Pigs and Turkeys

Monday I went to the hog barn to work until my class got there several hours later. We spent the morning there and then came back to school for a few hours. It was good to be back in the barn, even if I did have to get up at 5:00.
Tuesday, we drove to Fort Recovery to tour egg and turkey facilities. We saw where the young turkeys are housed and it was the cleanest barn I've ever seen. I didn't see a drop of manure anywhere; I don't know how they do it. I would have totally felt fine sitting down in the middle of the barn, the shavings were that clean. The little poults probably only weighed a pound or two and it was funny to watch them ruffle up their feathers and strut around like they were ten feet tall. We also toured a placed where eggs are processed, cleaned, and packaged for shipment. It was fascinating to see and I found it interesting that they said that the "cage free" eggs that people are so concerned about now-a-days are also much dirtier eggs than ones that come from caged hens. Interesting fact. We had lunch and then went to a turkey processing plant. Their days consists of 500 employees on the floor processing roughly 17,000 toms a day, and these birds weight 50 pounds! The typical turkeys that we think of on Thanksgiving day are always hens because toms wouldn't fit in your oven. We saw how the different cuts of meat are removed and processed and also got to see how turkey roasts and turkey burgers are made and packaged. Watching this made me thankful for several things.

1. I am thankful that when I graduate I will get to do a job that I enjoy and one that has variety. I will not have to use a vacuum to suck poop out of turkey butts for 8 hours a day and then return to do it all again the next day.
2. I am truly thankful to the people out there who ARE employed in those jobs so that we can enjoy delicious and healthy food on a regular basis.
3. I am thankful that I have not eaten hot dogs and bologna in years because I just saw what went into making those (including bones) and let me tell you, I wouldn't feed that to my dog...