I work in a chicken factory. AMA!

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

Anything you might’ve wanted to know about what really goes on in a chicken processing factory I might be able to tell you! (I’ve only been there 6 weeks so I don’t know EVERYTHING. But I know a bit!)

Sounds like you stuck up for yourself and made a change then, well done!

All the best

@Solaire18381 when this post was new, you asked if there was a risk I’d end up in Kill and EV and I said no. Well, I ended up in there yesterday, had the time of my life 🤣 all I had to do was rehang birds that had fallen off the shackles. The birds I was handling were beheaded, gutted, plucked etc and about to head into the chillers so they were still warm which was a bit gross at first. But honestly it was so easy!

Also food and drink is STRICTLY banned in my usual department so I got the absolute shock of my LIFE when I’d been there about an hour and the team leader appeared with cups of juice for us 🤣 she brought us juice every hour or so! Because it’s hot and very humid in EV (yesterday it was 27°c and 85% humidity), we need to stay hydrated but sending us out for quick hydration breaks isn’t really feasible, because our stations need to stay manned so we simply hydrate where we are!

I’m in EV all next week and I’m actually looking forward to it, the TL there is honestly one of my favourite people there. She’s absolutely great and really looks after her team members.

That's good @AintNobodyHereButUsChickens and glad you enjoyed it! Doesn't sound as bad as one might imagine. Good that you have a nice TL as well. Enjoy!

Thanks for this thread - really interesting!

Sorry for my late question and if someone has also asked this, but why aren’t you allowed to process the chickens killed by hand? Is it because your factory doesn’t want to set a precedent for people just killing the chickens by hand, in case they do it inhumanely?

Also, where does the discarded chicken go? You kind of answered this, but I just wanted to know a bit more please.

If you don’t mind me asking (and of course you don’t have to answer!), what was your professional background before you started this job and what did you want to do when you were at school?

Apparently it rarely happens but it’s something to do with the birds being killed in a controlled manner. If they survive the gassing, and they have to be dispatched by hand it’s classed as an emergency killing. I don’t think this is law though, that they can’t be used, just our factory protocols because I googled and apparently selling hand killed birds is perfectly legal provided they come from a licensed slaughter premises. I’ll try and find out when I’m in EV this week and I’ll come back and give a better answer!

All the waste is taken away by a by-product company and I think they turn it into stuff like biofuel and fertiliser etc. I’d be curious to see how they do it, but I bet their factory STINKS 🤮

I didn’t really have any kind of professional background. I’ve been a SAHM since I was 19. Before that I worked in a school kitchen as a pot washer. When I was at school the only thing I ever really wanted to do was work with horses. But I’m horrendously allergic 🥲 I could never think of anything else I had a passion for and I left school with absolutely dreadful GCSEs. I’m 35 now and still haven’t really discovered any kind of interest or passion I could make a career out of!

I know more about chicken now, than I ever thought possible to know!

OP you are clearly an intelligent engaging and proactive woman. You write in such a clear and interesting way. If you do want to move on from the chicken factory I think you have lots of potential. I bet you could do something where you had to motivate others - you are clearly making the very best of this job.

Ahh thank you! I’m completely different in real life though 😅 I lack a lot of confidence which is why I’ve always royally screwed up any job interview I’ve ever managed to get. The chicken factory was great though because the ‘interview’ was a factory tour and whoever didn’t run screaming, was in 🤣

What a week in EV! I’ve actually really enjoyed it! There’s a big emphasis on “If you miss that one, get the next one. No big deal, you’re only human” which is a huge breath of fresh air compared to my usual department where you get bollocked if you miss one. The management in there are fantastic.

I’ve done all sorts this week!

Rehanging birds, that’s the final task as they leave EV and head into the chillers. Any birds that fall off the line have to be picked up off the belt and re-hung.

Final inspection, sounds important but is actually the worlds worst lucky dip. You have to stick your hands into the birds as they pass and pull out anything left inside. Could be nothing, could be a few feet of intestines, a gizzard, a heart, eggs in various stages… You never know what you’ll get out until you get in there, fascinating as hell but also gross, and warm!

Another rehang task but in a different area, just as the birds come out of the pluckers so they still have feet, haven’t been opened up yet and they’re hot from the scald tanks. The gross part is that often there are birds that have to be removed from the line at this point, eg, if they’re bright purple, that means they were dead on arrival and have to be discarded, or if they’re really puffy or other stuff I’m not qualified to spot. They are thrown into this metal container that’s RIGHT in front of me. Keep in mind that these birds are hot and wet. So they’re chucking these hot, wet birds into basically a big metal bin. And what happens to a big pile of hot, wet meat in a metal tin? It steams, and after a while it starts to smell like a roast chicken that’s juuuust starting to cook 🥲 It’s awful because you KNOW it’s rancid meat, but your stomach reacts anyway 🤣🤣

I’ve also played the lucky dip game on the stags too (roosters, not sure why we call them stags), except we were specifically hunting for the crop sacs left inside plus anything else. They are SOLID and absolutely huge! I have a big bruise on the back of my hand from rubbing against the end of the keel bone every time I shoved my hand into a stag. Everyone hates processing the stags because of this. They’re too big to go through the factory cutting machines so after they’ve been through the pluckers and had their heads and feet removed, absolutely everything has to be done by hand. Luckily we only tend to get a couple thousand in a day, compared to the tens of thousands of hens 😅

Anyway, I think I’m back to butchery next week 🥲