I've never had any trouble dealing with plucking and gutting poultry. My first memory of doing this was when I was about seven years old and my Mother was struggling with our free range Christmas turkey which had unexpectedly arrived with innards intact! After a few graphic phone calls to country relatives she, and my Granny, set about preparing the bird. There followed several attempts to gut the turkey with intermittent swearing and fits of giggles, the process facilitated with a glass of festive sherry. Most of the insides were removed but some parts proved difficult. And so, under far from expert instruction, my own little hand reached the parts grown ups couldn't. I don't think I did it again for twenty years, but I've always known I could do it. However, the part that comes before the plucking and gutting is another matter.
This past year we have had table birds here on our smallholding and also a few bantom roosters donated by breeders without the heart to kill them. More than one rooster in an average flock can lead to viscous fights to the death. Therefore breeders always have a surplus of male stock as they are in less demand and not very good at laying eggs!
So far its been Dan my husband who has dispatched any of our chickens. He doesn't enjoy doing it, but I respect him for being brave enough. I'll never forget the heartfelt solemn look on his pale face when he did the first one. It was something that touched him deeply. I have watched him do it with the hope that one day I might pluck up the courage to try too. Last autumn I woke up one morning and decided that it was the day for me to practice what I preached, and to be involved from start to finish.
I picked my way through breakfast because my heart was in my mouth. I announced to the family that I planned to cook roast chicken for dinner and that I was off out to 'get a chicken'. Dan knew exactly what this meant and asked if I wanted him to come with me. I declined, thinking that being alone it may be easier to focus. I had read over the techniques in various books but the clearest and most humane, and the one that gave me the courage to try, was a dated 1980s (but still 100% relevant) publication ... Complete Book of Raising Livestock and Poultry By Katie Thear & Dr Alistair Fraser. Smallholders the world over will recognise Katie as the guru author of many livestock and smallholding bibles, and writes for the best smallholder magazines. I think that pretty much anything that she has written is worth reading.
So I left the kitchen with intent ... the time for reading and contemplation over. My heart was pounding and my hands shaking. I brought the scoop of morning feed and all the hens gathered around me in excitement. I spotted the young bantom rooster whose time was up and put down the feed. Immediately the birds flocked around which meant that I could pick up the chosen bird without any chase or worry on his part. In the same movement as picking him up under my arm and walking around the corner to where the other birds couldn't see me, I'd slid my left hand down around his legs and my right and onto his neck just below the head. Then a steady downward push and twist to the right with the right hand results in a clear feeling of dislocation in the neck. From picking him up to pushing the neck took about three seconds. The bird then spends a few seconds of flapping, trembling and flinching nerve endings.
It may sound ridiculous but my main fear was that I might hurt the bird. I wanted to pull hard enough to kill it instantaneously, but not so hard that the head came off in my hand. I was also terrified that once I started plucking, it may flutter back to life, meaning I'd only half done the job.
All my fears were put to rest. Killing a chicken changes something in you. It gives a deeper reverence for life, and the food we eat. It cultivates a huge respect for the life that provided us with food and as a result we dare not waste a single bit of our roast chicken. We say words of thanks before we begin the family meal. When the bones have been eaten clean, the carcass is used to make soup.
We won't be eating chicken every week. We will be eating chicken only on special occasions. The process is not easy... physically or emotionally, and so eating a chicken takes on a whole new meaning. They are saved for sharing with special friends, during special meals. Nor do I walk into a supermarket or butchers and pick up a packet of meat/poultry anymore without giving thought to the animal it came from, the life it had, and the death that occurred in order for me to eat it. Its just all too easy these days to eat meat without truly appreciating what happens before it reaches our plates. I think if people did know they would eat less meat, they would ask more questions about the welfare, or lack of it, that their meat has experienced.
Recent Comments