(Chicken) Harvest Time

I have been looking forward to writing this post. This is meaningful to me- knowing where these chickens lived and foraged and what they ate (from the time they were chicks), having watched them run through the yard (wings flapping), watching them perch in the lower branches of trees and on our garden gate, all the while knowing that we would eventually be eating them, made me all the more appreciative of them from the start. Please forgive my run on sentences and improper use of punctuation- pregnancy has further impaired me.

It was easy to know which ones would become supper. Our meat birds were white and all our others, shades of brown. They were easy to spot from my kitchen window even when they were at the very back of the property and I wasn't wearing my glasses. They were beautiful- even Jamey agreed.

I'm not getting sentimental here. They were meat birds for the table from the moment we ordered them. I guess I just want to convey how meaningful it can be when you take the time to really know where your food is coming from. It takes the meanings of appreciation and thankfullness to whole different level. Levels that we are happy to share with our kids- who witnessed the entire process below as a normal occurrance. This is where chicken meat comes from, after all.

Due to my condition, I stayed inside during this process, layed up on the couch in my usual position (as of late). I have helped the other times we harvested chickens and enjoyed it. This time, I thought it would best for me to remain horizontal. So, Jamey has written the remainder of this post for me and Ben and Kim took pictures. Thanks to all of you who helped. Here's Jamey...

WARNING - graphic (to some) content.

Well, yesterday was the day we finally harvested the eight meat birds that we got back in July. They were 17 weeks old and had seemed plenty big for awhile, but we had trouble finding time to do it, since it was a pretty long process last time we had harvested a batch.

This time was different. First, we had lots of help. Ben & Kim and neighbors Ted and Kimberly were interested enough in the process to pitch in and help despite the rainy weather.

First off, we used the cones again to hold the birds. The metal one I had made earlier wasn't big enough to hold the large roosters (~8 lbs.) but was ok for the smaller hens. I made a new cone out of the best material I had available--plastic lattice. Looks pretty strange, I know. Anyway, the cone keeps the bird nice and calm while cutting one neck artery to allow the blood to drain out.
This time around, we decided not to use the scald and pluck method, instead hoping that skinning would be much quicker. It did go very quickly. The skin, with feathers attached could be peeled off in a matter of 5-10 minutes.


The next step was to remove the organs, making an opening above the vent just large enough to get a few fingers inside and remove the intestines and organs. We saved the livers and hearts and will be using them for pate. We rinsed the birds well and then bagged them for the freezer.

Brother Ben, Ted and Jamey

The skinning worked really well--I know some people would prefer to have the skin on, but this way suits us just fine for the way we usually cook with chicken. It wasn't nearly as long of a process this time, which had a lot to do with having so much help. I figure we probably ended up with somewhere in neighborhood of forty pounds of chicken from the eight birds. Pin It