Wow! This morning, butchering chickens was almost enjoyable. What a difference a mechanical picker makes (not to mention a bunch of extra hands)!
Yes, we butchered the remainder of the broilers today, along with my brother-in-law and his family. We did over 50 birds this morning-27 of ours and the remainder was theirs. The cool part was that the in-laws were able to borrow a mechanical picker from friends and that cuts the labor almost in half. Then we had 12 people (our two families and all the kids and grandma), which cuts the labor even more.
It was phenomenal. We did the over 50 birds in less than four hours. With just my wife and I it takes eight hours to do 25, so what a huge difference. Plus being together like that, the joking and conversation, made it all seem to go so fast, even in 90 plus heat.
Our customers came just before noon as we were just finishing the last of the birds, talk about timing. They were pleased to get them and are excited about other possible products from our respective family farms. We had a nice pay day to boot. We were able to get home and have some lunch and even take a nap to pass the heat away. We are in the midst of a heat wave here as we enter August. Very little rain has fallen in the last couple of weeks. I am watching the grass stagnate, the earth turn to dust and the animals wishing for fall.
All in all, I can say that this was the best time I've had butchering. (Face it, this is not the best part about farming and direct marketing). Our relationship, however, with this newest customer is growing in mutual trust and a feeling of helping each other out. It is rather wonderful to experience. We cannot afford to view them as just a number or "one born every minute". We must look at them as everyday people who want food fit to eat. That is most gratifying.
So, to our new customers, thank you. We love putting food fit to eat on your tables and seeing the satisfaction of knowing where your food comes from. We look forward to serving you again.
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