BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[neopolitancrazy]

...Take two tomorrow...

- Ant Farm

One thing my husband came up with that really expedited scalding was to put the hot water in a styrofoam cooler and cover it between birds. He used the cooler sized for a six-pack, was just big enough to scald one bird at a time, and we didn't have to reheat water in between birds.

Angela

 

[gjensen]

Having a group of killing cones side by side helps. Also sticking them with a knife while they are in it, instead of cutting their heads off with a hatchet. I will chop the head off of a bird when I am killing a random cull. Not when I have any qty. to do.

Skinning them is the way to go, unless you want the skins that bad. It is hard to bring yourself to plucking once you have skinned a few. Plucking is for times when you have extra labor handy. Plucking them does not take me long if I can stay plucking them.

 

[hellbender]

Having a group of killing cones side by side helps. Also sticking them with a knife while they are in it, instead of cutting their heads off with a hatchet. I will chop the head off of a bird when I am killing a random cull. Not when I have any qty. to do.

Skinning them is the way to go, unless you want the skins that bad. It is hard to bring yourself to plucking once you have skinned a few. Plucking is for times when you have extra labor handy. Plucking them does not take me long if I can stay plucking them.

Different strokes. If I'm at your house I can eat skinless chicken and enjoy it but we just don't do that. Not part of our culture I guess.

 

[DesertChic]

Thanks for everyone's congrats and tips! I went to Tractor Supply and got myself some scalpels/blade (under the label "castration kit", interestingly...). Tomorrow will be harder emotionally because I'm more familiar with the NN cockerels (and the NH boys were destined for the freezer since day one), although it is REALLY time - they are starting to go after each other a little bit. I'm not going to move them to the crate tonight, because it's not quite predator proof - they are locked up in the tractor each morning until I let them out, and it's fairly straightforward to get hold of one of them when I'm in there without that much fuss - that's how weights are done, before the day starts and they are let out to range. So I'll just go back there early and bring them one by one to the crate (covered by a tarp) until I let the rest out.

Odd question - I certainly noted that when holding the NHs upside down by the legs, they calmed down, but they were still alert, and I ended up loading them into the cone that way - for some reason, I thought they would get drowsy. If you let them hang upside down for a longer while, do they doze off a bit? (Did I just not wait enough?) Or is that just a tale folks tell?

- Ant Farm

Most of the time mine remain aware as well, but on a few of them I've pulled their heads down a little longer by the comb and for whatever reason they close their eyes and grow very still. When I butchered my Dorking mixes I did this since they were so flighty and was astonished by how quickly they stilled and how quiet they remained. Since then I've also done it with Silkies, one Barred Rock, and a barnyard mix. It's worth a try anyway.

OK, thanks. I read a few places where folks talked about it "putting them to sleep". In my case they pretty much just stopped struggling (mercifully), but still would look up at me fully alert like they were asking "Why am I upside down?"

Culling Cypher, Neo, Mouse (three smallest), and Dozer (body shape and Nn phenotype) tomorrow. (Note to self: AVOID naming cockerels in the future unless you know they're keepers...) Then that should be it for a while. I have a "special needs" New Hampshire pullet that I made a "deal" with when she was only a day old. She seemed blind at hatch (I picked these chicks up on day of hatch at Ideal - no mail), definitely something wrong with her. I gave her water by syringe for just a day to ensure she was hydrated, and then I let her be. I "told" her (ok, told myself) that if she could find the food and water in a crowded brooder with 24 other chicks, I'd let her live and keep feeding her. But my deal with her/myself was that if she ever seemed to need special treatment AT ALL (including being picked by other birds), that was it. No special treatment.

Well, she wasn't blind (she seems to have the chicken version of cerebral palsy - best description I can think of for the way she walks/ balances). She's small, but sticks up for herself and gets plenty to eat. Tough as nails. It's been astonishing. So, while it may not be "practical" to keep her, since she's a girl, I decided to (along with her other NH pullet friend). I tell myself it'll better balance the male/female ratio, since I don't quite have enough girls yet... Depending on their laying abilities, the may be culled later, of course.

Pizza has now arrived, locally brewed adult beverage in hand, and I'm going to catch up on some Doctor Who. Take two tomorrow...

(Again, thanks SO much, everyone! I can't respond to you all without blowing up the thread with excessive posts, but the encouragement and advice REALLY helps! @gjensen - thanks for your advice as well. I'll respond specifically once tomorrow's cull is over - I have some ideas...)

- Ant Farm

Once again I chuckle at our similarities. You and I are both suckers for the underdog that shows strength. I'm going to be brutally honest here....if she's got balance issues like that then she probably has other issues as well that will continue to develop as she grows. When it comes time for her to start laying she could have problems that could prove lethal to her and cause her to suffer before dying. It's a difficult reality to live with...knowing that you could have ended it quickly earlier on rather than allowing her to grow and suffer and die a slower, more painful death.

