Birds in the Freezer
On Saturday, October 14th, I finally got busy with this particular job. I've never eaten pigeon, but decided maybe it's time to try that. Over the previous week or so I caught 4 young pigeons and put them into a cage where they were well fed while awaiting their fate. I also had 2 young Bantam roosters and 1 young Americana/Sex Link Layer rooster that needed to go.
First, of course, you prep for the job.
I lit the wood burning stove out in my yard and put a tin pail of water on to heat. Then I sharpened 2 knives, 1 hatchet... washed the work area and put water into the cooler.
Is a pigeon in the hand worth 3 in the cage?
With each bird, I held it gently and safely, closely as I said a prayer... for the bird and for myself... then quickly and humanely "dispatched" it. It was then dipped into the hot water to make it easier to pluck, then plucked, "cleaned", washed, etc.
Decisions, decisions!
It was a real challenge for me to choose between the two young Americana/Sex Link Layer roosters. I wanted to keep one of these boys, had put one in the freezer earlier this summer, so had to choose between these two. I ended up keeping the all white one and putting the brown & white one in the freezer. Later when I looked at these pictures I saw again that the white one doesn't have the facial feathers that the brown & white one did. Had I remembered that sooner I would have done it the other way around. These facial feathers are an Americana thing and look real cool.
Young Bantam Rooster
There were two of these young boys, but I only took a picture of this one. The other looked pretty much the same. They were smaller than I'd like to have had, but if I waited for them to get bigger it would be too cold to do the work outside... the dead of winter is no time for that. So I decided to put them in the freezer now... somewhat like Cornish Game Hens :o)
Ready to freeze
I thought I would be proud of this "accomplishment" as this is the first time I've done this kind of thing. And I am... and I'm not. To tell the truth, this picture bothers me, likely more than the job did. I did what I "had to do" and that was all okay... but looking at this picture disturbs me. It's good to have home grown birds in the freezer to eat this winter though... if I'm able to do so when the time comes. Only time will tell. If it bothers me too much I'll take them to a friend or my mom to have them do the cooking and see if that helps. Some farm girl I am... LOL.
On Saturday, October 14th, I finally got busy with this particular job. I've never eaten pigeon, but decided maybe it's time to try that. Over the previous week or so I caught 4 young pigeons and put them into a cage where they were well fed while awaiting their fate. I also had 2 young Bantam roosters and 1 young Americana/Sex Link Layer rooster that needed to go.
First, of course, you prep for the job. I lit the wood burning stove out in my yard and put a tin pail of water on to heat. Then I sharpened 2 knives, 1 hatchet... washed the work area and put water into the cooler.
Is a pigeon in the hand worth 3 in the cage?With each bird, I held it gently and safely, closely as I said a prayer... for the bird and for myself... then quickly and humanely "dispatched" it. It was then dipped into the hot water to make it easier to pluck, then plucked, "cleaned", washed, etc.
Decisions, decisions!It was a real challenge for me to choose between the two young Americana/Sex Link Layer roosters. I wanted to keep one of these boys, had put one in the freezer earlier this summer, so had to choose between these two. I ended up keeping the all white one and putting the brown & white one in the freezer. Later when I looked at these pictures I saw again that the white one doesn't have the facial feathers that the brown & white one did. Had I remembered that sooner I would have done it the other way around. These facial feathers are an Americana thing and look real cool.
Young Bantam RoosterThere were two of these young boys, but I only took a picture of this one. The other looked pretty much the same. They were smaller than I'd like to have had, but if I waited for them to get bigger it would be too cold to do the work outside... the dead of winter is no time for that. So I decided to put them in the freezer now... somewhat like Cornish Game Hens :o)
Ready to freezeI thought I would be proud of this "accomplishment" as this is the first time I've done this kind of thing. And I am... and I'm not. To tell the truth, this picture bothers me, likely more than the job did. I did what I "had to do" and that was all okay... but looking at this picture disturbs me. It's good to have home grown birds in the freezer to eat this winter though... if I'm able to do so when the time comes. Only time will tell. If it bothers me too much I'll take them to a friend or my mom to have them do the cooking and see if that helps. Some farm girl I am... LOL.
2 comments:
Hi again,
Just wanted to let you know I understand your dilemma! I've gone through this too -- without going through it. But know you gave your birds a better life on this earth than they would have had otherwise going through the commercial raising, butchering, to sell in mass at the supermarket...
Thank you so much for this supportive post, Wildside. Yes, I did give them good lives while they were here... freedom to roam around and lots of food to eat... then love and prayers at the end (bet most birds don't get prayed for).
Have a wonderful day!
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