Our meat chickens (along with turkeys, but that is another story..) arrived on the Sea Ranch as day old chicks. They had an eventful first day of life by embarking on a long road trip from the hatchery to their meet up point on the side of the highway in Aldergrove where Mary Jane (8B) grabbed them and drove to meet the water taxi at Sunset Marina.

Captain Alex happily completed the safe delivery where Evan and Rebecca were there to meet them at the Sea Ranch dock.

The final part of their big journey was a gator ride to the farm. They were placed into their new home in the chick house which is a very predator safe building that is equipped with a propane heater where chicks can stay safe, warm, and draft free until they are fully feathered and old enough to maintain their own body temperature. As we took each bird out of their transport box, we dipped their beaks into their water dish before putting them down so that they could take their first ever drink of water and recognise where to find it next time. (Newly hatched chicks do not need to eat or drink for at least 24 hours. One of the last things the chick does inside the egg is absorb the remaining yolk sac, which provides nourishment the first few days after hatching)

We added sticks to their water dish so that they couldn’t climb right inside it and catch a chill.

Every week we would move divider boards around to increase their space as they grew bigger and bigger. These birds are the Cornish Cross breed which is a hybrid developed by crossing the commercial Cornish chicken with a White Rock chicken. They have broad breasts, big thighs, white plumage, and yellow skin. They are known for their rapid growth and feed efficiency. They grow out in 12 weeks or less depending how big you like your chickens. Because they grow so fast you do have to make sure you don’t let them grow too big and cause health issues. So, you want to make sure you watch their growth and process them on time.

After about a month the chickens had grown enough to be moved to their next home where they would have more space to grow and access to outside. This is where they would stay until they were ready for freezer camp. To move them, Evan and Rebecca would catch each chicken one by one and put them in chicken crates, then Hannah and Amelia (our summer students) would take the crates in a gator and drive over to the new pen where they would carry the crate into the outside part of their enclosure and take each chicken out and place them into the grass where they experienced the fresh air and ground for the first time. Catching and moving 117 chickens on a hot day sure was an adventure but our group of 4 was a perfect team and it went very smoothly.

Once in their larger homes the chickens continued to thrive through the summer months. While this breed of chicken results in delicious juicy perfect meat, they aren’t very pretty to watch grow up. They grow extremely quickly, often faster than their feathers can keep up which at times can leave their skin visible. Sometimes they get so big that they have trouble walking, they don’t roost and they often don’t forage and pick at the ground or behave in other ways that we are used to seeing with other breeds of birds. You can mostly just expect to see them spend their time eating and pooping. However, I was so happy to see our meat chickens staying active throughout the day, enjoying their outside space by sun bathing and not only did they peck for bugs in the dirt but they were so good at it, that you can see the big craters they have created around the inside perimeter of their pen. We had to lay extra boards around it because they actually created spaces where a predator would be able to easily come under the fence!

The outdoor space that Evan built for them had lots of room and right up until a week before we were ready to do the first half of harvesting, they still had green grass, which is really great.

We were also so lucky to have the summer students around, because of the extra farmhands we were able to clean their inside pens weekly (which is a huge stinky job) but its so nice for the chickens to have a fresh clean dry space which is so important for their quality of life.

Throughout this whole experience we only lost 3 of the 120 birds we ordered. This is amazing, I ordered 120 hoping to end up with 100 birds in the end. All three losses happened while they were still in the chick house.

First step

The first person on the production line is the chicken catcher. They grab a chicken from the coop and bring it to the first station.

We processed our chickens in three batches. On August 21 we all assembled to start the work and expected to do half of the birds but we only did a dozen because they had full stomachs. We needed to take the food away earlier and try again next week. This time on August 28th we were more prepared. Their food was removed earlier and we had a good idea of what to do after the previous weeks practice run. This time we managed to work for 5 hours and process 72 chickens. Many Sea Rancher’s showed up to help. We set up an assembly line of workers. We had teachers and learners and jobs to suit each person. It was a beautiful team effort.

Beheading

It isn’t a favourite job, but someone has to do it.
Although it looks gruesome, it is actually quick and painless for the chicken.. and because they are processed right on site and handled by familiar humans, the bird does not experience any stress and remains calm the whole time

Kettle dunk

The second step is to dunk the chicken into 150°F water for about 40 seconds to loosen the feathers for easier plucking

Plucking

Next the chicken goes through the automatic plucker. This removes most of the feathers

hand plucking

Next, we pluck by hand any remaining stubborn feathers

Almost finished…

Now the chicken is getting cleaned up at the “safeway station” and looking ready to stick in the roasting pan.

Last stop in the line

Here the chicken is bagged weighed and recorded and sent on its way to the proper cooler or freezer.

Organization

Keeping everything moving smoothly is a big part of the job. Every team member needs a job assigned, the proper tools and safety wear, and motivation. It is also important to keep track of everything and record as we go and Corey (10A) was a huge help with that.

There are also behind the scenes jobs like ensuring we have everything we need before we start to work, picking up supplies, setting up before hand and making sure the water is up to temperature before all the workers show up, as well as clean up after the fact. It really is a huge team effort with a suitable job for anyone at any stage along their journey of understanding how meat gets to their plate.

Taking care of the work crew is a job in itself. It can be a long day and refreshments were needed. Coffee, water, soft drinks, snacks and first aid were all essential.

A big thank you goes out to everyone involved, each job is equally important because they all contribute to the bigger picture and missing one block would cause the whole tower to fall down.

The delicious home raised meat in the freezer to feed our families is the greatest reward. Be proud of yourselves and enjoy!