small log in the pen, and they were enjoying trying to sit on it.

These colored ones are the layer-breed cockerels. They are spunky and fiesty, and will start fights with the Cornish-Rocks, though are no match in size.

Anyway, so far so good. I'll keep you posted.

************

Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs. You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.



Thanks!



***************

In case you didn't know it, I'm like the queen of blog-hoppin' lately. It's kind of like square dancing but without the dated outfits, smelly gym, and elderly caller.

Here's the schedule I keep:
Monday: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, The Chicken Chick's Clever Chicks, A Cat-Like Curiosity's Monday Mantras Link-Up, and @ Home Take 2's Mom's Monday Mingle
Tuesday: Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday,   Crafty Garden Mama's Tuesday Greens, and The Wrinkled Mommy's Tuesday Archive Link-Up
Wednesday: My Life and Kids Finding the Funny, Tilly's Nest's Down Home, and Crafty Spices Wordless Wednesday
Thursday: A Rural Journal's Rural Thursday Blog Hop, and Two In Diapers' Mommy Brain Mixer
Friday: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, Fresh Eggs Daily's Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest,Little Becky Homecky's Fantabulous Friday, and Oh So Amelia's Friday Chaos
Saturday: Camera Critter's Life With Dogs Pet Blogger Hop and Country Momma Cooks Saturday Link-Up.

Since today is Friday, that means I'm linking today's post with Deborah Jean's Dandelion House's Farmgirl Friday, Fresh Eggs Daily's Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest, Little Becky Homecky's Fantabulous Friday, and my post "Mid-week Date of a 40-something House Frau" with Oh So Amelia's Friday Chaos.

Come join the fun!

Farm Friday - eggsciting

For all my fellow homesteaders, specifically all you newbies just receiving your first peeps, I wanted to share with you the glory that is finding your first egg.

It will be your time soon....




(written last August)
You'll never guess what's chillin' in my fridge right now.

It's
Small.
Brown.
Perfect.

It was found in the last nesting box in the row in the Hen House.

That's right, uh huh. We got our first egg. James found it on Weds morning.

And I went a little insane.

I was Steve Martin in his celebratory dance when his son caught the winning ball in Parenthood.

I became Jimmy Stewart doing his little parade dance to lock the remaining two dollars in the bank vault in It's a Wonderful Life.

I channelled Tom Hanks after he made fire in Castaway.



From the way I carried on, you'd think I'd laid the egg myself.

I searched the Pinternet in vain to find a crafty way to display my first egg on the wall at the entrance to my home to be preserved for evermore like the first dollar in a Mom and Pop business.

Instead I have taken some photographs.
























The second picture? That's MY EGG sitting pretty and all snuggled up with MY VEGETABLES that I have grown.

I AM SELF-SUFFICIENT!
I AM A HOMESTEADER!
I AM A SUSTAINABLE-LIVING-FREAK!


I will close now. I am off to make a one-egg omelette with tomatos, peppers, scallions, and basil, with some cucumber slices on the side.



**********************




Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till, like forever.



Thanks!


***************

I'm linking up today's post with the barn hop at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House. Come check it out!