We just ordered 17 more meat birds today. The chicks will arrive next Thursday and they'll be ready to harvest in early April. I'm toying with the idea of setting up a slaughter-station at our house, rather than going to the guy's house who showed me the ropes a couple of days ago. He's got a nice set-up though, complete with stainless steel tables and a commercial plucking machine. If we slaughtered these new birds at our place, we'd have to pluck by hand, but I don't think it would be a big deal. When the chickens are properly prepared (via hot water), the feathers fall off pretty easily.