Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[ronott1]

I think I'm up to having to process 4 on Sunday! I have never done that many on one night, instead I may take them off the roost Sunday night and put them in a dog crate and do them Monday, I'll have more time and light then. I think I will definitely try plucking this time since I'm doing a "batch" seems more worth the extra labor, and that way I can make beer butt chicken!

Tomorrow is processing day number one here. I am culling my roosters from my laying flock. I wasn't sure that I would do them this year but after watching them all with the hens it is way past time. There are just too many of them and they are running the girls ragged. So before they hurt the girls I set a date (tomorrow) and began to prep. I have gathered a few extra hands in the form of my sons ranging in age from 12 to 18 and a couple of their friends. I have 11 roosters to process and one 1 month old CX chick that I found tonight with a bad leg. I cant let him suffer until next month so he goes as well. It has been 20 years since I have done chickens but I believe I am up to the task. I freshened up on techniques from youtube. And have gleaned some great tips here on BYC as well. I even made my own kill cone today. If it works well I will share pics later. So tonight I have my selected roos camping under a tarpaulin in the back of my pickup awaiting their fate in the morning. This will be a good practice for the 24 remaining CX I have to process next month.

Happy Processing!

I will have more in a month or so. My Middle daughter wants chicken and Dumplings!

 

[Beekissed]

Tomorrow is processing day number one here. I am culling my roosters from my laying flock. I wasn't sure that I would do them this year but after watching them all with the hens it is way past time. There are just too many of them and they are running the girls ragged. So before they hurt the girls I set a date (tomorrow) and began to prep. I have gathered a few extra hands in the form of my sons ranging in age from 12 to 18 and a couple of their friends. I have 11 roosters to process and one 1 month old CX chick that I found tonight with a bad leg. I cant let him suffer until next month so he goes as well. It has been 20 years since I have done chickens but I believe I am up to the task. I freshened up on techniques from youtube. And have gleaned some great tips here on BYC as well. I even made my own kill cone today. If it works well I will share pics later. So tonight I have my selected roos camping under a tarpaulin in the back of my pickup awaiting their fate in the morning. This will be a good practice for the 24 remaining CX I have to process next month.

Take pics, Dave...if you get a chance, that is!

I'll be processing a bird tomorrow too, so I'll be sending supportive thoughts your way. Sounds like you will have a lot of fun..don't be surprised if they want to do the killing but not so much of the gutting. That's the way my boys were..only one really enjoyed helping me with the actual gutting, though they all had experience in gutting deer.

I'll be killing my favorite bird tomorrow. She's just too old and heavy and it's starting to affect her, so tomorrow is supposed to be very cool. I placed my killing cone this evening and the dog started giving me dirty looks.

He used to love getting his share of bird but in the past few years he has become distressed when I kill birds, whimpers and paces, gives me the stink eye, mopes around all day and basically just lets me know I have offended his sensibilities.

Tomorrow will be my the hardest cull I've ever done...me and this ol' gal have been together for some years now and I admire her over all others I have ever had.

 

[DaveMorey]

Sounds like lots of good help, the boys can't let the others think they "can't handle it" so male pride will work for you! lol

The most important aspect of this was to have the boys involved in "harvesting" their own food. My wife thought I would "scar the poor boys". To which I responded that I had helped my grandmother do this same thing at the age of 6. And children back in "the old days" did this as normal routine. I think it is healthy for kids to know where their food comes from. They should also be taught that life is precious and not to be wasted. Every animal that gives up its life for our nourishment should be used to the fullest extent so as not to dishonor the creator and the life offered.

 

[Kassaundra]

Take pics, Dave...if you get a chance, that is!

I'll be processing a bird tomorrow too, so I'll be sending supportive thoughts your way. Sounds like you will have a lot of fun..don't be surprised if they want to do the killing but not so much of the gutting. That's the way my boys were..only one really enjoyed helping me with the actual gutting, though they all had experience in gutting deer.

I'll be killing my favorite bird tomorrow. She's just too old and heavy and it's starting to affect her, so tomorrow is supposed to be very cool. I placed my killing cone this evening and the dog started giving me dirty looks.

He used to love getting his share of bird but in the past few years he has become distressed when I kill birds, whimpers and paces, gives me the stink eye, mopes around all day and basically just lets me know I have offended his sensibilities.

