Never Enough Time

Chicken stored for the winter

The meat chickens were processed this week. I was sad to cart my meat chickens off but the weather is getting colder, they were getting so heavy they were sitting down to eat and they were becoming a bit harder to look after requiring me to re-fill their water three or four times a day and hunting anyone and anything for food. Also the day before they were to be taken to be processed,  a hawk was flying right over our yard, hunting them. My mom spotted the hawk and her and I rounded up the meat chicks and put them safely in their tractor, then shooed the layers to semi-safety. It was tiring and about the last thing I wanted to be doing in that moment but a hawk will swoop down and carry off even the heaviest of chickens so we had to act.

After the cost of feed, processing and gas to get there, we ended up saving about $2.50 per pound. We ended up with 69 lbs of meat in the freezer. All in all, worth it but that isn't the most valuable thing about raising our own chicken. It is that we know exactly what those birds ate. We also know they were cared for and allowed to run free most of their chicken lives. We would have saved even more if we processed them ourselves so I am looking into buying equipment to make this realistic. I would need a metal table, an outside heat source to have hot water on hand for scalding the dead birds to help with feather removal and a stronger stomach to remove the guts. My husband is pretty good with that part so maybe we will play to our strengths.  I would need some kind of plucker as well. The killing isn't hard and I do that easily with a sharp axe. Things to ponder this winter. I can't wait to see if the rabbits work out as well. We already have had several orders for rabbit meat so we know people like to eat it and can't get it so we are hopeful. We are lucky we can legally sell meat in this province at the farm gate.

We now have 17 chickens in our layer flock due to all of the broodiness this spring and summer. We still aren't sure how many males we have but I am hoping once they settle in and the hens start laying I can sell eggs again. The sales from that won't make us rich but they do keep us in as many eggs as we can use and provide family and friends with fresh, free range eggs for $4.00 a dozen.They really are lovely to have around for the pure entertainment and company. I feel privileged to be a part of their lives.

The rabbit does keep trying to dig out of their tractor so instead of putting a bottom in the tractor, I just move it twice a day. They manage to dig a big hole, but not enough to escape. We hope our doe is pregnant but really I am no expert. I will know in a week when they are due. We also have to move her grown daughter out so this weekend I am hoping to score some plywood from "big garbage day" or drive to the city where it is a freecycle weekend where people are encouraged to put out things they don't want and then in turn people take what they do want. Whatever is left on Monday is picked up by garbage collectors. This is a wonderful idea and I am proud of the city of Halifax.  I figure I can score something for my rabbit to call home.

I went grocery shopping today and didn't have to buy meat. It was a wonderful feeling. Someday I plan to spend almost nothing there, but for now I still buy oats, flour, oil. I am working on sourcing each item from my grocery list either locally or in bulk but it is one thing at a time. I was excited to find a local source of quinoa a few weeks ago. I use a lot of it and it ships from quite far a way and at great cost.  This is grown within an hour's drive and is cheaper than at the grocery store!

I only wish our local Farmer's market wasn't about to shut down for the season already. This weekend, I plan to buy lots of whatever I need and will keep, such as squash and sweet potatoes. I am dreaming of a bigger garden but I at least I still have tomatoes, lettuce and a few carrots left in mine. I have planted kale and some other cold loving greens in the hoop house for us and for our chickens.  We are having unusually warm weather this month so I am hoping it is enough to give my little plants a nice head start. We have only had two brief fires in the wood stove this year so I am loving saving our fuel for later! I am still chopping wood but we have enough now that it feels like I won't run out. Every year there is this point where you stand staring and can't believe you could ever go through this much wood. Six cords all stacked up looks like a lot. When it is your only heat source, and it gets really cold , the wood goes fast.

There is never enough time to do all of the projects I need to get done, so I have to remind myself to stay focused and remember why I am working so hard. My husband is talking about getting bees in the spring to make us some honey which we use a lot of and is expensive.