100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

Sorry. I didn't mention if they were straight run but yes they are. I will have to include that when I complete my final notes for the project. Thanks for asking that question.


Sounds good as far as scheduling the processing. Thanks for the tip.


As far as hands, some days it will only be me and other days it may be 1 other person. I think I will have to recruit more people to help. 100 birds is A LOT! I know that this is going to be crazy, so I will probably have to process on a Saturday and Sunday.


Reading your plucking experience, I am getting scared but I guess I should prepare myself for the worst. The You Tube videos look like it's so easy.


I'm hoping to see a lot, so I won't have too many to process. From the time I ordered 100, I knew that I wasn't going to put all 100 in the freezer. 50 would be great and selling the rest would be great as well. And I hope I don't have to process the ones that I will be selling.


I'm sure that I will be on the edge come processing day. How hot does the water have to be for the scalding process and how long do you leave the bird in there?

Great information. From the sound of it, it leads me to think that we will need an outside fire going to keep the water at the correct temp for scalding.


Bravo to you for doing a lot of those birds by yourself. Do you think that you will ever get a plucker to help you with the plucking?


Lung remover? Never heard of that. I need to check that out to see what that is. Sounds like I may need at least 3 people for this job.

The best temp is 140-150. I like closer to 150. Anything over 160 cooks the skin fast.

What you want to do if you only have two people is kill, scald and pluck before gutting. 

What we do: I kill, remove head (my wife can't handle plucking with the head attached - it icks her out). After that I scald the bird at 140-150 with dish soap in the water (all natural soap) it helps the water penetrate the feathers and gets rid of SOME of the disgusting smell - I test the wing feathers, if it's good I dunk it in cold water to stop any cooking right away, and pass the bird on to her to pluck. The plucker takes about 5 minutes a bird. It's probably 20 feet from the rest of the process. We pluck right in the woods so the feathers stay there to compost. She brings the naked bird back in the garage and places it in a bucket of ice water until we are finished and ready to gut. After we are finished all the killing and plucking we both do the gutting and packaging. 

The gutting is easy once you get going. The packaging takes the longest out of everything. You want it to look just right... especially if you are selling them. Finishing touches are included in the packaging. Any little 'hairs' on the bird have to be taken care of. I hate those hairs... We weigh all of them, even the ones that we are keeping and mark it on the bags. They go in the fridge for 3 days to rest. Having a spare fridge would be a godsend. This is yet another reason why we did them separate weeks. 

You can't just refrigerate them without resting. They have to go through the rigour mortis process or the meat will be tough as leather. You can take them out of the freezer and rest, but if you sell them, or want a quick meal - it's not advisable. 

I've tried eating a bird without resting. I couldn't do it. The chickens had a nice treat though.

Make sure to save any organs you don't want for your birds. Such a great source of protein. If you don't like to eat them that is. The best is the liver. It is high in iron and is so very good for chicks and birds that are in a weakened state. I feed all organs except the gizzard and intestines to the chickens. The gizzard is too hard. 

Great info. For the start of the process, someone else will have to "do the deed" because I can't do that. I'm too sensitive to do that. After the deed is done, then I will be able to go out and start.

I love all of the organs. Delicious eating.

This info gives me something to go by and far as Pre-Prep. Now, I know I will need to sell about half of them. That's a lot of birds to put in the freezer, especially if it has to rest in the fridge.

What were some of the final weights of yours?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Four weeks at the temps you are getting for sure. I would have them off heat during the day at 3 weeks and just at night. Mine were completely off heat during the day at 2 weeks. They were outside free ranging, but it was quite warm for the first batch.. Nights were in the 40's and 50's. They were completely off heat lamps (both day and night) at 3 weeks. My second batch, which was late August, they were completely off heat at 3 1/2 weeks. Both day and night. We had chilly days AND nights. You know how regular chicks you would decrease heat by 5 degrees a week? I'd double it for meaties. Starting at 90 at a few days, 80 at a week, and 70 at 2 weeks. At 4 mine were all feathered out. \ this is 4 weeks I wrote about my experience with them week by week here: http://www.lesfarms.com/2/post/2013/10/raising-cx-the-right-way.html

Nice looking bird.

 

[LindaB220]

They look like this:

The lungs get stuck in the creases between the ribs and after a few times your nails are just not strong enough to keep plucking them out. They are really soft and tend to rip but even the high power jet spray of a hose can't get them out. I keep thinking about getting a plucker because everyone that has them loves them, but I struggle with the thought that I can do it myself for free. I have a hard time spending money on something when I know I can do it myself. Who knows, after a few batches I may just get fed up enough to give in to the price or just build my own.