 

[gjensen]

Different strokes. If I'm at your house I can eat skinless chicken and enjoy it but we just don't do that. Not part of our culture I guess.

I have plucked enough chicken in the last twenty years. Now I skin them like we would any other animal. Where I do make an exception is when we do the big cull, and there is family help. Then there is teamwork, and an assembly line. We can do a lot of birds fast, working as a team. On my own, they are getting skinned.

 

[Kassaundra]

I think in the great plucking vs skinning debate a lot depends on if you raise NN or not. NN have much, much fewer feathers and no hair to singe. By myself I can pluck an NN much quicker then I can skin, especially since the connective tissues in the cockrels (as opposed to cx's) is much, much, much tougher and harder for me to pull off.

 

[hellbender]

I have plucked enough chicken in the last twenty years. Now I skin them like we would any other animal. Where I do make an exception is when we do the big cull, and there is family help. Then there is teamwork, and an assembly line. We can do a lot of birds fast, working as a team. On my own, they are getting skinned.

Understandable. I always have reliable help lined up before I even put the birds into isolation...as an aside...I like to have my 'victims' to fast for a minimum of 18 hours and 24 is even better....for me.

 

[hellbender]

I think in the great plucking vs skinning debate a lot depends on if you raise NN or not. NN have much, much fewer feathers and no hair to singe. By myself I can pluck an NN much quicker then I can skin, especially since the connective tissues in the cockrels (as opposed to cx's) is much, much, much tougher and harder for me to pull off.

That's certainly a valid factor and another one is butchering when there is NO pin feathers to deal with when feasible.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

One thing my husband came up with that really expedited scalding was to put the hot water in a styrofoam cooler and cover it between birds. He used the cooler sized for a six-pack, was just big enough to scald one bird at a time, and we didn't have to reheat water in between birds.

Angela

Thanks! I have a scalder I got on sale from Strombergs (I really didn't want to deal with a hot plate/pot if I didn't have to) - it's essentially just a laundry tub with a heating element in it and a thermostat set for 155F. My issue yesterday was that at first I didn't cover it while heating, and then I covered it with a metal pan (which, duh, radiates heat). I have cardboard over it this AM, and it's heating much faster.

I think in the great plucking vs skinning debate a lot depends on if you raise NN or not. NN have much, much fewer feathers and no hair to singe. By myself I can pluck an NN much quicker then I can skin, especially since the connective tissues in the cockrels (as opposed to cx's) is much, much, much tougher and harder for me to pull off.

You know, I honestly have to say, plucking wasn't that big of a deal to me. I had the bird hanging so that I could do it standing up, and the bird hangs in a large contractor bag from the clamp holding the bag (and the tarp), so I can just strip most of the feathers off in the bag very quickly. Finished the last bit on the table, only rarely had to use the pin knife. Of course, there may be breeds harder to pluck than New Hampshires - I would anticipate the the NNs will be even easier.

Oh, and I like the skin.

Everything is all set up and water heating - just waiting until it gets a little lighter. Having some breakfast and coffee before going to move the boys into the crate. I might take a photo of the set up before it gets all messy. What's so interesting to me is the skills that have unexpectedly helped me with this process: (1) early morning kayak fishing trip preparation, and (2) cheesemaking.

- Ant Farm

 

[Beer can]

I use the side burner on my bbq grill to keep water hot.
I hate plucking but prefer skin on. Do any of you have a chicken plucker? I don't but plan on building one out of a old table saw, kinda like the drill style ones you see on youtube. It has a side motor and belt pulley system. I hoped to have it done before I did up the last ones.
I decided to skin them. Until I got to one of the white giants I was definitely not breeding, she had no tail, small wrong color legs, and poofy leg feathers. I decided she had to be plucked, was really big and meaty, real full breast compared to the red sussex cull cockerels. Wasn't going to heat up water at that point just for one so I dry plucked her. Wasn't that bad, white pin feathers, and used a small propane torch to burn off the 'hair'.
Got thinking afterwards the one really nice big giant pullet with a limp, 'hoppy' , ended up she had a dislocated hip since a chick, was what a giant would be at that age, big bones not much meat they don't make fryers. The tailless one had a smaller body size but a pound more weight even though her bones/legs were much smaller. Looking over sandhills list of breeds they do have one with no tail, rumpless. I think she was a manx rumpies. I did get the giants I ordered plus two, and had two that were not colored right as chicks, kinda wondering if the other one might not be a poor pathetic attempt at a giant but something else, maybe a tailed manx?