The Process of Processing Chickens

I KNOW!

I KNOW!

I PROMISED AN ART POST TODAY!

So sorry! But I really do have a good reason. I need new markers if I want to finish the drawings. So maybe after Christmas I’ll get that post up. But today, I’ve got a farm post about a not-so-pleasant topic: processing (killing and preparing for eating) chickens. “What?” You may be asking. “So boring! Post something else!” Well, this is a blog on a farm website, and this is the only thing that I felt I should blog about, so please stop if you want to and wait for the next post, but there won’t be one until next week. (Monday…cross your fingers…)

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!!

On Sunday, my dad had set up all the stuff we needed: tables to work at, the cones where we kill the chickens, the plucker, and the scalder. So yesterday, all my mom, sister, and I had to do was go outside. We had 96 chickens and 6 (I think?) ducks to do, so we spread it out over two days. 

The process is pretty simple. Somebody kills the chicken (I will NOT go into detail here), then dips them in scalding hot water, about 140°F. That loosens up their feathers. Then, they drop them in the plucker. The plucker looks like a round tub, with rubber fingers protruding from the sides and bottom. When you turn it on, the bottom spins and the chicken rubs up against the fingers, which removes almost all the feathers from the bird. It is then brought to a table, where somebody removes the neck and tail. Then somebody removes the insides. The next person makes sure the inside is all clean, then passes it on to somebody whose job is to check to make sure everything looks good, cool the chickens off in cold water, and put them in the cooler. OK, this description is as graphic as this post gets. I promise.

The first day, my sister, mother, and I troop outside, ready to face whatever this day brings. I rest in the knowledge that we have to quit by 3 P.M., because:

1.  It gets dark early, and,
2.  I have a class I HAVE to attend.

So we begin the process. I check the insides to make sure they’re all clean, and pass it on to my sister, who is the final stop before they go in the cooler. Our first batch consists of 37 chickens, and that takes us about an hour and a half. The next batch only has 25, and I manage to finish most of them before going inside to my 3:30 online class. At about 4, when I come back outside, everything is pretty much done. Sister and I wash our clothes, shower, and change into our PJ’s to relax.

The next day, we come outside, ready to face the day. We only have 30-something chickens and a few ducks to do, so I think it’ll be easy, right? WRONG! The chickens go smoothly, but after we take our break, we start on the ducks. When you process ducks, there’s this special wax that you cover them with, because even if you put them through the plucker, all the feathers don’t come off, and the wax helps get the little feathers off. But we didn’t know this, and didn’t purchase any wax. To make matters worse, the generator that runs our equipment decides it wants a break and it takes a while to fix it. By the time we finish, I’m thoroughly beat, but then come the dreaded words:

“Time to clean up.”

Cleanup, in my opinion, is the worst! You’re ready to get comfy, and your boots hurt your poor toes, your clothes are wet, and you want to get the smell of this day out of your nose, but then cleanup seems to d…r…a…g…

But finally we finish. And as we do, something my mom said rings in my mind. “This will teach you perseverance. When there’s something in life you don’t want to do, you’ll pray and say, “God, give me the grace to continue like you did that day when I was processing chickens.”

And so I continue.

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