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Being a Small Poultry Farmer
It seems that we have been chicken owners as long
as we’ve lived in Bat Ayin – for about 27 years. None of us had any prior
experience raising birds, but chickens are easy to take care of. I do remember
as a child visiting the farm of our au-pair girl. I saw how they would pluck
the feathers of a newly slaughtered chicken and remove the gizzard, peeling off
its outer peel, within which there were remains from her last meal, including
undigested grass and grain. I’ve just learned that a gizzard (Kurkevan)
with an inner membrane that can be peeled off is one of the four signs of a
kosher bird listed in the Talmud. The main criteria distinguishing a kosher
bird is that it must not be a predator. It must have a muscular pouch, or crop,
near the throat to store food and an extra toe. Additionally, when they stand
on a wire, they have three toes in front and one in back. These distinctive
features of kosher birds are not mentioned in the Torah but only in the Talmud
(Chulin 59-63). The Shulchan Aruch furthermore specifies that the
eggs of kosher birds must be pointed at one end and round at the other (Yore
De’ah 86:1). Parashat Shemini lists the kosher requirements for
various animal: Fish require fins and scales. Mammals require split hooves and
they must chew their cud. However, the written Torah doesn’t provide any
definitive signs for birds or fowl. Instead, the Torah lists twenty species of
non-kosher fowl (Vayikra 11:13-19), plus sub-species (for a total of 24
– see Talmud Chulin 63a). Non-kosher birds include owls, pelicans,
eagles, ostriches, vultures and more. I connect with the notion that we may not
eat scavengers, carnivores or birds of prey. These are not characteristics that
we want to absorb at all. Only pure animals are fit for a Jew to eat. We can
easier elevate their more refined character through mindful eating especially
on Shabbat and holidays.
Birds and Purity
Perhaps the reason why there are no identifying markers
for kosher birds in the written Torah is because birds, in general, are purer
than other animals. Therefore, the Torah only lists the exceptions – the
limited amount of impure birds. All other birds, not singled out by the Torah
as impure are kosher by default.
ספר ויקרא
פרק יא פסוק יג וְאֶת אֵלֶּה תְּשַׁקְּצוּ מִן הָעוֹף לֹא
יֵאָכְלוּ שֶׁקֶץ הֵם...
“Among birds, you shall consider these an
abomination; they shall not be eaten; they are abominable…” (Vayikra 11:13).
However, due to the many uncertainties as to the
precise identities of the non-kosher birds listed in the Torah, we cannot be
sure which birds are identified by the Torah. Therefore, in practice, Torah law
rules that only birds with a tradition of being kosher may be eaten.
These include chicken, duck and geese. Maharal
explains why kosher birds are used in the purification ritual from tza’ra’at
(a spiritual illness that is considered as death). This is because these birds
are associated with life due to the swiftness of their movements. This is contrary
to death which is stagnant and devoid of movement. Moreover, the refined
substance of the bird allows it to soar high in the sky. This explains why,
according to my neighbor, looking at chickens engenders purity. She told me
that she heard that somewhere, (I haven’t found her source). Therefore, she
visits with me in our chicken coop to soak up some purity vibrations.
The Dedicated Motherhood of Our
Feathered Friends
Most birds are very good mothers, and it is a joy
to watch the way a mother bird untiredly teaches her chicks how to eat and fly
up onto the perch. They also cover their chicks with their wings at night,
providing a snug, warming shelter. From the birds, Ruth learned her expression
to Boaz at the pivotal moment, “Spread your wings over your handmaid for you
are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:9). Among all the special features of birds, I
find the way they hatch their chicks by patiently sitting on eggs most
inspiring. For a chicken, it takes exactly 21 days of sitting on the eggs
before the cute, little egg-sized chicks hatch. During this period, she hardly
moves- not even to eat, or drink, let alone to ruffle her feathers. Below is a
poem I wrote many years ago when my chicken strengthened my emunah, while I was
struggling with secondary infertility.
Emuna from a
Bird
My little brown hen
was sitting on eggs.
I do not know
exactly since when.
She was sitting and sitting
and sitting,
just sitting and doing her
bidding.
Her entire being she would
invest
to shelter and never leave
her nest.
I would impatiently try to
keep track,
when would those eggs ever
crack?
She was sitting and sitting
and sitting,
just sitting and doing her
bidding.
Too much time seemed to have
gone by,
I tried anxiously to figure
out why,
why did I interfere
with her natural way to rear?
No one else had so much care.
She would hardly get up to
eat
or peck around in the sun.
In order not to leave her
seat,
she would give up all the
fun.
She was sitting and sitting
and sitting,
just sitting and doing her
bidding.
She sacrificed her entire
being,
even her own health,
to give life to those
inanimate
pitiful rounded shells.
From where did she get her
faith
that her labor would bear
fruit?
perhaps she just stuck to her
task
even if nature would not
follow suit?
She was sitting and sitting
and sitting,
just sitting and doing her
bidding.
I feel like a bird as well
yearning to reach the sky,
waiting for the future tell
that my time has come to fly.
Must I really be sitting and
sitting
just sitting and doing my
bidding?
My wings ache to be used,
my heart to be directed well.
I feel ready and all enthused
but how can I penetrate the
shell?
How long must I be sitting?
just sitting and doing my bidding?
BEAUTIFUL, B'H!
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