3 Months

[Salt and Light]

Finished butchering the last of the 50 Freedom Rangers I received on Apr 8. I started butchering the roosters 3 weeks ago, butchered some more the following weekend and finished up with the smallest 15 today.

Almost 12 weeks and 1, 500 lbs of feed later, I have a freezer full of vacuum - packed chickens.

Sometimes I'm not sure they are worth the cost and effort, especially since I do almost all the processing by myself, but it's a nice feeling having meat in the freezer...

 

[becky3086]

I do know what you are saying. I do all mine without help and without any modern pluckers and I heat water over wood that I gather. If I do 4 or 5 in one day, I have done good. I can't imagine doing 15!

 

[Salt and Light]

Really? I did 22 last weekend and that was in about 6 or 7 hours, including vacuum sealing. I would say I can butcher a bird in about 10 minutes, if everything goes according to plan.

I no longer gut birds, so maybe that helps. Although, my son says it takes longer to cut the meat off the carcass compared to gutting.