Oh My Goodness! What a day we had! Friday was “bring the turkeys to be processed” day. Katie has been looking forward to this day for a while. Her much more than I, as I have relegated most of their care to her. It was just too gross for me and being older and wiser…I played the mommy card and got her to do it. Walking in their pen has been disgusting for weeks.
Imagine trying to walk in 4 inches deep of slimy slippery chocolate pudding. Every step you take you risk slipping and falling. Only, it’s not really chocolate pudding, it’s turkey poop. So much turkey poop! And the smell! And the flies! REPULSIVE.
One fun thing about turkeys: if you make a noise near them, they all exclaim loudly in a chorus of gaggles. That’s kinda funny. A cough will set them off. And they are rather interesting to look at. Their heads are blue and the feathers pick up beautiful colours in the sun.
But other than that, we were ready for them to leave. Thank goodness we moved up the date for processing as they were getting really big.
So on Friday morning, Brian brought the trailer right up to the door of their pen. Katie and I had built a makeshift enclosure on the bed of the trailer to transport them. So we went in there and started rounding them up. We should have taken pictures but really, we had our hands full. Neither one of us fell! That was our biggest fear. But the turkeys didn’t make it easy. They stayed in the coop and we had to try and grab them, pick them up without getting whacked by the wings, and then carry them out of the coop, through the pen and into the trailer, where Brian made sure they stayed. If you happen to drop the bird, it landed on the ground and tried to escape, creating a shower of poop! Twelve times we did it, twelve times we got splattered.
Once they were all loaded we also had to get 7 of the chickens into boxes to bring with us. We had way too many roosters and decided to bring some with us. We also brought Eileen, as her legs were getting worse and I thought it was a kindness to let her go.
So after cleaning up, we headed off for the hour drive to get them processed. Once there, we got a bit of an education. Firstly, never judge a book by its cover. The man in charge of dispatching the chickens looks perfect for the job. He spends his days slashing bird throats and looks like that suits him just fine. But when it came time to unload the turkeys, he was a gem. Katie and I got into the trailer and pushed/lifted/dragged the turkeys to the door and he grabbed everyone one of them, hooked them up to hang and came back for the next ones. These birds weighted around 40 pounds and were struggling. Many colourful words were used in the process. But I thanked him profusely!
We then drove back home and Katie went back later in the afternoon to pick them up and start deliveries to our lovely clients. We were both rather sore the next day. Bruises, scratches and tender muscles.
But there was satisfaction this weekend in having a family meal that consisted of home grown foods. Chicken, potatoes, carrots and herbs all made for a special meal. And the company of course 🙂
This morning I boiled the chicken bones and made a big pot of soup. Added everything I could from the garden, including a big handful of fresh herbs. Even got to boil more beets.
Fall is encroaching on the farm. A few trees are shedding their leaves, making our walks crunchy and colourful. Cap, our puppy, does seem to love the leaves!
So happy! 
Chickens poking through leaves for good eats 
Good boy
The free range chickens are adventuring further on the grounds. We find them at the front of the house now! But some our starting to lay which is nice. The cochins have been laying for a bit, but their eggs are so tiny! I did find them practical when I split a recipe for pancakes in half and used one of them. They are the perfect size for that!
Brian and I worked on the chicken tractor which will be ready soon to accept the meat chickens. They are growing well but aren’t ready to go outside just yet.
We received a big load of mulch from an arborist which I will use to cover the gardens. This will help them stay weed free and provide the earth with good nutrients. I will need all the help I can get to make the soil rich. Hopefully in the next few years it will get better and grow stronger crops.
So all in all, we are eating well, enjoying the fall weather, and starting to understand the cycle of the farm.
Unruffled Farms 