Butchering- Prep and how to?

[Maeschak]

I’ve heard that aging them in the fridge for a few days before eating is to let the rigor mortis pass.
I’m an Orthodox Jew and I will have to have a shochet (ritual slaughter) slaughter my birds for me. As a side note: when I will have my chickens slaughtered I have to make sure that they don’t see each other getting dispatched as it will cause them pain seeing their brethren getting slaughtered.

Is it difficult to find someone to perform the shochet in your area? Do they come to your house or is there a shochet facility everyone takes their animals to?

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Is it difficult to find someone to perform the shochet in your area? Do they come to your house or is there a shochet facility everyone takes their animals to?

I’m sure there are a handful of shochets in my town. It would be ideal if the shochet could come to my house, I don’t think I’d be able to stomach going to a chicken processing plant . I guess I’d have to set up an area in my garage for the shochet to actually dispatch the birds because I live in a residential area.

 

[Maeschak]

Yes that would be ideal! Id give quite a bit to have someone come to my place to do the deed- better for me but really better for the animals.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

So do you bring your birds to a processing plant to be dispatched? Do they just dispatch the chicken for you and then you take the bodies home and process them or do they process them at the plant for you?

 

[Maeschak]

So do you bring your birds to a processing plant to be dispatched? Do they just dispatch the chicken for you and then you take the bodies home and process them or do they process them at the plant for you?

No, I do all of my chickens at home myself. My larger animals (steer) get transported to the butchers... I can either have the butcher slaughter and butcher the steer at their site or I can have them only slaughter the steer and return the whole carcass to me. (I'm sure chicken processors would also allow you the choice too, as long as the shochet can perform the necessary checks).
But I would love it if I could find a mobile slaughterer. I do eat my beef steer, but I really love them too- so it breaks my heart having to load them onto a trailer and ship them off. I know these cows and know how incredibly scared they are to be pushed and shoved through a chute, onto a trailer, and placed in a strange concrete holding facility only to have a stranger handle them. Anyway, I would much prefer to be able to have all of my animals slaughtered here at home where and while they are happy and content. Not scared out of their minds. I think chickens are a bit more amenable to transport than cows, however.
I guess I'm a hard-core carnivore in practice but vegetarian at heart! Haha. Anyway, I'm glad I can do the chickens myself here where the chickens grew up.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

It seems that animals are very aware of their fate when they are taken to the slaughter. It must be terrifying for them. Part of the reason I want to raise the extra cockerels and culls for my family (when I have one) is because the way that chickens are grown in the factory farms is totally unnatural and inhumane.

 

[Ms Biddy]

It seems that animals are very aware of their fate when they are taken to the slaughter. It must be terrifying for them.

We are very fortunate to be able to have our steers butchered here at home. I love not having to send them away on a truck and it happens so quickly they never know anything is wrong.

 

[Maeschak]

We are very fortunate to be able to have our steers butchered here at home. I love not having to send them away on a truck and it happens so quickly they never know anything is wrong.

I wish that were possible here. I'd give a lot to have a mobile, certified, slaughtering business around here. It seems to be much more common in Europe- They come, do the deed while the animal is staring at a big beautiful bucket of their favorite feed, bleed them out while on the ground then hang them for skinning and evisceration. The carcass goes straight into the cooler on the truck and it's taken back to the place of business to complete hang time.

 

[Ms Biddy]

I wish that were possible here. I'd give a lot to have a mobile, certified, slaughtering business around here. It seems to be much more common in Europe- They come, do the deed while the animal is staring at a big beautiful bucket of their favorite feed, bleed them out while on the ground then hang them for skinning and evisceration. The carcass goes straight into the cooler on the truck and it's taken back to the place of business to complete hang time.

Yes, that's exactly how it works. Our butcher is independent and transports to our choice of meat lockers. He works very hard and never lacks for business.

Apologies for hijacking this thread. Homestead butchering of all types is always interesting to me.

 

[BantyChooks]

Here are a Polish hen and rooster that we culled and butchered. They must have been at least 20 weeks old. I think aging them in the fridge for 3 days makes a difference. They weren't plump like a meat bird but both were tasty. Neither one was tough, though they did have texture.

I prefer to remove feed from the pen the night before. I leave their water. We hang them by their feet and cut their neck without severing the spine. My understanding is that they almost instantly lose consciousness from blood loss but by not severing the spine the heart keeps beating longer which helps with thorough bleed out.

Whether you skin them or pluck dry or with scalding is a matter of preference. We scalded these. I'm interested in trying pithing and dry plucking next time. Good luck!

ETA: that's half of the hen on a platter, not a dinner plate. She was small but not like a cornish game hen, lol.

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Incredible! I never thought of Polish as being that meaty.

as it will cause them pain seeing their brethren getting slaughtered.

My layers came running over to investigate and eat scraps when I butchered last fall.