- 16 hours ago
Mike Rowe learns about the life of an egg - from the chicken to the frying pan; unfortunately for him he then has to clean up the waste generated by 1.4 million chickens.
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00:00My name's Mike Rowe.
00:03This is my job.
00:05I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty.
00:09Dude, how did you learn how to do this? I mean, this can't be in a manual.
00:12You learn tricks as you go, I guess.
00:14Hard-working men and women who earn an honest living.
00:17Hey, you didn't do too bad there, Mike.
00:19It's a nice run of leeches.
00:21That's what I shoot for, Jeff.
00:22Right on!
00:23Doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
00:27Now, get ready to get dirty.
00:32Coming up on Dirty Jobs.
00:34In southeast Oklahoma, some really filthy dirt needs to be cleaned up.
00:38Okay, in a rotary kiln.
00:40But, first, the dirt's washing machine needs an experienced welder.
00:44That's got blind as mold.
00:46They got me instead.
00:47Old school, yeah!
00:49I don't know what that means.
00:50Then, sometimes they come easy, sometimes they don't.
00:53You gotta deal with a lot of dirt bags in this business.
00:55They're pretty slippery characters.
00:57Oh!
00:58Oh, no.
00:59Now I gotta crawl in there and get it.
01:01And later.
01:02This is egg production at it's absolute best.
01:05160,000 chickens all live in one big house.
01:08Where's the poo go?
01:09You're about to find out, Mike.
01:11Where's the poo go?
01:12Right in your face.
01:15Dirty jobs.
01:17Dirty jobs.
01:17Getting down to it.
01:19Dirty jobs.
01:20Ain't nothing to it.
01:22Dirty jobs.
01:24Someone's gotta do it.
01:26Someone's gotta do them dirty jobs.
01:39Someone's gotta do them dirty jobs.
01:40I'm talking about the pipes that carry jet fuel and gasoline and diesel.
01:46When those pipes rupture, all of that good stuff gets injected into the soil.
01:52And that's bad.
01:53And that's dirty.
01:54So today we've come to southeast Oklahoma to clean the dirty dirt.
02:00Don't you love it when a show lives up to its name?
02:04The machinery that cleans the dirt is completely mobile and has come here to clean up a pipeline
02:08blowout that injected fuel into an 800 foot long area.
02:13Instead of being hauled off to a landfill, the dirt will be cleaned and have nutrients
02:17added that bring it back to its natural state.
02:20Then it will be returned to where it came from.
02:25James R. Roderick runs the show and this is the show over here.
02:29And this is James.
02:30How are you?
02:30Nice to meet you.
02:31Thanks for having us out here.
02:33And where am I again?
02:35Out in the middle of southeast Oklahoma.
02:37One could confuse it with nowhere at a glance.
02:39It's next door.
02:41What kind of stuff is in the soil that shouldn't be there?
02:43What we have here is diesel.
02:44Yeah.
02:45This is a diesel release.
02:46We do diesel, jet fuels, gasoline.
02:48I can smell it.
02:49Yeah.
02:49It's good.
02:50How much roughly went into the soil?
02:53Approximately 2,000 barrels.
02:55Are you literally cooking the diesel out of it?
02:59Yes, sir.
02:59You reach the boiling point of the diesel.
03:01It becomes a vapor and it releases from the soil.
03:03Then we take the vapor another direction and destroy it.
03:06And the sterile soil comes out.
03:08We rehydrate it, put it in a stockpile, have it analyzed down to a half a part per billion.
03:13And once it's clean, it goes back in the hole.
03:15Sterile.
03:16Sterile.
03:16So it's almost cleaner, I would imagine, than it was before the spill.
03:21Oh, much cleaner, yes.
03:22When we put it back in the ground, we can build it to whatever we want it to be.
03:27So if they want this to be a cornfield, we can build it to a cornfield.
03:30If they want it to be a pasture, we'll make it a pasture.
03:32Really?
03:32Yes, sir.
03:33So this was farmland.
03:35No, actually this was nothing out here.
03:37This was some ravines and a hunting area.
03:40Somebody must own it.
03:42Yes.
03:42So an individual owns it.
03:44A company had an issue with some pipes.
03:47You're coming in to clean it up.
03:48And now when the individuals retake it, it'll be better than it was.
03:53Yes, sir.
03:54So the first job I do then is what?
03:56Well, we have an issue in the rotary kiln right now that needs some welding.
04:01You've seen my welding skills in the past, I'm sure.
04:03Yes.
04:03I have a guy to patch up your work afterwards.
04:05That's great.
04:06That's over in this direction?
04:08Yes, sir.
04:08Why don't we walk that way and continue saying smart, insightful things as we do so.
04:13So here's how it works.
04:15Dirty dirt is fed into one end of what's called a rotary kiln.
04:19The kiln churns the dirt as it super heats it, vaporizing all the contaminants.
04:24The clean dirt is then extracted from the kiln and taken back to refill the hole it came from.
04:29The vaporized contaminants, along with superfine airborne dirt particulates,
04:34pass through a conduit to a series of bag-like filters where the particulate and vapors are separated.
04:40The clean particulate joins the dirt pile while the contaminant vapors move to the afterburner where they're destroyed.
