This last week has been enlightening in several ways...
It is almost Autumn the garden is full and readying for harvest, the fruit has been picked, the wood pile is high in readiness for the cold weather to come, and last winters hatchlings are full grown.....
I have begun to harvest this years roosters, a task which is both unpleasant and necessary.
The unpleasant part is all the process resulting in a transformation from rooster to roaster. Necessary as when roosters come of age they begin to stake claim on both hens and space. Although the flock roams about on almost half an acre the maturing roosters trash each other and the hens too. If the flock was left with more than one the carnage could reduce the production of eggs and reduce the number of hens as well. So roosters to roasters.... Yet another part of the process of an "amateur farmer", learning what others have learned, attempting to feed a family from a micro-scale farming endeavor. So far the amount of produce I have grown, or am growing, is nowhere near enough to cover our needs but scaling up and meeting more of our needs is the intent. Now after several experimental years planting differing types of vegetables, raising chickens, rabbits and goats, I think I have a reasonable idea of what I can handle and what it will take to meet some of our own needs. I know that I would never have the time and energy, with all the hubbub of life as it is for us right now, to truly live in comfort from working our couple of acres. But the effort and the enjoyment at making an attempt are still worth it.....
On another completely different subject....
I have also found that there is a great need to distill ideas generated by multiple groups who seem to be working in differing areas but who have similar purpose, or goals, which merge into, or follow along a similar path. Unfortunately there are few individuals who are able to bridge camps of interests. It is more rare to find people who conceive the world around them as a complete thing, and who with this world view, are able to perceive processes in a logical flow which has movable, somewhat interchangeable, components with dependencies on each other but which may be independently completed. Then ask one of these creative individuals to describe, for general consumption by others, these processes and this individual is even more rare.
I have wondered how to cultivate the ability I'm attempting to describe as I have on occasion been in the right place and at the right time to be able to achieve this amazing feat by bringing together somewhat odd disparate groups and accomplish things which are in a common interest where none was originally imagined. I wonder if those instances are simple synergy or weather there is a recipe. As yet I've not found any. But I'll keep looking............... Any ideas? let me know....
This seems cowardly and wasteful, but if you neglect to shut them up at night, how long would it take for some predator to take the problem off your hands? Then again, it's probably not a good idea to hang out a fast food sign for predators. It is a sad destiny to be an excess rooster; they make for poor eating, I'm told.
ReplyDeleteAs to your second point, I know of no recipe other than to be alert to possibilities. I've let good opportunities get away, usually from being slow to recognize a potential ally. I do believe that there are certain people who appear to encounter opportunities more often than the average person, but won't speculate on the cause. My late friend who used to wield her flashlight to good effect is one example.
Even cooped up at night I've already lost more than ten birds to the wild carnivorous types in the neighborhood. Owls, Ravens, Hawks, coyotes, fox and a golden retriever had reduced my original dozen to 4 by last spring. They further reduced the two dozen hatchlings that arrived in the mail this spring so now even after taking two of the roosters I am left with only ten hens and fourteen birds total. I do not think that feeding the local wildlife is a bad thing but it does attract them and make egg production almost impossible. So I'd rather not tempt the sharp toothed hunters or the winged ones any more than I am by having the coop to begin with. As far as the roasted results....I have been given rave reviews. I was told that the birds were almost like pheasant - very little fat, tender with an abundance of dark meat. I roasted them on the rotisserie slowly after crusting with minced garlic, salt, and basting with drippings. Oh and stuffing beforehand with two smallish pears (picked last week), quartered, in each........ excellent roasters, not to mention the chicken sandwiches for lunch and if it were farther into the fall a hearty soup too!
ReplyDeleteOn your second comment.......
I think you may have hit on hit on the formula - or perhaps an area of focus that may be the answer I was searching out. The idea that recognizing the opportunity is key. Not so much the negotiation after recognition but the ability to see the opportunity to begin with and move the conversation immediately or begin what ever diplomacy is needed to tap the potential....
I've also seen where time is an alli. Where having patience and determination, over time methodically coaching, and describing, and suggesting, until the idea is personally owned by everyone, each in their own ways. Reaching consensus or at least a minor amount of agreement then moving forward....
I think, too, it's a matter of letting matters develop at a reasonable pace; knowing when to stir and when to let them be. Like the difference between scrambled and stirred eggs.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the good reviews for your roasters.