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Heather and I

Riversong Farm, Taylorsville, KY

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Hank.

He was a dear, and so full of personality. No, we didn't eat him.

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Kurt and the Rooster

Kurt impressed us with his cock wrangling skills. Apparently, grabbing them by the feet is the easiest way to go. We picked this rooster for an authentic coq au vin recipe (rooster cooked in wine). Rooster meat is tougher, so for coq au vin, it is simmered slowly in wine until the meat is cooked through and tender, then served with a bacon and mushroom sauce. Thank you, rooster.

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Killing Tree

They called this the killing tree. Yikes, pretty grim. The chickens are tied and hung by their feet. When they are hung upside down, they instantly become calm and/or go to sleep.

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Slaughter

Removing their heads in the quickest and most humane way. Unlike the stories you here of wringing a chicken's neck, if done properly, this method guarantees that the animal dies instantly and painlessly. It lasts only a couple of seconds, tops. Kurt thanked the chicken and did the deed. My heart raced and I held back tears. No one enjoyed this part.

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Not very fun.

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These photos are graphic and abrasive. It's not that I felt the need to savor these moments - I just feel that its important to know that our food once had a face and a pulse, and should be appreciated and not taken for granted.

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Hanging

After a bit of flapping around, the chickens hang for a few minutes and the blood drains out of them. Amazingly, when cleaning the chicken, there is very little blood left.

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Dunking

Heather dunks her bird in scalding water for 20-30 seconds. The heat releases the feathers. They're plucked out by hand and it's surprisingly easy.

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Heather prepares her chicken.

She's a perfectionist. By the end, her chicken looked exactly like the ones you'd find in the store.

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Plucking

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Gutting and cleaning.

This part is fairly simple. You carefully cut a hole around the bum, and it all just kind of falls out together. We made sure to remove everything, minding the areas the farmers told us to cut/not to cut. Then you remove the neck and legs and give it a good rinse.

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All done! (Kind of)

See? Just like in the market! Well, minus the legs. We removed those and saved them for chicken stock.

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