Sometimes the Plan Changes
We finished our last group of meat chickens differently than we originally planned.
We had about 30 birds left to process, and our plan was to do them ourselves like we had been doing.
Part of the reason we had not seriously considered taking them somewhere else was distance.
We thought our closest option was more than two hours away one way.
For birds that are already butcher size, that is a long trip. During the summer heat, we were also worried about the chance of larger birds overheating on the way.
Then we found out there was another place much closer to home.
Less than 30 minutes away, actually.
That changed things.
By the time we got to this last group, we were already pretty overrun with everything else happening on the farm.
Then Kierstyn hurt her back.
Trying to push through another full chicken processing day ourselves just did not make sense.
And this time, the weather was on our side too.
When we took the birds in last week, it was very much fall weather. We were no longer dealing with the summer heat that had made us nervous about transporting larger birds earlier in the year.
So we changed the plan.
We loaded up our last 30 chickens and took them to the local butcher for custom processing.
We still raised the chickens here. We still know exactly where they came from and how they were cared for.
We simply handed one part of the process over to someone else this time.
And honestly, it was the right decision.
This first year of raising meat chickens has taught us a lot.
We learned how much work goes into processing. We learned how much time the setup and cleanup take. We learned more about how many birds we can realistically handle ourselves while everything else on the farm is still happening.
And now we have learned that we have another option close to home when doing every bird ourselves does not make sense.
Sometimes growing the farm means learning how to do more ourselves.
Sometimes it means finding someone nearby who can take one job off our plate.
Our last 30 chickens still started the same way as the rest.
They were raised here on our farm, cared for by us and grown as part of our first year raising meat chickens.
The ending just looked a little different than we originally planned.
And that is okay.
Farming has a way of reminding us that plans can change, especially when you find a better option along the way.
If you’ve been meaning to add one of our whole chickens to your freezer, you can see what we currently have available below.
CLICK HERE TO SHOP WHOLE CHICKENS