I bought a cheaper version of this at amazon. 4' long tomato stem corer. Under $4 and I've heard they work just as well. If not, well, I've got myself a tomato corer.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Just for experiment purposes and in case anyone else is wondering.....my question is.........why is hot water necessary to dip them in? What happens if they are not dipped in hot water?

 

[aoxa]

Great info. For the start of the process, someone else will have to "do the deed" because I can't do that. I'm too sensitive to do that.

After the deed is done, then I will be able to go out and start.

I love all of the organs. Delicious eating.

This info gives me something to go by and far as Pre-Prep. Now, I know I will need to sell about half of them. That's a lot of birds to put in the freezer, especially if it has to rest in the fridge.

What were some of the final weights of yours?

The second batch I didn't do any until 14 weeks. The heaviest was 10 pounds, the lightest 5 pounds.

The first batch, the largest girl at 11 weeks was 6 pounds, the largest male about the same at 9 weeks. We did not free feed, and they exercised like maniacs, so our weights were lower than most.. but we fed less than half of what is recommended, so there's that too.

I didn't think I could do the killing myself either. I had to when the person supposed to do that part botched it and I quickly stepped in. I wasn't letting anyone else touch them while alive after that.

It was so important to be, beyond anything else, that they go peacefully. I felt confident they did because I was the one that did it.

This is coming from someone who held a grudge on her father for hitting a rabbit with his car (not on purpose) and not stopping to help it. I am the biggest softy. But I need to eat meat. I feel ill if I don't.. But knowing they didn't suffer is so important. Kind of a control freak I guess.

 

[LindaB220]

I don't know enough about the cornish crosses to give you an age when to remove the heat lamps THey are hot little things though and the temps can be reduced quickly. How quickly depends . . of course lol. I know a heritage breeder that dropsthe temps down quickly after the first week so that by the time his are fully feathered they are not given heat any more however I donot know what the ambiet temp is when he does this. Sorry.

Can you replace the heat lamb with smaller wattage bulbs as you go along?? I usually just move the lights higher to reduce the temps but the electrical use is not decreased that way.

Recently I read of others suggesting changing the watt size, especially if brooded inside rather than a cold barn.

I bought a back up lamp with a reptile bulb at 150 watts. Just as a precaution.

 

[aoxa]

Just for experiment purposes and in case anyone else is wondering.....my question is.........why is hot water necessary to dip them in? What happens if they are not dipped in hot water?

The skin will tear, and plucking is terribly hard. The feathers will get everywhere as well. When they are wet they clump and fall where you want them to. When dry they will fly in your face, in every direction and is just hard to control.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/249728/dry-plucking

 

[kuntrygirl]

I don't know enough about the cornish crosses to give you an age when to remove the heat lamps  THey are hot little things though and the temps can be reduced quickly. How quickly depends . . of course lol.   I know a heritage breeder that dropsthe temps down quickly after the first week so that by the time his are fully feathered they are not given heat any more however I donot know what the ambiet temp is when he does this. Sorry. 

Can you replace the heat lamb with smaller wattage bulbs as you go along?? I usually just move the lights higher to reduce the temps but the electrical use is not decreased that way. :/  Recently I read of others suggesting changing the watt size, especially if brooded inside rather than a cold barn. 

Ok. I'll try to drop the temps and replace the bulbs.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Four weeks at the temps you are getting for sure. I would have them off heat during the day at 3 weeks and just at night. Mine were completely off heat during the day at 2 weeks. They were outside free ranging, but it was quite warm for the first batch.. Nights were in the 40's and 50's. They were completely off heat lamps (both day and night) at 3 weeks. My second batch, which was late August, they were completely off heat at 3 1/2 weeks. Both day and night. We had chilly days AND nights. You know how regular chicks you would decrease heat by 5 degrees a week? I'd double it for meaties. Starting at 90 at a few days, 80 at a week, and 70 at 2 weeks. At 4 mine were all feathered out. \ this is 4 weeks I wrote about my experience with them week by week here: http://www.lesfarms.com/2/post/2013/10/raising-cx-the-right-way.html

Excellent video. I love your website!

 

[foreverlearning]

The skin will tear, and plucking is terribly hard. The feathers will get everywhere as well. When they are wet they clump and fall where you want them to. When dry they will fly in your face, in every direction and is just hard to control.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/249728/dry-plucking

X2, plus you will need pliers to get some of the feathers out. When you dunk them most of the feathers slide out without pulling. For the body I just wipe a gloved hand across the feathers and they for the most part slide off. Legs, wings, and neck require more effort.