Off With His Head!!! (Part Three)

***Graphic images and descriptions***

I've told my children that God has created all things for a purpose.  For animals, some are created to be companions, some to help us labor and some to provide us with food.  Some animals are duel purpose.  Our hens provide us food (eggs) but we also love them.  We hold and pet and talk to them and they respond to us in return (it is really funny to hear my husband making chicken noises and them in turn "talk" back to him).  However, I can not imagine an animal being a companion and our food.  I've explained to my children that while we are going to eat our meat birds, we are responsible for caring for them.  We won't love them the same way we love our hens but we will provide the same care.  They were held and talked to, provided plenty of fresh water and ground to graze on but, they were held back from our hearts.  They had a good life and we have not become emotionally attached to them making the end easier.  These birds will have had a wonderful life (unlike the birds we get from the grocery store) and the end will be swift and peaceful surrounded by those who cared for them instead of butchered brutally by evil people or cold and hard machines.  Seeing how animals are kept in the mass food industry and then how these animals are put down, I feel convicted now more than ever to make a change.  I can't change this nation and how pathetic we have become in so many ways, but I can change my family, even if it is one step at a time.  We have been so blessed with such a rich world.  We have been given dominion and power over the Earth.  That does not mean we should abuse it and destroy it.

Today was the beginning of our butchering process.  I was going to wait a bit longer but the birds are getting big and moody.  We won't be able to do them all at one time but as they go, it will make things more comfortable to those waiting.  More food, more space and less heat.  Happy animals make happy food.  Happy food makes happy people (another thing I teach my children).  If we raise healthy animals, then we will be kept healthy from the food we get from them.  "Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food." ~ Hippocrates

I have been asked by a few people about the process.  I will try and explain everything as best as I can.  Remember, I am no pro at this.  This bird you are about to see is only my second to process on my own.  It is easy and it is hard.  It just depends on what part you're working on at the moment.  The killing, surprisingly, is the easiest part.  As I mentioned before, the way I had done this the first time was to slit the whole throat.  I did not feel right about it once all was said and done and I had had time to process through it all.  I cried myself to sleep a few times reliving it.  The gasping of the bird through his cut air way slowly bleeding out.  The strong desire to live, all the way to the last heartbeat.  I knew there had to be a better way.  Back to researching.  I thankfully found a video where the guy provided the method that set my heart at peace again.  This is the method I use.  Everyone has their own way.  I'm not saying anyone is wrong or evil for doing it differently than me.  This is what I found to best for me.  ***UPDATE:  I found this website and think this has been one of the best examples of how to do the process.  So far, we've just been skinning but that is what made this process so hard.  I think next time, I'm going to try the scalding and plucking.***

Here is my set up:

My suggestion would be to work in a shaded location.  That sun cooked me!  I use a small folding table ($20 at Target several years ago).  I made a cone from an old milk jug.  Cut open the bottom and a small opening at the top for the head to go through.  I really need some new knives but I'm using what I've got.  If you've not check out Cold Steal, I strongly recommend their knives.  The big one is a Rajah II.  I'm in love with it!  However, it's just too big for this sort of job.  I'm making do with what I've got for now though.  The bucket on the ground is for bleeding the bird into.  You'll see in pictures to come, I forgot to use it and got blood all over the driveway.  I washed it off and remembered it the next time.  You'll need a hose for water to wash up as you go.  I rinse the bird and knives and table off several times to keep things as clean as I can.  I use a heavy duty cutting board so I don't tear up the table top.  Cutting off the head and legs takes a lot of pressure.  I use three bowls; the big one is for the body, the middle one for the feet and the small one for the organs I'm keeping.  I keep the heart, lungs, liver and the edible parts of the gizzard.  There's another little organ that I've kept but I don't know what it is.  It's the same color and feel of the liver and heart so I'm guessing it's good.  I mean, if people can eat the brain and tongue, I don't guess this little organ will be a problem.  I do not eat the feet.  I peel them and use those in the bone broth for the added collagen.  Lots of good stuff can be done with rich bone broth.  Amazing flavor and wonderful health benefits.

I need one to two extra set of hands.  My daughter is a great helper and seems to enjoy it, so long as it's not more than one bird at a time.  Come the end of the second bird's processing, she was leaned over on the table yawning LOL!  She said she was bored.  Having the bird up-side-down helps them relax.  Not like he was stressed to begin with but the more relaxed they are, the easier it is to dispatch them.  The jug keeps them from being able to flap around and holding the feet above their bum keeps them from trying to back out of the jug.  The other area I like having the extra set of hands with is turning the water off and on.  I need a new hose too.  One has a hole in it so even if I had a nozzle on it to stop the water, it would just shoot out of the hole.  The other one was run over by a lawn mower and cut it in half.  So, no way of attaching a nozzle.  But again, making do with what we've got.  There's always something to spend money on.  With four kids and a husband, I think we've got enough hands to help.

