Tomrrow's the big day

[SandraMort]

I drive to my breeder's house and get my processing lesson. Carress (here on BYC) will be meeting me there, too. I'm not as excited as I was the first time we scheduled it, I'm too tired and stressed out to be anything but anxious. But it's got to happen.

 

[picklespickles]

good luck. you probably won't like it or have fun, but you will feel more able afterwards. once you've done it a few times, well, you get a routine and somehow there is more of a purpose. i am a goof and i pray for each and everyone i kill. and thank them for the soup or whatever. it makes me feel better to know they are dying in the easiest way possible, for a purpose and that i know they are appreciated and sent off to chicken heaven with a little prayer. i'm a dork, i know.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Pickespickles, you're neither a goof nor a dork for showing those final kindnesses to your birds. You go ahead and do whatever makes you feel best, and helps you do the best job of processing your birds. Some folks think that "humane processing" is an oxymoron, but I don't. Until there is a breed developed that will butcher itself, the next best thing is to learn to do the job humanely, which is efficiently, quickly, and with the least amount of stress & pain possible.

SandraMort, I pray for grace & strength for you & Carress. You can take pride in acquiring this basic survival skill that was once so commonplace, now becoming lost to most in our modern society. Keep in mind that these birds' purpose is to be meat. It's their job, and your job is to learn how to process them well. They'll certainly get better treatment from you at the end than they would in some commercial plant!

Don't let any post-mortem flapping upset you, it's just a basic nerve response & not an indication of pain. In a few days you'll have an incomparable meat dish to serve with pride & appreciation!

Let us know how things go for you.

 

[picklespickles]

that is a very good point to mention. even when the head is removed, i have not only seen movement in the body but also head movement. on a practical level it is obvious there is no "life" left to feel pain and suffering but it can be very disturbing if you do not know about it before. and, even when you do.

 

[Cason]

Just don't look. I drop mine in a large plastic trash receptacle.

 

[SandraMort]

Tonight I participated in processing a chicken for the first time. Chris did the throat slice, held him while he bled, then let me skin him with the help of another BYC woman named Christine. It was solemn but not depressing, if you can imagine. He was a sweet bird and it was just all so serious. It makes me sad for all of the nameless birds who don't have that moment of recognition that their life is being taken to sustain ours.

So, Thank You.

We killed a duck and were going to do him next but it all went so slowly and then it got dark, so I took him home, put him in the freezer and will finish skinning and eviscerating after the kids are at school. I'll amputate a hand if I do it tonight, I'm so tired.

 

[picklespickles]

i know that feeling of putting some in the cold to wait for later. i've done that before. like i can deal with the death right now, but not the rest of it. in fact..............uh, yeah. is that what i should do tonight. lol. thanks for reminding me.

not.

your bird was really beautiful.