How long does it take YOU to process a chicken?

[MichaelZ13]

I can do 4 in a little over an hour, with some extra cleanup of the birds by my wife under the sink. So it amounts to as much as 1.5 - 2 hours total for the 4 birds. I have started doing these in batches of 4 and I do not raise more than 12 or 15. I can heat a single large canning pot with boiling water and it will last for the 4 birds. It is like cleaning a small bunch of fish. We have done 25+ birds in one shot and we have a big fire going, chicken parts, blood, feathers, etc everywhere, and a dread of the whole process that exceeds going to the dentist. I would definitely rig up a plucker and a nice slaughter table if I were doing larger numbers very often.

 

[bald Rooster]

I have about 30 birds under my belt and I am starting to get a system. Today I did 12 birds in 5 hours by myself, Thats prep, catching,killing hand plucking and cleaning and cleaning up the mess.
My system is slow and is basically a one birder. I catch a bird put in the tube kill it and walk to the one I'm plucking once this birds 100% I take the dead one soak it ,lay it on plucking table and catch one more. For processing a couple birds this is a ok process.But if I continue doing this, I will make some cages so I can catch all the birds the night before.Make 5 tubes kill 5 scald and pluck 5 and continue till thats all done and then clean them. I may buy a plucker but if you have your temps right it only takes like 5 minutes per bird to pluck one by hand! And a little hand held torch for those pesky hairs.

 

[bald Rooster]

The last time I timed it, I was down to about 30-35 minute per adult rooster while dry plucking, cleanup time excluded. That actually surprised me, it's a lot faster than when I started doing dry plucking. I'm sure if my scalding setup wasn't such a PITA it'd be faster to do it that way.

I have a single gas burner Its like a Coleman stove but its a single I use when hiking. I took a wood 2/6 and made a v shape out of it and put the stove in there and set my pot on that. takes me 5 minutes to set it up. the 2/6 burn a little lol but I guess it just helps heat the water. once my waters about 145 I turn it on low and start Plucking! I can do about 15 birds before It needs more gas and If I was faster I bet I could do 30 birds with it.

 

[bald Rooster]

After reading a few of these I am happy to see Im Not doing to badly on time.

 

[Bigshooter]

I always butcher with my dad. We have a whizbang plucker. We can get through about 30 in 2hrs.

 

[BantyChooks]

I did one bird in about two hours, but I ended up dry plucking AND skinning because I stink at evisceration. I hope to get more speedy.

 

[bald Rooster]

You really need a thermometer I find 145 deg is perfect.It won't cook your skin.
At 145 You can sink a bird and leave it in there,take a stick and swish it around for a few minutes.(If you are at a higher altitude then sea level your temp may need to be a tad higher.I don't know )
Then, I take my hand and just wipe the bulk of the feathers right off. wipe against the grain! I have a perfectly clean bird in just a few minutes.The flight feathers are the only thing you have to pluck.
One other thing. there will be some pesky little feathers under the skin. If you have a metal scrubby (for dishes) you can hit the bird with this and it will clean all of that easy.
The hair I just take the birds to my gas stove most of the time. But if you had a little torch that would work better.

 

[UrbanChickie]

I don't have any special equipment and only eat surprise roosters for the most part (a few a year). The first bird I tried a few years ago took me hours. I just processed two Roos and averaged about an hour each. I can live with that. I think if I get my knife a bit sharper it'd go even faster. I'm also thrilled to be finally eviscerating and getting the hang of when and how to pull all that out without tearing it all up.

 

[GrammyB49]

I have mastered the art of processing chickens. It is so perfected that my breath-takingly fast speeds cannot be rivaled.

A mere 1-2 hours per bird.

Skinned.

Not plucked.

And this is why I'm renting a chicken plucker this year

I can dress out a rabbit from start to finish in 5-10 minutes. I can dress out quail in 2-4 minutes. But roosters? Roosters and I don't get along.

Awesome, I have 2 roosters to process, providing I can catch the dang things lol. Wish there was a place here in nh to rent a plucker from.....