A hard decision- but it had to be made...

[Cosmopolis Chick]

Quote:
Good morning, it sounds to me like you may continue to have chicks in the future whether from hatching or buying chicks. Is that right? I suggest now is the time to learn to butcher your own.

Talk to someone locally who will agree to show you the ropes. Take two roos and watch how it's done. Read up also on BYC.

When I was raising my kids (many moons ago) I butchered my own chickens. All I had was a small sharp hatchet, a stump, and a small almond tree with a piece of baling wire to hang them by the feet once they lost their head. I buried the guts deeply under the tree. I carried the carcass into the kitchen where I had a canning kettle with simmering water and a big wooden cutting board and my favorite knife. It isn't all that messy nor does it take long.

I hope this helps a little. You can do it!

Thank you Cosmopolis. I guess I am the point of saying that it always sounds easy but one must do it "herself" to understand that it really is. I have a friend that might be able to help me. Just very afraid to do it without any help.

Just to be totally fair: I was raised with parents who kept chickens + rabbits and watched my Dad do the butchering. I never was asked to help but I observed and it sunk in. When my kids came along I felt confident to do butchering too. You know what stopped me cold though? Birthing. I had had no classes or other prep. I had an uneventful first pregnancy but about 45 minutes into hard labor I yelled "I'M NOT DOING THIS!" and tried to get up and leave. I even said a bad word. It's just that I didn't know what was happening and what would happen next. I was OK the next pregnancy. You will be fine once you see the whole process.

[[and just in case it's not clear... plucking involves grabbing a WHOLE HANDFUL of feathers, not individually. But maybe you knew this. Oh, and you pull them toward the head, I mean neck (there being no head) not toward the feet.]]

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
Thank you Cosmopolis. I guess I am the point of saying that it always sounds easy but one must do it "herself" to understand that it really is. I have a friend that might be able to help me. Just very afraid to do it without any help.

Just to be totally fair: I was raised with parents who kept chickens + rabbits and watched my Dad do the butchering. I never was asked to help but I observed and it sunk in. When my kids came along I felt confident to do butchering too. You know what stopped me cold though? Birthing. I had had no classes or other prep. I had an uneventful first pregnancy but about 45 minutes into hard labor I yelled "I'M NOT DOING THIS!" and tried to get up and leave. I even said a bad word. It's just that I didn't know what was happening and what would happen next. I was OK the next pregnancy. You will be fine once you see the whole process.

[[and just in case it's not clear... plucking involves grabbing a WHOLE HANDFUL of feathers, not individually. But maybe you knew this. Oh, and you pull them toward the head, I mean neck (there being no head) not toward the feet.]]

You make me laugh

I am fine with birthing, especially with the horses and chicks. I have assisted several births and I am ok with the smell and placenta stuff. I will have to really figure out where I want to do all this. It seems really easy if you are set up for it but we are so not. For now, I don't even have an accessible tree to hang them on to. I am thinking the gate of the horse trailer may work. I don't know if I want to chop or bleed. Both seem to have their pros and cons. How long does plucking usually take? Considering it would probably take me forever I don't want to spoil the meat in the meantime. I have a cooler to chill the carcass in. I don't have a big pot, will have to look for one at the store. Maybe a big 5 gallon bucket filled with hot water would do?

 

[ailurophile23]

Maybe this is a good excuse to get that really good, sharp kitchen knife you haven't found time to get yet. And the only way you will gain the ability to do this is if you actually do it. My husband recently dispatched our aggressive rooster - by himself, with a homemade killing cone (bucket with a hole in it - though the bleach jug or milk jug sounds better) - and then skinned, gutted, and processed the bird all within 45 minutes or less. There were very few feathers left flying around the yard and he caught the guts and skin in a bucket and them buried them. He had never done this before and by the time I returned home, there was meat in the fridge waiting to be cooked.

It's never an easy decision but I truly think that the deciding was the hardest part. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
Thank you for your kind words. I keep telling myself that my baldheaded chicken hawk (that’s her name) is a great motivator. I need to make a list of all the things I need and where to set them up. Hopefully I don’t do anything wrong. Hubby is a better aim with the axe, I might have him do the killing and I do the rest or reverse.

 

[BoomChickaRocka]

its not something you should be concerned about, watch a couple videos and suck it up.

 

[Dogfish]

Bucket would work well. Get your biggest pot, boil some water, maybe two pots. Get it boiling. Dump into bucket, add warm tap water until you get to 150 degrees. You need to be at least 145 degrees, no more than 155 degrees. Go slow on getting water to temp.

As far as spoiling while you do it, don't worry about that. From the time you scald to finish the pluck it might be 30 minutes if you are slow. Gutting should take you, or your husband 5 minutes at most. I think it takes me about 90 seconds to dress a bird, including removing feet, neck, and guts.

4 hours is your timeline from death to 40 degrees. Make sure to chill the bird in an ice bath. (bucket, water, bag of ice)

 

[BooBear]

Backyard Poultry November 2010 issue has an article with pictures for each step in processing. I recommend this article as it was very helpful to me on my first process. You can probably pull it up on their website.

I have a mobile setup for outdoors as I do everything outside.

Basically, you need a work table with sink, water source, bucket to drain sink to, bucket to put plucked feathers and other unwanted parts, big scalding pot with heat source (pot must allow dunking of complete bird), very sharp knife.

 

[KenK]

Quote:
My mobile setup is the tail gate of my truck with a cutting board on it, a plastic bucket and a garden hose. I don't think you need a fancy dedicated setup to just do a bird now and then.

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
My mobile setup is the tail gate of my truck with a cutting board on it, a plastic bucket and a garden hose. I don't think you need a fancy dedicated setup to just do a bird now and then.

Hahaa! Now we're talking. I was choking when I heard about the sink and all. We do have 2 trucks with tail gates and buckets. I think I will have to practice getting the water at the right temperature, don't feel like messing with it the first time I butcher. Hopefully I can figure it out.

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
Thank you Dogfish! So I have 4 hours from death to chill the bird to 40 degrees? I was planning on rinsing off when I am done, then putting it in a beer cooler with ice water, let it rest, then package it, put it in fridge and then freeze it. Does that sound about right?