04:50Okay, in a rotary kiln.
04:52Inside the kiln, there are long baskets that drop the dirt in sheets for even heating, and metal support structures
04:59called gussets.
05:00These take a real beating from constant heavy loads of dirt and rocks and need to be re-welded as
05:05they get damaged.
05:06I'll be helping welder Heath Newland do some repairs.
05:10This is your office?
05:11This is my office.
05:12And the gussets.
05:14Now, are these gussets?
05:15Yes, these are welded in to keep the little pieces of steel on the basket flights from bowing backwards and
05:20breaking off.
05:20This is a basket flight?
05:22Yes, sir.
05:22And this is a?
05:23Combustion flight.
05:24Gussets.
05:24Gussets.
05:25That's a little mini gusset.
05:27Yep.
05:28This would be the maxi gusset.
05:29This is the kind of thing that you use to make people talk.
05:32Yep.
05:33We're going to do some welding.
05:35You know what I'm going to do?
05:35Can I just slip behind you and watch you do what you do?
05:38Yes, you can.
05:39Yes.
05:42James, you can hit that welder.
05:45Basic welding, 101.
05:46I mean, if there any tips you want.
05:47Just keep it in a straight line.
05:48That's the extent of your advice?
05:49That's the extent of my advice.
05:51Hey, you think James maybe just quit, hung it all up, went home, took early retirement?
05:56It's a possibility, because it ain't on.
05:58Is that a signal?
05:59Yeah.
05:59That he hears?
06:00No.
06:00Oh.
06:01Hey, James, how much to turn on the welder?
06:04I got 20.
06:05Barsky's good for five.
06:08So this is where the show ends, basically.
06:11Glad you enjoyed it.
06:12Glad you stuck with us this far.
06:14Next week, tune in, and maybe we'll actually weld something in here.
06:17We'll weld something in here.
06:18Yeah, that'd be great.
06:18That's it.
06:19That's what we want to tease in our business.
06:24There it is.
06:24That's the sound of the welder being fired up.
06:33All right.
06:34You can either do this one here, or you can go back over the one I just did and make
06:38sure
06:39I did it right.
06:40Oh, yeah.
06:40Because when it comes to quality control, I'm the guy you want.
06:42You would be the guy.
06:43Yeah, I'm the guy.
06:43It should fire there, right?
06:45Uh-oh.
06:46It's done.
06:50See, the problem is when you pull this down, it's just as dark as night.
06:53You can't see a thing.
06:57Oh, yeah.
06:58I can see stuff.
07:00Morse code.
07:01Got it.
07:02Got it.
07:02Blind as a mole.
07:04That's it.
07:04Great.
07:05That's a stupid job.
07:08No.
07:09Give it back.
07:21It's not bad for your first time.
07:22It's not my first time.
07:23Uh-huh.
07:28God, it's a mess.
07:29I tell you what, man.
07:30This welding's a real talent, isn't it?
07:31It can be.
07:39You actually got better on that one.
07:41If you could find a way to take some of the shock and awe out of your voice, that would
07:45be great.
07:54Old school?
07:55Yeah.
07:56I don't know what that means.
07:57I don't either.
07:58You know, I see a lot of this fabricating shows, and they yell things like old school,
08:01and yeah.
08:03I don't know why.
08:08He's just going to tidy up my mistakes.
08:14Coming up.
08:15Man, that is one dirty tube.
08:16When you do battle with the dirt vaporizing afterburner of doom.
08:20Holy crap.
08:21Oh, my God.
08:22Sometimes the dirt wins.
08:24I'm going to go ahead and head over to the hospital.
08:25It's been a pleasure knowing and working with both of you.
08:31And later...
08:33There's no truck.
08:34Everyone scrambles when there's a chicken poo emergency.
08:37We're going to look into where the truck went.
08:39Otherwise, we're just pumping a couple metric tons of chicken into the atmosphere.
08:52From the rotary kiln, I'm headed to the bag house to change out the filter bags that separate
08:56fine, particulate dirt from toxic fumes.
09:01One of these days, they're going to invent a Tyvek suit that actually fits me.
09:05Why does nothing ever fit me, ever?
09:07I don't know.
09:08All right.
09:09Well...
09:09I usually rip them out.
09:11I promise to ask only questions now on that you know the answers to.
09:14This is Mike.
09:15And what's your official title here?
09:19Oh...
09:19You guys aren't big on official titles, are you?
09:22I just do just about everything, really.
09:24Do just about everything.
09:25All right.
09:25So what we're going to do now has to do with...
09:27What we're going to do now is we're going to get up here.
09:29We're going to blow off the tube sheet.
09:31Right.
09:31All the fine air particles get sucked through the cross tube, in through the bag house,
09:37and come through the afterburner, and then out the stack.
09:39Where does the work happen?
09:41Up here.
09:42We're going up here.
09:46These four right here are bad.
09:49And it'd be this one here, leaving a little blade of grass or something that'll come through
09:53there like a coal or a hop.
09:55Right.
09:55Like an ember.
09:55It'll just burn a little hole in it.
09:57I'll show you the first one there.
10:02Sometimes they come easy, sometimes they don't.
10:05So that's the cage.
10:06It's in the bag.
