What’s a family to do when their roosters keep waking their baby up way too early in the morning? … Eat them! The house we’re watching came with several small white chickens and two small white roosters. The owners said we could do whatever we wanted with them, so when I mentioned to Om Thu (sounds like “two”) that every time I heard the roosters crow I wanted to eat them, she graciously obliged. Om Thu also pointed out that the chickens don’t produce eggs, and there was no sense buying chicken feed for them.

We were unsure how our children would react to the killing. Isaiah had no fear, except when some chicken blood spurted out all over his arm. He recovered quickly. Becca didn’t want to watch at first, but then she overcame that reticence and even enjoyed watching the process.

First the chickens’ necks were slit and their blood collected in a dish. A very quiet, undramatic process. Next each chicken was placed in boiling water and plucked. We were surprised that our white chickens had black skin and bones. I put two in the crockpot and there was hardly enough meat on them to do anything with. I did make a lot of broth with the bones, and we’re looking forward to enjoying some soup soon.