Today we had the good fortune of a visit from Joe Hainer and his poultry slaughtering set-up. It’s important to us that the meat on our table does not come from the wretched industrial food chain. By raising the chickens here we can ensure that they enjoy a wholesome life living as chickens were meant to live: wandering about, scratching about, eating bugs, working out a pecking order, just doing chicken things until the big day. In the past, we did have to pack them up and take them somewhere — which was stressful for them and I didn’t like that part.

Not any more. Joe Hainer came over this morning with his truck full of equipment. After getting everything set up, he picked up the chickens and did his thing with the cone and the knife and that was the end of that. So much better than the commercial system where, after enduring a penned and overcrowded indoor life, they get hung by their feet — alive —and moved along a conveyor belt and into the blade, which may or may not strike in the right place. Tell me that is not terrifying for them! Actually don’t, as I won’t believe you.

Now I have a freezer full of Rudd Rangers and Freedom Rangers, designated meat-birds, and an odd assortment of roosters who were either too aggressive with humans — don’t want that in my flocks’ genetics — or came back to me from customers who ended up with roosters they couldn’t keep. These birds had every day a good day, except for the last little bit of the last day.

Update: 1/29/2024 Unfortunately, Joe is no longer offering this service. Alas.