butcher questions

[jdtan0]

If you want to do it in the evening just pull the feeder for the day before hand.

 

[trudyg]

I free range them, so that would be difficult. I'll just plan on doing it on a weekend and find a way to keep the selected ones from the feed.

 

[TomGallopavo]

We don't find that our dual purpose free range birds are worth all the hassle of plucking...until I get my plucker made that is, but even then..... Anyway we processed 4 roos this weekend. We catch them by the feeder. Since they free range they will all come running if we put feed in the feeder. We treat them very similar to wild turkey that we hunt. Remove head with ax by placing head between two nails on a stump. Let bleed out. Lay them on the back and cut on the breast bone to open up the skin. Pull skin away from the breast. This is very easy when they are warm. Remove the breast meat without skin. Pull skin away from thigh and leg, remove meat. We use these for soup. We also remove the feet to eat . Now we remove the heart, gizzard, and liver. Pull/cut the skin off and remove lungs and entrails from the remaining carcass and use with the heart for stock. Discard feathers/skin/head. Takes less than 10 minutes per bird.

 

[donrae]

You don't absolutely have to fast a bird before butchering. It does make dealing with the crop a bit nicer, but a full crop doesn't mean you can't process the bird just fine. I have pics on this thread....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037276/chicken-math-subtraction-or-my-first-solo-processing

I simply take the contents of the crop and feed it back to the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can do a search on hanging game birds. I don’t do it myself so you can look up the required temperatures as easily as I can. The temperature is the key. It needs to be cool enough that the bacteria in their guts will not grow. It takes a while for them to lose their body heat but it works with game birds. You also want it cool enough that flies are not a problem.

When I hunt squirrel or rabbit I don’t gut them as soon as I shoot them. I wait until I get back home, which is sometimes hours, but the weather is usually pretty cool.

The idea of starving them is not just to have a clean crop but their guts will be pretty clean too. I don’t bother with starving them though. I use a lot of water when I butcher so they get washed off well.

 

[JanetMarie]

I don't starve mine either. That's why we butcher early in the morning. I think starving all day before butcher is inhumane.

 

[trudyg]

I've looked up the temps--anything between 37 and 45 F is okay. I like the thought of just skinning, Tom G. That would probably be the easiest but I have one question. If I piece it out like you suggest, does it get past the rigor so it's not so tough if I let it rest for several days? The first roo that I butchered was done kinda like you said. My scalding water was too hot and I sort of cooked the skin. When it started to tear while I was plucking, I gave up the pluck and started skinning. After it was skinned I went started the gutting but it was hard ( my knife wasn't sharp enough, I hadn't planned on having to butcher before work....) so I just started cutting pieces off. Tough as nails, but I didn't know to let it rest and put it in the crockpot and left for work. This time, I plan to have a good several days of resting in the fridge before cooking. The birds will be at 16 weeks or so, so should be young enough but I think I'm just cooking low and slow and not take a chance on a bad meal (having company and want this to be a good, home-made meal).

 

[donrae]

I rested my last batch about 3 days in the refrigerator. I also brined them and that seemed to make some difference. Other folks notice a lot more tenderness from brining than we did, so I'm not sure if it was my technique or our taste buds

. But for no more effort than it is, I'd recommend brining them for at least a few hours, it will make the birds juicier and more tender.

 

[trudyg]

Donrae, what is the recipe of a good brine? I've heard salt, vinegar and water but I don't know the proportions. 1 c each per gallon of water?

 

[donrae]

I just have to look it up on the interwebz each time, I've not done it enough. I think I use 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water. I don't add sugar as I have a diabetic in the household.

You could PM BBQJOE, he's ad avid brining fan and probably knows off the top of his head a good recipe.