Our First Birds For the Freezer

Remember the black mystery birds I blogged about way back when?  They were among the first batch of birds we brought home.  Unsure of exactly the breed and with many wrong guesses, recently our expert bird friend finally mentioned that they may be part Bantam.  So I quickly looked them up in my bird book and found them to match perfectly with the description of the Ancona, a Mediterranean Bantam-like hen described as "flighty" and better suited for "expert" handlers.  Eureka!  Certainly not us.  These birds clearly did not fit in with us or the other birds.  A very particular personality...keeping to themselves, hard to catch and always ready to fly a fence.  After our fiasco of letting the birds out to free range only to rarely ever see an egg again, we choose to fence them in a nice big run.  Still with lots of room to forage but keeping them close to the coop and us able to find eggs from the other birds.  Course after this the black birds, jumped the fence making it...along with not receiving any eggs since we bought them...the final straw in culling our flock.  We had no intent of opening a bird resort with complimentary organic food, baths, expensive fencing, lodging, maid, massage and the list goes on.  This unbalanced relationship HAD to be fixed, especially with winter coming.  So, after weeks of batting the idea around we decided to convert them from antisocial slacker egg layers to yummy meat for chicken stock.

We called on our bird teachers from South Dakota to give us a tutorial on slaughtering and cleaning.  Raising hundreds of birds themselves and devoted Godly people who LOVE animals we knew they would be the most respectful and sensitive folks from which to learn.  While Joe and I had really no attachment to the birds I wrestled over their impending doom the night before.  It's not everyday that you wake up knowing you're going to take a few lives.  Joe being a hunter was more used to this, but even he was a little uneasy about the process.  It's very different shooting an animal from 200 yards than axing a head off a helpless animal.  Ironically, decapitation as vulgar as it sounds really is the most humane means of killing an animal quickly.  Other people including factory farms use far less humane methods...wringing necks, electrocution, bleeding, etc.  All horrible in my opinion.  We just wanted it quick and over.  So, in accordance with my blogging protocol I decided to snap a few pictures of the process.  Those out there interested in meat birds and who have never seen it done might find this interesting, while all other squeamish folks....you might want to tune out now.  All the rest...after reading, might decide vegetarianism now sounds more appealing.

The day began with the men setting up shop and gathering up the birds from the coop.  I was sure they could sense something, but it was probably just my own anxiety.



This is the nail board for stretching the neck of the bird, holding it's head for ease of cutting.  You only want to have to chop ONCE...so aim is crucial.  Interestingly, the birds are calm in this position and will close their eyes as if willing laying down their life.  Jeff has always looked at animals as precious creatures and is quick to pet and calm them before laying them on the board.  He would also verbally thank each one of them for "their service".  He's always said that taking an animal's life is not easy and understanding their sacrifice really puts our food choices into perspective.  Most of society is far removed from their food source, but when you are solely responsible for their raising and ultimately their death, it makes you appreciate the process so much more.



After the act, the bird runs around for a few seconds...so weird.  My Sarah quickly hides behind me.  Yes, all our children watched and participated.  We wanted them to understand the process too. 



Definitely some mixed emotions present...at least one offers a smile for the camera.



Proper hanging of the carcass for draining of the blood.  We observe biblical dietary laws, which calls fo not eating of the excess fat or drinking the blood of animals.  So, when the birds are calm before slaughter and allowed to hang afterwards there is very little blood that remains in the meat.  Hardly the violent event I had envisioned the night before providing a much healthier end product too.



Course kids being kids, wanted to see everything...so Jeff obliged.



We had prepared a boiling vat of water to blanch the birds for ease of plucking. You only blanch for about 10 seconds as too long would ruin the skin and not long enough won't release the feathers.



Patty and Jeff demonstrate how to pluck which was definitely the most time consuming.  Joe and Noah also helped.  Noah also was able to chop off the bird's feet.



"Just like skinning a deer"...says Joe.



After Jeff's instruction Joe does the other three birds.  Holding the birds while beheaded was not a good idea as Joe got a little splattered.  He said next time he'll just let them flap in the trash can. 



Patty giving me cleaning instructions.  Quite simple as long as you don't cut any of the vital organs and spill the juices into the body. 



Who knew that cadaver training in college and continuous meat handling for our dogs would prepare me for cleaning chickens!



After the initial process, some kiddos lost interest and ran off to play...funny how quickly they get over things.



These were small birds and we found while examining the reproductive organs no signs of egg development.  Their vents were puckered and seemed to be done with laying.  Confirming to us that we'd done the right thing.



The last and final birdie.  The most surreal part of the experience was going from this image one-by-one, to....



THIS...in only minutes.



After the initial shock of the first bird, the rest became quite easy and routine.  It was a humbling experience but one that we feel ready to implement in our farming.  It's odd to open the freezer and see the four black mystery birds, but know that they their lives did serve a purpose and that we got our moneys worth.  The remainder of our birds will be great layers and their dual purpose nature will also make for good meat in the future.  A huge thanks to our friends Jeff and Patty for helping us along the way!