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

[OneMountainAcres]

Today I processed an older CX hen that was starting to have problems. She was around 7 months old and had starting having a harder time breaking and a purplish comb. She was an odd butcher. In her gizzard, I found a good sized, white, sling shot ball. Not a HUGE surprise since hubby and the kids will shoot them off sometimes but I thought they were too big for them to swallow. That thing had to have been in there for months though since this girl hasn't been able to haul get butt out of the run for at LEAST 2 months now. Another odd thing, the contents of her gizzard were green.....what would cause that? She hasn't free ranged or had any grass or green treats.

 

[ronott1]

Today I processed an older CX hen that was starting to have problems. She was around 7 months old and had starting having a harder time breaking and a purplish comb. She was an odd butcher. In her gizzard, I found a good sized, white, sling shot ball. Not a HUGE surprise since hubby and the kids will shoot them off sometimes but I thought they were too big for them to swallow. That thing had to have been in there for months though since this girl hasn't been able to haul get butt out of the run for at LEAST 2 months now. Another odd thing, the contents of her gizzard were green.....what would cause that? She hasn't free ranged or had any grass or green treats.

Maybe it had something to do with the metal ball

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Maybe it had something to do with the metal ball

I don't know, maybe, though I'm not sure that the ball is metal. It's one of those white ones.

 

[ronott1]

the green was likely bile that came up. That happens with impacted crop sometimes. They can poop green too

 

[Kusanar]

Today I processed an older CX hen that was starting to have problems. She was around 7 months old and had starting having a harder time breaking and a purplish comb. She was an odd butcher. In her gizzard, I found a good sized, white, sling shot ball. Not a HUGE surprise since hubby and the kids will shoot them off sometimes but I thought they were too big for them to swallow. That thing had to have been in there for months though since this girl hasn't been able to haul get butt out of the run for at LEAST 2 months now. Another odd thing, the contents of her gizzard were green.....what would cause that? She hasn't free ranged or had any grass or green treats.

I don't know about processing, but every so often, I will get a pack of gizards from the store and some usually have a green leathery lining on them which tastes gross if you cook them without noticing it...

 

[BantyChooks]

Cooked up the Australorp today. I pulled a few bits off before I turned the meat into chili... he tasted great. A tad stringy, but that's no surprise. I put the bones in the cooker for stock.

 

[BantyChooks]

What is you guys' favourite knife for processing, and why? I am looking for a good one so I can stop using my nice kitchen knives for the hack jobs. I have other methods for killing, so it doesn't need to do that. Am hoping to stay under $20. I don't want the $5 ones at the discount store because I like to take less than 5 minutes to remove the legs, but the $50 ones are just

 

[Maeschak]

What is you guys' favourite knife for processing, and why? I am looking for a good one so I can stop using my nice kitchen knives for the hack jobs. I have other methods for killing, so it doesn't need to do that. Am hoping to stay under $20. I don't want the $5 ones at the discount store because I like to take less than 5 minutes to remove the legs, but the $50 ones are just View attachment 1232005

I like to use an old school exacto knife (the silver tube like a pen with the blades that slip into the tip and are tightened by screwing the end of the barrel) for slitting the jugular, a pair of heavy duty blunt end scissors from SAMs club for snipping open the belly skin for evisceration and wing tip removal, and any old knife to remove the legs. But Im very careful to only cut tendon in the legs and not dull the knife by hitting bones. I also use the scissors to snip the ligaments around the neck and then just break the neck off with my hands. If striping the carcass of meat for pressure canning I also mostly use scissors and any old knife.
I just figured out that I could strop my exacto blades in order to use them longer for slaughtering (and sometimes skinning) which is nice because I was changing blades every few cuts. I use Mothers brand metal polisher on a piece of leather or cardboard to rehone my exacto edge as it is readily available at Auto stores.
Sorry, I guess I didn't really answer your question- my inability to sharpen a regular knife has led me to use alternate tools... But the alternate tools are cheap and effective!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

We just use my husband's old military issued knife. We sharpen it every time, right before we start and it works fine. We use either a hatchet or broomstick for the culling though.

 

[Kusanar]

What is you guys' favourite knife for processing, and why? I am looking for a good one so I can stop using my nice kitchen knives for the hack jobs. I have other methods for killing, so it doesn't need to do that. Am hoping to stay under $20. I don't want the $5 ones at the discount store because I like to take less than 5 minutes to remove the legs, but the $50 ones are just View attachment 1232005

Have you thought about using garden shears? I haven't processed any birds, but when feeding the cats raw, I cut up A LOT of leg quarters and I ended up going to a small pair of garden shears to pop through the joints and bones. Seemed safer than using a knife while my hands and the chicken were both wet and slimy... I used kitchen scissors and plant shears, no knives involved.