10/15/2024
We spent time helping friends butcher their meat birds!
We watched them do the first 2, while they showed us what to do. Then it was our turn to practice; Justin and I practiced each part a few times (culling, de-feathering & gutting). It didn't take long to figure out who was naturally better at which part, and we created a bit of an assembly line.
- Someone would grab a bird and place it into the cone
- One of us women would grab the heads to help pull it through the cones (only our hands were small enough to fit for that part)
- The men would cull the bird. It takes a surprising amount of strength to slice through the neck. (We didn't just bleed them out, but rather, took the whole head off) Maybe it would be different if we did an ax on wood method when you can use momentum to your benefit, but in the cone, I found I wasn't as quick as the guys
- The men would dunk the bird in hot water to loosen the feathers
- Us women did the plucking & gutting,. Which was not nearly as gross as I thought it would be. I had fun learning about the insides, and cutting the outside was not that different than processing any bird you buy from the store.
- The kids just played with each other the whole time
It was great getting to spend that time together as families, accomplishing the work together β€οΈ
As a "thank you," we got to keep 2 of the birds π₯° so great getting some "free" food, especially when we know how it lived and died.