Big Step toward Conscientious Consumption

"To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. When we do it knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, destructively, it is a desecration."    ~ Wendell Berry, from The Gift of Good Land

Today was a big day ... a rite of passage sort of day ... an "I know where my chicken comes from" kind of day.  Today I harvested one of my chickens.

My friend, Betsy, had offered to help a friend slaughter his three "extra" roosters.  She had two ducks herself that needed culling.  She invited me to bring a chicken or two and join the fun. 

I've never been against the idea of harvesting our chickens.  I do EAT chicken, after all.  Isn't it important to be fully aware of what eating chicken means?  Understanding that that drumstick or chicken breast was once part of a living animal?  I think so.  But I was a bit intimidated by the whole idea of slaughtering, de-feathering, cleaning.  It seemed like an overwhelming job.  Besides, I'd never seen anyone actually do it, let alone participate in the process.  Did I have what it takes?  This would be my moment of truth. I accepted the invitation.

I was glad to have Rouse along.  He was good support.  Plus, I'm counting on him to help me remember what to do next time.  We arrived at Betsy's house at 9:00am.  It was a beautiful, blustery, cool morning.  She had already assembled all the necessary supplies, including the following:

A small metal garbage can with a block of CO2 in the bottom.  Birds were moved one at a time from their respective holding cages to this can.  The lid was closed and the CO2 worked to render the bird temporarily unconscious, allowing time to place it head down in the killing cone and take the necessary action.  This may have been an unnecessary step, but it did make the slaughter more pleasant all around, serving to inhibit excessive struggle on the part of the bird which can lead to bruising of the meat.

Three homemade metal killing cones, nailed to an old playground structure.  Once a bird was positioned head down in the cone, head pulled through the opening at the bottom, two quick slices with a sharp knife opened up the main blood vessels on either side of the neck.  Death came quickly, and it didn't take long for most of the blood to drain into a bucket below.

A large pot of water heated to 140 +/- degrees, with a squirt of detergent added.  Once each bird had bled out, it was dipped up and down in scalding water to soften the attachment of feathers, then hung on a nail for plucking. It was surprisingly easy to remove the feathers after the hot water treatment.



Cooler of ice water slurry to chill the bird.  Briefly chilling the bird makes it easier to get a handle on the innards.  Leaving it in the icy water too long makes it stiff.

It was time to clean and eviscerate the bird.  Betsy taught us how to do each step safely and thoroughly:

• Remove head and feet.
• Remove oil gland at tail.
• Cut through skin and fascia to reveal abdominal cavity. Avoid nicking the intestines!
• Remove the internal organs. Save the liver, gizzard, and heart if desired. Don't nick the bile duct!  The gizzard must be cleaned separately.
• Remove lungs.

Last Steps:

• Wash the chicken, removing blood and other soil from the carcass.
• Weigh it if you wish. My prepped bird ended up weighing 3 pounds 5 ounces.
• Package it in a plastic bag.
• Chill to prevent bacterial spoilage.

This happy hen was apparently well fed.  She had an excessive amount of fat in the lower abdominal area.  It actually helped protect the intestines from my sharp knife, which made it a little easier to do preliminary cuts before gutting.

I have no way of knowing which chickens are laying in our hen house.  All the Dominiques look alike!  It turns out that this old girl was still laying well.  We removed the egg that she would have laid today.  Future yolks were lined up, large to small.

Now that the mystery has been removed, I'm ready to do it again.  I might even consider raising a small flock of  birds for meat ...  I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for having done it.  The whole process made me feel strangely empowered and, as one might guess, connected to the great Circle of Life.  I am thankful for that.

Working alongside Betsy turned what could have been a grim chore into a celebration of friends working together to accomplish a shared goal. I'm grateful for her calm and patient guidance.