butchering day

[kdjc]

What an experience, my next door neighbor both have laying hens, so we decided to go together and get some meat birds. We got 32 at the end of May one chick died a few days later.Down to 31. all goes well until 3 weeks ago it gets hotter than blazes in SouthWest Iowa. Come home one day and 1 almost dead and 2 other s are dead. We butchered the one and weighted about 3 lbs.So we are down to 27. All is well again for a week and we get home from work and 18 are dead. Got the forcast for this coming week. 105 temps with a heat index 110. So we butchered the other 9. all weighted about 5 lbs. I skinned the last 2 because it was getting hot. We are ordering more to be here at the beginning of September. To try this adventure again. I will skin my half 100% I like the no dipping. no plucking, no gutting just remove the breast and hind quarters and be done.

 

[r devries]

If you are going to skin them do what you want, but I would still gut them saves a lot of meat.

 

[bobbi-j]

We skin, remove the breast, legs (at the thighs, of course) and wings when we butcher our spent laying hens. Then I pressure-can the meat. When we butcher our excess roos, some will be skinned, gutted and canned, some will be picked, guttet and frozen to be roasted whole, some will be cut up as fryers. I've decided to gut all of them this time and will boil the carcasses to make broth.