Do these chicks look ready for eating?

These are our two 5 week old chicks (a pure dorking, and a dorking light sussex cross) with their mum. They're not big enough to eat - not even as a snack. However, if they were commercial intensively reared chickens by now they would be in a supermarket freezer with a 1.6 or 1.8kg label on them. It's a frightening thought.

To learn more about intensively reared chickens take a look at chicken out.

One of my aims for this year is to get to the point that we eat 100% locally grown (and preferably home butchered) meat, raised the "old fashioned" way. We've managed it with lamb, and almost with pork. Next step is expanding our chicken accommodation so we can eat our own chickens, and finding a good beef source. Of course, this means we will be eating less meat, but I'm OK with that - and Jerry is getting used to the idea - particularly as the meat we do eat has such a great flavour.

Oh, and by accident I stumbled upon the new egg hiding spot yesterday - in behind the worm farm! Must be cooler there. I had assumed the chickens had just stopped laying due to the heat :)