Laura, I might just. I am not sure when exactly I will do in those cute little ducklings, but I did order some geese this week too. Thanks! Isn’t the internet great for these kind of things?

Jules! Fishing is important, too. I love to fish, but am afraid to eat the little buggers with all the mercury and pesticides in our lakes and streams, unfortunately. Sigh.

Laura, I might want to know too! We’re branching out into the Land Of Other Poultry next time around (stay tuned of course). Loved learning more about your kooky farm family, but read your thing about the sheep heads way before coffee sadly!

Sheri: You know, I am protecting our girl from the killing too. She had issues at first but I had to ask her: what’s your favorite meat, girl? “Chicken,” she said. Your mom would probably think you were crazy because of the have to/want to thing. So many who grew up “having” to do some harder things can only see progress if you don’t have to…

Sarah O: What a fascinating double major. You are quite right about choice in the historical picture. My point is generations of choice have left us thinking roasted supermarket chicken are just as good as these birds. Preferable, even. I would of course love to remove class from the discussion altogether but that is impossible.

Anne, I got into genealogical study a few years back and there are some fascinating tales in any one family. As a practical thing, I at least mined the family history to come up with names for our egg hens but the best family story I found was the original bloke with my last name had 6 kids and a farm in New Jersey, didn’t want to fight in the War of 1812 and so instead left with someone else’s wife to Ontario. She died in childbirth and I am the descendant of a third wife.

Anne, rob, Meredith and WF: sangre de vino, baybee!

Rob, your dad sounds like my husband. “I’ll make my own,” he said the other day when I told him he needs to help this weekend to off the rest of the birds. But you are right: plucking isn’t so bad. It’s just time-consuming, which galls me because I tend to have so much else going on at the same time. But things take as long as they take, you know!

Laura: Hey, girl, you don’t have to go back at all if you’ve done it yourself!! I can see you chicken ranching next year for sure. You’ve got lots on your plate though your first year on the farm. But I will tell you that you feel so much different about your meat birds than you do your egg birds. I don’t think I will ever transition to eating them too…though now I suppose I at least know how if I *had* to.

Meredith, isn’t it a cool jar? Can’t quite see it but she’s got a bun of hair and is holding something in her hands and on her lap (peas?) Did you go see that farm growing up?

Pamela, see you on Friday! Actually, do your son the favor of looking into both EatWild.com and LocalHarvest.org to see where he might find fresh chicken near him.

Jules, thanks for the link: I think that’s why your comment got caught in spam, though I thought I had it stuck at two outside links; I will have to look into that. He’s the guy I nabbed my chicken tractor design from, plus a few other things. He’s great. That’s a great eggy memory! You should ask your mom about her personal history. I am sure she’d tell you a thing or two even if she didn’t pluck. BUt yes, I find wine is essential to loosen the tension between my shoulderblades when I pluck those poor birds.

Liz, I know your happy memories of your grandfolks’ place definitely set you up for your life now. My grandma’s Florida condo didn’t do me the same favor Does James have similar farming folk in his background?? I would likewise think plucking were the easiest thing if I had help with the whole process…but I’ve been doing it solo so far.

WF: My post today (meat bird wrap-up) kind of says what I think about these guys, that they’re not worth the time. They are HUGE with HUGE BREASTS and though I am a Dolly Parton fan I guess I am not such a great white-meat girl. They are very tender. Not much taste to them though compared to the old laying hens I have eaten, or even young roosters…which is why I am going with young roosters next time. More yellow fat on those guys, more chicken-y taste. These pups are commercial birds and I shouldn’t have been surprised that they tasted like it too. Have had the same debate in my own head about the organic/nonorganic feed, which is why I go to the mixes-his-own feed store so far away. He gets his grain locally, at least. Who knows if it’s GMO or pesticide-laden. Ah. Thanks on the tip about removing the skin; I could easily see how that would be done, but we want skin on these guys. Congrats on a five-year-old! Wow, he’s a little boy now. Our girl is up and down with this healing. It has been a hard week here for all of us.

CC: As WF mentioned, it seems plucking, like garbage take-out and grilling, seems to be a sex-typed activity. Hunting too come to think of it. My dad hunted, and my mom did help clean the animals. Interesting, though, he wasn’t a deer hunter because he thought the gutting and the other hunters were gross!

Verde: You brought up two very important things: the desire people have to separate themselves from their upbringing, and the very important idea of exposing children to all types of new and different things. It’s why I moved our 9-month-old to a farm, frankly; exposure to all kinds of things our city house wouldn’t be able to give her unless she were on a field trip! Anyway, your grandmother would be happy to learn her lessons “stuck.”

Katrina: I think of you every time I have kale, like last night! I think it is great that you’re mining your past in your own way, like making that jam My friend Tim’s dad is like yours: after growing up on whole-wheat Mom-made bread, he only eats the chemical-laden white stuff. So, like Verde, I think it might be so much easier for us, the further we are from the have-tos of that life….

Good luck this weekend, Molly! You will feel different about the process, certainly. It’s a real sacrifice, that first chook. I think it’s important to feel very reverential. As far as meat goes, though, rabbit is just about the least wasteful/most efficient way to make meat on the household. My hub is not a fan otherwise we’d have a hutchful.

TS: Important point: a foodie past! Again, I think lots of us have been raised on highly processed food and in the raising have left many of us with flattened palates. It’s why a newly-plucked peach is such a revelation to some folks.

Artemisia: a food-loving boyfriend and I used to get rabbit from a German butcher on Irving Park back when I lived in Chgo. We’d make rabbit chili. It would disturb me greatly to see the little frozen bodies in the freezer as my cats were about the same size! I don’t think I could ever eat my egg girls either. They are just so sweet and, well, known by me. It would be a great leap. But again, I think both exposure and the questioning of your relatives about their food pasts is pretty important.

My mom cleaned a lot of chickens growing up, but by the time I was old enough to remember, she always raised rabbits on my uncle’s farm & killed & dressed those. Needless to say, I ate a LOT of rabbits, which are surprisingly good although not all that meaty like a chicken.

I raised chickens in my backyard a few times for the eggs, but could never bring myself to eat them as they were more like pets for me than anything else. But I could do it if need be. It’s all a mind set.

We are thinking about keeping some meat rabbits, Dad will show us how to do those too. What a shame we didn’t recognise the value in such activities as children in an affluent society.

Blessings:)

All the women of my family had children late so I don’t know too much about my great grandmothers. Everyone I’ve known has had a college degree but it was my grandmother that taught me how to fish, and dry fish and cook on a pot bellied stove. She didn’t want to teach me too much because she said there was no need for me to know these things. (As we patched the mud “chinking” between the logs in their cabin).