So the time had come to harvest our birds - in just a matter of a few weeks my little chicks were big chickens destined for the freezer and my plate! Now, you could certainly say I was in for one heck of a learning experience. Although I've led a few poultry dissections in my Intro to Animal Science course, I had yet to harvest and fabricate out a chicken for my own consumption. I had a lot to learn and The Simmons were just the folks to teach us.Early on Saturday morning we loaded up our harvest-ready chickens (thankfully they were clueless) and drove down the dirt road a bit. The Simmons have been harvesting chickens for a while now, providing backyard broilers for their family plus friends and customers willing to pay a premium for poultry raised and harvested in such a manner. As a result, they had the perfect little set-up for harvesting my little flock: a covered shed with an over-sized stainless steel sink, hoses, fabricating tools, a killing cone, a large pot and propane tank for scalding, and the Bell of the Ball - the chicken plucker - or what I like to call the "Dancing Chicken."
Once we got there Brandon and I decided who would do which task in an attempt to streamline the process and make it as efficient as possible. We decided that Brandon would exsanguinate (bleed out), scald, and pluck while I would be left in charge of eviscerating, initial fabrication, and placing each bird in the cooler to chill. Although we only had a handful of birds, it took us a couple of hours to harvest. Since then, we definitely have perfected the art of harvesting broilers and we can now do about 4 times as many birds in that same time frame.
Either way, we still can't even come close to what the large processing facilities can accomplish in a couple of hours. Hundreds of birds can be processed in just a short period of time due to the technological advances on the harvesting floor and the complete uniformity of broilers within the industry today. Since every bird has the same genetics, broilers are nearly cookie cutter replicates of one another. This allows processors to develop and install high-tech machinery that essentially harvests the broilers for them. Unlike the beef industry that relies on manual labor for harvesting processes, broilers are rarely ever touched by a human laborer during the harvesting and fabrication process.
There are several advantages to this: reductions in labor cost, reductions in laborer fatigue, reductions in human error that could result in welfare violations and mistakes in fabrication standards, increases in product uniformity, as well as increases in sanitation and cleanliness since you have fewer laborers interacting with the carcasses. There are also disadvantages to such a system; primarily if you have birds that don't "fit" the processing equipment.
Some would also argue that because so many birds are processed in a such a short period in the same area, food safety and animal welfare could become a concern. However, there are strict standards in place to prevent such consequences, and every broiler harvested and sold for human consumption in the U.S. must be inspected by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service and in accordance with the Poultry Products Inspection Act. So any broiler you purchase at the store was harvested in a manner that complies with this Act and passed inspection as deemed by the USDA Inspector present at the time of harvesting.
This is not necessarily true with poultry purchased at local farmer's markets or from local processors harvesting backyard broilers. These farmers and processors are either exempt from USDA inspection because they harvest fewer than 1000 broilers per year or simply by-pass the law and label the broiler as "Pet Food Only" - with the latter occurring in most cases. In our case because we were harvesting our birds for our own personal consumption, this is considered a "Custom Harvest" and we were exempt from inspection as well.
Either way, I firmly believe that consumers should have choices in the products available for them to eat. I also firmly believe that conventionally raised poultry is healthy and safe for anyone to eat, and that "backyard" production can be as well if it is done correctly. However, consumers take a risk when they purchase meat from someone that is not under inspection. With that, inspection is not fool-proof and there are risks associated with conventionally-raised poultry as well. Remember, agriculture is not, nor will it ever be sterile! Proper food handling and thorough cooking is the only way to ensure a safe and pleasurable eating experience whether you purchase your chicken breast from Publix or a local backyard farmer.
Below are some pictures of the harvest with captions to explain. Additionally, I attached a video of the "Dancing Chicken" for you to view.
Brandon placing the broiler in the killing cone. This cone is designed to restrain the broiler during exsanguination, which is the process of blood letting. In large scale facilities broilers are insensible to pain before this process occurs. Birds are rendered unconscious by applying an electrical current or subjecting the birds to gas. This is an essential process whenever harvesting an animal for consumption.
After the bird was bled out, we shackled the broiler by their legs to dip in the scalding vat
(the big pot with water heated to approximately 150 degrees F via a propane heater). The hot water loosens the feathers and allows for easy feather removal during the plucking process. You know the bird is ready for plucking when the tail feathers can be easily pulled out with your hand. Anyone who has harvested poultry knows scalding is an art; over-scalding can cook the chicken and tear the skin while under-scalding makes feather removal almost impossible.This is the "Dancing Chicken." This plucker was constructed by Mr. Simmons and
boy is it nice! The plucker has a plate on the bottom that spins and is powered by a small motor. Additionally, the plucker has a set of rubber fingers attached to both the barrel portion and the bottom plate. As the plate spins, the bird is turned in the barrel and moves against the fingers. These fingers work to gently beat the feathers off of the bird since they were loosened by scalding. Large facilities have large versions of these pluckers that resemble drums, which several birds can be plucked in at one time. This process does not bruise the meat because the bird was previously and thoroughly bled - no blood in the body means no bruising!One of the first steps i
n the fabrication process is to remove the feet, head, and neck. These items, although not usually consumed by the average person in the U.S., are still utilized. The heads and necks can be used for by-products or cooked down in stocks. The feet are shipped to Asia were they are consumed in large amounts - can you say YUM! Remember, all animals harvested for meat are utilized to the fullest extent.
Once the heads and feet are removed, evisceration can begin. The crop is pulled away from the skin, which is located near the neck and top of the breast. An opening is made near the back of the bird, under the breast to expose the viscera (stomach, intestines, etc.) and pluck (heart, lungs). Care must be taken not to puncture any of 
the viscera and contaminate your knife or carcass with the contents of the GI tract (which may contain salmonella or other food-born pathogens). By gently pulling the viscera through the opening,
everything can be removed in one fell swoop. Finally, to completely remove GI tract and vent intact, the bird should be bunged. Again, some of the viscera and pluck can be kept and consumed as specialty by-product items - like the liver, gizzard (pictured - muscular stomach that grinds food since chickens don't have teeth), and heart.
Once the bird has been eviscerated, you need to wash the carcass to remove any debris that may have gotten on it and to clean the inside of the carcass of any material that may remain inside of it. In large scale facilities, carcasses are placed in a water bath that contains chlorine to help reduce the spread of food-born pathogens.
Lastly, the carcasses are placed in a cooler to chill the birds as the muscle converts to meat. We left the birds in the water bath overnight; in large scale facilities carcasses are also kept in the chiller for several hours. Afterwards, carcasses are fabricated into component parts and retail cuts, packaged and shipped to the grocery.
