[Image]  So last year we decided we would try to have chickens. We got baby chicks twice, but lost them all due to disease, dogs, and skunks. Fortunately, we were able to buy a grand champion rooster at the county fair, and the nice lady offered a couple hens.

The hens took awhile to lay, but finally we were getting two eggs a day. The rooster was doing a nice job protecting them. But then the rooster started chasing me. I looked up on the Internet what to do and started chasing it back. Then it started chasing the kids occasionally, and even my husband. Even when we hit it with the pool noodle, it would still come after us. (I really wish I could have gotten some video footage of that, because although I was fearing many bruises, I was laughing at the comical situation of a flailing pool noodle trying to make this rooster start behaving.)

It got to the point that the kids wouldn't go out in the yard alone, and I even had to alter what I was doing at times. Finally I told my husband that we either needed to fence in the rooster or kill it. We decided to kill it. (I had read on the Internet that in suburbia, people will take problem chickens to the animal shelter. I can't imagine that happening out here!)

We didn't want to waste a good chicken. After all, we hadn't gotten anything out of the previous nine, so it was time to get something out of chicken number ten. We researched how to kill and butcher a chicken, and it didn't take too long. After letting it tenderize in the refrigerator for a couple days, it went into the crockpot.
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The kids were a little unsure about eating the rooster (which we fortunately never named), but we thought it was an important lesson for them, as before long they will be raising and selling animals for 4-H.
[Image] The rooster tasted great, and we got several meals out of it.
How are the hens doing? They seem fine. One didn't lay an egg one day, but now they're back to regular production. And so far they've managed to stay alive. We can even walk by them and not fear for our shins. [Image]