Now comes the "easy" part.  I have to gear up in a way mentally for this.  It's not fun killing an animal.  But, that's the way things go.

 The guy I saw do this, did this AFTER the bird's throat had been slit.  I figure why not just do it BEFORE?  I take my small blade knife and go in through the mouth (just gently open and put your finger in between to keep the beak from closing) and I go straight through the brain.  Instant death.  No pain.  There is some flopping about but that is spasms, not fighting.  I then go on to slit the throat...

and let the bird bleed out.

I lay the bird out with his head down so he can drip more in the bucket (that I should have used from the beginning).  Now it's time for the first clean-up and make sure you clean your knives as you go too.  That blood gets sticky quickly.  (Sorry about the boob shots too.  I didn't realize my top was so loose.)

Quality family time : D

Off with his head!!!

As scrawny as their little necks are, they sure are tough to cut through.  Instead of sawing, think straight down and hard.

Now for the hard part....

Part One
Part Two
Part Four

Off With His Head!!! (Part Two)

When our family went to the couple's farm and we processed the three roosters, we let our children watch as much as they wanted.  We learned more about our children that day and most important for me was to let my children guide their actions and emotions according to what they could handle.  We talked a lot with them about it before hand and even let them watch a few YouTube videos (that were properly done) so that they went into this mentally prepared.  They were as prepared as we were.

My children are very much nature lovers like me.  The apple most certainly didn't fall far from the tree on this one much to my delight.  They played and explored the farm.  They chased after chickens and picked up any that would let them.  And to their joy was a big pile of gravel for them to play in.  The time came though that I think we all were dreading deep down inside.  The roosters were hung up by their feet (as bad as that may sound, they were not uncomfortable at all).  This allowed them to relax, stay calm and let the blood drain down.  My daughter very much wanted to sit with the roosters as they awaited their time to come.  My instinct was to protect her.  If she loved on them, she would attach and it would devastate her.  But making her stand back was what broke her heart.  She NEEDED to love on them.  She stayed by them, petting them and talking to them.  She poured out all the love her little heart could pour.  Not a tear she shed, though her heart was very heavy.  It still leaves me in awe as I think on her during this time.  My second child (oldest son) cried all through the first bird's processing.  After that, he was good to go!  My younger two didn't really care.  They came and went, watched off and on (my third did get a little sad but easily got over it once back to play) and carried on like it was any other day.  We left having learned so much and we all had to process in our own way but all came through it better and stronger.  It helped me overcome my fear and helped me to refine my own plans.

Before the day at the farm: we would be ordering 2-3 day old chicks from an out of state hatchery.  My fear was my children's hearts being broken.  Who can resist loving on a cute fuzzy chick???  I mean, just look at these fuzzy bums!!! (These were our pets from the previous year.)

So, my husband and I agreed to let the kids experience eggs hatching and raise whatever babies hatched as pets; love on these with no fear of them being dinner.  That was such an amazing experience!  I woke up one morning to two wet babies and we got to watch the rest hatch out, each of  us pressing in as close as we could to watch these babies unfold from their shells.

So, happy with TEN (8 hatched and two bought because I doubted my hatching abilities) brand new babies, we ordered our meat birds (nicknamed chicken nuggets).

In total, we had 36 fuzzy and noisy babies in our house as it was too cold for them to be outside.  The meat babies took up residence in our garage and the pet babies stayed in a bucket in the kitchen sharing a heat lamp with my two bearded dragons.  And BTW, bearded dragons do NOT like chicks.  My girls got madder than mad!

This was such a fun process for all of us.  Our police chief even has gotten a kick out of watching us and our birds.

While the babies were growing, I was busy, busy, busy, working on building a new coop and a chicken tractor and after a LOT of time and thanks to my husband,, best friend, the two girls who live behind us and their dad and another neighbor and his dad, I got the projects done and moved into location.  It was time for the babies to go outside.  Who knew those little bodies could produce so much poop!

All of that and about 10 weeks and that brings us to today.  Today began the process of turning our meat birds into food.

