Bummer!

Well, we set in to butcher the pastured chickens last Saturday. I rose early, around 5:30 a.m., to set everything up and get ready to butcher at 7:00 a.m. We were a bit excited to finally take care of our customers. We had it all set up for them to arrive at specific times to pick their birds up. We were not all that excited at all the hard work that lay ahead. We do it all by hand, with no mechanical things. This is not by choice. There is no "added value" reason that we do it this way. We simply can't afford $1000 for a plucker. It would be nice though. (If anyone knows of a decent used one, let me know.)

Anyway, we got three birds done and the weather radio went off with a warning of a severe thunderstorm in a neighboring county, headed this way. We had to make a decision, we had no idea how long the rain would last. We decided not to wait it out and start in again. We called all our customers and let them know that we had to cancel. Thanks to all of them for their gracious understanding and patience.

We are going to try again this coming Saturday, although, they are calling for more rain. (Aargh!)

We have more birds due in this week for a large customer that we just picked up. This is very exciting for us! There is potential for a good relationship with them. I am a bit concerned that the weather will turn super hot now, and these Cornish X birds do not fair well in heat. We are praying for the Lord's hand, but excited nonetheless.

On the pasture side of things, I decided to go to a pseudo high stock density program this time around. I have been able to stretch the original rest period from 8 days to around 24. I simply confined the animals in a smaller paddock, forcing them to eat everything. They have eaten the weeds and all. I was concerned that the grass would be too short after they had been on it. However, I have found that the grass has recovered nicely. I got about 2" in five days. We have had lots of rain and that always helps. If we move into a drought, I will have to re-think the paddock size and the speed of the rotation. Right now, they are on their paddock for 1 day. If it dries up, I will increase the size of the paddock and speed up the rotation to ensure enough residual grass is left to grow. I'll keep you posted on further results as they happen.