# I got a job!



## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Yup, I am officially a working girl now! Only, it's a different job then I was expecting! Some long-time friends of ours run a poultry processing business nearby (about 15 minutes away), and they were extremely short of hand this year, so they asked if I would be interested in working for them; and I said 'Sure!' 

I never in my life would have guessed that I would one day be butchering poultry as a day job... LOL. I'm enjoying it though; the pace is really fast, which I like.
my job is to look the birds over for feathers that are still on (as there are usually quite a bit), get the birds chilled, cut, wrapped, sealed, labeled, weighed, and back to the right customer. I also deal with paperwork, taking orders, and making sure that everything keeps going smoothly. I'm doing the job of four people!! That's how short of hands they are! We average 700 to 1000 birds a day, and most work days are 9 hours.

Another plus is that since I'm a "contracted worker", taxes are practically nil, I get to choose my days/hours, when I get paid, and I can take the day/week off at the drop of a hat with no complaints from the boss.


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

That is a different type of a job-but sounds like a neat one too! I am glad it suits you! Whatever pays the bills-right? LOL! So, are you still going to do that internship where you would move? I was wondering about that the other day.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Yep, still planning on doing the internship in VA. My boss isn't real thrilled that I'm going, seeing as summer time is when they need help the most, but oh well...


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

yeah, I would go--you need that! It will be AWESOME for you :stars:


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Congratulations!! As I read about your job I was thinking, *Yeah, that's something I could do.* LOL We must think alike.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Yay! I'm glad things are going well for you! I'd actually love that job, most people would think we farm people are insane.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Sounds neat! Glad that you found a job and that things are inline for the internship!


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

I handle that job for our birds from start (raising the birds) to finish (putting in the freezer).

kill, scald, pluck(by hand..takes 2-10 mins a bird),chill, clean,chill, fridge for 1 day (tender bird) then freezer x100.
Next year we are doing 200 minimum. We are thinking of having 500 birds to sell for 3 to $4 a pound x 4-8 pounds.

This is supposed to be a "family effort" but I end up doing most of the "dirty work".
Mostly because there are only sisters left to help who don't want to (sisters meaning my two younger brothers and two sisters)..
I find that gloves are a waste of money ($12 a box for 25 pairs...which go fast) so getting used to the slimy hot innards took some getting used to.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

^Aye, I do our own chickens and rabbits from start to finish as well. Butchering doesn't bother me in the least, and I hope to learn how to do large livestock soon. I thought I was going to be doing some more "hands-on" stuff at work, like the actual dispatching or eviscerating, but they had enough people doing that part, and only one person doing what I am now also doing.

We tried selling our chickens for a flat rate of $10 each this year, but ended up being in the hole by almost $100. Try as we might, there's really no way to get around the fact that you have to charge $5 to $6 per lb. if you want to make any tiny bit of profit...

I don't wear gloves either... What's the point when ya' got hands!? :laugh:



firelight27 said:


> I'd actually love that job, most people would think we farm people are insane.


Either we're insane, or we're normal and everyone else is insane! LOL. My job totally grosses my entire family out; it's fun sharing the gory details just to see them cringe. :wink: Butchering small animals is something I'm fast and experienced at; that's why I didn't hesitate to accept the job offer.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

I'm so glad you got a job!! :stars: I could butcher a goat so easily, really, I could. But I guess I am a softie for chickens.  I could never kill one! I could butcher a goat, rabbit, shoot a dear/elk, a pig, a sheep, and a cow but not a chicken :roll: How about you send all of them to me? :laugh:


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Lost Prairie said:


> I'm so glad you got a job!! :stars: I could butcher a goat so easily, really, I could. But I guess I am a softie for chickens.  I could never kill one! I could butcher a goat, rabbit, shoot a dear/elk, a pig, a sheep, and a cow but not a chicken :roll: How about you send all of them to me? :laugh:


its easy really  ..all you do is take a knife with a 7+ inch blade (sharp) and do a quick deep slice that cuts through the jugular and a 1/3 or more of the neck bone. If you want give it a twist and a pop the head will fall off and the bird will be dead. :thumb: or you could leave it for 1 minute and it will die.

You say you could butcher a goat...that is probably because all you are doing is pulling a trigger vs with chickens you are using a knife :shrug:

I am going to butcher goats commercially...with a knife . But they have to die in less than 1 minute or its inhumane. They bleed out better with a knife.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

^I prefer to dispatch the goats with a gun, and then immediately slit the jugular with a knife, so they can bleed out. Just my little preference... Methinks we are a rather gruesome bunch, that we can talk about such things so easily!! LOL. 

