06/01/2026
That’s a wrap on 2026 meat chickens ! I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and relief that we were done with these birds in only 8 weeks. Well, done with the hardest part, anyway. Over the next few days I will be parting them out and vacuum sealing all the meat (with the help of a few friends).
They say Cornish Cross are ready to butcher in 8 weeks but normally we feed them slower and they take more like 10-12 weeks. So I had planned to harvest at the end of June. But it suddenly became apparent that these birds were massive and ready to go, and we were able to rally a crew of homies and get it done this weekend. It’s just amazing the way everyone works together and gets in their flow to process this food source. I’m so immensely thankful to my friends and family who not only were a part of harvest day but helped with the farm while these birds were being raised. I’m also extremely thankful to the chickens themselves, though they don’t have a choice in the matter, for feeding us and giving us a connection to the land that really is worth it. Farming is almost never easy, but it is the life I choose over and over.
40 birds (36 made it to the finish line) was a lot to handle with two little kids, a couple trips out of town, getting really sick twice, etc etc but we had a fairly good system and the birds were mostly incredibly healthy. Looking forward to having a year’s worth of chicken in the freezer!
