One of my favorite parts of being a graduate assistant is having the privilege of working with students and farmers to teach them how to properly process birds in a backyard setting. Experiencing poultry production first-hand, especially students, allows them to observe and interact with where meat products come from and how to safely handle raw products. For me, this is a very rewarding experience because it’s not only teaching them a skill, it allows me to learn new ways to teach an old tradition.
At a recent session, I was asked an odd question about a bird that looked a little different than the rest. The student asked if it had a tumor on its chest. At first, I was baffled at the question. When we thoroughly examined the bird, we could see it was a dropped crop. Of course, the follow-up question I received was, “What’s a dropped crop?”