T minus 1 day

The last batch of meat chickens this year will be butchered in the morning. I love raising chickens, but by the end of summer, I am not sorry to say goodbye to the chore of driving feed and water out to the meat chickens on pasture every day. It is especially challenging now with the days getting shorter and my work hours at the clinic staying the same. This is one chore that HAS to be done in daylight and it is a rush in the morning to feed and move pens and then get ready to go to work and then a rush to get home in the evening before it gets dark.

I did not have to do office hours today at the clinic so I actually slept in. Until 7am! That is an amazing feeling! I had so much energy when I finally got up. The morning was spent doing town chores: calling a couple clients with lab test results, post office, recycling center, feed store, grocery store. Then home for lunch and my required post lunch power nap. I cleaned house all afternoon getting ready for company coming tomorrow. Then after taking care of the laying hens, I moved all 48 meat chickens into the barn. My crate only holds 8 chickens at a time so that was 6 trips out to pasture and back to the barn. It was well after dark when I drove out to get the last group of 8 chickens. Thank goodness the chickens are white or it would have been hard catching the last few in the dark. But all are inside tonight and that will speed up the process tomorrow morning.

I mustered up enough energy afterwards to make double batch of blueberry muffins using frozen blueberries from our garden. That will be a nice surprise for the butchering crew when they get here tomorrow morning. Of course the fridge is stocked with beer for afterwards. Going to be a cool, but dry day tomorrow which will be better than our last butchering day in July when it rained most of the morning. Time to say goodnight.