Today started out focused on helping my wife get setup to butcher 18 roosters. Did they deserve to die? Yes. Do you have any idea what 18 roosters sounds like in the morning? Or all day for that matter?
In any case, her flock was about half girls and half boys, and while the hens are going to start laying eggs soon, the roosters had grown large enough and it was time to cull the flock.
Early in the morning, we mowed and trimmed the grass in the back yard. Then we setup restraint cones, an outdoor stove and stock pot, a plucking machine, tables (one of which has a built-in sink) and all the hoses, sprayers and buckets required for the assembly line to function.
Peter and Adam arrived, and we got things going. As the assembly line began to function, Adam and Melissa clearly had it handled, so Peter and I went over to work on the building.
We started working on the doors, and Will and Lindsey arrived. I set them to work trimming 1 ½ inches of foam insulation away around the perimeter of the slab. This will make room for the sheeting and a piece of flashing to overhang the slab. Peter and I had already rigged up a make-shift guide for my cordless circular saw to ensure the cuts were straight. Will did the cutting and Lindsey snapped off the pieces of foam with a pry-bar. They finished the job and then had to get going. It looks great, thanks Will and Lindsey!
Peter and I focused on getting the doors in place. This was a part of the plans I was finding especially intimidating, but it turned out to be fairly straightforward to complete. As the chicken operation started to finish up, there was one chicken that was especially evasive, so Adam, Peter and I all entered the chicken yard to corner and catch the bird. It was no small feat, even for the three of us. As we traversed the dense woods where the chickens have been grazing, Adam dove after the chicken, as if reaching for home-plate to win a baseball game. The second or third time diving for it, he caught him! I was seriously impressed. Adam is an amazing man.
Though we stopped a few times to get Will and Lindsey started, help a bit with the chicken operation and eat lunch, by about 4pm we were done with both doors and it was a good time to call it a day.
Tonight we are going to celebrate the birthday of our friend Liz (Adam’s wife). Melissa made her a London Fog cake as well as a pile of pulled pork for dinner. I suspect Adam and Melissa will be glad to eat a meal that doesn’t involve chicken tonight.