Since we live on a (small, hobby) farm, we came to think of our kids as future work force. To that end, we try to include them into various farm work to the extent to which they are able to participate.
Today, for instance, was chicken butchering day – something they actually wanted to be involved in.
Due to our run-in with some predation problems this summer, we didn’t have very many left to butcher, so instead of borrowing a chicken plucker, like we usually do, we just up and plucked them by hand.
I don’t think my kids ever hand-plucked chickens before, but it is actually a nice job for them – easy and not bloody (all actual killing is currently done by daddy).
If you are curious about the breed, these are Freedom Rangers, so their feathers are nice and red.
You can tell Cyrus is very intent on learning.
An anatomy lesson from grandma – always a bonus!
(Many thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for coming out to help butcher despite a sore foot – and for buying pizza for lunch!)
This is the part where they pull the innards out of a chicken – it can be kind of tricky, because you don’t want to pierce any intestines for obvious reasons. I think daddy took over at this point. But Josie still likes to try to do it. I think that’s great.
Gotta start them young!
P.S.: If you plan to involve your kids into butchering, be sure to warn them not to put their hands in their mouths while they are at it – like with any raw poultry, salmonella is always a risk. If you have little kids, watch them closely, since they are not so good at remembering this type of instructions. Be sure to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards and to change their clothes.
If you are interested in butchering your own chickens or waterfowl, below are the links to my detailed poultry plucking and butchering photo-tutorials:
How to Pluck and Butcher a Duck
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I remember helping my dad pluck ducks and pheasants he had shot when I was little. I thought it was fun!
I think it’s really great that you are giving your kids a grounding in where food actually comes from. A lot of my friends don’t really know and don’t care to.
I want to say bloody brilliant idea but I am not British.
I never asked my 3 year old or 7 year old if they wanted to help but after seeing this I will give it a go. My youngest daughter was present when I killed the first two chickens ever and insisted on it. 
amy recently posted..Independence challenge
I don’t remember asking our oldest one specifically – I just remember her wanting to jump in and help starting the age of four. The little guy is three, but he sees his sister doing stuff, and because they do so many things together, he just follows suit.
I’m really pleased to see your post my girls have been asking to help with our chickens next week, and I don’t know why I was a little nervous. I just am overly worried that they somehow feel upset, but only because so many adults I know seem to be upset by the idea of raising your own dinner. Funny though, they don’t feel upset about buying cheap supermarket meat.
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I wouldn’t hesitate to let them. When you grow up with it, it is very matter of fact. We hunt as well, and the kids can’t wait to be old enough to go hunting. My girl was actually there after I shot a deer (she was four) – drove up with grandpa to load up the deer, and they are always present when we butcher those every year. They like it.
More importantly, warn them not to put their chickeny hands in their mouths.
Good to see your kids involved in the *process.* Our kids help us butcher elk and deer and chickens may be next, if we can muster what it takes to kill our hens.
6512 and growing recently posted..sneak previews and a question
Wow! That is so cool your children aren’t prissy when it comes to this stuff!
I have a chicken question for you that I have always wondered about. I’m sure you know that chicken bones and feet are good for making broth. But I have a question about the feet- if I were to get chicken feet, should I disinfect them before making broth with them? If so, how?
BTW, your kids are absolutely adorable.
Stephanie (@wbhomesteader) recently posted..Why Rabbit Meat is Not The Best Survival Food
I have never used feet myself (I did have them as a child, but not with our chickens), but here’s what I would do myself if I was to keep them – I would not worry about disinfecting them – in the same way I wouldn’t worry about disinfecting the rest of the chicken. However, you need to wash them very well and peel the skin off (you probably knew that already). Once you cook them (boil them in water and turn into broth), the bacteria that are otherwise dangerous (salmonella and stuff) will all be killed – same as with cooking raw chicken. Now I am not a food safety expert, but this is what I would do. Cooking has this disinfecting property in this case.
As far as prissiness, first of all you don’t get too prissy at this age if adults around you are not prissy, since they model behavior to such a great degree. They’ve been around this every year from before they can remember. Also, when it comes to any jobs at all that we deem age-appropriate and safe for the kids (and I am a pretty safe Jewish mama), they don’t have an opt-out option, because we think it’s so important that they learn to stick with a task in front of them – it’s education, you know? For instance, she said that she wanted to pull the guts out but didn’t want to pluck. We explained that you can’t gut until you pluck, and that we all had to pluck. Also, once you do a certain job for a bit, it starts not seeming so bad and can even become fun, even if you didn’t want to do it from the start, so a bit of an initial push from the parents to that end is a good thing. Same with homework, same with everything else. That’s the great part about growing up on a farm – really expands your confidence and skills and comfort zones.
No, I did not know you had to peel the skin off the feet. LOL. Makes sense the cooking process is disinfecting in itself. The reason I ask is because I can’t afford organic, pastured chicken to make broth from and I thought just using the feet would be a cheaper alternative. I was hoping that it would not be as important to use pastured chicken feet as it so use healthy, pastured, whole chickens.
Thanks for the info!
As for the second part of your reply, you’re right. This is an area I probably need to improve on. That’s why my family and I are desiring a more natural, rural lifestyle, especially for our daughter’s sake.
Great job.
Never too late! Also, you don’t have to have conventionally icky jobs to raise hard-working children (ask me again in 10 years). Help with dishes and laundry and picking up and baking and cooking will all do. It doesn’t matter what. Your girl is just the right age for it (I saw her on your twitter posts).
I usually roast a chicken and eat the meat then use scraps/bones for stock. I think feet will make great stock, also gizzards (not liver or other organs though).
Yeah, she has been helping unload the dishwasher, pick up her toys and helping me bake. Although, I’m such an efficiency freak, I have a hard with it. LOL
I used to know a culinary chef and he said using cooked carcasses was counterproductive. He insisted on using raw bones to get the most out of the gelatin. There’s no way I’m taking raw meat off a chicken so I was just going to make the broth with a whole chicken in it or just use the feet, which would be raw anyway.
I’m really not sure about all this, this is just what I have heard. If it’s working for you though, then more power to you.
Stephanie recently posted..Why Rabbit Meat is Not The Best Survival Food
I hear you!! It’s hard for me too (when my kids are helping)! Man. For instance, my daugther just baked cupcakes and made frosting and frosted them (with my help – she did everything except pouring hot things and putting in and taking out of the oven). She is not bad though – increasingly neater and quicker. However, the 3-year-old came to help while we were frosting and then the baby began to fuss and meanwhile I was wielding a thousand-dollar camera. Whew! I was amazed though – the cupcakes were positively the best we’ve ever made here.
I disagree with your chef acquaintance, though. Baked carcass, as it’s been browned already, actually results in a broth with more flavor than using straight-up chicken, in my opinion, and cooking magazines regularly recommend browning the bones before using. I don’t see how the gelatin content would be all spent if you dry-roast a chicken first. Also, gelatin content variation to me seems like a minor issue. Most people I know do it in this way – it’s a great, economical way to get three whole dishes out of a single chicken, which is indeed very expensive organic/free range (it’s expensive to raise too). My mother-in-law makes a giant pot of turkey soup after Thanksgiving – with leftover turkey carcass. In fact, the gelatin content of such stock is clearly not lacking, because when such broth (or soup made with this broth) is refrigerated, it’s often set and wobbly like jello.