10:07Now it's just the bag.
10:09Yep.
10:09And we'll grab that air hose behind you there.
10:11And we'll blow the tube sheet off.
10:19Well, I could do that all day.
10:21Then what we'll do is we kind of pry this in without trying to drop it down.
10:26And that's a bag.
10:27How fine is that?
10:29Five microns.
10:30It seems small.
10:32Five microns is small.
10:34The diameter of a strand of human hair is 100 microns.
10:38Just fold it and run her down in there.
10:41Just to this lip right here.
10:42All right.
10:43Just like that.
10:45Just drop her in.
10:49Three hundred eight foot long bags are used to filter out the fine dust.
10:54Now there's a bad bag.
10:55Look at that one.
10:56See the grass?
10:57It burned the bag.
10:58Yep.
10:59Changing filter bags is an as needed job.
11:02If the bags are damaged, dirt and dust will end up in the afterburner.
11:08The only tricky part of this job is to make sure you don't drop the bag into the tank.
11:13Oh, .
11:14Oh, no.
11:16Now I got to crawl in there and get it.
11:23These are the bags we threw down.
11:25Yep.
11:25This is how you get in there.
11:27Retrieving that bag you dropped.
11:29Yeah.
11:29How far back do you reckon it is?
11:32Probably to this first door here.
11:35A couple feet.
11:36All right.
11:37You'll see it once you get in there.
11:39I'm sure I will.
11:41You know what I also see?
11:43That looks like a thing that if it were to come on, it would be very bad for me.
11:48Yes, it would.
11:52Huh.
11:53Nothing to step on at all, is there?
11:56Yeah.
11:57If anybody accidentally turns the screw on, I'll be, well, I'll be screwed.
12:01All right.
12:02Now I kind of understand.
12:03Here's the bag I dropped.
12:07But now I'm leaving.
12:08Ow.
12:09It's almost time to fire the kiln up to clean a load of dirt.
12:12Ow.
12:13I've got to check the afterburner first to make sure the damaged filter bags didn't dirty
12:18it up.
12:19So this is Tom, and this is the afterburner, and obviously it's going to be hideous in
12:24there because you already got your mask in place there.
12:26Oh, yeah.
12:33Yeah, it's going to get real dirty.
12:36So what are we going to do in there?
12:37We're going to clean all the dust out of it.
12:39We're going to boil all the dust out.
12:41Man, that is one dirty tube.
12:44I remember this.
13:09Holy crap.
13:12That's pretty dirty.
13:14Holy crap.
13:15All of this nasty dirt and dust can be pretty much eliminated by regularly checking the filter
13:19bags.
13:22Cool toe.
13:22Put it dirty!
13:40We're done.
13:41All right.
13:48We're done.
13:49Good luck.
13:50Oh, my God.
14:00That's horrible.
14:01Pretty bad, huh?
14:10How you fellas doing?
14:12Good.
14:13I'm going to go ahead and head over to the hospital.
14:17I'll look for you.
14:18We're going to die right here.
14:19Okay.
14:20It has been a pleasure knowing and working with both of you.
14:28This huge rotating kiln is finally fired up and dirty dirt is being fed into it.
14:33But the most critical part of the whole operation might be the guy tossing rocks out of this hole in
14:39the wall.
14:41How you doing?
14:42How you doing?
14:43Good.
14:43You bear?
14:44Yeah.
14:45I'm Mike.
14:46Nice to meet you.
14:47What?
14:48What?
14:49You're grabbing rocks and throwing them out the hole.
14:52Pretty simple.
14:53If it sounds like one, you throw it out.
14:55Moisture gets trapped inside of the rocks.
14:57Yeah.
14:58Once it hits the heat, it'll explode like a grenade.
15:00So you want to catch rocks, any sort of organic fibers, roots.
15:05Right.
15:06Anything like that that'll flash up when it hits the flame.
15:08Literally, this is going straight into 1800 degrees right now.
15:11Exactly.
15:13How many hours in a day would you say you stand here throwing rocks through a porthole?
15:18Work 12 hour days, usually take 30 minutes to an hour for lunch.
15:23You get that?
15:24What do you do for a living?
15:29No matter what you do, people like to understand they're having an impact.
15:34Even if you're only standing in the same spot for 12 hours in a row throwing rocks through a hole,
15:40it matters.
15:41Because if you're bare and you miss a rock, well, everything blows up.
15:51Once the rotary kiln's fired up, the cleaning only takes seven to eight minutes at 1800 degrees of liquid propane
15:58heat.
15:59Ten minutes ago, the dirt coming out of this kiln was hopelessly contaminated, drenched in diesel.
16:07Now it's been scrubbed and rubbed and sanitized and sterilized.
16:12Consequently, it's cleaner than it's been in the last million years or so.
16:17Take a good look.
16:18It just might be the cleanest dirt on Earth.
16:26Coming up.
16:27I notice it's moisture coming off the conveyor.
16:30I become a chicken poo connoisseur.
16:32I look for this.
16:34That's impressive.
16:34Those are one of the things I look for when I'm hiring somebody.
16:37Which could lead to a career change.
16:39I'd like to hire you on, Mike.
16:40You're doing a good job.
16:41Thanks.
