At home: Plucking ...x

It was a bad day to be a cockerel. I am afraid their days have been numbered for a while now, but they have been giving the hens a hard time, and the two remaining pure breed cockerels. The problems is, that at this time of year being mating season they get into almighty battles with each other. Its really a case of who kills who first, or who at least damages another beyond repair. The kindest thing is to go out one day, and have it in you to do the job. That is pull their necks. Its the quickest way, and the best way too.

You could faff around by taking them to market. This in its self is stressful for the birds. And being cockerels the most likely outcome is being rough handled into a crate and meet the same end, in any case.

Today, a friend helped, being stronger especially for the largest cockerel, you need the strength to pull cleanly and calmly. It was done in that way too. The meat not wasted, the children set about plucking the largest bird when they got back from school. Its amazing how they talk about the sadness and loss of this big cockerel in one breath and the prospect of a roast dinner the next.

Thats the way it should be. It was survival in the chicken pen amongst those cockerels and survival now, but we didn't visit the supermarket to get it x