Processing a chicken
If the title of the entry didn’t clue you in, the following entry has pictures of a graphic nature that demonstrate where our food comes from. If you cannot handle the reality of trading a life for meat, you need to go elsewhere.
After I made the decision to turn McLovin into food, I had a terrible time sleeping at night. I’d sleep for a few hours, then wake up for one reason or another, and start thinking about killing McLovin. Usually it would take me an hour or longer to get back to sleep, because all I could think about — and dread — was how I’d be ending his life Saturday morning. Finally, I’d had enough this morning and decided I wanted to go ahead and get it over with today so I might get some good rest tonight.
It’s funny, really. I imagine there are those of you right now thinking if it bothers you so much, why do it? Good question. I don’t know if I have a good answer. Here are my thoughts:
I love meat, and I’m not going to give it up. I don’t particularly mind that an animal has to die, but I care a good deal about how that animal lived. I hate factory farming, and want to do what I can not to contribute to it. I have a way to provide meat for Robyn and I, to raise animals humanely and treat them very well, then dispatch them as quickly and painlessly as possible. So, while I loathe the act of taking an animal’s life — and I hope like hell I never stop loathing it — I take comfort in knowing the animal was well-treated and as “happy” (for lack of a better word) as possible.
So there you have it.
Below is the contraption I built to help me with chicken processing. The basic form is that of a sawhorse. I added pieces of 2×4 across the top so that it would hold four safety cones to allow me to bleed out up to four chickens at a time. I built the original version on Monday. By Wednesday, I realized it was kind of dumb for me to try and process four chickens at a time by myself (Robyn would help if I asked, but I can tell she’s reticent so I don’t), so I added a couple of modifications I thought would help: boards to make a flat surface for the cutting board and a T on the end to hang chickens for plucking.
The new design would let me theoretically do two chicks at the same time, even though I don’t have a million dollars.
(props to anyone who gets that)
I set up the setup out by the pigs, because they’d be getting the offals and there’s water out there, then Robyn and I caught McLovin. Catching him was far easier than we thought it would be, because he ran behind a gate and got trapped there. We felt kind of bad because he was alarmed — he wasn’t a people rooster — but as soon as I got him upside down he was perfectly calm.
My understanding is that holding them this way makes all the blood run to their head and makes them very sleepy.
I lowered McLovin into one of the cones and pulled his head through the bottom. He stayed calm the entire time. I pulled his head to the right because the jugular is on the left, and the cut needs to be made there, just beneath the head.
One quick slice, and the open jugular did the rest of the work. McLovin didn’t squawk, or really flail. He kicked once, and that was it. It took less than a minute for him to completely bleed out.
From the cone, he went into hot water, somewhere between 140-150 degrees. I swirled him around for maybe 45 seconds, and when I pulled him out and hung him on the hook with a bungie, some of the feathers had already come out.
Plucking him was far harder than plucking Flappy. He had WAY more pinfeathers (and I didn’t think to get a picture of one to show you), and it took me a good 20 minutes to get him clean.
Finally, though, he was clean enough for the next steps. The pigs were very interested in the smells the wind blew toward them.
First, a cut through the neck skin, to loosen the crop. The crop is the bulbous white thing to the bottom right of the gash. That’s where all the food they eat goes first. I loosened the crop so that it would go on through when I pulled the rest of the entrails out the back.
Next, a horizontal cut across the gut right above his cloaca. You have to be really careful with this cut, so that you don’t cut the intestines and release poop into the body cavity.
Once the cut was made, I pulled him open and used my hand to go up along his ribs and then down. You have to work your hand around in there, gently but firmly, to loosen everything so you can pull it out.
Below are the entrails. At this point, the intestine is still connected to the cloaca, and you have to cut the cloaca out so everything comes out in a big clump. I managed to not get a picture of the cloaca cutting. I also cut off the oil gland, which is in the little stump at the base of the tail. Once again, I managed to forget to take a picture.
The two white things below are what made McLovin the randy little bastard he was. The red thing is a lung.
I removed the neck –
– and then the wing-tips.
To remove the feet, you get a firm grip—
and bend it backwards. A knife severs the tendons holding it all together.
A good rinsing and double-check for pinfeathers, and he’s ready for the fridge, where he needs to rest for a couple of days before getting cooked.
So there you have it, the processing of a chicken from beginning to end. It may be a little gruesome, but I know how he was treated while he lived, and I know he didn’t die in a bad way.
Looks great, Fred! I never thought about using an actual traffic cone, lol!
