It's cooler then, and the birds are more docile. But the growing American appetite for chicken and export business to Asia and Eastern Europe spurred slaughterhouse shifts at nearly every hour, and the catchers have adjusted,too. Now he heads north and pulls up between two chicken houses with 27,000 birds outside Ellendale, Del. Darkness adds an edge of danger to the catching. Two glowing red lights atop the forklift are the driver's only aid as he runs at high speed, then stops within inches of silhouettes. When the last cage lands atop the trailer about 9 a.m., the men filter into the day.
Feathers cling to beards.
A thick film of brown dust cakes clothing and faces. But they don't know what a man got to go through to get them. A live hauler looking for extra hands interrupts. Another crew is short. A couple more hours.