Chicken Killing

On Saturday, the Breagys, the Damings, the Sides (families from our church), and us, slaughtered chickens together. The Damings had kept the chickens. All of the families got some of the chicken. There were about 99 chickens. There are 7 steps to processing chickens:
1. The first step is catching them.
2. Then they are killed.
3. Then they are dipped in boiling water so their feathers are loose.
4. Then they are plucked.
5. Then they are eviscerated (which means taking the guts out.)
6. Then they are checked for any other feathers, and they are hosed out.
7. Then they are weighed and put in bags.

Killing chickens reminded us of these verses in Numbers, Numbers 11:31-33

"31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. 32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague."

Now we have an idea what it was like. It took us almost a whole day to do 99 chickens, and that was with 30 people. We calculated it was about 90,000 quails on every side, since the Israelites were surrounded with quail. After just one day it would of stunk. They had to do the cleaning with all of them, and they did not have any automatic machines, and they could not get away from it since they were surrounded.

These are some books written by Joel Salatin, who gave the plucker that we used to our friends, the Sides: Pastured Poultry Profits, Salad Bar Beef, and You Can Farm