We took advantage of John's day off yesterday and took care of some business in the backyard. Specifically, 8 chickens made the transition from backyard to freezer.

I'm pretty sure they'd overheard us discussing our 4th of July slaughter plans, because for the past several days their crows have sounded eerily like they're screaming "THE FOURTH OF JULY!" (Just try saying it aloud and making it fit the traditional er-ER-er-er-ER sound that roosters make and you'll see what I'm talking about).

Aren't they pretty?

Last time we slaughtered big birds I found that one whole chicken was WAY too big for just our family, so this time, before freezing, I decided to go ahead and cut up each chicken into the parts I use most frequently.

Each chicken was split up into three bags: breasts, legs and thighs, and everything else (used for chicken stock).

We have 6 more smaller hens to "process" on Saturday, but I will probably leave them whole.

In other news, the goats survived our neighbor's fireworks display, though it was touch and go there for awhile. The neighbors were launching them at an angle so that they were actually exploding right over the milking shed. Even Girl 2 was terrified and hiding her head under the covers in our bed: "They're just so close!" I could hear commotion coming from the shed, and when I went out to check, Razz and Honey looked like they were having seizures -- wild eyed, they were throwing themselves around the pen as if possessed. When they started slamming their bodies against the sides of the barn, I got really worried. But, when I brought it up during this morning's milking, they didn't want to talk about it and both acted like nothing had even happened. ;) It seems they were embarrassed by their ridiculous antics.