Today we traded 2 female goats for 10 chickens: 4 live layers, 6 frozen. The 4 new laying hens are a bit older than our current chickens and have already laid 3 brown eggs: 1 is your typical small grade egg, the other 2 are like mini egg-size, but edible. They’ll get bigger over time. I forgot how nice it is to go out into the back yard and come back with fresh eggs…loves it!
I haven’t quite come to terms with the frozen chickens yet. They started off the day like any other, unfortunately for them, within just a few hours time, it ended up a bit differently than normal. In return for one of the goats, our friends butchered our 6 remaining older hens. They’ll be good for stews, soups and stock — if I can just get past the memories of them pecking around the coop just a few hours ago. And the vision in my head of the last chicken in line to be butchered just staring at my friend thinking “traitor!”
I have a hard enough time eating poultry as it is. My (non)meat-eating litmus test has always been if it has 4 legs, fur and I keep it in my back yard, I’m not eating it. Will this be a turning point that includes 2 legs and feathers?
I use the “if it has eyes that look sentient, don’t eat it” test. This is is why I only eat fish. They never look like they know what’s going on. But a farmer has to farm.
Looking forward to some pesto,
Seann and crew