cock-a-doodle-do! {uh-oh}

As previously mentioned, soon after we brought home four new chicks in early Spring, Barred Rocks, we had a feeling that two out of the four were male. We're giving the farmer who sold us the chicks grace on this considering the chicks cost around $2 each and this breed can be difficult to differentiate between male and female. Lesson learned regarding Barred Rocks. 

Besides the fact that roosters are not allowed in our city, we don't even want them! All we want are happy, contented hens laying eggs. That's all.

As soon as I saw two of the chicks acting mean (pecking the each other to the point of drawing blood) and not wanting to be held, I knew that I would be having a fresh chicken dinner in the Summer.

Last week was THE week. The end times for our roosters. They had become large enough to where we knew we would get enough meat for dinner off of them, AND, they were crowing. At first the crows were funny attempts at these guys strutting their manliness, meaning it sounded more like croaking than crowing. However, near the end of their days their crows were loud, clear and frequent throughout the day. 

"dinner"

My husband did the deed. I thought I'd be brave and view the actual process of "taking care of" the roosters, but I couldn't bring myself. Jesse did the work after sundown to make it easier on himself AND the chicken. He took two separate nights for the two roosters, because it is a bit of work to kill, skin and cut the meat so that I am willing to accept it in my refrigerator. The first rooster actually provided a great dinner. I simply rinsed the meat, put it in the crockpot with broth and herbs and let it cook on low for the entire day. I cut it up and added it to saffron rice and sauteed garden vegetables for a stirfry. It was a great dinner!

I wasn't brave enough to tell the children before dinner that they were eating the rooster, but near the end of the meal when their plates were almost clean I said, "well, kids, tonight you ate one of the roosters." All they did was smile and say, "Really?!" Whew! I was worried there would be tears since my kids adore animals, but I don't think these roosters found a place in their sweet hearts. The other meat is resting in the freezer waiting to be cooked for another dinner.

We've toyed with the idea of growing meat chickens, but haven't committed to it. We need to find a four month window of time to take care of them, and then have the time to process them. After enjoying our rooster stirfry meal, maybe we'll pursue that interest sooner than later.