Anyhow, that carcass looks a lot better than you’d think a roo that age would. Wanna come to Idaho? I have a whole pen full of old biddies that need doing.
OH — and what the heck are you cutting off the wing tips for??? Them are the best parts to eat
Interesting to see the process. The cone method seems more humane. You won’t ever get over feeling bad when you do this, but you have the right attitude about the whole thing.
Thanks for sharing.
Wow, thanks for sharing! I really think I could handle everything but plucking them, thats sad! But, I think the wet stinky feathers all over my hands would bother me more than killing them. I had to help my uncle pluck a freaking turkey, and ended up screaming the entire time.
Hope McLovin is tasty!
I know that unless I was starving, and it was me or the chicken, I definitely am way too much of a wuss to do that. I also know that I like eating chicken. I’m with you on the good life until they die, which is why we’re more and more switching to organic. More humane, more taste, and in your case, as local as you can get. Good deal, Fred.
I love Office Space, so I got the reference right away. LOL
On the chicken related note, that actually wasn’t nearly as graffic as I expected and I’ve seen a chicken processed before, although it’s been several years.
Damn! Angela got the Office Space reference before I did!
Well, that really wasn’t so bad at all. Not sayin’ I could do it myself, I give you lots of credit.
RIP, McLovin’… thanks to good owners you had a good life and a good death. Wish all chickens had it as good as you did!
Had to shield my eyes a couple of times but only because I am a wuss. I thought the whole process was very interesting though. Thanks for taking the time to show and tell!
Very interesting to see in pictures. I think what surprised me the most what seeing him plucked, but with a head, feet and tail feathers still intact - then you really make the connection of: farm chicken = packaged chicken! The cone seems pretty peaceful - you know he’s not flailing around and stuff. Thanks for sharing! RIP McLovin
Oh, and why did you cut off the wing tips?
Good for you and Robyn! That’s a cool processing station. The part I always hated was the smell of the wet feathers. I luv reading how you guys are turning Crooked Acres into a real farm.
woops *snort* that isn’t my site in comment 11. I had put a ‘w’ in my site addy when there isn’t one.
sorry
Props for the edu-ma-katin’ of us readers, Fred. Thanks for showing us the process, and explaining your take on it all. Good eatin’!
Thanks, Fred! That was very educational.
My husband owns a commercial plant nursery and we have a garden every year, nothing that compares to yours. The nursery is located on a farm that also includes larger organically raised cattle and there are some chickens in the barns there, too. Until you started writing about your experiences at Crooked Acres, I really never thought about where my meat and animal products came from beyond “the farm” or their lives as individuals. The only animals I’ve ever seen on our farm are also very humanely treated so I had turned a bind eye to large farming.
I really appreciate you writing about your farm and your journey to a more accountable way of consumption. I find myself thinking about things now when I shop. I can bypass another leather handbag and I take my leftover chicken home from a restaurant and make sure I finish it for lunch.
Last week I went with our farm manager to watch a hog slaughter at a neighboring farm. I know those pigs were treated as well as yours, sans home baked cookies. The pigs were all in a huddle with their heads together, shaking and comforting each other as the next was lead away to be shot. I have to say that it was emotional for me to see. I am smart enough to know that is the food chain, and that if the tables were turned they’d eat us up, too. I most definitely won’t waste any part of the pig ever again, though. I’ll also be stopping by with treats for their next batch of piglets, too.
I loved watching McLovin grow up here, being able to bear witness to a well lived life. Thank you for making his end swift and not without dignity.
Thank you for showing me an integral part of our world that many people never stop to consider. That conciousnes has truly been a gift that will stay with me.
Those were some cojones on that bird! Thanks so much for sharing this with everyone. I was afraid that I was going to be so eeked out by your pics that I’d never be able to do it myself someday, but I wasn’t. Of course, I don’t get the smells through the computer, so that may change after we kill our first… Anyway, could you explain again (I know you’ve mentioned it once before, but I can’t remember what you said) why you have to let the bird rest for a couple of days after slaughter?
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Fred. I was even able to finish my cookie once I got here. Go me! *snicker* I imagine it will get somewhat easier since you guys don’t spend so much time with the newer chickens. The original ones are somewhat like pets in that you guys spent a lot of time watching them and being amused by them, and they even had names. I imagine that with having more and more chickens they all begin to blur together after a while. Kudos to you again for doing what you’re doing.
Well done. I hope that you get to the point where you don’t lose sleep before each killing. I respect your regard for each creature’s life.
