Description
This is for one person to attend ONE of our Pastured Poultry Workshops to be held at our farm. Please select the date that fits your schedule best. The dates are tentative, as it will depend upon the weight of our birds, but we try to stay as close to those dates as possible, though we’ve never changed dates in the past. We will show you our flock and how we gather our birds for harvest. We will walk you step by step through the whole process, each person is reserved two birds to practice the process. You will get to take ONE whole packaged bird home to enjoy with your family AND your own vent/boning knife to eviscerate your own future birds with. Our goal is for each person to be able to go home and successfully raise and harvest their own fresh meat for their family. You are welcome to participate at any level and at your own pace, though we will encourage you to participate in each step. We will work on harvesting from 8am-12pm. We are very excited to share our knowledge and help you get your hands dirty. There is no better way to learn than EXPERIENCE!
****IMPORTANT****
We do NOT accept children under 18 years old! We cannot due to insurance purposes. Thank you so much for understanding and NOT bringing your children with you.
This is also a rain or shine event! No refund will be given once purchased as we cannot replace your spot.
Katie (verified owner) –
We took the Pastured Poultry Workshop on July 2nd, 2022, and it was fantastic!
We arrived about 8:30 and my husband and I joined three other students in the gathering, killing, and processing of 12 meat birds. We got to see the pasture the birds had been raised on, help catch and get tips on how to hold such a large bird safely, and had plenty of time to ask questions about feed, chicken tractors, etc. We were finished processing around noon but stayed about another half hour to finish up questions about the process.
When it was time to butcher the birds Samuel took us through the process, killing, scalding, plucking and icing the first two birds and Courtney taught the evisceration process. They made it so easy to participate at our comfort level and were very reassuring and encouraging throughout. My husband and I both decided to participate in the dispatch process and even though neither of us had ever killed anything before (and I had to ask Samuel to finish the job for one of the birds I attempted on), he was so calm and reassuring and we got so much hands on experience that we feel confident to do it ourselves with our own birds.
I got to practice the evisceration process on three birds with Courtney walking me through each step, which was pricelessly helpful. I was amazed to learn all the parts of the chicken and appreciated her explaining to me things like “that’s not a tendon, that’s a bone, move your hands knife this way and you’ll get a better cut”, as well as handling unusual situations like what to do if the bird poops during the process etc.
I have no idea how we would have butchered our own birds at home without this incredible opportunity to learn such an important skill set, start to finish, from people who know how to do it efficiently and cleanly. I believe we would have gotten through one chicken and taken the rest to a butcher had we not had this hands on experience.
My husband and I both feel so much better about the process and so empowered to be able to do the hardest step in raising our own food. The respect that was paid to the birds and the value and care placed on each life was also a beautiful difference compared to store bought meat or even the way I have heard some farmers talk in a calloused way about their animals. I shed some tears because it was emotionally overwhelming putting my hand in the bird for the first time during the cleaning process and Courtney just talked me through it and told me it was healthy to value the birds life and have respect for what it’s giving us.
Samuel and Courtney made learning an uncomfortable skill as comfortable as it could be. Don’t miss this class if you have any interest in raising your own chickens for food!