On Meat Birds

We've been a lot in discussion about raising our own meat birds. The ideal situation would be to have a breeding flock but since we are in the city now and don't have a rooster that won't happen. But we can order or pick up chicks from our feed store and raise them. What we're trying to accomplish is food with little gas thrown in. Birds raised with room to run, eat bugs dust bath and feel the sun shine. When there time is up it be respectful, quick, clean and thankful. Jake and I watched some videos online about harvesting birds and it really isn't that bad. The hardest part is the death, taking the life you helped raise from baby to table. This idea right now is in it's infancy. We won't be able to order chicks to start until next spring. Harvesting is done in the fall when all the wasps have gone and gives the birds time to get to size. So we are looking at a year away. Which is good because it gives us the opportunity to decided whether we are going to raise chickens and a turkey or two? Just chickens? Housing? Space considerations? All of these things are up in the air right now, and we have all winter to decide and plan. I really love that about winter. ************ In other news, the garden has been put to bed. I have done the last of the weeding, clipping dead flower stalks, and mixing the mulched leaves with chicken muck from the coop. I should have great compost by mid spring! I do need to find some more leaves and mulch them to mix with the chicken muck I pull out all winter. Maybe I'll do that today!