'Just miserable work': Former chicken catcher describes 'unbearable' job

Gerard Evans has something in common with Raymond Stacey and Clifford Comerford, two men at the centre of a second-degree murder trial in St. John's.

Like them, he also worked at the unglamorous, unpleasant job of chicken catching.

"Really dirty, smelly and dirty. Ridiculous," is how he describedit.

The 57-year-old worked worked atCanadian Poultry Services, as did Stacey, 25, and Comerford, 41.

They, and others on the crew, would go to farms and the Country Ribbonoperation near Cochrane Pond on the Trans-Canada Highway near St. John's to catch chickens for processing.

"Thirty, 40, 50 chickens there in one area. Lots of them everywhere. You go in, and you got to wear a mask, because there's a lot of dust and smell and everything. And you just grab as many as you can in your hands, and put them in a truck in crates," said Evans.

Smell like 'ammonia'

It's been years since Evans worked as a chicken catcher, but the memory is vivid, especially the smell.

"Unbearable. Chicken droppings and the dust and everything that comes, wherever all that stuff comes from," said Evans.

Stacey is accused of stabbing Comerford in a van that was taking them to work at a farm in Harbour Grace on the night of Jan. 11, 2015.

In all, there were eight men in the van, including the driverand foreman of the crew, Travis Kean.

Kean was the first witness at Stacey's trial. He testified that the smell was like ammonia because of the droppings, and that the workers had to wear respirators.

Kean also said that "If 50 guys tried to do it [chicken catching],only two would last."

Evans agreed. "People going in there working for a day, two days, give it up. Can't put up with the smell."

He lasted about three weeks.

"Oh, my son. Pretty dirty. Black, my son, black and every other colour," is how he described how he looked at the end of a chicken-catching day.

Worse than digging graves

Evans saidhe would never go back at it. "No, no, no, no. I don't think so. Just too miserable.Just miserable work. I wouldn't want to be at it."

Evans saidhe was making $14 or $15 an hour, but the money wasn't enough to keep him doing the job, despite his lack of education at the time. Heonly had Grade 6or 7.

He saidthat on a scale of one to 10, with one being a terrible job, chicken catching is a one.

And throughout his life, Evans has had tough jobs. "Digging graves, stuff like that. Fixing graves and all that kind of work. Roofing."

Anyone who has ever done roofing knows it isn't easy, but Evans, laughing, put it this way. "It don't smell."

Stacey's murder trial will begin its third week on Monday.