Buckeye Breed Thread

[buffalogal]

Plucking goes much faster if you "stick" the bird before cutting it's throat to let it bleed out. Once the bird is hanging upside down, open the mouth and use a long, thin bladed knife to 'stick' the bird through the roof of the mouth into the brain,and give a quarter turn twist. The bird will shudder and then relax as it dies and the skin will "let go' of the feathers.Thanks to gravity, the bird will still bleed out, but you don't have the flapping, flopping, blood flinging mess.

 

[cgmccary]

Quote:
Someone correct me if I am wrong but would not the reason be due to the commercial chicken having more fat under the skin?

 

[Pathfinders]

Hey folks, I wanted to let all ABPC members know we have club patches available. You can buy them either on Etsy, or directly through me. See the link here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/111868652/buckeye-club-patch-american-buckeye or send me an email at [email protected].

 

[karenbrat1]

I set up for butchering like both of you, knittychick and cgmccary. My husband built me a Whizbang plucker, left side of photo. I use a turkey fryer pot on that large 3-burner camping propane stove for scalding, with another pot simmering beside it when the first one's water gets too filthy. For me 150 degrees works best... less than that and it doesn't seem to loosen the feathers, higher cooks the skin. For killing cones, I hang highway cones with some of the tip cut off, upside down between 2x2s which run from the deck to a ladder, and have 5-gallon buckets partially filled with water underneath to catch the blood. The ladder is wearing a plastic "apron" to keep some of the blood off it The canopy belongs to a friend who is letting me "store" it for her, and is nice for shade; can also hang a tarp from one or more sides for more shade and wind protection. The chairs and tables are folding ones from Costco. I had helpers coming this day, hence the extra chairs and cans/cooler.

I put two birds in cones and cut throats, when they are done bleeding and the death struggle has ended, I cut two more, while they are bleeding I scald and pluck the first two, and keep going like that. As they are plucked I put them into one of the garbage cans (thoroughly scrubbed and sanitized and never used for trash) with water and ice. After I'm all done killing, I sit down and start gutting, putting the finished birds into a second garbage can with more ice water. I, too, save all the feet, necks, wingtips, hearts, livers and gizzards for later use, so I have bowls and pots of ice water on the table for those, with a trash-bag-lined 5 gallon bucket between my knees for waste. I also have a large pot filled with hot soapy water to rinse off my hands and cutting tools when needed. I use a new blade in a box-cutter razor knife for killing, and a sharp knife and heavy duty kitchen shears for gutting and cutting off neck/legs. I use an HDPE cutting board on the table with a dishcloth underneath to keep it from sliding, and a big stack of clean dishcloths for whatever... about $20 for a pack of 60 el cheapo white terrycloth squares at Costco, they are my cleaning towels for everything

I am not a fast worker, I figure average 15 minutes per bird total time from killing to refrigerating when I am working alone (which is normal). Plus at least an hour to set up, and at least two hours to clean, scrub, sanitize, and put everything away afterward. At this butchering I had three helpers even slower than me, and it took 6 hours to do 51 chickens. I did all the killing and scalding, two did all the gutting, and the last gal was squeamish and just did rinsing and bagging. It would have been better if one more person could have done the scalding, but at least I got most of the cleanup done while the gutting was still going on. The most I've ever done alone is 24 in about the same amount of time. There's a lot of wasted time walking back and forth between stations when doing it alone.

 

[Arielle]

I am impressed!! I am still working up to it. sigh.

 

[ejcimd]

So my Buckeyes are now a year and a half old. I must say these guys are the nicest birds I've ever owned. I kept two roosters and sent the others to Freezer camp last year. My boys are so docile and friendly. Have never chased, pecked or looked at me cross eyed since they were babies.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have roosters (just sometimes) and yet there is no way I'd ever get rid of my boys. They are just so nice and well I can't bear the thought of sending them to freezer camp now that they are all grown up. They've never been sick and they run about in the rain, snow, whatever and nothing fazes them.

I really just wanted to post about how awesome they are!

Irene

 

[cgmccary]

Leaving for Ohio National in a few hours -- hope to see some of you there. There will be an American Buckeye Poultry Club table (annual meeting is at 3:00 p.m. Saturday), and I should be nearby the table. I am taking a few birds for sale if any of you are looking to add to your stock (3 cockerels, 2 pullets) in either trio, or two pairs.

Duane Urch will be judging the Buckeyes.

Chris

 

[tandersphoenix]

Go luck there Chris, I had hoped to come this year but we have been too busy to get away this time. Hope the Buckeyes do good!

 

[Arielle]

Good Luck CHris!!!!!

 

[Tailfeathers]

Plucking goes much faster if you "stick" the bird before cutting it's throat to let it bleed out. Once the bird is hanging upside down, open the mouth and use a long, thin bladed knife to 'stick' the bird through the roof of the mouth into the brain,and give a quarter turn twist. The bird will shudder and then relax as it dies and the skin will "let go' of the feathers.Thanks to gravity, the bird will still bleed out, but you don't have the flapping, flopping, blood flinging mess.

One word of warning here, be very careful sticking the knife thru the roof of mouth into the brain because it is fairly easy to go right thru the skull into your hand!! Seriously.

Also, I read somewhere that done correctly the feathers are relaxed from the skin but if not done just right it actually makes the feathers more difficult to pluck. Personally, I found this method a little too difficult to do. The last time I did it, I thought for sure I had killed the bird only to come back a half hour later and find that, while it bled like a stuck pig, it still wasn't dead.

So now I just hold the bird upside down until it calms down and then in one quick and fluid movement, I lay the head sideways on the ground, place the ball of my foot behind the head, and pull up sharply. Head comes right off and I just hang the bird while I go do the same to the rest.

God Bless,