Last evening as a surprise we had to butcher one of our laying hens

Last evening as a surprise we had to butcher one of our laying hens. She had jumped off a high place and impaled herself in the throat. While she was ambulatory, she had created a 4 inch jagged tear and completely severed her esophagus so that food and water was tragically just falling through.

So it turned into a farm learning experience for the whole family and my friend Greta who was visiting. The hen seemed to appreciate being held for about 10 minutes and calmed her down to the point she was drowsy.

All in all it went surprisingly quick, everyone helped, and my mother in law is totally badass and had the feathers plucked, carcass cleaned, parts properly butchered in less than 30 minutes. I did not enjoy it, but I appreciated the experience and the hen. She left us with her last fully formed egg and 3 more yolks as a parting gift.

Originally posted on Facebook on March 29, 2014.