We have 2 year old birds that we are looking to butcher and process. My SO will be handling this because I'm too squeamish. He is considering using a kill cone but I think the broomstick method would be more humane. Either way he will have to do it all outside as I've told him that they must be "nameless" when they come to me for the freezer.
Anyways we have a few questions:
1. What is your prefered way to dispatch?
2. What are the steps to take afterwards? Do you drain the blood first before plucking?
3. Prefered plucking method?
4. Can they go directly in the freezer after plucking?
5. Being that they are 2 years old, will the meat be too tough? Recommendations for things to use the tough meat in?
6. Do you fast your birds 24 hours beforehand?
This will be our first time harvesting livestock so this is a big task for us. We have memories with these birds so we want to make sure we do this humanely and with a great sense of respect to them. If possible we would like to use all parts of the bird. We do not want to euthanize because it would ruin the meat which we feel would be disrespectful to the life of the animal.
Anyways we have a few questions:
1. What is your prefered way to dispatch?
2. What are the steps to take afterwards? Do you drain the blood first before plucking?
3. Prefered plucking method?
4. Can they go directly in the freezer after plucking?
5. Being that they are 2 years old, will the meat be too tough? Recommendations for things to use the tough meat in?
6. Do you fast your birds 24 hours beforehand?
This will be our first time harvesting livestock so this is a big task for us. We have memories with these birds so we want to make sure we do this humanely and with a great sense of respect to them. If possible we would like to use all parts of the bird. We do not want to euthanize because it would ruin the meat which we feel would be disrespectful to the life of the animal.