I was brought up in the village, where you were expected to know how to slaughter a chicken as part of home training curriculum. For me, this was one of the greatest childhood achievement.
My brother had a phobia for chickens, or so I think, and this used to drive my mum nuts. I remember at one point my Mum asking my brother to catch a chicken for slaughter and since he could not do it, she literately pushed him inside the chicken coop and locked the door. Then she went on to say "Let the chickens have a feast of you today, if you die good but if you come out alive, then you better style up". Wonderful mother. She was quite tough! Today we laugh about this all the time!
Well, last week someone gave me a chicken for slaughter and i gathered why not introduce my children to slaughtering chicken. May be it is a tradition that i should pass on to my chilren. I know in some countries this may seem strange, but we love to do this, on this side of the world.
Enjoy the slaughter.
Enjoy the slaughter.
Kendi and Tana Scared of what Dad was doing below...
Okay...not a good site...poor Chicken...
Cutting off the head
Ethan must have been looking at the chicken below and saying - you can't be dead.
The kids watching
Almost there
Done. Our little home grown Kuku.
When the day came to cook the chicken, I reminded the kids of how they slaughtered the Chicken. So I asked "Are you going to eat the Chicken you waved bye-bye to and slaughtered?". Tana said "YES" and while they were eating - They said Yummy! Good...part one of learning done.With time, the must do this by themselves.
I grew up in a very rural part of the US. I remember watching my Momma & Daddy kill chickens. Seeing the process didn't scar me or turn me off to eating chicken. It's just the way things were. Chickens were raised for eggs and eating!
ReplyDeleteMary Ellen
The Working Home Keeper
What a wonderful way to teach your kids "How did that end up in my plate?"Kudos to them for watching,learning and enjoying all that.I was like your brother....couldn't stand it, AND would cry while eating the poor chicken that i waived goodbye to!!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother raised chickens and eggs. My folks moved away from the family farms and never had them. Now we're back in a rural area and there's nothing quite like having food we've raised ourselves. Our chickens, our cattle, our eggs, our garden goods -- we know how they are grown and we enjoy the fruit of our labor. And, we run to the closest grocer when we run out!! It's good for children to know the source of their food.
ReplyDeleteKudos and thumbs up to you Ems, A number of my early years I also lived in shagz too and we reared up to 600 kukus (chiken) but tell you what i cant even stand someone slaughtering a chicken in my presence let alone slaughter one myself. One time my hubby brought a live chicken in the house and our daughter cried all along until the chicken had to be slaughtered and kept in the fridge. She couldn't even stand the feathers. How could I even encourage her when in fact I was actually in her camp...so on this one my Hubby is usually alone.....kindly sambaza the guts!!
ReplyDeleteIam that brother, holding a chicken was my weakness....i guess i literally feared birds and their beaks....one of those innate fears you cant explain. Now, am a free man....i can even slaughter an ostrich all by myself.. :0 ha ha ha!. kudos sis, you guys are doing a good job of enlightening the kids...they need to know this things and appreciate the end product they see on the plate.
ReplyDeleteThat was a good lesson for them now the next time they eat chicken they will know how it ended up on their plate and the work that goes into it.
ReplyDeleteI was in Alex's category totally afraid.
Nice one...
oh my, cant help but laugh at your mother's way of getting the phobia out of your bro! the old women had a way of getting children to do stuff whether you like it or not!... Nyam
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