Lost Prairie, have you ever seen the Cornish cross chickens though?? Full grown and ugly?? That's the only reason I can do them: they're ugly. :wink: Although, there was one little hen we had one year, who was absolutely adorable, and she only weighed three lbs.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Goat Song said:


> ^I prefer to dispatch the goats with a gun, and then immediately slit the jugular with a knife, so they can bleed out. Just my little preference... Methinks we are a rather gruesome bunch, that we can talk about such things so easily!! LOL.


I too prefer to use a gun and will for this year. I will use a gun for my own.
Next year I might be working with some sheep/goat farmers and doing them "proper" (about 200) because the guy says you can miss with a gun(also expensive for 200 shells) :whatgoat: . Very gruesome indeed.


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## Willow (Jun 12, 2011)

You kiddos are a gruesome lot! Lovable...but gruesome. But I think you are ....honest. Dealing with the realities of being a meat eater.
I could do in a chicken if I had to...not a goat. I would be a vegetarian first...a lacto-ovo vegetarian. :lovey:


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Willow said:


> You kiddos are a gruesome lot! Lovable...but gruesome. But I think you are ....honest. Dealing with the realities of being a meat eater.
> I could do in a chicken if I had to...not a goat. I would be a vegetarian first...a lacto-ovo vegetarian. :lovey:


"Lovable, but gruesome..." Splendid way to put that! :laugh: It makes me think of the picture below. That's a young friend of mine whom I taught how to butcher chickens this summer. Not everyone can smile so sweetly while holding a bloody knife! LOL. I think she was having a _leetle_ too much fun at the killing cones...


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

Goat Song, I don't think I have seen them. I have mostly banties and they are so sweet and cute. I just had some chickies hatch about two months ago and I can't sell a single one of them. I have always loved chickens soooo much. Before I got goats chickens were my whole world and were the only things I thought about.  I could just never do it. I could cut a goats jugular or shoot it with a gun no prob even if I had bottle raised it but I could not kill a chicken even if it was not friendly or cute. I'm strange I guess :scratch:


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

I do not think we are gruesome. I find it gruesome and disgusting to eat meat from a factory raised (abused) animal, all wrapped up neatly in plastic so we can pretend it was never alive. That is enough to make me a vegetarian.
And Cornish Crosses will die young if you do not butcher them. They are not bred for survival. We have had them get so fat they cannot walk.
We all have our soft spots and weaknesses.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

luvmyherd said:


> I do not think we are gruesome. I find it gruesome and disgusting to eat meat from a factory raised (abused) animal, all wrapped up neatly in plastic so we can pretend it was never alive. That is enough to make me a vegetarian.
> And Cornish Crosses will die young if you do not butcher them. They are not bred for survival. We have had them get so fat they cannot walk.
> We all have our soft spots and weaknesses.


Agreed. :thumb:


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I'm glad you got a job you like. Just remember, they pay you as contracted worker because they don't want to have to make the tax payments to the Feds. It doesn't mean you get to keep that money, they will give you a 1099 for the years wages, you will have to include that in your tax return. You may not have earned enough to have to pay Federal taxes, but you will have to pay the social security part, which will be more since you are "contract", and any state taxes. Also, I don't know for sure, but, as a contract worker you may not be eligible for unemployment benefits.

I just had to make a huge quarterly tax payment...both for our employees and us...I keep that money available because I know it's not my money...but it hurts anyway...ouch!


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

^Oh that's interesting to know... Thanks for the input, I appreciate it!

I'm still enjoying the "work", although it is very exhausting and I come home numb everyday from working so many hours in ice water. The part that is NOT going good however, is the other employees. Ai yi yi! There is a lot of swearing, bad language, and inappropriate jokes/comments!! :shocked:  So while I'm happy with the job itself, I may have to accept the other job offer I had (which is working at a small shop in town), just so I don't have to be in the midst of that. The main reason I don't want to leave though, is just to prove to the employees that I'm just as capable at the job as they are (yes, I'm stubborn)! They're giving me the cold shoulder because I'm new, and because I wear a skirt to work. I may not be as fast as the folks who have been there for 7 years, but I'm steady. They're all predicting that I won't last two weeks, and I'm afraid they might be right, since I can't stand listening to all the bad language! :sigh: The boss spoke to them about watching what they say, but their only remark was that I should get earplugs. Phooey. :sigh:


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

That is too bad that the other people working there are like that! It is hard to work in a unfriendly or rude/vulger environment.


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## Willow (Jun 12, 2011)

Sounds like a negative environment. You shouldn't have to put up with bad language and gutter talk. It really wears on you. I would say you deserve better. I understand the stubborn part but self-respect may make it necessary to find a better atmosphere.


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