Pluckin' Party

Rumor has it there'll be a pluckin' party around these parts.

Our 50 meat chickens are market size, and so, they've reached the end of their journey.

Butchering is never easy. We don't name our food animals, nor do we cuddle them or play with them. But we do have a relationship with them. We care for them, making sure they are happy, well-fed, comfortable and free to roam around the way nature intended. They have a good life, as far as domesticated farm animals go. Yet it's always difficult to bring that life to an end.

I want it that way......to be difficult, I mean. The day that butchering becomes easy, the day I don't feel conflicted about killing an animal, that's the day I should get out of the livestock business.

But until then, we'll continue to raise food, knowing that we've done our best, the animals were humanely treated, we're putting only the healthiest kind of meat onto our plates and into our bodies, and we're supporting the family farm in the process.

So, if you've never seen a chicken be processed before and want to educate yourself on how a fully feathered bird turns into that boneless chicken breast on your plate, come on over.

Tomorrow's the day (Saturday). Bright and early. Rumor has it fresh chicken will be on the grill by noon.

Oh, and wear old clothes.