Hello all!
TLDR: I butchered two of my layers tonight who were tormenting my younger girls. They were killed cleanly and easily and are now resting in fridge camp for a couple days before they move to freezer camp and then a stew pot. My first slaughter!
The long version!
We started keeping layers in 2011 and we were vegetarians. We told our original four girls they had a forever home. Sweet. Out of the original four, we have one remaining. She's the top bird and the steward of the flock and will totally carry on a conversation with you if you talk to her. We slowly added more every couple of years, always expecting our chicks to die, none ever did. Our survival rate is outstanding! LOL. Anyway, some grew old and died, a couple were put down due to illness, but we ended up with eight after purchasing three in 2019.
Our two black Australorps were devilish to our youngest three. No idea why, either. We figured it was them deciding pecking order and let them to it - but these ladies were OBSESSED. I've never really felt like a chicken could hold a grudge, but the one time one of the younger ones got some bugs I had tilled up, Darkheart (apropros), spent the next five minutes solid growling at her and chasing. Poor Marissa (RIR) was patchy all the time. At night, squabbles about bedtime left the younger three sometimes outside the coop until it had gotten dark enough for them to enter and not deal with the Australorps. (EDIT: Should make note here, they are free range and our coop is always open, so they aren't locked in and can enter when they wish and leave the same way.) We'd noticed that our egg production was in the toilet. One of the youngest started laying, but rather than bother the Australorps (who often drove them from the nest boxes), she just laid in the bottom of the coop. It had taken me a little too long to realize what needed to be done.
This past February (2020) I started eating meat again after 9-years vegetarian. My husband followed suit. We are keto, so we use it all - bones, fat... the animals we consume are definitely honored. Well... upon understanding that for the welfare of the flock I needed to dispatch a couple of ladies, and given I knew they'd not be going to waste... I spent an entire night watching butchery videos, and even reading the butchery post here in the Learning Center! (Thanks Booker81!) I went out the night before once they were all in bed and easily scooped the two troublemakers out of the coop. No fuss, no stress. Put them in a cage so they were ready to go. This afternoon, there wasn't really much to it - good sharp knife, swift and certain slice to the jugular, they were out like lights without a peep and without suffering. Still... I felt bad. This was the first time I was taking an animal's life that wasn't sick or elderly, with the express purpose of helping my flock, and eating the results. Maybe bad is not quite it... I was anxious and stressed and a little sick to my stomach feeling like I'd done something wrong. I kept my calm, though, knowing the last thing I wanted to do was have the birds sense any of that, OR make them stressed, OR have a bad kill. I did my job. Well. (In a milk jug kill cone, no less. Cheap!)
It was as I was plucking the second bird that I noticed something... the coop was absolutely quiet. Those younger girls had finally gotten to go in the coop at the right time, settle in, and sleep without bullies picking with them. The right decision was reached. And holy smokes... the golden fat in the rendered girls... BEAUTIFUL! We've saved the necks, the feet, liver, hearts... they'll all be added to the stock pot. The plan is to Instant Pot the girls and shred them down for soup, then we'll stock their remains along with the other parts I saved to make a killer broth that is full of fat and goodness. It took me about an hour a bird - plucked by hand after scalding.
At any rate - to anyone who is just starting out on this, is maybe only processing one or two birds - if you didn't feel a twinge of guilt/sorrow you wouldn't be human. But at the end of the day... if you do it right... those birds don't suffer a bit. It's so fast. Then, you're left holding food. Once you get those feathers off... it's basically like you went to the grocery store. Get ready for the warm insides - that's a little unsettling - but all the more reason for taking a moment to realize this bird gave its life to nourish you. Now, I give them a nod of thanks and admire my self-sufficiency and courage. Maybe that sounds hooky, but I learned a lot about myself tonight. All of it really good.
TLDR: I butchered two of my layers tonight who were tormenting my younger girls. They were killed cleanly and easily and are now resting in fridge camp for a couple days before they move to freezer camp and then a stew pot. My first slaughter!
The long version!
We started keeping layers in 2011 and we were vegetarians. We told our original four girls they had a forever home. Sweet. Out of the original four, we have one remaining. She's the top bird and the steward of the flock and will totally carry on a conversation with you if you talk to her. We slowly added more every couple of years, always expecting our chicks to die, none ever did. Our survival rate is outstanding! LOL. Anyway, some grew old and died, a couple were put down due to illness, but we ended up with eight after purchasing three in 2019.
Our two black Australorps were devilish to our youngest three. No idea why, either. We figured it was them deciding pecking order and let them to it - but these ladies were OBSESSED. I've never really felt like a chicken could hold a grudge, but the one time one of the younger ones got some bugs I had tilled up, Darkheart (apropros), spent the next five minutes solid growling at her and chasing. Poor Marissa (RIR) was patchy all the time. At night, squabbles about bedtime left the younger three sometimes outside the coop until it had gotten dark enough for them to enter and not deal with the Australorps. (EDIT: Should make note here, they are free range and our coop is always open, so they aren't locked in and can enter when they wish and leave the same way.) We'd noticed that our egg production was in the toilet. One of the youngest started laying, but rather than bother the Australorps (who often drove them from the nest boxes), she just laid in the bottom of the coop. It had taken me a little too long to realize what needed to be done.
This past February (2020) I started eating meat again after 9-years vegetarian. My husband followed suit. We are keto, so we use it all - bones, fat... the animals we consume are definitely honored. Well... upon understanding that for the welfare of the flock I needed to dispatch a couple of ladies, and given I knew they'd not be going to waste... I spent an entire night watching butchery videos, and even reading the butchery post here in the Learning Center! (Thanks Booker81!) I went out the night before once they were all in bed and easily scooped the two troublemakers out of the coop. No fuss, no stress. Put them in a cage so they were ready to go. This afternoon, there wasn't really much to it - good sharp knife, swift and certain slice to the jugular, they were out like lights without a peep and without suffering. Still... I felt bad. This was the first time I was taking an animal's life that wasn't sick or elderly, with the express purpose of helping my flock, and eating the results. Maybe bad is not quite it... I was anxious and stressed and a little sick to my stomach feeling like I'd done something wrong. I kept my calm, though, knowing the last thing I wanted to do was have the birds sense any of that, OR make them stressed, OR have a bad kill. I did my job. Well. (In a milk jug kill cone, no less. Cheap!)
It was as I was plucking the second bird that I noticed something... the coop was absolutely quiet. Those younger girls had finally gotten to go in the coop at the right time, settle in, and sleep without bullies picking with them. The right decision was reached. And holy smokes... the golden fat in the rendered girls... BEAUTIFUL! We've saved the necks, the feet, liver, hearts... they'll all be added to the stock pot. The plan is to Instant Pot the girls and shred them down for soup, then we'll stock their remains along with the other parts I saved to make a killer broth that is full of fat and goodness. It took me about an hour a bird - plucked by hand after scalding.
At any rate - to anyone who is just starting out on this, is maybe only processing one or two birds - if you didn't feel a twinge of guilt/sorrow you wouldn't be human. But at the end of the day... if you do it right... those birds don't suffer a bit. It's so fast. Then, you're left holding food. Once you get those feathers off... it's basically like you went to the grocery store. Get ready for the warm insides - that's a little unsettling - but all the more reason for taking a moment to realize this bird gave its life to nourish you. Now, I give them a nod of thanks and admire my self-sufficiency and courage. Maybe that sounds hooky, but I learned a lot about myself tonight. All of it really good.