When the time finally came for us to harvest our first chicken, the whole family was saddened. Our beautiful, sweet little Frizzle was making the rooster call that was coming from our baby chickens’ coop. The noise that I love would soon annoy our neighbours. So it was time to act on the conversation that we had with Lara when she asked for day old chickens for her birthday present.
The day before, and the morning of the harvest, Lara (4 year old chicken mother), Olivia (2.5 year old chicken whisperer) and I, all said our goodbyes to our thirteen week old chicken, Frizzle. At thirteen weeks of age, our cute little black and white frizzle chicken, who’s crop was different to all the others started to make a funny noise one day. The next day we were able to identify that it was indeed coming from him. The time had come for our family to face the reality that we knew was coming.
Is It a Chicken or a Rooster
Day old chickens can be purchased as ‘sexed’ but in reality, its a 50/50 shot. There are a few ways to tell the difference between a chicken and a rooster which you can read about here.
We started off with seven adorable little chicks with the hope of ending up with most being hens to add to our existing flock. I talked with my children about the reality of us not being able to keep roosters in our backyard (council rules), and that farms don’t need any more roosters. So they would probably just slaughter our pet and eat it, or turn it into pet meat.
I told them that I felt better about the idea of us raising super happy, healthy chicks, that were loved and well cared for. Also that I would learn how to gently kill our boys so that we could use every part of them and truly show our respect to our pets. This included me having the intention to eat the rooster (providing it wasn’t one of our favourites).
Different People Process Life Matter Differently
My youngest daughter is very happy with this situation. I think she must have been a chicken farmer in her previous life. However, since my eldest daughter became a Mother of Chickens she has taken it upon herself to not eat meat. Something I recall doing in my late primary school days, for the similar reasons. To be fair, I am eating considerably less meat these days-pate doesn’t count though.
I’m proud of both of my children for understanding the situation, and making their own choices. They knew I would support them in their choice.
As a family, we decided that I would harvest Frizzle whilst the girls were at kindy. I watched a few videos on YouTube. I told my children these would be confronting, and scary, but they both chose to sit on my lap and watch them with me, regardless. After watching two methods, Lara asked me to break Frizzle’s neck first, as she thought it was more humane than cutting his throat.
Watching the videos I don’t know how she came to this conclusion. But a few weeks ago, my friend who is a vet convinced me that swinging a chicken to break it’s neck was the kindest way. So I’m glad that my daughters agreed with this method, because I was always going to take my educated friend’s advice.
Chicken Harvest Preparation
Last night Frizzle went into a box to fast. I placed that box in the laundry. Then this morning when I was on the loo Olivia walked in cuddling Frizzle, with Lara hot on her heels. They were both saying goodbye. Then Lara said “I don’t want to eat Frizzle” to which Olivia responded “We have to eat him Lara, his a rooster”. I informed them that no one had to eat Frizzle if they didn’t want to. But I did have to do the difficult job of ending his life. Our suburban farm does not allow for happy neighbours if you have a rooster.
With the girls off at kindy I set up a rope from our magnolia tree to hang our rooster from to pluck his feathers. A pink kids wading pond to catch the feathers, a table and two bowls for the harvest, and a large pot of warm water to dunk the rooster in to loosen his feathers for plucking. There was no more putting this off, the time had come.
Strength in Realisations
As I held Frizzle, stroked his head and thanked him for being such a lovely pet. He went to sleep in my arms, and for a moment there I thought “I can’t do this, look how much this little guys trusts me”. That reminded me of a split moment in time laboring my babies when I thought “I can’t do this”. Which instantly lead to “if you can make life gracefully, you can take life gracefully”.
No one can harvest this beautiful creature as kindly as you will. That was what it took for me to realise that I was doing the right thing. I understand that a lot of people may not think so, and I value their opinions too. But, If I decide to keep chickens to give us eggs, then occasionally I will have to help a rooster stop crowing.
The whole process was difficult, it was very emotional. But I am proud to say that we raised a very happy, healthy animal, that my family are going to appreciate for dinner.
Chicken Harvest
As I swung Frizzle and felt his neck break, I was so focused on sending him peaceful vibes, that I didn’t realise how much the kill had taken out of me emotionally. I was holding him upside down by his legs, with his wings flapping around, for what seemed like eternity. Luckily my husband was there for me to express this to, and to distract me a little.
Next I had to bleed Frizzle, which meant chopping off his head. I wasn’t expecting this to be so confronting, as I had already done the hardest part,. But if you are preparing to harvest your first chicken, you should know that that part is also really tough.
With the hard parts over, I set to work plucking Frizzles feathers, and thanking him for what he was giving our family. Telling him that we were going to use his beautiful feathers to make dream catchers. No doubt anyone witnessing this process would have been shocked, and concerned by the way I was talking to an animal I just slaughtered. But it felt right, it felt like I was showing him respect, and that we were helping each other on our respective journeys.
At one point, I even said to my husband “it’s somewhat calming to think that your great Grandmother used to do this every Sunday, just down the road, for their Sunday roast”.
Luckily for my husband, he needed to go and pick the kids up from kindy, before I got to the gutting stage. Plucking took so much longer than the You Tube video I watched.
Butchery Skills
Mark wasn’t keen to help gutting when I asked him. But his knife skills are so much better than mine. I really didn’t want to waste any part of the rooster. Turns out I did a great job. When I found Frizzle’s heart I was genuinely surprised by how big and healthy it was for such a little guy. I said to him “of course you have a big heart, my sweet little fella”. I’m proud to say that I raised a super healthy animal, that lived a happy life, and peaceful ending.
When I went up to the compost to put his gizzards in there, and I heard another chick testing out it’s vocal chords I stopped, looked at them and said “who said that? Who ever it was better pipe down, because Frizzle is no longer with us because he was making that noise. I’m not ready to do that again soon”.
Again mother nature forced me to see my emotions, hopefully she will pass me a solid and help me keep my other little boy quiet for a while. Mark decided not to cook Frizzle tonight and put him in the fridge “to enjoy with his friend tomorrow”. Clearly my husband is proud of my farmer skills, but has no idea the emotional roller coaster I went through today.
I’m proud of myself. Anyone who eats meat should have to at least witness what I did today. I understand that most people won’t be able to do it. I didn’t know if I could at one stage today. But it has become too easy to go to a supermarket, pick up an animal and burn it on the BBQ without a second thought. Our great grandmothers wouldn’t believe the way we live today.
Tonight’s Update
We enjoyed a very special, emotional family dinner, thanks to our efforts and our backyard. I asked Lara if she wanted to have a tiny taste of the chicken, and to our great surprise she did. She put it perfectly when she proudly stated “that is the best chicken I’ve ever tasted, thank you Frizzle”. We talked about that being because he was super fresh, and also that I think it’s because he had a wonderful life, and a peaceful death. My little family has learnt so much this week, and we are grateful. We’ve never eaten a better tasting chicken, and we doubt we ever will again.
To read other BACKYARD FARMING posts click the link.