a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Tag: Humanely raised chicken

  • What My Butchering Process is Like

    I butcher my chickens one at a time. When you purchase one of my chickens, it has been butchered as if it was the only chicken in the world. Unlike chicken you buy in a supermarket or even from most farmers markets, my chickens never see another chicken being butchered, they never share the hot water other chickens are dunked in, they never share the ice water other chickens are chilled in. They are not bleached like many commercial chicken. Each of my chickens is processed individually. Before and after each chicken is processed, the work area is disinfected. They are too precious to be treated with less respect.

    Here is a description of how a chicken you purchase from me is processed. I have nothing to hide.

    Using a piece of netting, I gently herd the chicken into an enclosed pen so that none of the other chickens see me catching the chicken. Once I have the chicken, I immediately cover it with a towel so that it can’t see. Once a chicken can’t see, it becomes very calm.

    In the dedicated kitchen I use to process my chickens, I put the chicken in a killing cone and gently pull the head out the bottom of the cone. I make sure to cover the chicken’s head with my hand so that it can’t see a thing.

    Hen in killing cone
    Hen in killing cone

    I quickly cut the carotid arteries in the neck. In 30 to 60 seconds the chicken will have bled out and be dead.

    Hen bled out.
    Hen bled out.

    I pull the chicken out of the killing cone and it is now ready to be processed.

    Deceased hen out of the killing cone.
    Deceased hen out of the killing cone.

    The first step is to dunk the chicken in 145 degree water for a minute or two to loosen the feathers. If you prefer, you can request that I dry pluck your chicken instead.

    Hen in 145 degree water to loosen her feathers.
    Hen in 145 degree water to loosen her feathers.

    It takes five to ten minutes to hand pluck a chicken.

    Hand plucked hen
    Hand plucked hen

    Once I’ve eviscerated the chicken, I truss it and it is ready to be chilled. The State of Washington requires that I chill the chicken to 45 degrees within 4 hours. Mine chill to that within 2 hours in a freezer. I do not chill them in ice water. Once they are chilled to 45 degrees, they are moved into a refrigerator and kept there until you pick them up. They are never frozen.

    The hen has been eviscerated, cleaned and trussed.
    The hen has been eviscerated, cleaned and trussed.

    These free roaming, grass and bug eating, running/flying chickens have remarkable meat, liver, and gizzards. But their fat is amazing. It is creamy, soft and yellow. You can use it, as is, to fry.

    Yellow fat from one of my hens.
    Yellow fat from one of my hens.

  • Early winter sun and new chicks

    None of the chicken you buy at your favorite store ever get to spend time in the sunshine with its flock. Chicken you buy in stores are almost always hens, and not a single one ever got to flirt with a handsome rooster.

    Chickens enjoying winter sunshine.
    Chickens enjoying winter sunshine.

    And you won’t find a single chicken for sale which ever got to spend time with its mother. Does it make a difference? It does to the chick, and having a mother gives the chick a great deal of comfort. There’s always a warm place to sleep at night and to take mid-day naps. And mother is always there to protect it.

    Mother and daughter feeding.
    Mother and daughter feeding.

    Normally I don’t let broody hens hatch chicks this late in the year, but this year there are several determined hens. This is a two day old chick stepping outside to catch up to its mother.

    New chick looking at mother
    New chick looking at mother

    And out in the woods is a scarecrow – not to frighten off any crows, but to stop any coyotes who venture too close. I recently saw a news report about scarecrows from around the world. According to the report, in Mongolia scarecrows are used to ward off wolves from flocks of sheep. So we’re putting up scarecrows in the woods to protect our chickens. Our two guard dogs do a great job, but there’s no harm in assisting them.

    Scarecrow to keep coyotes away
    Scarecrow to keep coyotes away

  • Roasting your chicken – preparing it

    You’ve gone to the great effort and expense to procure one of these incredible heritage breed chickens from A Man and His Hoe. Unlike a whole chicken you buy in the store, which you have no idea when it was butchered, your chicken will have been butchered no more than 24 hours before you procure it. It may even have been butchered a few hours before you get your hands on it. And you’ll know the exact day and time down to the minute when it was butchered. You’ll also know when it was hatched and how old it was when it died. You may even know the mother that raised your chicken, and if you are lucky, you may get a chance to thank the mother while you are picking up your chicken. Each mother has her own way of raising chicks. Some mother hens are strict constructionists and keep their little chicks in line. Other mother hens are as carefree with their brood as a pot smoking Marin county liberal. Does it make a difference how the chickens taste when roasted? It’s up to you to decide.

    These chickens are best roasted. And since your chicken is so fresh (unless you’ve committed the ghastly crime of freezing it, heaven forbid!), you will want to give it a few days rest to help it get over the trauma of dying. Chickens like to die as much as you do, and they deserve a few days to recover from their fate.

    RoastingChickenDay1-A-ingredientsGo out into your garden (or if you aren’t in the mood to venture outside send your gardener, that’s why you hire him or her) and fetch a nice handful of herbs. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, sage and the like. Basically your favorite herbs.

    Set out one to two teaspoons of salt.

    Peel some garlic cloves.

    Unwrap your chicken and rub the salt all over the chicken. As the chicken rests over the next two to three days, the salt will tenderize the meat, help it relax, and flavor it.

    Stuff the cavity of the chicken the the herbs and garlic. They will help the chicken relive those many pleasant days it spent out in the garden.

    RoastingChickenDay1-B-stuffedTruss the chicken. If you don’t know how to truss a chicken, search “trussing a chicken” on youtube. Have fun watching the many thousands of trussing videos and pick a method that suits you. There is no single right way.

    RoastingChickenDay1-C-trussedPlace the chicken in a heavy pot which has a lid.

    RoastingChickenDay1-D-in-potCover the pot with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for two to three days.

    That’s all it takes to prepare your A Man and His Hoe chicken for perfect roasting.

    RoastingChickenDay1-E-in-pot-with-lid

  • Every chick deserves a mother.

    Every chick deserves a mother.