Last of the good weather

A difficult day and lots of hectic.

I haven't been mentioning the geese on Blip as in recent years, as soon as I mention something is going well, the next day a catastrophe happens. We have for some time been trying to find somebody to slaughter our eight geese but ever attempt contact attempt failed. We were simply too late.

Lots of reasons why we were doing this . firstly it was always my intention but like all animals on our property, they get to be family. If we had exactly the facility to offer them the lives I would ideally want, then the decision would have probably been different. With what we have, we could offer them a good life but it was a lot of work for us and the major problem was the lack of flowing water for them to bathe in. The pond we have is small but enclosed and the geese used it at night as a secure place to sleep (even though the field was well fenced). This meant the pond had to be pumped out, cleaned and refilled every few days . very time consuming and unpleasant work.

in winter the pond freezes very quickly and although we lock them up in a shed at night, carrying buckets of water to drink and "shower" with is again a real chore.

The whole thing came to a head with the lock-up order for all poultry due to bird flu. For us not something we could morally come to terms with and we didn't, risking a fine. Generally most hobby poultry keepers who can "hide" their birds from the over anxious people who report such things to the authorities, are ignoring the ban.

A few days ago someone gave us a tip and phoned the contact which turned out to be a small family business about 20km away that do contracting slaughtering and could fit us in today.

So at midday they were loaded in to boxes and cages and off I set. I watched the procedure, not because I really wanted to but thought I should for my own peace of mind, as a sign of respect to the animals and being a keen meat eater, I think one has to face the reality of what one does to satisfy this "need".

The work was carried out with great calm, no cries from the geese. The owner did the killing, blood letting, initial feather removing in a drum and then a form of wax de-hairing before they were passed through to 4 ladies who then did the cleaning out and final preparation. I was very impressed at the end result and the ladies said they were nice looking.

Just for my record here was the result, remembering that we never used any form of feeding to increase the weight in the final few weeks, standard practice in even organic farms that don't force feed. Our birds were thus not much heavier than good sized chickens!

Weights were in kg: 5.7, 5.1, 4.6, 4.3, 4.1, 4.0, 3.8, 3.5.

The two 2015 birds were frozen, we will try them one day. the biggest also which is reserved for a family do at Easter, the next to Angie's boss in Munich who bought one, the next a present for brother in law Gerhard, the next sold to Gerhard's sister, the second smallest is being kept fresh as a possible buyer in the village and the smallest one we will attempt to eat on Christmas Eve.

I suspect Angie will not have a full tummy on Christmas Eve. Her eyes were very red when I returned from the slaughters - she had probably weeped lots of tears in the 3 hours I was away.

Brother in law drove over just after I had returned and picked up his two plus took Angie's bosses bird and delivered it to her at home in Munich. Doubt she could have gotter a fresher bird anywhere in Munich and not for 15€/kg. Lots of internet sites offering organic birds for 23€/kg but also supermarkets at 3.60€/kg!

Even our price is pretty hefty but no question that it was a loss making enterprise. Given the choice, I would only give them away but only to people who I know truly appreciate what they are eating. Gerhard is just such a person and from the very start, I had always said he would be given one, also as a little return for all that he has done for us over the years.

In the morning when it looked like we might have to freeze most of them, I had organised to buy a used freezer for 50€ from a private household in Erkheim. Wasn't now really necessary but I picked it up late afternoon and Gerhard was around to help offload it.

Perhaps we should order some goslings for next spring ..........!

Blip is of our parish capital, Sontheim with the Alps in the background taken on way home from collecting freezer. Tomorrow the rain comes and then the winds that the Uk will soon be experiencing. A very green/brown Christmas