I have been in the habit lately of remarking (either in my head or out loud), "That would be a great Steemit article!". Indeed, many have been good ideas but some are just too dull or I forget to get pictures or I just run out of time...
So, this morning when Ryan and I were having coffee and deciding what we needed to do today I had a great idea! I said, "Oooohhh! Let's butcher those 2 Cornish Cross and take lots of pictures for Steemit!".
...Crickets...
Finally, Ryan goes along with it and grabs the camera as he goes out to dispatch. You see we have a deal, if he kills it I'll clean it. He shot a deer last fall and I butchered the entire thing on my own.
I told him to get video too for our YouTube. Even though YouTube stopped monetizing butchering videos I still wanted to teach people how it's done. So he agrees and after a little while he comes back in and we trade off, he stays in with the kids while I go pluck and gut, not a fun job but someone has to do it.
I got my stage all set up for the perfect photo and video shoot and then I started second guessing myself... I don't want to take pictures and video of this! It's gross! There are already enough Youtube videos out there already! I know because that's how I learned to do it myself. This is a very difficult task, not one that should be glorified or monetized! So I put away the camera and proceeded to complete my task, all the while thanking the chickens for their sacrifice to feed our family.
When I was finished I washed off and picked up my camera. I turned it on and proceeded to babble on and on about LIFE and DEATH and SACRIFICE and GRATITUDE! I went on and on and on...I probably won't use any of it but it was good therapy to just talk about why we do our own butchering and what it means to us. It will be interesting to play it back on my computer while I edit today's vlog. There may be parts I want to keep in the video but I imagine the bulk of it will be cut. Not every story has to be told in the level of detail we THINK it should be. Some things are better left to the editing board.
I am sorry this article isn't full of pictures, pictures I never took, of a process I never enjoy! I'll find a cute chicken picture on my hard drive so there is a thumbnail, and I'll be happy with that. I hope you are!
Thank you for reading and watching Wholesome Roots!
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Thanks for NOT sharing 😀 I love me some chicken but don't care to see the butchering. 😘
right!? lol
Of course, they are pretty. We humans have our eyes set in the front just like other predators. Nature is only cruel to those who do not understand it. Somehow, to some, killing animals is horrible, but slaughtering plants is acceptable. What is a tragedy is wasting food. A few years ago, a chicken was killed by a rat, where I had lived for so many years. I took the carcass and tossed into the pond. The next day there was nothing left of it. We orchastrate life and death and the cycle within our domain: and we survive another day.
very well said! Thank you!
Part of me is so soooo glad there are no pictures and part of me is sad that I'll not know what to do should I find myself with a bird that needs cleaning :/ I do know how ever not to use soap :D something my mother told me when she first started cooking on her own :D thanks for the great read :)
Thank you for reading. There are many great butchering videoes on youtube. I just couldn't do it.
not judging here I don't know if I could do it myself though I would love to have a small property to have chickens and ducks and the past few months i've been real interested in bee keeping :) and me a huge chicken when it comes to bugs of any size with more or less feet then me :P
Glad there were no pictures. While I'm mostly off meat I do eat fish because I life in a fishing village and fresh fish is easy to get, it's delicious and it's nutritious and wild caught. I don't eat farmed fish - we have those farms here too and they an environmental nightmare. I don't eat other meats because of the factory farming and not having easy access to humanely raised and slaughtered meats, we opt for fish for the most part.
Having said all that, I do respect those who can raise and then eat their animals. I know I could not do it. My father was a hunter and the game he killed was a valuable food source along with the fish he brought home (he was a commercial fisherman).
I'm not naive enough to think that fish are always killed humanely - they aren't. I understand that things need to die so I can eat and that humans are predators. That doesn't mean I want to watch the death of animals.
Color me sheltered and wimpy :) I'll leave the killing to those who have what it takes to do it and I'll do the cleaning. That part I don't mind (too much).
Enjoyed the post. Following.
I am so glad you can appreciate this. It is not easy to do but factory farming is horrible and I want my humanely raised meat. thanks for understanding.
I didn't get this old and not learn that life isn't always pretty. I really do have respect for those who humanely raise and slaughter their animals. I was raised by a father who tried to be humane and respectful with the animals he killed both as a commercial fisherman and as a hunter. I was just a "sensitive child" as he would say and I knew what was happening but didn't want to be a part of it. I still don't; but I know it's a necessary part of life. And as I've gotten older, I've also realized that death is simply a part of life and that religions have played a huge part in making us fear and try to avoid death at all costs. But that's a story for another day :)
I'm the same way about I just can't dispatch the animal and gut them but I will take it from there and pluck, take care of feet and head and get it cleaned up and in the freezer. Just can't dispatch them.
Yep! Count me in on one of those happy not to see the pics. If you can do it. Better than store bought! 🐓🐓
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