Alfrado With a Side of Ice Cream Cone

Meet Ice Cream Cone.

We first met towards the end of August when we went to get some chicks to replace the two hens that mysteriously disappeared last summer. This chick looked different than the rest so I HAD to have it. It was a very social chick, and very cute. This first picture was taken on the day it moved into our coop. And why was it named Ice Cream Cone you ask, that was all Ari.

The second picture was taken when we got back from Christmas vacation. When we left we thought it was just another hen. When we got back we saw it was a rooster, the kind that crows early in the morning and pesters the hens. It's against city ordinance to have a rooster in city limits, not to mention annoying for the neighbors (although I thought our rooster crowing was WAY cuter than the rooster up the street that drove every one crazy until it mysteriously disappeared). So...what do you do with a rooster?

We tried to find it a new home, but it's more common for people to have unwanted roosters than it is to find someone who actually wants a rooster. So we debated. Should we eat it?

It sounds gross to eat your own chicken, especially one you have named Ice Cream Cone, but if you think about it it's even grosser to eat a chicken from the grocery store. Right? At least we knew where this one came from, and we know it had a good life. So, a sharp knife and a bunch of YouTube videos later Joe took care of Ice Cream Cone. It was a quick death. Joe skinned and cleaned it and I threw it in the crock pot with some vegetables. My how home grown chickens are smaller than the ones in the store. This is how Ice Cream Cone looked for dinner. Pasta alfredo topped with french fried green beans, sauteed onions, mushrooms and Ice Cream Cone.

What's on the menu for the rest of the week you ask; lentil soup in chicken broth and chicken pot pie. Eating your own chicken really makes you think twice about where your food comes from... I think we will be eating less meat this year.

Last Photo: Ice Cream Cone checking out his hens. I don't think they will miss him very much;)