Butcher

[Cowgrl4life]

I'm interested in raising some meat birds, but let's face it, I won't butcher them myself. Is there such a thing as a butcher I could take them to and have it all done for me? Does anyone know of any places in or around Kansas City Missouri that may do this? I'd prefer the chicken to be 'processed' farther than just a whole chicken as well, if they do this.

 

[Nupe]

You could try the same places that process deer and wild turkey but in some places game processors are not allowed to process livestock. If you pay to have this done, you're going to pay a whole lot. I think your best bet is to find a friend who would be willing to help you for a share of the chicken.

 

[Cowgrl4life]

I don't know that I know anyone who would be willing to do it either. I think my only hope would be some sort of butcher

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A butcher won't do it.
Growing up we butchered our own but when I started raising them as an adult I thought it would be daunting to process 25 or 50 birds myself so looked into getting it done somewhere.
I'm on the opposite side of the state from you.
Turns out it needed to be done at a USDA approved processor. As luck would have it, most won't do chickens. The closest place was about 70 miles away in Illinois. Adding the cost of raising meat birds on a small scale and taking a couple trips to get them there and picking them up. That was a big deal breaker. I decided the only thing I could do was process them myself. It isn't that hard, just a little unpleasant.
There's a lot of you tube videos on the topic.
The only other idea I have for you is to find someone at an Amish community and work out a deal with them.

 

[Ifish]

We have several butcher shops very close to us that we send our steers to. They also do chickens, hogs, etc., and as far as I know, any place that slaughters animals for human consumption is USDA inspected and certified. So if you have a local butcher that sells meats and also slaughters/butchers, then they will most likely take care of your chickens.

Get out a phone book and start making some calls. It's will certainly be costly to the bottom line of raising your own birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Try calling your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government if you even have a phone book or else find them online. They might know someone in the area that can help you. You could maybe call the county health department and see if anyone is licensed to do that. Anyone you find through these are mostly going to be people that can legally do it.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Start here..

http://m.yp.com/kansas-city-mo/slaughter-house

Even if they can't help you they will know someone who can

 

[microchick]

You might have to do some driving but I would suggest that you find an Amish community near you, especially one with a general store or other such Amish operated business and ask if there is anyone in their community who would be willing to butcher your birds for you. I am in northeaster MO and there are Amish all around us. I know there is at least one Amish butcher who processes just about everything. I also know a lady in IL who raises her own meat birds and takes them to a near by Amish farmer who butchers and dresses them out for her at 2$ a head. She told me that she could eat her girls for dinner but she just couldn't bring herself to killing them.

Just remember, every animal you eat must die in order for you to live. Many years ago I was passing medicine to a group of elderly gentlemen who were sitting together watching a small herd of deer eating corn that had been put our for them in the yard. I asked them if they were picking out the one they would shoot if they were hunting and they all laughed and pointed out their choice. One of my aids overheard the conversation and exclaimed 'You would shoot one of our deer?' I asked her what she had eaten for dinner last night and she said 'hamburgers'. To which I responded, "do you think that cow threw itself on a dagger so you could enjoy it for dinner?' It put a different light on the subject and made her stop and think.

It might be hard for you, but butchering chickens is not that difficult. I remember helping my mother butcher when I was a little girl of 8. Did I like it? No, but I realized at an early age where that fried chicken came from. If you could possibly learn to do it yourself you would be saving a lot of money and instructions on everything from dispatching your birds humanely to final dressing is available.

 

[JJSS89]

There are some people who will kill, pluck (or skin), gut, ice and bag on site.

Not my thing but a good option for some. Ask around feed stores etc. in your area.

 

[circlecsranch]

We take ours to a local place that you can buy lots of different animals and have them processed out or you can bring your own in. Chickens are $2 a head, after processing out some evil mean birds we had, I'm planning on taking all our broilers (25) and 6 turkeys to Hays Farms to have them processed out. So much easier and faster. I may one day invest in the equipment (like a defeather machine) to do it all myself. Call around your area to see if anyone does processing and how much.