Part One
Part Three

Off With His Head!!! (Part One)

***Graphic descriptions at the end.***

Part of making changes to what my family and I eat has turned to back yard "farming" (I use that term loosely because we live in a subdivision and there's really only so much farm you can have with neighbors surrounding you).  It started a few years ago when one of my neighbors bought some chicks and ducklings to use for Easter pictures for his daughter (I HIGHLY do NOT recommend this BTW).  Chicks are cute!  Ducklings maybe even cuter!  But, they grow up into adults and are just not nearly as cute any longer.  Chickens can fly.  While they prefer to wander about looking for bugs and seeds and anything else they can forage for, they can take flight and gain some distance in no time.  You have to clip their wings (I'll probably do another post on how to do that) in order to keep them in the yard.  While I never would have thought 3 hens wandering the neighborhood would warrant a complaint, it eventually came.  He had to keep them in his yard or he would start getting fined and I assume eventually someone would come and collect the birds.  So, I took on the task of capturing these three hens (with much appreciated help from my older two children) and clipping their wings.  I've cut parrot wings and cockatiel wings but this was a first.  But, wings are wings I guess.  Long story short, the neighbor was giving us the eggs and I had already clipped their wings and started working on building them a coop that he gave us the birds.  The next year, we bought 3 more chicks from a local and were so excited to have our 6 hens.  The backyard eggs were wonderful!  And oh how we love our hens!

Things took another shift last summer.  I noticed my then 2 and 1/2 year old son to have very red and tender nipples.  I didn't think much about it at first.  Later that night, my husband brought them to my attention and they had gotten really bad.  He was in a lot of pain too.  Having breast fed 4 children and having had all 4 of them lactate as neonates, I immediately saw what was going on; he was borderline mastitis.  I had my husband hold him still and I gently began working to relieve the build up of this immature milk that had accumulated in his little breasts.  He screamed and cried in pain.  Green goo oozed out and then finally bloody milk and then milk.  I had to do this 3 times a day for 2 days before his body finally dried it up and healed.  His pain was relieved but my stomach felt sick.  Something was VERY wrong with this.

For those who are reading this puzzled by milk in any baby, it is very normal for brand new babies to produce an immature milk in their breasts.  This is due to their body being flooded by all of the mom's hormones.  It takes time to work it out and come to a normal balance.  It is even normal for baby girls to have a bit of a "period" (not something I was told about until AFTER I found that in my daughter's diaper and about had a heart attack).  But I have not been able to find any information about this in a toddler.  My assumption, right or wrong, is that this is related to artificial things our bodies are being bombarded with and primarily in our food.

Because the animals we eat are kept in such horrible conditions, they often times stay sick.  To battle sickness, the animals are fed antibiotics.  We are eating sick animals.  That right there should be a concern.  But then we are consuming meat from sick animals that also contains these antibiotics.  Doctors have passed out antibiotics like candy and mostly because we, the consumer, have demanded it.  Add to that which is in our food and we have set the stage for antibiotic resistant strands of bacteria that have become deadly.

Another issue with our meat is the use of steroids and estrogen.  This I believe is why we are seeing our children develop earlier and earlier; girls developing breasts and beginning menses and even able to conceive before they even become a teen.  There is a lot of information out there about these three big issues.  I would strongly recommend researching it if you have not.  This is what I believe was the cause of my son to begin lactating.  It's my theory but I believe there is enough research to support it.

I never was able to imagine myself ever being able to take the life of an animal.  My friends that I grew up with called me a "nature freak".  I've stopped and scooped up a squirrel that I hit and brought it home to nurse it until it died.  I pull over and move tortoises that are trying to cross the road.  I love this world that man was created from and believe we are responsible for it's care.  I have come to not mind being called a hippie (even though I don't really think I am).  But seeing my precious baby in pain and his body doing something not normal, something inside of my shifted.  I still love this world and probably all the more now than before, but I came to peace with killing an animal for food.  I did my homework, talked with my husband in detail and we made our choice.  We would have our egg layers and we would have our meat birds.  Over the next year, I went through plans on chicken tractors and breeds and worked out a plan on how many we'd start with and even found a couple who let us visit their farm and participate in the processing of 4 of their roosters.  That experience changed me and for the better.  I cried my heart out on my husband's sleeve as I prepared to make the cut but when the time came, I dried my tears and did what I had to do.  I will never forget those details of that first kill.  The warmth.  The way the blood felt going over my hand.  How sticky it all became.  The way the birds died.  The second one biting me AFTER I cut his head off.  It took me a few weeks to sort through the feelings.  It was amazing and empowering but heartbreaking.  I sat with the first bird.  I had cut through the blood vessels and esophagus.  I will never forget him gasping through his cut airway.  It still brings me to tears.  While it wasn't long, it was still suffering.  The second one, while I cut his head off, the life was still in that head for another few seconds.  No doubt, painful and terrifying.  While I knew in my heart that this was something right for my family, I knew I had to find a different way to dispatch our birds.  Feeding my family healthy food is great but it does not give us right to make an animal suffer for our gain.    

         
Part Two
Part Three