There Will Be Blood… and Soup
A 16 year old girl walked me through the butchering of four roosters this morning. I watched, she taught, I practiced, she helped. I’m sure it says something about me that I am nearly twice her age and have probably eaten twice as many chicken dinners in my lifetime.
That afternoon there was a snake a little too close to the broody hen for comfort, a slew of slivers and scrapes and falls, and all of the other elements that make up the very real and raw life of connection to the soil and to the food we eat.
There is blood, there is death, there is that smell of a freshly-killed animal. There are four roosters awaiting the soup pot who had lived in fresh air, ranging for bugs and greens (and much to my chagrin, the garden).
They had a slew of hens they befriended and most likely played a part in fathering those 15 chicks, of which 13 now remain.
They lived the life of a chicken.
And now they will make a most nourishing pot of soup or stew. They are calories. They are nutrients. They are fertilizers. They play a part in a holistic, closed-circle system that we are trying to create.
We nurture and nourish them, and in turn they nourish us. We are neophytes, to be sure, which is why I’m just becoming semi-capable of a task that should long be a part of my abilities. I may not know much of animal butchery yet, but I do know that feeding our family from this land necessitates much more blood and death.
When you are counting calories in a more logical direction – you know, as many as we can produce – this is a joy, a privilege, a thing of beauty and gratitude.
This morning was a lot of things – educational, dirty, helpful, humbling, bloody – but none of it seemed cruel or needless or thoughtless, as the killing and eating of animals is often portrayed. It was simply a part of a real life that I’m afraid we are all too out of touch with.
And you betchya there will be a pot of soup dotted with golden chicken fat that will nourish us all.
Shannon, dear, you’ve outdone yourself both in words and pictures.
Judy On Big Turtle Creek
Agree 100%. Fabulous post.
Wonderfully described! We culled 5 old hens and a rooster over the weekend. The breast meat we minced and made meatballs. The legs in the freezer for stew. The wings and feet for stock. Your young roosters will probably be ok to roast, we roast all our younger ones (less than 1 year old), and the rest are good for stew and mince. I put all the guts in the compost (and old drum that the dogs can’t get into) and they should decompose just nicely 🙂
Ah, a task we will be doing this weekend. A humbling and fulfilling expereince.
Great post, and I agree. When we kill an animal we have raised for food, I do not feel as though we are being cruel(though I admit that for a moment I have a twinge of sadness in killing the animal that I have cared for sometimes since birth). One of my great joys as a parent is teaching my children to love and respect the animals that God has given us for food.
That was very well said. I have to ask… what do you do with the feet? I’ve got chickens for eggs, but haven’t butchered any.
Thank you for this. I probably could kill an animal for food only in the event that I was starving. Yet, I’m an omnivore. Your post reminds me that animals live – and die – to feed my family and makes me grateful for the world’s (humane) farmers, hunters, and fishers.
I butchered my first chicken recently and it would have been great to have someone there to guide me, as opposed to just advice before hand. It was a fraught process and took a long time due to lack of experience, but at the end I was pleased to have delicious roast chicken that was humanely raised and have to connected with where my food comes from. Thank you for this post.