A Day on the Farm - chicken butchering day

In April we ordered a straight run of 50 Americanus chickens with the intention of butchering most of the roosters and keeping the hens as layers. There were three main moral convictions that lead to this decision.

First of all, I am concerned by the fact that most Americans are so disconnected from their food. They have no idea where the chicken they are eating came from, what kind of miserable life it had, what kind of perverse "food" it was fed, or what drugs were pumped into it to keep it alive in it's stressful, overcrowded, sun-and-grass-deprived environment. If I am going to eat meat, I feel I should at least know that the animal had a natural, low-stress life with access to sunshine and grass. Better yet, I should have a real connection with that animal - I should nurture and care for it and ensure that it has a peaceful life and a quick and quiet death.

Second, I like to know exactly what I am eating and to know that it is healthy food. I want quality, organic, natural meat - not meat pumped full of pesticides and antibiotics.

Finally, I am a converted localvore. I believe in eating local foods that have not been shipped 1,500 miles to get to my plate. Americans consume an unbelievable amount of fossil fuel just transporting food. It's bad for the environment, it's adds to our country's dependence on foreign oil, and the quality of our food suffers.

By raising and butchering our own chickens, we can live more in keeping with these beliefs. Our birds have been free ranged with access to plenty of sunshine, grass and bugs. They have had a low-stress, natural, local existence and they will be organic, healthy food for us.

Well, yesterday was the big day. The long-awaited (and somewhat dreaded) "chicken butchering day" on the farm. The 22 roosters running around picking on each other and on all of the hens had gotten to be enough. It was time to move some of them from the yard to the freezer.

We got up at 6 am so we could quietly take one bird at a time from the roost and make their last few moments as quiet and trauma-free as possible. By the time the sun started coming up we had 10 headless roosters hanging from the clothesline. It took us the rest of the day to butcher them and prepare the meat for the freezer. I have to say, it was A LOT of work and I am exhausted - physically, mentally, and emotionally. But we have chicken in the freezer and I know we can do it again if we need to (although DH says if he has to do it every year, he's going to become a vegetarian).

I have included some pictures of the event. Quite a redneck hillbilly looking yard, eh?

Peace