When we lived back in California we ate meat like anyone would … steak for dinner, chicken sandwiches for lunch, the list goes on. But when we moved out here to the country we talked about raising our own meat. As a girl (and I believe most girls would support me on this one) the idea of slaughtering animals is not very appealing … would it not be so much better to buy a nice neat package from the shelf? Though many would probably answer yes now I would say no. This brings me to the point.
Basically:
-You are either a vegetarian and don’t meat
-Or you eat meat that was raised by a factory somewhere
-Or you raise and slaughter your own meat
Well we opted for raising our own meat and then we spent two days processing all of the 160 birds. We made it into a whole event – several of the families in the area came to help out and everyone went home with a few chickens for their labor. It was not a serious event by any stretch of the word, in fact it was a great time to work together as a community - to create a bond - and to actually have fun being together … even amidst the dismal task at hand. We had both boys and girls helping out … in fact the teens in the group ran the whole thing. Though I was not actually involved in the processing I spent most of the time cooking in the kitchen, carrying big tubs of hot chocolate, and passing out warm jackets (it was very cold) and helping to package the meat at the end (I had the best job in my opinion). Some of the girls were naturally not all that thrilled about helping to slaughter chickens, however after they watched the meatrix, they felt much better about the whole process. It was a long two days. But when it was all over everyone was so excited – they all just started playing games in our big field and then came inside for a pizza party. In all it was a long two day party even while processing chickens.
-Or you eat meat that was raised by a factory somewhere
-Or you raise and slaughter your own meat
Well we opted for raising our own meat and then we spent two days processing all of the 160 birds. We made it into a whole event – several of the families in the area came to help out and everyone went home with a few chickens for their labor. It was not a serious event by any stretch of the word, in fact it was a great time to work together as a community - to create a bond - and to actually have fun being together … even amidst the dismal task at hand. We had both boys and girls helping out … in fact the teens in the group ran the whole thing. Though I was not actually involved in the processing I spent most of the time cooking in the kitchen, carrying big tubs of hot chocolate, and passing out warm jackets (it was very cold) and helping to package the meat at the end (I had the best job in my opinion). Some of the girls were naturally not all that thrilled about helping to slaughter chickens, however after they watched the meatrix, they felt much better about the whole process. It was a long two days. But when it was all over everyone was so excited – they all just started playing games in our big field and then came inside for a pizza party. In all it was a long two day party even while processing chickens.
Is there anything else in here?
yuck! yuck! yuck! 
Ooooh - so that's how the feather plucker works
Get on your gloves because Drew is ready to rock'n'roll
Don't worry Michaela, I won't get myself stuck in the scalder
See - this is how you gut a chicken
Chicken Fight!
Cheese!
5 comments:
I don't know ... I could be a vegetarian again, I did it for one year and liked it. Only problem is missing Mike's gourmet meals. It almost looks like you're having fun. ;)
I would have begged to be your assistant so that I wouldn't have to help gut chickens. It sounds disgusting.
I know how you feel Ria, if I had to do the dirty work I think I might opt for the vegetarian route ... though for me chickens are the easiest animal to exterminate (they are so annoyingly stupid).
I’ll probably just dream on about how the meat I eat is raised on nice green farms and when it’s time to kill the creatures, they are gently brought into a vet’s surgery and given an injection to put them to sleep. After they are fully asleep, they are then slaughtered. Right?
I used to know some of the people in the photos.
You know there is another way to get meat and it's to go out and hunt for it. I used to do that when I lived in Montana. I used to pray over the animal and asked a blessing from God over it for its life and death. Now, of course, I haven't eaten meat in years. I agree 160 plus chickens can be annoying, but you have to know one on its own to really appreciate chicken personalities.
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