16:42Put you in touch with my agent.
16:44And later.
16:44Time now for the obligatory shower scene.
16:47It's our first R-rated episode.
16:49Are you done yet?
16:51I'm never done.
16:52And everybody drops trial.
16:53Stay tuned.
17:03About 40 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, there's a great place to meet some chicks.
17:08Mature, full-bodied, productive chicks who live in huge houses where they create a profitable product.
17:14What more could a guy want?
17:15Well, that'd be part of the Hickman Family Farm, and this would be part of the Hickman Family.
17:20Clint Hickman?
17:21Yes, that's right.
17:22Clint Hickman.
17:22Nice to see you.
17:23Nice having you.
17:24Oh, it's good to be had.
17:26This is a big operation.
17:28Yeah, there's 1.4 million laying hens here, housed here in beautiful Arizona.
17:35Yeah, everything the brochure promised.
17:381.4 million, it's a big number no matter what you're referring to.
17:41But when you're talking about hens, you're talking about living creatures that make loud sounds,
17:47and they're all in a spot together, and that must be a heck of a thing.
17:51It is.
17:53We've grown through the years and took flocks as small as 50 with my grandma to where we're
18:02at now, 4 million.
18:03It takes a lot of family members, really.
18:04Whoa, whoa, whoa.
18:05Hickman Family Farm started with grandmom and 50 chickens.
18:08It's you.
18:09In 1944, 50 chickens in downtown Glendale, Arizona, and now it's us, my brothers, my sister,
18:16my parents doing it all with 4 million.
18:184 million.
18:19Right.
18:20You guys have been busy since the Second World War.
18:23A lot of country out here, a lot of open expanse, a lot of talk about free range, chickens,
18:29meat, whatever.
18:30Whoa.
18:30Why don't you just let them run around and be chickens?
18:33You know, just in that one square mile, you probably have at least 50 coyote dens out
18:37there.
18:38So if we let our birds decide to run free, they're probably going to be a gigantic dinner
18:43bell out here.
18:44You've wrapped me in this piece of Kleenex, which I do appreciate.
18:47It's one of the first steps in biosecurity, Mike.
18:50We have to worry about avian influenza or New Castle disease or any type of diseases that
18:55might get our birds sick.
18:56I want to adhere to all the biohazard protocol that you may have.
19:01And I was told that you're free labor.
19:03And we're always looking for that.
19:05Ain't nothing in life free, Clint.
19:07But I am a bargain.
19:09I'll follow you.
19:10Let's go.
19:12Free labor.
19:17Okay.
19:18This is starting to look like something.
19:20We're standing at the end of barn 11.
19:23There's 160,000 birds in this house alone.
19:26This is what's called a conveyor belt house, which you're going to be very familiar with
19:30here.
19:30As the eggs ride up on conveyor belt, they hit this.
19:33This is basically the egg gatherer.
19:35So instead of us hand gathering eggs, they're coming up here.
19:38They're having a nice little ride.
19:39Come up over the top and ride on this big, long conveyor belt all the way to the plant.
19:44I see.
19:44So lots of little conveyor belts all leading into this.
19:48This picks up the egg.
19:49Big conveyor belt.
19:50They go somewhere else.
19:51All right.
19:51Can we go down here?
19:52Absolutely.
19:53Let's take it off.
19:53Let's do that.
19:56Not a lot of places to hide a cameraman in here.
19:59It's not.
20:00This is egg production at its absolute best.
20:03This would be their feed?
20:04Six times a day these feeders go off, so always fresh feed.
20:08That would be their poo?
20:09That's their poo, Mike.
20:10The poo lands on the conveyor belt and we clean that once a day.
20:13So on every level, there's a belt, there's feed, and there's a poo catcher.
20:19Correct.
20:20Where's the poo go?
20:21You're about to find out, Mike.
20:25Yes, these are jet fans that pull the cool air through and blow the hot air out.
20:30Who are those guys?
20:31Those are the dirty jobs professionals.
20:33This is Cody.
20:34Hey, Cody.
20:35Hi, Mike.
20:36How are you?
20:36All right.
20:37Good.
20:37And this is Steve.
20:38How are you doing?
20:40How about it?
20:41Yeah, Cody, what's going on?
20:42How are you doing?
20:43I'm doing great.
20:44You ready?
20:45For what?
20:47For manure.
20:48We're going to run all this manure off the chicken belt.
20:51I think you just said we're going to run all this manure off the chicken belt.
20:54Yeah, the sad part about it is, Mike, the fans happen to be at this end here, so when
20:59you start them up, you can't help but get hit.
21:03So, one, two, three, four, five, six belts, each one full of crap.
21:08Right.
21:08Each one coming at us.
21:10Yeah.
21:10What we have, Cody, in other words, is a preponderance of airborne particulate.
21:15Correct.
21:16What's the job?
21:17Keep the manure away from the chickens and get it out of the house, and then what we do
21:21is we turn it into money after that.
21:23Are you going to be dressed as I am?
21:26Now, at this point in time, you can probably take that off if you want.
21:30Miserable thing, actually.
21:31You're driving me crazy.
21:32Yes.
21:33We got masks for you and goggles.
21:36Yeah, do that, would you?
