Chicken Day

*Warning/Disclaimer: This blog post contains photos of the process of killing chickens. If you are at all upset/sensitive about animals, easily grossed out please do not read further.  You are more than welcome to read ahead but I am just letting you know some photos are graphic.  I don't want to upset anyone or start a debate but it is just to inform you of what happens on most rural farms around this area.

A couple weeks ago it was time to kill our meat chickens here on the homestead.  I remember as a teenager we use to kill all our chickens ourselves.  It was a nasty, long process which I couldn't be part of.  I didn't like seeing what happened to the animal before it ended up on my plate.

With all the "stuff" going on about our food, how the animals are treated, what they are fed, and where it comes from, it left me feeling good about our chicken meat in the freezer.  I did feel slightly upset about killing our meat birds but knowing that they had good food, a good coop and were free range for their whole lives made it a bit easier.

Of course, this time I didn't do any of the killing process either.  A local man with a processing trailer comes right to your farm and only needs a water hook-up and then he is good to go.  My mom and dad brought over their chickens as well which made our total 50 chickens.  They were killed, processed and in the water trough cooling all within the hour. 

The chickens are hung upside down on this rack.  One of the men hangs them and then has a knife that also electrocutes them and then pierces them.  This is done so quick that within seconds the chickens are dead. 

I should mention that this method is quick, clean and very professional.  Once this is done they go into the trailer to be put into boiling water to clean and loosen the feathers. 

Seth was ready to help too.  He had his gloves on ready to catch a chicken! 

After the boiling water they are then put into a plucker.  This invention always amazes me because we have plucked MANY different types of birds in the past and it takes SO LONG!  Within the minute the bird is completely plucked and clean, ready for the next step.

The rest of the process is fairly easy as well, removing head and feet and gutting them.  The men said that our meat birds were pretty impressive and looked really healthy.   I think it was the free range part of their lives.  It made all the difference.

The chickens are then soaked in salt water, lots of salt, to draw out the rest of the blood and cool.  Then they are bagged, weighed and ready to be frozen.

Most of our birds ranged from 5-8 pounds which means that they weigh a little less but they don't have heart attacks or broken legs which happens very often with meat birds that are forced to get as big as they can. 

I am very grateful for our meat chickens and what they provide for my family.  With money being tight in the winter it supplies us with that little bit of comfort knowing that we at least have our meat chickens in the freezer.

*I should let you know that I couldn't resist and cooked one a couple days ago.  I did it in a maple syrup glaze (also from the homestead) and it was DELICIOUS!