Rearing to despatching - A how to and why guide - CAUTION
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:48 am
If you have ever considered rearing for the table, this posting is for you.
I talk about how I despatch, so only read on if you want to.
..........................................................................................................
We have been rearing chickens, ducks and guinea fowl here for a couple of years and at the end of last auturm, we started despatching them.
We reared all of them from 4 weeks old, except for the 10 we liberated from a battery farm at a year old and they have been pure delight to care for.
I have a swing on the tree near their coup and there are always benches and chairs around there too. We sit for hours in the summer evenings, drink wine and shoot the breeze and the girls just mill around doing what they do.
It is, without a doubt, the most relaxing thing I have ever done.
When you approach some of them, they squat and spread their wings, waiting to be tickled....I kid you not.
They have the run of the land and are fat and very organic.
We started despatching them at the end of last autumn and Ray and I both went through a roll of emotion getting to that point.
However, logic won it over in the end and once we had made the decision to do it, there was no time to waste.
All the love we had given the girls was going to be transferred to the tummies of our children (and us too of course).
I always say goodbye and thank them for their love and eggs. Then we kill them by chopping their heads off, no chance of changing our minds half way through, or getting it wrong and causing the bird distress. We do not put them in a funel either, but go from a loving cuddle to a hold over the block. We cover their heads too with a little tea towel so they cannot see the final seconds.
After the death throw, which takes a minute or so, in my mind, they are immediately thought of as food. However, for the first few times, there were racing hearts and tears for a while, then it became a mission to justify our actions and present them in the best possible way on the plate.
The slow cooking method is best for a roast and I use Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recommendation of sizzle method, followed by a slow cook..
But have also done the duck breasts (which are 2 inches thick, deep burgundy in colour and almost round, rather than flat, vaccum packed fillets) on a griddle over an open fire. They were to die for.
The texture of any of our birds is remarkably different to anything shop bought - I am a recent converted downshifter of only a few years.
It has 'bite' to it, even slow roasted, it doesn't collapse and fall apart, especially if you leave it to stand after cooking so it can firm up.
The colour is different, as in, it has some and our chicken legs are fat and full of red meat, like a turkey almost.
The pluckers perks are also delicious, usually a large and tender as you like liver, heart and meaty gizzards - all lean, full of goodness and utterly mouthwatering. If you can wait, they are great additions to a rich sauce or gravy.
Then you get onto the bare bones of it all. There is always more meat on the bones than you realise and I have been able to get a double stock out of some of them, which has gone on to be a great meaty soup or base for an entirely new dish.
You have to do them justice from the moment you end their lives. It is your duty to do so. There have been tears along the way for me. Ones of accepting the consequences of the responsibility of ending a living things life. It is a big one. But once you have done it, it gets easier. And once you have experimented with the food, the pain is surpassed by the knowledge that you are feasting on the best bred bird you can put on your plate.
I talk about how I despatch, so only read on if you want to.
..........................................................................................................
We have been rearing chickens, ducks and guinea fowl here for a couple of years and at the end of last auturm, we started despatching them.
We reared all of them from 4 weeks old, except for the 10 we liberated from a battery farm at a year old and they have been pure delight to care for.
I have a swing on the tree near their coup and there are always benches and chairs around there too. We sit for hours in the summer evenings, drink wine and shoot the breeze and the girls just mill around doing what they do.
It is, without a doubt, the most relaxing thing I have ever done.
When you approach some of them, they squat and spread their wings, waiting to be tickled....I kid you not.
They have the run of the land and are fat and very organic.
We started despatching them at the end of last autumn and Ray and I both went through a roll of emotion getting to that point.
However, logic won it over in the end and once we had made the decision to do it, there was no time to waste.
All the love we had given the girls was going to be transferred to the tummies of our children (and us too of course).
I always say goodbye and thank them for their love and eggs. Then we kill them by chopping their heads off, no chance of changing our minds half way through, or getting it wrong and causing the bird distress. We do not put them in a funel either, but go from a loving cuddle to a hold over the block. We cover their heads too with a little tea towel so they cannot see the final seconds.
After the death throw, which takes a minute or so, in my mind, they are immediately thought of as food. However, for the first few times, there were racing hearts and tears for a while, then it became a mission to justify our actions and present them in the best possible way on the plate.
The slow cooking method is best for a roast and I use Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recommendation of sizzle method, followed by a slow cook..
But have also done the duck breasts (which are 2 inches thick, deep burgundy in colour and almost round, rather than flat, vaccum packed fillets) on a griddle over an open fire. They were to die for.
The texture of any of our birds is remarkably different to anything shop bought - I am a recent converted downshifter of only a few years.
It has 'bite' to it, even slow roasted, it doesn't collapse and fall apart, especially if you leave it to stand after cooking so it can firm up.
The colour is different, as in, it has some and our chicken legs are fat and full of red meat, like a turkey almost.
The pluckers perks are also delicious, usually a large and tender as you like liver, heart and meaty gizzards - all lean, full of goodness and utterly mouthwatering. If you can wait, they are great additions to a rich sauce or gravy.
Then you get onto the bare bones of it all. There is always more meat on the bones than you realise and I have been able to get a double stock out of some of them, which has gone on to be a great meaty soup or base for an entirely new dish.
You have to do them justice from the moment you end their lives. It is your duty to do so. There have been tears along the way for me. Ones of accepting the consequences of the responsibility of ending a living things life. It is a big one. But once you have done it, it gets easier. And once you have experimented with the food, the pain is surpassed by the knowledge that you are feasting on the best bred bird you can put on your plate.
