Welcome back to the Blog!
Sorry for going AWOL all summer! I graduated from an Associate’s Degree program in May, Mr. L and I tied the knot in June, and then we set about actually buying a house! We found an adorable property with 8 acres, and we close on it right around Thanksgiving, so we are well on our way.
We did add the Jersey Giant and Buckeye breeds of chickens. We ended up with 8 roosters, we’re keeping 2, we lost 2 to predators, and I learned how to dispatch and process the other 4. It was an experience. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, but I managed. 3 are in the freezer, and 1 we have already cooked and eaten. Butchering is a lot of work, but Wow! The flavor difference in pasture-raised poultry is undeniable.
All 4 of the roosters (representative of both breeds) ended up about 4.5 pounds after cleaning. Not huge birds, by any stretch. The drumsticks on them are larger than the breasts!
We also got back into bees this year. We started 2 hives, one from a package and one from a locally-overwintered split. I will always and forever pay the extra to get local bees. We got them nearly a month later than the package, and they managed to put up over twice as much honey. We invested in the Mighty Mite thermal Varroa treatment unit, and going into winter our mite count is 0. We’ll see if we can get these girls through this winter - Come springtime, we may have small amounts of honey available for purchase.
Now that things are starting to settle down, I hope to get back to my regular once-a-week posting schedule. Thanks for reading!