Tomorrow will be my the hardest cull I've ever done...me and this ol' gal have been together for some years now and I admire her over all others I have ever had.

Peaceful thoughts going your way tomorrow.

 

[Beekissed]

The most important aspect of this was to have the boys involved in "harvesting" their own food. My wife thought I would "scar the poor boys". To which I responded that I had helped my grandmother do this same thing at the age of 6. And children back in "the old days" did this as normal routine. I think it is healthy for kids to know where their food comes from. They should also be taught that life is precious and not to be wasted. Every animal that gives up its life for our nourishment should be used to the fullest extent so as not to dishonor the creator and the life offered.

Amen to that! I've been doing it since young and so have my boys..even younger than when I started. They've been harvesting their own deer and helping with the gutting and processing since 7-8 yrs old.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Tomorrow is processing day number one here. I am culling my roosters from my laying flock. I wasn't sure that I would do them this year but after watching them all with the hens it is way past time. There are just too many of them and they are running the girls ragged. So before they hurt the girls I set a date (tomorrow) and began to prep. I have gathered a few extra hands in the form of my sons ranging in age from 12 to 18 and a couple of their friends. I have 11 roosters to process and one 1 month old CX chick that I found tonight with a bad leg. I cant let him suffer until next month so he goes as well. It has been 20 years since I have done chickens but I believe I am up to the task. I freshened up on techniques from youtube. And have gleaned some great tips here on BYC as well. I even made my own kill cone today. If it works well I will share pics later. So tonight I have my selected roos camping under a tarpaulin in the back of my pickup awaiting their fate in the morning. This will be a good practice for the 24 remaining CX I have to process next month.

Tomorrow is our D-day too. I also have 11, plus a friend is bringing over 1 more = a turkey! Those roos had my poor girls in a tizzy too. One we culled them last week my flock calmed so much. I don't think I will be putting our meat birds with my laying flock anymore, it is just too much for the girls to handle.
There are four of us for tomorrow and it took us about 3 hours to do 10 with three people so we are hoping by lunch time we will be done. We thought ahead this time and prepared food today, stuffed jalapenos and burgers! Good luck!

 

[Beekissed]

Peaceful thoughts going your way tomorrow.

Thank you!

I've prayed about it and will be doing more of the same in the morning, asking God for a quick death for my good old girl. When I took her off the roost tonight she was as calm as she has always been..very sweet and regal bird. She is resting in one of the nest boxes until morning. Oh, I will miss that bird!

I'll be doing something I've never done before...after the kill, I'll be skinning her and then halving her so that her organs will be intact and lying inside one half as they normally would be. I'll be taking pics of this so that others can see the anatomy as it appears in the bird. Hope I can pull this off. I'm hoping I can use her body as a teaching tool before using her for nutrition. I want to see the effects of age on the oviduct to see if it is displaced downward over the years and I'll also be examining her organs and taking pics if I find any other age related anomalies.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Take pics, Dave...if you get a chance, that is!

I'll be processing a bird tomorrow too, so I'll be sending supportive thoughts your way. Sounds like you will have a lot of fun..don't be surprised if they want to do the killing but not so much of the gutting. That's the way my boys were..only one really enjoyed helping me with the actual gutting, though they all had experience in gutting deer.

I'll be killing my favorite bird tomorrow. She's just too old and heavy and it's starting to affect her, so tomorrow is supposed to be very cool. I placed my killing cone this evening and the dog started giving me dirty looks.

He used to love getting his share of bird but in the past few years he has become distressed when I kill birds, whimpers and paces, gives me the stink eye, mopes around all day and basically just lets me know I have offended his sensibilities.

Tomorrow will be my the hardest cull I've ever done...me and this ol' gal have been together for some years now and I admire her over all others I have ever had.

Sorry about that. I am sure it will be rough but you know when it is time. Good luck and good thoughts your way

 

[jajeanpierre]

That will be a great dinner!

Very sad when I pick up a little Silkie and think of it being dinner!

 

[DaveMorey]

I am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse but I have no trouble detaching myself from the animal to be harvested. It may be only because from the very beginning I view them as a food source and not a pet. I am sure it would be different if they started as pets and then things changed. That is one thing I told my youngest son from the first day we got our CX. "They are food. Do not name them unless it is Nugget, Parmesan or Cordon Bleau." Once they become pets everything changes.