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

[Sally Sunshine]

Lets play a rousing game of spot the cornish cross!

little guy/gal is like a football player next to the other one, a leghorn/marans cross I hatched of the same age. If it ends up being a hen and surviving long enough to lay eggs, I might try to cross my thai or marans rooster over it to make more meaties. If it's a rooster, no big loss, it'll still be tasty, that's what I got it for! TSC had two bins, one with these and one with older actual white rock chicks. They were telling people that these were also white rocks, but you could tell the difference just by leg size, the day old cornish cross had thicker legs and were beefier than the week old rocks!

HOLY WOWZA! and OMGAWEDDDD look its GRASS and its GREEN GRASS!!!

well it is done.


I didn't do the killing this time but I was able to hold legs and watch their faces as life left them. My friends have a plucker and that thing was like magic. I did the gutting on these boys as well. Now they are hanging out in an icechest on the porch. I am grateful that it is over but do feel far more prepared for next time. Thanks again to Sally Sunshine for starting the thread and to all of the participants who contributed kind and supportive posts!

AWESOMENESS!!!! How great you found a plucker!! Are they a pain to clean out afterwards?

Here are some pics I got of one of our processing times...



move the skin back to get a clear view of the area and pull sharply down on neck...

keep tension and cut through the soft tissue till spine exposed.

knife will cut through ligaments, continue downward pressure to help separate the vertebrae as you cut, it helps make access to the ligaments easier.

. you can then bend it up the other way to cut through the soft tissue on the underside to complete the removal.

awesome explanations as usual, love images so helpful!

 

[katbriar]

Thanks for all the "necking" advice! Now I'm impatient for my birds to get here and graduate to freezer camp!

 

[Happy Chooks]

well it is done.


I didn't do the killing this time but I was able to hold legs and watch their faces as life left them. My friends have a plucker and that thing was like magic. I did the gutting on these boys as well. Now they are hanging out in an icechest on the porch. I am grateful that it is over but do feel far more prepared for next time. Thanks again to Sally Sunshine for starting the thread and to all of the participants who contributed kind and supportive posts!

Great job! How nice to have a plucker available.

A word of advise if you are feeling squeamish about eating it right now. Put it in a ziploc freezer bag and freeze for a few days until you get over the emotions of processing. Then pull it out and cook it.

WTG Tommysgirl!!

It's not easy... but it is so worth it just to know that you can!!

Definitely!

Way to go tommysgirl!

Reminds me to ask- how do you folks remove the neck? That had been very hard for me to put the knife blade anywhere easy. I've even broken the (plastic) handles of kitchen shears.

Any advice?

I was going to use my meat cleaver, but I couldn't find it, so I just used a knife.

Cut along the wind pipe and peal the skin off from around the neck. Pull the trachea up and remove the crop and pull it all out from the neck. Use a sturdy butcher knife to cut the neck at the body cavity. You then do the gutting.

If the crop is empty, when you pull all the guts out, the trachea, crop and everything will slide through the cavity with the guts with a firm pull. More than one way to do it I'm sure, but this works easy for me.

Lets play a rousing game of spot the cornish cross!

little guy/gal is like a football player next to the other one, a leghorn/marans cross I hatched of the same age. If it ends up being a hen and surviving long enough to lay eggs, I might try to cross my thai or marans rooster over it to make more meaties. If it's a rooster, no big loss, it'll still be tasty, that's what I got it for! TSC had two bins, one with these and one with older actual white rock chicks. They were telling people that these were also white rocks, but you could tell the difference just by leg size, the day old cornish cross had thicker legs and were beefier than the week old rocks!

Good visual. Yes, they are tanks aren't they. Pooping machines.

 

[Happy Chooks]

They are on the verge of venturing outside, but not quite there yet.

 

[kacklinkelly]

Popping back in after a LONG time away. So glad to see this thread is still so very active. I haven't gotten any meat birds. This tiime around, I am considering raising meat rabbits. So far, I have two females that are approx 4 months old. They are New Zealand/Beveran mixes. Supposed to get about 8-10 lbs. So far they are almost 6lbs. If I do get the nerve to breed them, they will remain my breeders. Of course, I have fallen for them. I look at them like the Wyle E Coyote used to look at the Roadrunner.

I see a delicious piece of meat and then "beep beep" I snap back into reality and they are my fuzzy back yard friends. I think I might need some de-programming to become a successful meat rabbit breeder.

 

[gypsychicken]

what did you end up doing with the cockerels?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

They are on the verge of venturing outside, but not quite there yet.

so you brood them outside right off the bat? interesting!!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: haaahaa, I've done this!!

Quote: ANd done this, except leave the neck attached-- I've stopped removing the neck if it is going right into the oven.

Here are some pics I got of one of our processing times...



move the skin back to get a clear view of the area and pull sharply down on neck...

keep tension and cut through the soft tissue till spine exposed.

knife will cut through ligaments, continue downward pressure to help separate the vertebrae as you cut, it helps make access to the ligaments easier.

. you can then bend it up the other way to cut through the soft tissue on the underside to complete the removal.

WONDERFUL TUTORIAL !

They are on the verge of venturing outside, but not quite there yet.

Sweet.

 

[Happy Chooks]

so you brood them outside right off the bat? interesting!!

Yep, I've been kicked out of all buildings for brooding. So I brood them from Day 1 in a small coop outside. Our temps are usually fine to do this.

 

[paridisefarm2009]

Hi sorry I think I took it off I can re post it Let me find it , Because I moved a few months ago out of my house and no longer have chickens very sad But maybe one day I will again