Well I did it.....

[SarniaTricia]

I should say Pete did "it".... & I did the rest.
We processed our first bird today.

We have alot of extra roos!!! So I figured it was time for us to get to work and wittle down the boys, before they killed each other!

Our home made chicken plucker didn't work so well and we found it easier to pluck by hand.
We printed directions off the internet and Pete read out the process and I cut him up...

Bit of a mess and took the hour or so I had read that the first time is...

THings to change... sharper knife.
Use boots when dipping the bird in the water to loosen the feathers.. Boy is that water hot on the feet!!

We will process more once we get a sharper knife.
Patricia

 

[chicken pickin]

Good job with your first processing!!!!! Was it very difficult to do(physically or emotionally) or confusing when cleaning it out? I have 26 CX and 2 BBWs that need to be processed in about 5 weeks. This is our first time. We went a little big lol. Id love for you to share any details or tips you may have. Im very nervous.

 

[SarniaTricia]

Chicken Pickin
I have to say that it was ....low stress but time consuming ....... there is a process posted here on BYC..... I will have to see if I can find it and post a link for you...
Pete did the cutting... He had a hard time with it, cause he wanted to do it right... but said it wasn't so bad after the fact.
I was a bit surprised at the twitching\flapping that happened at the end...

the rest was very straight forward...
Pete read the direction and i followed along with the cutting.

I think 26 for your first time would be difficult.
I would send those to the processors. (it is 1 hour there and back for me and doesn' make sense for 1 or two birds... if I had 26, I would do the drive)

I am going to look for the post and edit this shortly.
Here it is... https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-process-a-chicken-at-home
Patricia

 

[Life is Good!]

Nicely done!

Yes, our first ones were also a very long process...but then we got our 'groove' and got to the point where we could process (start to finish) in about 18minutes. That's still only 3 birds/hr...but better than just 1 bird! We processed our 25 Freedom Rangers in a couple of 'batches'. We determined that more than 2hrs processing was too hard on the back, the feet, the brain! So doing 5 at a time meant we did 5 'groups' - which also allowed the smaller ones a few extra days to grow out. We processed over 2wks time.

Truly, having another person to help is such a blessing! I don't know how I could have done this all on my own. Next 'round of 'em, perhaps I'll try, but then again, we work so well together I couldn't imagine not doing it with both of us!

 

[WinklerFarms]

It doesn't take long to get a lot faster. Last spring when we butchered out first it took two of us all day to complete 10 birds. Well now 500 plus birds later and I can now do 50 in a day by myself (and that includes lunch /beer breaks )I am hoping to get a tub plucker next spring to be able to do up to 100 in a day by myself.

 

[lindseyloo]

Good for you!!! Tomorrow morning is my first go... I have 3 roosters that are getting a little too noisy... I'm so nervous for the culling part more than anything. Off to get a sharp knife today.

 

[davidchickens]

When our game bird roosters (old english I think) get older, we will probably have to butcher them. They fight each other I hear, and Butch the Barred Rock is my preferred rooster. Best rooster you'll ever hear about!

 

[booker81]

Good job! Glad my How-To is still making it's rounds and helping folks