Thanks Fred, that was interesting. Not too different than processing game or other large animals, I see, but I’d never seen poultry done.
I thought before I read “Oh! Poor McLovin’” But then went ahead and read anyway and realized…yum - fresh chicken! What a great chicken processing set-up. I have to tell you, I’m so impressed by all that you and Robyn have done at Crooked Acres. I can’t imagine having all that energy. You two are amazing! Enjoy the chicken feast!
I have to admit, I saw you had posted this last night, and knew I might not be able to dream about anything but a bleeding-out rooster if I read it, so I came back today as curiosity got the best of me. I too have a new awareness. You are at least making me think about where my meals come from, and I’ve always turned a blind eye to it before. Props to you for the humane setup- and R.I. tasty Pieces McLovin’
When I was in Africa, I saw the ‘commercial’ chicken slaughter at the local market. It always amazed me that the chickens would sit in a row next to the ‘bleeding out station’ and not make a run for it. They knew what was coming. Those guys did everything quick. All of 5 minutes of bleeding, plucking and hot bird in a bag for me to take home. It was a bit unreal.
I grew up spending summers with my grandparents—old school Mexicans from Mexico, where my grandma used to light a fire every morning to cook. They did their chickens with the ‘chop’. I spent many a summer night with my hand up a chickens’ ass cleaning them out. At this rate, I still prefer the stores to do the dirty work for me!
Went to the site yesterday, but, gave myself an extra day to actully read it. Have to say it; not bad at all. I was kinda of disapointed that you didn’t show feeding the offal to the pigs. I just couldn’t figure out before, how the cones could possibly be used for the kill. I didn’t realize that the ends would be cut off and the killing would happen before suspending said chicken. LOL!!! I too, am curious as to why the chicken needs to sit in the fridge for a couple of days.
Sammi
thank you for the post.. it was very interesting.. i saw photos of some farm somewhere and they had metal cones affixed to the side of the chicken coop.. i always wondered why, i guess thats what they were for.. now i know
Thanks for the interesting post!
You have a much cleaner way than the way we used to do it. We just chopped the head and let them run around. Yours is a much cleaner way.
As kids we had a cow we bought with our uncle. Big Shawnee was her name. We used to ride her in the fields. One day she was gone. That same night we had steak for dinner. My mom was the one that announced that Shawnee was on the dinner table.
We were devestated. Farm life can be hard.
I will bet factory farms do not worry as much about contamination with the “cut across the gut right above his cloaca”!!
I echo what cecpe just posted. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ll bet they just spray the heck out of them to make sure all the poop is gone (but probably not the bacteria).
Okay, I never knew chickens had entrails.
I must’ve thought they ran on batteries? And when the batteries died, they got plucked from the chicken tree just like your friend told us. I like living in the city where you can believe what you damn well wanna!
Thanks Fred,that was really interesting and not nearly as
a gross/graphic/disturbing as I thought it would be. We
want to raise chickens one day too and I’m really afraid
of this part.I’m learning that it’s never Nice(for lack of
a better word) to kill anything but if I want to eat my own
kindly raised animals,I have to do this part too and I hope
I never lose that feeling of dread and remorse either. It
goes with the territory,right?
I LOVE Office Space. The line about two chicks at one time is one of my favorites of that movie.
My mom always put the chicken’s head under a hoe handle and just yank the feet. The cones look cleaner, because much like chopping the head off, when you pull the head off, the chicken still has lots of nerve movement, etc. Having been chased by a headless chicken as a child, I have a deep appreciation for the cone setup! Seeing the pictures brought back a memory of the horrible smell of plucking a wet chicken, though. UGH!
That looks like some good eatin! I would rather eat a home grown chicken any day then eat one from the grocery, they are gross and unflavorful.. ick. There is nothing more healthy than that McLovin!!!
Fred, I comemend you! I would never go to that much trouble to process a chicken (or rooster)even if I lived in the country! You should be proud of the fact that your FOOD SOURCE have the lives they do. They are NOT pets! By the way, I don’t know nothing ’bout being country but that set up looked pretty slick! Are you sure you are not an engineer?
I told hubby that McLovin’ was meeting his maker this week and he said “So, McLovin’ is McNuggets?” I cracked up.
I’m glad you posted this. It’s important to know where food comes from, and good to know your food was so well-treated before becoming food. But I have to admit it made me cry a little. (So did reading about Flappy.) I’m a big wuss.
Thanks for sharing this Fred. I am really impressed with all that you and Robyn have done…very cool. I wish I wasn’t such a wuss!