Brand new to chicken slaughter NEED ADVICE

[mhoward92]

So I have been raising chickens for a couple yrs now (layers) and I'm planning on getting 25 meat birds (cornishX) for some meat. I deffinately don't have a problem killing animals (not saying i like doing it, but I hunt and trap so I do it all the time) But my question comes in is really what kind of setup do you all have? for slaughtering them and cleaning them. Got any pictures to share?

I was thinking about making some cones on a stand for them to bleed and not squirm around too much. But I have no clue how i plan on plucking their feathers.... I don't want to invest in a feather plucker just yet and I really dont know a good way other then by hand.

after i boil them down and soften the skin can you use like a metal rust removal brush to take feathers off? or how do yall reccomend it other then by hand and a feather plucker?

Lemme know what ya think and if you can post some pictures please do they will help!

--Mitch

 

[jackiedon]

There are some very knowledgeable people on here. If you will go back on the previous pages you will see some great pictures and advice.

My meat birds cornish X are 5 weeks old.

Good luck,

jackie

 

[unionwirewoman]

I've used the cones on turkeys before..works like a charm ! We usually just chop their heads off on a stump , one person chops ....the other holds one wing and leg in each hand .

As far as plucking....DO NOT use a wire brush...it'll just rub the skin off .
After dunking them for no more than 10 seconds..wrap them in newspaper to keep them warm until you're ready to pluck . Then just hand pluck all the feathers....after that singe the hairs off and gut them .

The gutting is the hardest part to me ...it's hard to fit your hand in there and you can't see anything . To gut cut a hole around their vent and a little upwards...you'll end up cutting the "tail"off at this point . The rest is easy if you've cut any other meat up . Sorry no pics and good luck !

 

[jvls1942]

don't use that wire brush.. after scalding, the feathers come off easily by hand.. take off the tail feathers and the wing flight feathers first.. then start at the tail end and work your way to the neck along the back. then do the belly and sides and around the wings and you are done plucking..
just grab a few feathers in your fingers and rub the feathers in the "wrong" direction..

If you are going to cut up the chickens for frying anyhow, cut them in half before gutting. careful, do not cut into the guts.
open the chicken up and remove the guts.. See?? easy.....

 

[unionwirewoman]

Quote:
I'm curious ...how do you cut through the breast bone , and not punture anything ?

 

[Poler]

When plucking, the feathers come off pretty easily after scalding, what I've found is helpful though, is taking a brush, the one with a handle, with plastic bristles, and rubbing down the chicken while rinsing, will take off any remaining pin feathers and clean the chicken very well.

 

[unionwirewoman]

Quote:
Good idea ! I'll have to try that one next time .

 

[mhoward92]

awesome posts everyone! ill take all of it into consideration. Keep posting!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I don't chop their heads off. I use a cone to hold them and then slit their throats. Let them bleed out and then I debrain them.
From Storey's guide to raising chickens,
"Debraining helps loosen feathers for hand picking. After cutting the vein for bleeding, insert your knife into the mouth, its sharp edge toward the groove at the roof. Push the knife toward the back of the skull and give it a one-quarter twist. The trick is to avoid sticking the front of the brain, which causes feathers to tighten instead of loosen. You can tell your knife hits home when reflex causes the bird to shudder and utter a characteristic squawk."
Then pluck. Birds pluck best warm and I like to do the big wing feathers and the big tail feathers first as I have found they pluck the best right away while the bird is still at it's warmest.

 

[patandchickens]

I've done a grand total of 11 eatin' birds, but fwiw, my setup (which works pretty well for me, 'cept I wouldn't mind a kill method that is less sensitive to operator error):

I shackle their feet together with a length of pre-knotted-and-looped rope, and put an old t-shirt that's been knotted up so it forms sort of a straightjacket (preventing excessive flapping). They seem puzzled but don't really mind. I carry the chicken across the yard to a big stump with a couple nails driven partway into the top at a strategic distance from each other to snugly hold the back of the head steady. Apologize to chicken

, decapitate with hatchet, swing body into waiting bucket to thrash and bleed out.

Then I take it back over to where I do the cleaning. Hang from a convenient treebranch, over a muck-bucket set in a wheelbarrow (to catch feathers so they don't go all over the yard). I have tried scalding but actually thus far I've been happiest with dry-plucking, except that I do have hot-water available to do a dip near the end to get out those pesky big tail and wing feathers. The feathers go more all over the place than if they were wet but they also don't stick to my fingers and stink. Probably if I scalded PROPERLY I would prefer scalding, but without a means to keep water really hot as time goes by, this works ok for me (takes maybe 12-15 min per bird)

Then we happen to have this old defunct flat-tired wheelbarrow sitting there, so I put a sheet of sturdy Plexiglass across its handles like a table and pull up a chair to do the actual gutting and such. The plexiglass works great, b/c it's easy to lift off and sluice down, and it is totally cleanable

Yeah, it's very "amateur night" but it works for me

Pat