Nobody's addressed the sausage issue yet, so here's an address (no web site) you can write to for a very complete catalog: The Sausagemaker, 1500 Clinton St., Building 123, Buffalo, NY 14206. (1- 716-824-6510). They also have a good listing of spices at reasonable prices, as does(posted 9626 days ago). Ask for Penzeys' catalog - it's full of good info. And of course, you must have the Ball Blue Book. Another good one is "Stocking Up", Rodale Press. Also "Butchering, Processing and Preservation of Meat" by Frank G. Ashbrook. And of course, the above- mentioned Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Ours is a 1965 copy. For finding books, I have had good luck with . They have a network of used book stores. You enter info (name, author, whatever) and they will notify you if they get a "hit". Then you deal directly with the book store. Butchering chickens isn't all that hard. I do it by myself (my wife usually has other things to do on days I dress chickens). I would not attempt turkeys by myself, but chickens yes. If you want step by step e-mail me directly and I'll get it to you. Good luck! Brad