NH Homesteader's journal

[frustratedearthmother]

until I told her it was a mean rooster turkey and it was HUGE. Then she tied into it.

That's funny stuff!!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Lol!! That's too cute! My daughter is still a little freaked out by sheep- their baaa is more startling than a goat bleat!

Glad the 2 year old is down with eating mean animals too! DD used to be picky about meat until we told her it was OUR meat, then she would eat it!

 

[Mini Horses]

Freezer space & turkeys -- they are large with a lot of empty cavity. So, why not "spatchcock" (sp?) them first to flatten them? Easy to remove the backbone at butchering and smash them flat OR cut in half. Yeah, I know about "looks" but, hey, freezer space is freezer space! Chickens, same deal. Also, the backs can be frozen for later broth, etc. Or cooked up sooner!

Just a thought.

 

[baymule]

I had a mean rooster and every time it crowed, I told her we were going to eat that mean rooster. Finally, I butchered him, simmered him all day and put him in 3 containers in the freezer, for soup. Every time she came over, we had mean rooster soup. And rooster juice!

I did spatchcock the turkey, brined it and smoked it. I put the back bone on the pit and smoked it too to go with the bone broth I'll make.

 

[NH Homesteader]

We do sometimes cut chickens in half so they fit better. Couldn't do them totally flat in the bags we use for shrink bagging. I wouldn't mind if DH would cut some of them up for me when he processes, but he's never too interested in adding more time to the day. And I'm really an awful meat cutter, lol.

 

[NH Homesteader]

So DH didn't get too much done on the barn today, but he got the rest of the materials here (they were at a friend's house). Tomorrow, said friend's brother has 4 meat birds to process so DH is going to help him do them and butcher our one cockerel that is starting to be an issue (he and big roo don't co-exist well and are currently free ranging... When they're penned soon it's not gonna be pretty). So in return the guy said we could have his quail (6 or 7 of them) and he and brother will stay and help put on our barn roof. DH is going to help the brother train his horse in the spring, so he'll help us finish the barn and jack it up to put it on cinder blocks in spring. Yay farm trades!

Let's hope they follow through better than the other useless dude. The friend has a pig to butcher also so I'm trying to start a pig butchering party lol!

So tonight some sketchy dude pulled in my driveway like he owns the place, and says he's looking for someone we don't know. We do know there is a drug dealer up the road with that name though. Then this guy proceeds to ask DH's friend if he has any illegal substances, and because friend is drinking a beer, he obviously must have said illegal substances. DH came in and got his pistol and called the cops. About an hour later he called back and dispatch said they had him pulled over. I am SO happy he didn't show up when I was home alone. So sketchy. We have a very visible no trespassing sign. I hope they got him, and that he leads them to the guy up the road. He needs to spend some time locked up and away from us!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Holy Cow - that is scary stuff! Glad DH was there with ya....and yep...sounds like he needs a one way ticket to someplace he can stay awhile!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Why would you show up at someone's house, give them your dealer's name, and then ask them for drugs? He's a special kind of stupid.

The dude up the road used to do drug deals in the middle of the road in front of our house at night. DH started spotlighting him and yelling when he did it, lol, so he doesn't do that anymore. The back roads in these small towns are sketchy these days. The opioid epidemic is real.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We have some of those special kind of stupid people at the end of our road too... We finally got 'em by calling the animal control officer about their starving dogs that get loose and terrorize the neighborhood at their end of the road. Mom/dad's caregiver (who lives a couple houses down from us) also lives a couple houses from the stoopid people and alerted us to what was going on. A couple of us families on our road called and complained about them several times within a few days of each other and the sheriff's dept. came out. Not long after that they started moving...

 

[NH Homesteader]

Woohoo! Well my parents talked to an officer one day who told them they were watching a couple houses on our road.... So I think they know what's up and are just waiting for evidence. We may have made their day!