butchering *was* sort of empowering . . .

[frankenchick]

but I really don't want to do it ever again!

DH and I "processed" 10 chickens in about 5 hours -- including the time it took for me to go back and remove the lungs I missed first time through.

I helped hold the first 3 chickens and got splattered from head to foot with blood. Yuck. Then, DH got the idea to wrap chickens in a bath towel. It worked like a charm -- things went much more smoothly.

Unfortunately, there are 10 more to do . . .

 

[michellerene]

Why don't you ever want to do it again?

I would like to be able to do this-- not with my girls, but with meat birds. I think just knowing how & being able to do it would be good. I don't suppose it's exactly enjoyable, though.

 

[BirdBrain]

Well, I'm glad that your 10 birds are in the freezer. I can sympathize about not being excited about doing it again with the other 10. I was wanting to get some of those "killing cones" to make it easier on me and couldn't find any locally. So here is what we did...I took a couple of gallon milk jugs and cut away the pour top so that it made a bigger opening for the chickens head to go through. THen I cut off the bottom as close to the bottom as possible. I poked two holes on opposite sides of the bottom and inserted heavy string so I could hang the contraption upside down. I also reinforced the bottom (cut) edge with a couple of layers of packaging tape and hung them from a ladder. It was one of those 10 foot ladders that open out into an A frame. I put a board across from front to back of the ladder and hung my bird buckets from that. It worked pretty well. That way I could do 2 at a time.

I hope your next time goes smoother. I had 10 birds to do as well, and no one but the kids to help and they lost interest, so it was up to me mainly. A couple of the birds we just ended up skinning and cutting up into pieces to freeze. I froze them on a cookie sheet (with sides) so that once frozen I could put them in a freezer bag and use only the pieces I needed when the time came. They thawed faster that way and not having to pluck was wonderful!!

 

[Win]

When I butchered my birds for the first time I used a restraining cone. It worked very well and nobody got splattered.

We killed ours by bleeding them out rather than decapitation. It was just as quick and not as difficult or strenuous as trying to whack their heads off.

It was not the most pleasent experience but it got easier with practice. When my wife and I butcher our next couple of birds (in a few days) we will be much more efficient.

Don't let butchering shake you. When you sit down to a dinner of birds you raised (and in my case vegetables I grew) you will appreciate your food far more than any meal you have ever eaten.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Is it true that when you put a chicken upside down they "pass out"?

 

[BirdBrain]

That was NOT my experience. They looked kinda goofy...like "how did I get myself in this position?" Maybe I didn't do it right.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

My wife will hold our chickens upside down by the feet then bring the head up to her hand so that she is holding the legs and head in one hand. Then with a sharp cleaver she will slit the throat and bleed the chicken in a bowl it doesn’t take long, the bird might flap its wings a little but not for long. The only chicken I saw her have a little problem with was a Brahma which sprayed some blood on the sink counter.

 

[Hotwings]

Being a city girl I couldn't do it, not even with a meat bird. I don't begrudge anyone that does it tho. I would rather see it done with homegrown birds that at a chicken plant. I was recently surfing youtube and entered in chickens hoping to see some funny chicken videos when I came across a videos called 45 days of a broiler chicken. Needless to say it was kinda gruesome. I don't know if I could eat another store chicken again. Let me tell you I would rather eat a homegrown meat bird that has been humanely raised than these store birds. They are crammed into huge barns and they are fed automatically and the barns are never cleaned and the anomia from the birds is overpowering and the birds sometimes get stuck in feeders and etc. It didn't look very sanitary at all. I saw another video of someone killing chickens and it was done in some type of Carribean island and he took some birds out of a cage and slit their throats and threw them in a pit till they bled out. Believe me this was alot more humane and sanitary than our chicken plants!

 

[Freebie]

I really wish I could butcher me some chickens. I would love to raise them up and just do it. I just don't know if I can. I am seriously thinking of having my daughter learn how. She is so awesome. I really wish I were more like her. What do you think Hotwings, send Steph over to the Amish farm and learn how to do it the Amish way? Or should we just get her a book and some sharp knives? LOL

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

My wife as a young lady worked in a processing plant overseas (China) so she doesn't have a problem with butchering. They didn’t have the luxury we Americans have with refrigeration and meats in plastic containers, everything they prepared there were fresh. She didn’t work there long processing meats; she was able to get an office job as a food inspector. But she retained the knowledge she gained early on and she still amazes me today. Most people here today don’t have a clue to what our early ancestors did on a routine basis.