Butchering question

[Coop Deville]

I'm new to raising broilers. I thought it would be a good experience to raise some birds for the table this Christmas.

I wouldn't have a problem butchering my birds myself (I'm a hunter with field dressing experience), but I've heard that a skilled butcher is better able to drain the blood, etc.

How do I go about finding a butcher for hire? Just call around? Anyone know someone in South Texas who would do this?

 

[fer-gar96]

what part of south Texas ?

 

[Coop Deville]

San Antonio

 

[fer-gar96]

aww

I'm from Mcallen ..... i had a couple of friends who did just that but they are more local, but if you check yellow pages then maybe you could find someone.

 

[Coop Deville]

Thanks. I'll just have to get on the horn and see what's out there.

 

[Buster52]

I'm new to raising broilers. I thought it would be a good experience to raise some birds for the table this Christmas.

I wouldn't have a problem butchering my birds myself (I'm a hunter with field dressing experience), but I've heard that a skilled butcher is better able to drain the blood, etc.

I don't think so. Even a beginner can do it well. It is just about where you cut and how long you let it bleed out. I cut the soft part of the flesh just below the bone under the ear hole on both sides of the neck. Cut with a sharp knife nice and deep, but come up short of cutting either the wind pipe or the spine. If it is done right, the blood should gush and not trickle. The bird will pass out in just a few seconds, continuing to pump blood.

 

[brownfoxfarm]

Buster is right. You can absolutely do it - especially with experience dressing out your game. Just once you're done give the meat a good soak overnight in some salted water & that will take care of any bit of blood left behind.

You could do one or two as a practice run, cook 'em up and see what you think. I'll bet you'll do just fine without hiring anyone.

Joyce

 

[Coop Deville]

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a try. I can always buy more birds and try again in a few weeks if it doesn't go well!

 

[ChickyBangBang]

I'm so confused...I thought people killed them by breaking their necks first so they don't suffer by cutting them? From what I'm reading it sounds like you cut them while they're still alive, "they pass out". If so...

I'm brand new here and we have no chicks or chickens (but are very excited to start this endeavor). We're doing it because of the economy and the cost of groceries rising (not really because we like chickens as pets, we don't know the first thing about them). We need eggs and meat and are tired of paying out the wazoo for both.

I have a lot of forum searching to do but I saw this and freaked out so I figured I'd post. Do you really slice open the bird while it's still alive? I guess I'm going to have to learn how to do this if we want to eat chicken and not support the grocery store...the thought of butchering a chicken or anything else for that matter - makes me queasy. But - if my ancestors did it I guess I can, too. *gulp*

 

[Elke Beck]

ChickyBangBang, if you are planning to try to save money by raising your own meat and eggs, then I suggest doing a lot of research first. I can tell you that the eggs I get are expensive compared to most places, and very expensive compared to the 99 cent store. Meat is usually even more expensive to raise. Most of us cannot raise the feed ourselves, and we cannot get the discounts that the factory farms get because they buy in bulk and have negotiating power. You have a choice between feeding a high protein (read: expensive) feed to get fast growth so you are feeding the chickens as short a time as possible, or feeding a lower protein diet which means slower growth and feeding the birds for a longer period. Either way, they usually consume about the same amount of feed per pound of weight.

So far as I can see, for most of us the benefits to raising our own eggs and meat are 1 knowing what goes into the product, 2 knowing that the animals are handled humanely, and 3) that it usually tastes better than the factory farm eggs and meat.

Regarding how to kill the birds, many people like to slit the throat because the bird bleeds out more completely that way. When you break the neck or take off the head then the heart stops beating sooner than bleeding the bird out. It is a matter of choice -- a lot of people use pruning loppers to snip the head off.