21:37How long have you been doing this?
21:39About two years.
21:40Yeah?
21:41Yep.
21:41You got a passion for poop?
21:43I do.
21:45We're going to get along fine.
21:54What we do, Mike, is we keep an eye on the belt to see if it needs adjusting.
21:59There ain't a truck out there.
21:59What?
22:00They said they want to stop it because there's no truck out there.
22:02There ain't a truck out there.
22:07Yeah, that's a good idea.
22:09There's no truck.
22:11I can't believe that.
22:12Let's go in a truck.
22:12We have to find out where the truck went.
22:14We're going to look into where the truck went.
22:16Otherwise, we're just pumping a couple metric tons of chicken into the atmosphere.
22:23They stole a truck?
22:24Who steals a truck?
22:26Oh, there it is.
22:27Oh.
22:29It's an odd thing to steal.
22:31It's a truck full of chicken crap.
22:32Well, see, what happened was there's supposed to be a truck parked right under that conveyor.
22:37So the chicken poo can fall in the truck.
22:40The truck's not there, so we're just going to move the truck over and then we'll get back with the
22:43story.
22:46Rule of thumb next time, before we start it up, Mike, and it's probably my fault.
22:49I'm going to take the blame for this.
22:51Let's check to see that the truck's there first before we start it up.
22:54I blame myself.
22:55Well, you know what?
22:55It's no harm done.
22:56It's a small pile of crap on a dusty landscape.
22:59Where's the driver at?
23:01Oh, here he is.
23:02Can you grab that truck for us, please?
23:04Now that I look over there, I see that our camera is sitting there in order to get another one
23:10of Doug's famous shots that no one ever uses.
23:13And I'm wondering now if perhaps one of my crew instructed one of your drivers to get the truck out
23:19of the way to make room for our camera.
23:21Doug, why would you have the truck moved given the fact that it's not in the camera's way?
23:25I told you that I was going to mount cameras inside on the second belt once we determined what was
23:29going to happen.
23:30So I had Dan shoot out.
23:31No, no, no.
23:32But I told you I wanted to wait to the second belt so we see what's going on.
23:36Why not turn the belts on during the start?
23:37I got an idea.
23:38Doug can shovel it up later on, huh?
23:40All right, let's get back to this, guys.
23:41I'm wrong.
23:42Guys, let's go.
23:43Let's finish the shot.
23:44Oh, bye.
23:44You know what?
23:45No, it is easy.
23:46We can move on.
23:47You know, that's just such a life lesson in that.
23:50Doug eats a little crap right now, takes total responsibility, and we could have avoided the whole last ten minutes.
23:55All right.
23:55All right, let's go.
23:58Coming up.
23:59You getting hit by any manure?
24:00Yeah, they're crapping all over me.
24:02It gets pretty deep under the chicken house.
24:04Absolute hell.
24:05Fortunately, I know what I'm doing.
24:07Uh-oh, uh-oh.
24:09Big blade.
24:10And later,
24:11What do you think came first, chicken or the egg?
24:13I bring up a touchy chicken farm subject.
24:16It has to be the chicken who's going to like the egg.
24:18Yeah, there's a lot of controversy.
24:20Yeah, I know.
24:30Okay.
24:31The truck is back where you would want to have a truck in a situation like this.
24:36Now all you've got to do is hit the master switch and everything's going to happen at once.
24:41That is a lot of crap.
24:43Well, the belt goes back around and then we have to get in there and shovel it out.
24:45You're probably going to hand me a shovel at some point, aren't you?
24:50Do you prefer a square or a round?
24:53Okay.
24:54All right.
24:55Let me get in there to show you how it's done.
24:56All right.
25:00Notice how it blows back in when you put it on the belt.
25:03Really unavoidable.
25:05I think I get it, Steve.
25:07Be careful down here.
25:08You don't want to get enough outside in that truck.
25:10No, I don't.
25:11Okay.
25:12Careful.
25:16Mike, it looks like you've done this once or twice.
25:18Once or twice.
25:20Try to get underneath the belt a little better, can you, Mike?
25:22You bet.
25:23Appreciate it.
25:24If you've ever asked yourself how much poo 160,000 chickens make in a day,
25:29the answer's about 26,000 pounds with a 3% margin of error.
25:34It's good that it's dry.
25:35We water it down and heat it up and make it just right.
25:38This is something to look forward to.
25:45I'd like to hire you on, Mike.
25:47You're doing a good job.
25:48Thanks.
25:48Put you in touch with my agent.
25:50Okay.
25:51I notice it's a moisture coming off the conveyor.
25:55There's a heaviness to it.
25:57I look for this.
25:58That's impressive.
25:59Those are one of the things I look for when I'm hiring somebody.
26:03Observational acuity.
26:03There's a lot more that goes into ordering eggs, you know, over medium.
26:07This also is involved.
26:10You really take a holistic approach.
26:12If I see somebody leave a half a plate of eggs there, I almost want to go over and finish
26:17it,
26:17or at least have a discussion with them.
26:19I don't see anything weird about that at all.
26:23Oh, well.
26:24What else you got?
26:25It's called a high-rise house, and the manure just simply falls through the cage and onto the cement floor,
26:32and then we go in there with a skid steer or a bobcat or...
