Journey of a Chicken

The story of the life of a broiler on Our Farm:

Our broilers are ordered online from a hatchery, and are mailed to us in a large box once they are hatched. We get them a day or two later. The post office calls to tell me they've arrived, and I go into town to pick them up. As soon as I set foot in the post office, I hear their loud chirping.

Once in their new home, the chicken coop in the red barn, I pick each one up and dip it's beak into water so they know where to find it. With plenty of water and food available, cozy heat lamps to bask under, and room to run around, they are very happy in their new home.

After about two weeks when they have feathers, I shut off their heat lamps and let them out into a bigger area. They eat, sleep, and make a mess, which means I get to clean out their chicken coop often. They grow fast, and are ready to be butchered eight weeks from when they are hatched.

We (hubby and I) are out loading them by 4:00 in the morning on butchering day so I can get them to the processing facility two hours away by 7:00. (No, we don't butcher them ourselves.) We load them into stackable coops and strap them into the back of the pickup. Once they are unloaded at the processing facility and are butchered, I pick them up in nice, neat packages. I load them in a giant cooler with ice and bring them back home.