5-14-21
9:34 am Friday
We have two videos of a huge day yesterday at Cascadia Heritage Farm.
In the first video “Team Cerrato”, Shuna, Viggo and George, are chatting about the importance of having relationships with farm animals. How hard it was for Viggo to have his favorite turkey processed. It is a reminder how these relationships with farm animals have been a way for Viggo to learn how to observe the world, to see the beauty. In large part we have our farm to help develop this sensitivity in our son.
We are proud of him and love how much he appreciates these animals. We are also making room for the M.I.G.H.T, Malay Invigoration Gene Hybridization Team, Project. We are getting ready to process fifteen asils. Asils have really taught us what vigor and health looks like in chickens. We are keeping a core population of asils to help invigorated the Malay. The set-up equipment to process the birds was surprisingly difficult to use, but teamwork and some help from our neighbors made it happen. Not an easy day at Cascadia Heritage Farm, we believe having relationships with farm animals makes the world a better place.
In this second video of processing poultry, we have Viggo with the processing equipment. It has been a huge day. I am stunned how much work it has been. We have processed birds in the past, but it usually is just one turkey. We processed two turkeys and fifteen asils. The equipment helped a tremendous amount, but heritage breeds are not easy to process. They have tremendous vigor, and that vigor fights you through the whole process from catching them to disemboweling them. In this video Viggo is holding five asils ready to put in the hot water bath, and then to defeather them. The equipment is a great deal and can be rented from NABC Poultry Equipment. We could not have done this without this equipment.
We started around 9 am and did not finish until midnight. This was a huge day and I kept musing how easy it would be to go to McDonalds and get a crispy chicken sandwich. The contrast of a crispy chicken sandwich purchased with a fist full of singles and the amount of time, toil and expense to raise these birds over the last year and finally to process them is staggering. The contrast boarders on the metaphysical. I contemplate a medieval question; how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? I want to modify this question some, how many conveniences can be shoved onto the head of a pin until there is no room for angels to dance?
This lifestyle is so hard, so brutal, but it is a privilege, and we are thankful to have the opportunity. I have to say when we used the sealer at the end of the night, it was miraculous, it was so easy. You place the bird in the bag, closed the lid and it was alive, it breathed, and it exhaled a vacuum sealed bird. Finding a balance between convenience and developing our humanity is tricky stuff.
Shuna is the real hero of the day. She worked for hours cleaning/ disemboweling birds. This was an extremely difficulty job. Asils are not bred to be commercially processed. She had to get up the next morning at 4 am to go to work. Thank you Shuna for your heroic efforts and Viggo for all your help. I am proud of you both and thrilled to have had this opportunity to work with you. Thank you asils for being educators on what vigorous birds should look like. This was a big job but we are happy to have done it. We at Cascadia Heritage Farm believe we can make a difference and you can to.