Killing Cone

     When we decided to raise meat birds I did lots and lots of research on processing. We wanted our birds to be raised as close to organically as possible and then processed in the most humane and efficient way possible. The conclusion of my research was that we would use a killing cone for processing our chickens. The reason for this is that when you use a killing cone, the method entails cutting the chicken's jugular. The bird looses consciousness very quickly due to a loss of blood pressure to the brain. However, it's heart continues to beat, allowing virtually all of the blood to be removed from the body. The chicken is restrained in the cone, so there is no flopping around. Birds processed in this way are much cleaner to work up. There if very little odor when you are doing the rest of the processing compared to other methods such as complete decapitation.

     I was asked a very, very long time ago to share a tutorial on how we built our killing cone for processing chickens. It's been in the back of my mind on my to-do list ever since. I kept putting it off because I didn't want to waste our sheet metal making a second one, and I couldn't think of any inexpensive materials to use to make a prototype. Today I stumbled across this article on how to do just that! I see no reason to reinvent the wheel. The author used essentially the same method as we did. I hope you enjoy learning how to make this simple, but quite valuable homesteading tool!

La Mancha Babies!

We've been waiting for two years for this moment! Miracle was given to me as a five month old doeling. I just loved her to pieces. When it was time for her to be bred we took her to visit her chosen boyfriend and then brought her back home. Miracle had a precocious udder, so it was very hard to tell what was going on, but we thought she was pregnant. She gained a lot of weight and her udder continued to develop. Spring came and no babies appeared. We finally gave up hope of her being pregnant. In the fall I took her to be bred three times. (She kept coming back in heat.) The third time I informed the breeder that she was staying a month, and I would pay room and board. The breeder insisted that I didn't need to do that, and that Miracle was welcome to stay for the month. At the end of the month we brought her home and waited. The breeder had thought she "settled" after the first time she was bred. He due date came and went. Nearly three weeks passed. Nothing. We were giving up hope of her being bred despite her weight gain and hugely swollen udder, and chalking it up to the precocious udder and a false pregnancy. I'd made up my mind to start milking her on June 10th (one month after her supposed due date) if she hadn't kidded yet. On Monday morning, June 4th, when I did chores I noticed her staring meditatively at the back corner, and her "vent" was turned out just a teensy bit, but I've seen more obvious signs of "pending labor" over the past several weeks with nothing to show for it, and shrugged it off. Frankly, I had just about given up. I went about my day as normal. Late in the afternoon I went out to the barn and discovered this:

I just love his little ears. They look like rosettes!

It was so exciting to see that she had a baby! Hooray! I was so worried that she had infertility issues, which is not a good quality in a milk goat! I confess I was disappointed, though, because I thought she had a single kid. Even though I was giving up hope of her pregnancy, I still expected her to have twins if she was indeed pregnant. I looked around and found this beautiful thing snuggled in between the gate and the wall:

Isn't she beautiful? She's so dainty and energetic, too. Her brother, on the other hand, is Mr. Sleepypants. :-)

Here they are getting acquainted and checking things out. Poor Miracle. Her udder and teats are SO tight!

Having a little midmorning snack. Sister thinks that's not such a bad idea!

*sigh* We are all content here at the homestead. These are the last of this year's babies. Everyone is healthy and well. Milk is flowing. We are thankful, indeed!