Just in case you chicken out.... King's Poultry

So we've been talking about meat chickens and the other day we had a huge butcher day. One of the things I suggest is that you start small in meat chickens just to make sure you don't "chicken out" and decide not to butcher them yourself. But what if you freak out and just won't do it? What do you do?

Hilarious 'Bucket o' Chicken' picture that always makes me laugh.

The easiest thing is to get someone to help you so at least you'll know if you really don't want to do it. However I will tell you that almost to a person, almost everyone that I've talked to has the same experience. At the end of the day they are convinced that this is a great project and one they can do. After they have a couple 'home made' chicken meals they are determined never to go back to store meat.

But for whatever reason it may just not be your thing. That's find too. There is almost always someone on Craigslist that will buy them from you.

Or you can find a local processor. This is more difficult than it sounds. Getting the right approvals and inspections is very difficult. Sure you might be able to find someone to do it on the sly.... but not a lot of folks are willing to take the risk.

In Ohio I know of one Department of Ag inspected facility and that is King and Sons in Bradford. I have never done business with them but I know of a guy who takes his turkeys there. For us this place is so far away it would never be "worth" it - but their prices seem reasonable.

I saw on their facebook page that they had a terrible fire in one of their barns... so I was wondering if they were still processing? Yep! Just got an email back from Levi that they are still doing processing. Make sure you contact them for an appointment. From the looks of it they can be really flexible - especially if you are coming from a distance.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Are you having chicken for dinner?