26:35Can we go to the high-rise chicken house?
26:37Okay.
26:40Well, it does have a certain familiar look from the outside, anyway.
26:44But this, this is a whole different look.
26:46This is a little different than the belt.
26:48The chickens are up above, and everything heads down here, and then we have to clean it up with the
26:56skid steer.
26:57Oh, my God.
26:58Well, they're all crapping right now, aren't they?
27:00Yeah, you don't want to walk under there, Mike.
27:02Upstairs, the 100,000-plus chickens produce about one egg each per day.
27:07And because of their generous feeding schedule, their daily poo output off the charts.
27:12So, and then you see our skid steer operator coming here.
27:14He cleans it all up each and every day we take it out of here.
27:18I'm guessing that maybe a guy like me could have a chance to operate a device like this.
27:22You're careful, yeah.
27:23What are the stakes here of being uncareful?
27:25Well, if you hit one of these beams here, there's a chance that...
27:29All the chickens...
27:30You might have an accident, yeah.
27:31You might have a chicken in the lap.
27:39I didn't want to point it out in front of Steve, but I just have to say, this is one
27:42of the worst places I've ever seen in my whole ridiculous life.
27:49Nice place, Steve.
27:52The whole thing's just full of crap, isn't it?
27:54The whole thing.
27:57I'm informed that before shooting, the crew needs a little prep time to rig some cameras and lights.
28:04Just doing a little adjustment with the lights.
28:07Shouldn't take but a moment.
28:23I'm doing some minor tweaking.
28:25We should be ready in a moment.
28:26Another one, another one.
28:28Another five, ten, twenty minutes.
28:34I'll make a few calls.
28:37Hey, Mom.
28:39I was just shooting a show.
28:40Just doing some final tweaking.
28:46Everybody back up, please.
28:48I think we're on the verge of committing some television.
29:02Big blade.
29:04Good luck.
29:06Good luck to you, too.
29:08Yeah.
29:10Looks good.
29:11Good.
29:21You getting hit by any manure?
29:22Yeah, they're crapping all over me.
29:24Look at it.
29:25Absolute hell.
29:30Thirteen tons of poo raining right down on you.
29:33It's kind of like a nightmare.
29:35Oh, my God.
29:37Now, when you get down here, just use the wall to scoop it up.
29:40That way we don't lose any of your hard work.
29:43Yeah.
29:44A little more.
29:47And now you got to go to the other end and dump it.
29:49The other end?
29:50Yeah.
29:50Same way I came?
29:52No, you could go down a different aisle.
29:57Can you do it?
30:00Uh-oh, uh-oh.
30:02I'm afraid he'd take quite a while to do this house, Brandon.
30:05Yeah, he'd take a couple hours at least.
30:07Maybe a couple days.
30:08Yeah.
30:08This isn't going to work out.
30:12With a continuous bombardment of poo, feathers, and chicken dander, it's like a really disappointing
30:17snowfall under the high-rises.
30:25Once the first load was dumped, my erratic driving prevented the guys from telling me they'd
30:29prefer that I stopped, so off I went.
30:36Again, here at Hickman Farms, virtually nothing goes to waste, so to speak.
30:41All this poo will be combined with other egg byproducts and processed at the fertilizer pellets
30:47that will be sold to golf courses and anyone else who needs pelletized poo.
31:00How'd I do?
31:01You didn't do too bad.
31:03That's what I'm shooting for.
31:04Yeah, yeah.
31:05I'm going to leave it to you to finish up, all right?
31:07All right, sounds good.
31:09Well, that was the scene.
31:11Nobody's sure how it went yet, because everybody's dehydrated.
31:14Dave, Troy, Doug, you're totaled.
31:18I'm not sure if I have sweat in my eye or chicken urine.
31:20It's an age-old question, Troy.
31:23Coming up.
31:24Are you ready for the big deal?
31:25The big deal?
31:26There we go.
31:26In the egg business, big deal means fast.
31:29Dirty and bloody.
31:30Poop.
31:31And confusing.
31:32Every hour we change people here.
31:34You would have to.
31:35Your people would go insane.
31:45All right, time now for the obligatory shower scene, although in this case we actually need
31:50one.
31:50As you can see from Doug, he got completely destroyed shooting underneath the hen house,
31:55so he'll need to tidy up.
31:57And over here I think we have, you know, let's not use that shot.
32:01Good.
32:03Actually, it's also a good time to point out that the showering in this case is not just
32:07about basic hygiene and decency.
32:10It's a biosecurity step that they do here at Hickman, because we're going to be headed
32:15into a clean area.
32:16Of course, like any other shower situation, a fella has to wait his turn.
32:20Are you done yet?
32:21I'm never done.
32:24He's never done.
32:26Stay tuned.
32:28Oh, God.
32:29What is that?
32:33Huh?
32:34How do you like that?
32:35The Dirty Jobs crew is now cleaner than you will ever see them.
32:39Take a good look.
32:41Frank?
32:42How are you doing, Mike?
32:42Mike.
32:43How are you?
32:44All right.
32:46So, all of the eggs coming from the hen house come straight to you.
32:53Yes.
32:53And your job is to do what?
