The Great Chicken Slaughtering, part 2

 We have no pics of part 1.  We came home from some events and nine of our chickens had succumbed to too much heat (super sad).  We processed them that night and then let the other fifteen birds develop more meat.  And boy did they!  When we get them out of the freezer, the later ones are about three times as large as the first ones!

Here's some of the blurry bloody pics from that event. Our neighbor, Auntie Loni, stopped by and jumped in--it looked so fun, lol. 

Both times we did the slaughtering, it ended up downpouring...and nice steady summer rain.  We were totally drenched and didn't mind the extra rinsing at all.

It took a LOT to be able to start the butchering process, not to mention handling them, feathering them and eviscerating them.  (Yanking out the guts!)

Piper's bloody legs.

The chopping block where Lily, Piper and Havala were stationed...voluntarily.

Draining...

Quinn would boil them for a little bit to make the feathers come out more easily.

Eli was great at being dramatic about the whole affair.  Maia enjoyed it when we had company, like Loni (and her Aunt Heidi and cousins the first time).

The rain had already begun.