Well it certainly has been an eventful summer!
We processed the meat birds in two different batches. We weighted them all, and picked the 4 heaviest to do first. There was a large weight difference between the bigger and smaller birds, more than we were expecting. We also had to cull one bird due to illness. So we ended up harvesting 8 meat birds total.
Then, my good friend who I raised the meat birds with, encountered a good opportunity. A farmer about an hour away was getting rid of his certified organic laying flock of 14mo birds for a rock bottom price. We purchased 10, and advertised a slaughter class where we would teach people to kill, pluck, and process the birds. We had a full class! The only thing that went "awry", aside from a few escapee chickens, was the day of the class was incredibly hot (and my backyard provides little shade). We agreed no more slaughtering for a while. :)
