Today was Chicken Butchering Day. After 4 hours, we had 50 pastured chickens all tucked into freezer bags.
If only it were that easy. The truth is, butchering chickens is not mean feat. I would say it is the messiest of all animals to process on the farm, and the more people you have helping, the better. The way to keep things clean is to have small tasks, vs trying to do too much alone. This is where the kids come in.
No one is thrilled to be butchering. It isn't a joke on our farm, but it's not somber either. From a young age, the boys are taught that they need to move calmly and efficiently through the flock of birds. As a meat eating family, we raise our own animals, and realize the power that we hold over them. Our animals depend on us for their well being, and that is not a job that we take lightly. At the same time, the animals that are for eating, are not made pet-friendly or named Fluffy. They welcome our arrival with the feed bucket in the morning/evening, but certainly don't miss us when we leave their pasture.
To be honest, this type of day brings us close as a family. We work very hard every day to raise our animals the way they deserve to be raised, and then, when our freezers are full as a direct result of our sweat equity, we can sit together as a family, appreciate each other AND our food.
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