32:55My job is to process the eggs, to pack the eggs, and get the finished product to the
32:59customers.
33:00We only want perfect eggs, right?
33:02Yes.
33:03Perfect eggs.
33:05You can do.
33:06Like, some of these eggs got some poo on them.
33:08They're going to get to the washer, or are they going to be washed and everything's going
33:11to come out?
33:11So, this egg's okay, we just got to get the poo off of it.
33:14Yes.
33:15All right.
33:15This one, too?
33:16Yeah.
33:17That one, too.
33:19The little skid marks on the eggs.
33:21A lot of cracked eggs don't make it through the pre-wash.
33:23They have to be constantly cleaned out.
33:27The broken eggs, shells and all, will be added to the farm's compost.
33:32Dirty screen.
33:37After the pre-wash, the eggs go through another machine.
33:40It gives them a thorough scrubbing to get the really tough poo off.
33:44From there, it's on to the candling station.
33:48So, uh, candling.
33:50Yes.
33:50Right here, you're going to candle the eggs.
33:51You're going to look for reds.
33:53I mean, bloods inside the egg.
33:55Bloody eggs?
33:56Bloody eggs.
33:56And what about these?
33:57Just grab them?
33:58Yeah, you just grab them and put them in the pocket.
34:00Throw them back there.
34:01If you see a double one, you put them in the hole, fill them up in the gap.
34:04Show me a bloody one if you find one.
34:06Well, if we're not getting no bloody, that means we got good body eggs coming through.
34:09Well, that's good.
34:10Are you ready for the big deal?
34:12The big deal?
34:15There we go.
34:16Keep an eye on the eggs.
34:17There it comes.
34:18Watch for the eggs.
34:20Candling not only reveals blood, but fertilization or any other abnormalities in an egg.
34:25Dirty and bloody.
34:26Dirty and bloody.
34:28No?
34:29God, that's a jumbo.
34:30Poop!
34:35Every hour, we change people here.
34:37You would have to.
34:38Your people would go insane.
34:43Exactly.
34:44Exceptional.
34:46What do you think came first?
34:47Chicken or the egg?
34:48It has to be the chicken or who's going to like the egg.
34:50I don't know.
34:51There's a lot of controversy.
34:52Yeah, I know.
34:55So the ones that are going through here that are cracked, that the computer catches, where
34:59do they go?
35:00They're going to send to the break-in plan, where they're going to make a break-in for liquid
35:04eggs.
35:04The break-in plan?
35:05Yeah.
35:07This machine separates the good eggs from bad.
35:10The good eggs go to packaging.
35:12The bad eggs go to the breaker.
35:15So out there, they separate the good from the bad.
35:18In here, they basically separate the bad from the ugly.
35:23Just because an egg is bad doesn't mean it's inedible.
35:27It might just mean it's too bad looking to sell.
35:30It can have a shot at a life if it gets through this washing machine one more time and then
35:35gets past another quality control spot.
35:38This woman's very strict.
35:40But if an egg can make it to that other side of the wall, then they have a shot at
35:44being
35:44pasteurized.
35:45If not, she throws them in a bucket like this.
35:48And it's pretty much the end of the line if you're an egg.
35:54Great.
35:55The other bit of good news is that this is going to get dumped into the back of that truck
36:01where we shoveled all of that chicken poo earlier.
36:03Then that all gets mixed up into a fantastic bouillabaisse and carted off to a compost area where
36:11it can help grow new and exciting things.
36:14Eggs and poo.
36:15Poo and eggs.
36:16It doesn't get much better than that.
36:20Coming up.
36:21It's really simple, Mike.
36:22It's going to come up all randomly.
36:23The whole egg in the back.
36:26The yolk's on me when I get a little too cocky.
36:29No, no, no, no, no.
36:31And later.
36:32Dude.
36:32I can't keep up, man.
36:34I go head to head with a robot.
36:36You know, if that gets all the way to the back, it stops the machine.
36:39And then everybody stops working.
36:41I can really lay an egg.
36:42This is all you right here.
36:43Where does this stop and start?
36:45Well, it seems to be kind of tangled there or something.
37:00The breaking machine cracks the ugly eggs then separates their shells from the yolks and whites.
37:06Drago's job is very simple.
37:08He stares into the yolks.
37:10He's looking for shells.
37:11He's looking for blood.
37:12He's looking for poo.
37:13And when he sees them, that's what he does.
37:16A little bit of that.
37:19The yolks and whites are then blended together and sent through an elaborate maze of pipes and tanks for pasteurization.
37:25The solution is then sent to a bagging station for shipment to bakeries and other food preparation companies.
37:32All right.
37:32So you've got to put the egg in a bag.
37:33Exactly.
37:34It's really simple, Mike.
37:35I mean, all you've got to do is just take your bag, slide it over the first.
37:39It's going to come up over automatically.
37:41It takes the decapsule off and it fills it to a certain weight.
37:47At that point, we'll take a box.
37:50So it goes in a bag.
37:52The bag goes in a box.
37:54You fold it up.
37:56It goes through the taping machine.
37:58Taped and sealed.
37:59I hate it when somebody says the job's really simple.
38:01It just makes me look particularly bad when things go wrong.
