Today, we harvested the last chickens for the year. It was a pleasure to cross that off my to-do list.
This group consisted of retiring hens and one accidental rooster from the pullet pen. The hens were all close to done with laying eggs. One gave us an unlaid egg when we cleaned her carcass. Unlaid eggs are a fun bonus when they are retrieved without breaking. This one had a good shell, but no bloom. Two hens had incomplete eggs inside. The rest were definitely past laying.
Cleaning hens is much messier than cleaning roosters because the egg-producing organs are filled with fatty materials. If anything breaks open, which is common, it takes extra effort to wash out the inside of the bird. I don’t think there is any significant sanitation concern because of it.
We took care of the twelve birds in about two hours. We could have gone faster, but there was no particular need to hurry.
After we finished, I spent some time doing the final cleaning on the plucker, the killing cones, and the scalding pot. Melissa will do the final cleaning and bagging tomorrow before they go to the freezer. After that, I will do a final cleaning on the table before moving everything into the garage for the winter.
To celebrate the completion of the chicken harvesting, I had a pint of my favorite ice cream. It is actually gelato, but I don’t appreciate the difference. There is a company that makes a wonderful peppermint bark gelato which is only available around Christmas and is much too expensive to buy when it is not on sale. So, I watch the shelves and, when there is a good sale, I buy six or eight pints to store for special occasions throughout the year. The secret is in the timing. Too often makes the taste loses specialness. Too seldom means I miss out on a taste I enjoy.
