Cornish X Journal

[blucoondawg]

Our nearest processor, the only one that I'm aware of who does poultry, charged 3 bucks a bird that's for basic freezer paper wrapping and while bird processing, it's extra for cutting into pieces and shrink wrapping, it could easily approach 5 dollars a bird if you went with cut up and shrink wrapped

 

[DreamsInPink]

Those are great weights and big birds. 2.25 sounds like a good deal when you consider packaging for a few birds.

Processing will cost me:

$.32 per bird for bags and ties
$50 for the plucker rental
10-15 birds in trade for friends to help

One time costs:
$95  Scalder build out
$36  Victorinox boning knives
$35   folding table

Unnecessary costs:
$150 for all the fixins for a celebratory crawfish boil because noone wants to eat chicken for a week.
$thousands in beer


In the end 2.25 sounds like a great deal!

Thanks for the compliment! xD I was super happy with the weights, even though, as I said, I didn't have anything to compare them to. And yes, I was very happy with the cost. $13.50 for 6 chickens, not too bad.

It sounds like you have a lot of expense, but the scalder, the table and the knives will be a one time expense.. so that's good. It will make it better for you the next go around. Dang, where do you live again? hahaha.... crawfish and beer!! That's my kinda celebration!

 

[DreamsInPink]

Our nearest processor, the only one that I'm aware of who does poultry, charged 3 bucks a bird that's for basic freezer paper wrapping and while bird processing, it's extra for cutting into pieces and shrink wrapping, it could easily approach 5 dollars a bird if you went with cut up and shrink wrapped

That's why we left ours whole... less expense plus we didn't want any of it to go to waste.

 

[CommonRookie]

We're in Greenville, sc area. Just got home from an old crow medicine show concert. The scalder is up to temp. The birds went all day without food. I made 4 kill cones out of 10" pots left over from a bunch of 1 gallon blueberry bushes we put in this spring. I'm really hopeful these work as kill cones. The milk jug method didn't work well last year. The bigger birds just ripped it down leaving a bloody mess rolling around my yard. The plastic nursery pots seem tougher and sized better for my birds. I cut a 4" diameter hole and nailed the to a Cedar tree. We put 100 lbs of ice in the coolers, picked up the plucker, prepped the processing area and are ready to try and process 125 birds tomorrow.

 

[DreamsInPink]

Well good luck!!!!

I'll be thinking of you.

 

[blucoondawg]

That's why we left ours whole... less expense plus we didn't want any of it to go to waste.

I do my own, it takes a little time but the processor is 40 miles away and I'm just not gonna pay someone to butcher a bunch of chickens. I do sell some of mine and should raise my price to account for the butchering time and shrink bags. They're getting a deal at 3 bucks a lb already butchered

 

[blucoondawg]

We're in Greenville, sc area. Just got home from an old crow medicine show concert. The scalder is up to temp. The birds went all day without food. I made 4 kill cones out of 10" pots left over from a bunch of 1 gallon blueberry bushes we put in this spring. I'm really hopeful these work as kill cones. The milk jug method didn't work well last year. The bigger birds just ripped it down leaving a bloody mess rolling around my yard. The plastic nursery pots seem tougher and sized better for my birds. I cut a 4" diameter hole and nailed the to a Cedar tree. We put 100 lbs of ice in the coolers, picked up the plucker, prepped the processing area and are ready to try and process 125 birds tomorrow.

I hope you have a little help, 125 is a lot to tackle in a day even a weekend, at least for me. Hopefully your scalder will keep the temperature up and prevent having to take breaks in between batches of chickens to let it heat. A plucker is next on my list of chicken stuff to buy

 

[MichaelZ13]

We're in Greenville, sc area. Just got home from an old crow medicine show concert. The scalder is up to temp. The birds went all day without food. I made 4 kill cones out of 10" pots left over from a bunch of 1 gallon blueberry bushes we put in this spring. I'm really hopeful these work as kill cones. The milk jug method didn't work well last year. The bigger birds just ripped it down leaving a bloody mess rolling around my yard. The plastic nursery pots seem tougher and sized better for my birds. I cut a 4" diameter hole and nailed the to a Cedar tree. We put 100 lbs of ice in the coolers, picked up the plucker, prepped the processing area and are ready to try and process 125 birds tomorrow.

For good durable kill cones, try road traffic cones with the bottoms cut a little bit bigger. You can buy them at most any home store like Lowes, Menards, etc.

 

[birds4kids]

100lbs of ice seems like too little for 125 birds, for easy math let's say 5lbs per bird that is 625lbs of meat you are trying to chill from body temp down into the 30s.

 

[DreamsInPink]

@CommonRookie

Soooo, how'd things go?? You ok?