Chicken Culling Workshop for Denver Urban Homesteaders offered by the Living Systems Institute (LSI)

What vision, opportunity, or community need inspired your action? Help readers who may not know your community understand what you're building toward and why it matters.

The real life skills of homesteading are slowly disappearing. At LSI, we see an urgent need to bring it back and normalize it. People are disconnected from their food sources. And though we teach how to build and practice regenerative gardens and landscaping year round, meat and animals are often left out of the urban landscape of education. Learning the humane homestead methods of chicken culling that are sanitary and efficient and take the birds all the way through to being ready to eat, is a life skill we as a society cannot afford to lose. In this workshop we also touch on how to respectfully and ritually harvest the animals whose lives are so much a part of our own and the Living Systems around us.

What took place during the action? (What activities, events, or processes happened?)

We harvested 10 birds. 4 old hens, 1 old rooster, and 5 young cockerels. The first bird was demonstrated start to finish by the wqorkshop leader and then each participant was welcomed try their hand as each step of the way.

What truths or insights did this action reveal?

It was made clear that this is a skill that the community has much desire for opportunities to learn.

Gift to Community: What enduring tool, method, or story emerged that others can benefit from?

This is a life skill that can carry sustenance and connection for a community. Doing it together makes the production easier and more pleasant. We were able to give people capacity and confidence to have this relationship with their food and see a larger scope of contributors to the living system around them.

Next Steps / Call to Action: What comes next for this project? How can your community or Bloom network support you?

We have held this workshop every autumn for the last decade. We plan to continue to, but may need to relocate where we hold it. With support from the community we will be able to make that happen. The extra funds that come from the Bloom Network, as well as the people in our community that we have met through Bloom help keep our organization going.