38:06Seems like my fingers could have come right off there, honestly.
38:09And then it just...
38:09Yeah, you want to keep it on the table.
38:11Then fill up.
38:13Yeah, it moves very quickly.
38:19Still.
38:19Still.
38:20It's just off-putting.
38:28Whole egg.
38:30In a bag.
38:34Chicken or the egg?
38:35Chicken.
38:35There's no doubt in your mind.
38:37No doubt.
38:43No, no, no, no, no!
38:47Mislined it.
38:48I mislined it.
38:49Yes, you did.
38:50Believe me.
38:51I don't want to see it.
38:54There you go.
38:54Perfect.
39:00I guess the only thing left to do is ask you where in this giant facility are the perfect
39:04eggs?
39:05Right next door and over at the grading plant.
39:07You going to be okay without me?
39:08I'll be good.
39:09All right.
39:09All right.
39:09Don't get any whole runny egg on you.
39:13I'll try not to.
39:15The perfect fresh eggs finally end up here where they're graded and packaged and shipped
39:20out to egg lovers everywhere.
39:22That's all I found.
39:23A boss wandering around.
39:25Where am I?
39:26What station is this?
39:27This is packing station number nine and I have packing station number ten.
39:34And you are already off to a very bad start.
39:37Hey man, I'm getting some very spotty direction.
39:41This is, I think, the hardest job in the plant.
39:44By the way, this thing here, is that a hen or a rooster?
39:49We call him Pat.
39:51You get an androgynous mascot?
39:54You're falling behind.
39:55I was behind when I showed up.
39:57Why do these things keep opening?
39:59Bag on it.
40:00How's the computer doing compared to your people?
40:02Lucy doesn't ask for a whole lot.
40:04Just like with some oil.
40:06Yeah.
40:06Some brake fluid.
40:07But she can't put eggs in racks.
40:09So we're packing, what is this?
40:11There's 15 dozen in each box.
40:13You're supposed to be packing both of these lines.
40:15And I'm going to kind of step away right now and let you go ahead and pack.
40:20There's no way you can do both of these at the same time.
40:22Come on.
40:28They say to make an omelet, you've got to crack a few eggs.
40:31Maybe my boxes are going to omelet lovers.
40:34Hey, sticker.
40:35Sticker.
40:36It went over there.
40:41About 1.1 million eggs are shipped from the farm every 24 hours.
40:46Give or take a few dozen today.
40:48You know, if that gets all the way to the back, it stops the machine.
40:50And then everybody stops working.
40:52That's one packing line.
40:53I can't keep up, man.
40:55In fact, they're bunching up over here and flipping over now.
40:58I see it.
40:58Okay, you know what?
40:59This is all yours.
41:00This is all you right here.
41:02Dude.
41:03What?
41:04Oh, this is a disaster.
41:06I'm having a hard time caring about it.
41:08I mean, I want to.
41:09Where does this stop and start?
41:11Well, you seem to kind of feel tangled there or something.
41:15Chicken or the egg.
41:16I've been sampling.
41:18I've been asking your employees.
41:20Uh, Mike?
41:21Yeah.
41:21You're a religious man?
41:23I can be.
41:24God created all creatures first, so I would think the chicken.
41:27Now if you go the other way, an evolutionist would think the egg came first.
41:32If you tend toward the religious, the chicken fits with the Genesis story.
41:38If you go toward the Darwin, then the egg fits the origin of species.
41:43Now you know.
41:44And if you live in the San Fernando Valley, the rooster.
41:50I don't know what that means, but it's a funny way to say goodbye.
41:52Let's go.
41:53No, no, no.
41:53I want to leave with the idea that you're still here working.
41:56I'm going to leave with the idea that I'm going to grab something because I'm sweating
41:59now.
42:00It's good to be the king.
42:04Well, my nerves are fried.
42:06My brain is scrambled.
42:07My day is over.
42:09And it was not easy.
42:11I would be remiss though if I didn't thank Clint Hickman for inviting us out here to the
42:16farm and showing us the way it is.
42:18It takes some big huevos to do that.
42:21Because not everybody is comfortable seeing exactly where their food comes from.
42:25But the fact of the matter is, we love our eggs in this country.
42:30And I'm grateful for that.
42:35Mmm.
42:36My goodness.
42:41I'd like to think that over the last couple of years I've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt
42:45that dirty jobs are everywhere.
42:46And that our little civilization is held together entirely by the men and women who do the difficult,
42:52dangerous, and sometimes disgusting tasks that have to be done.
42:56I also think I've proven that we are absolutely helpless to find those jobs without your help.
43:01So this is the part where we ask you for help.
43:04If you have a dirty job or know of somebody who does, please don't wait.
43:07Go to discovery.com forward slash dirty jobs right now and tell us all about it.
43:12We'd appreciate it.
43:14You guys laughing at me?
43:16I swear to God, I'll come over there and weld that camera shut.
43:20Assuming, of course, I ain't got an arc.
43:22Get my back, would you?
43:25Oh, that's good.
43:26Perfect.
43:27Great.
43:28That's chicken crap on the lens.
43:30And those are flies on the chicken crap.
43:33And that's the crap Dan's got off so far.
43:35Go on the extra mile and brings a shot to you.
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