Butchering Chickens (*warning*)

On Memorial Day we went over to Bob & Valeries house as it was time to butcher the chickens they bought in March. I had never butchered a chicken before, so I thought I should give it a try. Yes, it is a little morbid, but I eat chicken bought in a store, so what's the difference.

Here are some pictures of my first chicken butchering experience.












Okay, so the first step is the worst... the heads get cut off, but they are in this cage thing and partially in a bag, so you don't see much unless you look. Of course I was curious. Once dead they are dipped in hot water to loosen the feathers, and then run against this machine that take the feathers off. That was pretty neat as it goes so fast. Once that is done it looks real similar to what you buy in a store....see the city girl learns a little of what happens on the farm.




Then came the butchering part...cut off the feet and then clean off any remaining feathers or stuff on the skin. Megan's and my job was to take out the insides....really weird at first, but then kinda fun. What can I say, I used to love disecting things in science class. Once all the insides are cleaned out they get another bath to make sure they are cleaned and then put in a big tub to cool down so it is easier to cut up in to smaller portions.
We were able to clean 48 chickens in less than 2 hours, we had a smooth assembly line going.