we're gonna butcher our first birds tomorrow

[Win]

Well the deed is done.

My wife and I processed 5 birds almost by ourselves (my Dad came by to watch and advise).

Killing the birds was not the most pleasent chore but not as bad as I thought. I used a restraining cone and cut the jugular vein. They died as quickly and painlessly as might be hoped.

The butchering process was done far out of sight of the rest of the flock and I took pains to be as kind and humane as possible to the chooks. I took care of them well all their lives and now they will feed and sustain my wife, my son and myself.

Scalding the birds went well. The turkey fryer did the job marvolously.

Plucking the first 95% of the feathers went remarkably fast. The last 5% was a real bear. I couldn't get all those darn little hairs and pinfeathers out! In frustration, my wife skinned all the birds.

Evisceration was faster than I expected. My wife (the less squeamish spouse), did 4 birds to my one.

All in all I think we did well. No catastrophes, no nausea and no cut fingers. I do hope to build that tub plucker though. Without that I can't see how to clean the bird well enough to leave the skin on.

I think I may order some more meat birds soon. I have a big freezer tha could use some filling.

Thanks for the advice folks. With your help we've got an awesome Mother's Day dinner planned!

 

[boilerjoe_96]

Did you try to burn the pin feathers off with a propane torch? I've heard that works(I have yet to butch my meat birds)...

Let us know how they taste. How much meat is on a 2 month Sex Link? I have 1 Barred Rock, 1 Buff Orp, and 1 White Rock Cockeral almost that old and the freezer is in their destiny...

 

[Win]

I have heard about the propane torch trick but I don't have one. Besides, how do you burn off feathers and not cook the bird?

Ever see a rubber chicken? that's exactly what these birds look like dressed. They are definitely not as big as a store bought fryer. I wish I had a scale to weigh them.

I will do 5 more chickens in a week or two. And then the last five a week later.

 

[silkiechicken]

They dont' weigh much. A torch will very quickly roast off the feathers without cooking the bird. We just cook with hairs on and just not eat the skin if its too hairy.

 

[lively Bee's]

I have a friend that use's a plucker that fits a drill he use's it for the pin feathers and the short feathers I find if I only have a few then we just leave them and get them out as we are cooking. I love the skinning of them chickens due to the speed I have no one to help the wife cant take it

so live today I did 6 in just over a hr by skinning. But man I love fried chicken with the skin on hmmm hmm good

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi Win,
I'm glad your first butchering experience went well.

Killing the birds was not the most pleasent chore but not as bad as I thought. I used a restraining cone and cut the jugular vein. They died as quickly and painlessly as might be hoped.

The butchering process was done far out of sight of the rest of the flock and I took pains to be as kind and humane as possible to the chooks. I took care of them well all their lives and now they will feed and sustain my wife, my son and myself.

That pretty much sums up how I feel, too.

I wish I could get my Hubby to help with that chore, but he wants no part of it (until they are cooked).
Right now, there are 25 or so cockerels ready for the freezer ---
a daunting task for one person.
Now that you know what you are doing, you are welcome to come over and help

Lisa in Aiken​

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

My wife does such a wonderful job I would just get in the way since she has far more experience at it. She does tell me that the trick is not to use scalding hot water, she puts a pot on the stove and waits I believe until it first starts boiling I will have to ask her again. Her chickens come out beautifully plucked. Glad everything went well. Most of my experience is with wild game.

 

[Oaknim]

I'm really good at peeling bananas, if anyone needs any help with that...

~ Oaknim

Edited to say: I always joke to DH that he would never make it as a pioneer as most "gross" things make him squeamish. He gags if he has to change the baby's diaper, he could never slaughter a chicken.

 

[Win]

Quote:
That's me to a tee! My 2 year old can produce the scariest loads of humanure I've ever seen.

Dipsy: I spend alot of time working on Lake Thurmond in McCormick Co. How far are you from the town of Modoc?

PS I'm cooking one of my birds now. It smells delicious! I d wish we had left the skin on though. Thats where all the flavor is. Oh well, I'll do better next time.

Win

 

[Oaknim]

You too?! What is it with men? *sigh*

Even though I'm vegan, I'm glad your slaughtering/cleaning/cooking process has gone well. I'm all for people raising their own food! And I always tell people that they haven't tasted real chicken until they've eaten a humanely and naturally raised one. I'm such a hypocrite...

Now what were we talking about? Baby poop?

~ Oaknim