Butchering smell?

[donrae]

This is funny. I just butchered two cockerels today and as I was plucking, I was thinking of all the posts I've seen here about the horrible smell of wet feathers and thinking how I didn't notice a thing

I agree it's highly individual. If you have a sensitive nose and are frequently bothered by odors, it may be intolerable to you. My younger son is a Super Sniffer and he does not like the smell, he puts Vicks under his nose when pressed to help. I feel I have a poorer sense of smell since I had chemo, and honestly don't notice any smell when I scald/pluck.

I did nick the intestine on the second bird, and there was a foul odor from that. It was the lower intestine, so it was pretty much poo. It was not a planned butcher, so I'd not fasted the birds and the digestive tract was full. That was kind of icky, but I've dealt with chicken poo before and it really doesn't cross my eyes much. Just rinse and keep going and pay better attention!

If you're looking for meat birds, I'd suggest haunting CL for free roosters. Find one and butcher it and see how you do. Heck, if you live close to me, I've got two more I'd donate to the cause

. You may just decide to go with layers. Or, you may decide to skin your birds. We did that for years and did just fine.

 

[June2012]

If the birds are generally clean then they won't be covered in filth - so the scalding will not be a gross step in the process. Out in the open air it's not that bad - enclosed? Yeah... It could be ripe. And I'll reiterate I still think knicking the internal organs by accident is ultra-stink-a-Mungus. That being said - your dad sounds like someone who should perhaps NOT be around when processing birds is taking place. .... Or at least until you've done it a few times and you're comfortable doing it and it's a smooth process.

My mother has enough experience butchering chickens that I don't think nicking internal organs would be a problem. And I will send dad away no matter wat on butchering day! XD

 

[June2012]

This is funny. I just butchered two cockerels today and as I was plucking, I was thinking of all the posts I've seen here about the horrible smell of wet feathers and thinking how I didn't notice a thing

I agree it's highly individual. If you have a sensitive nose and are frequently bothered by odors, it may be intolerable to you. My younger son is a Super Sniffer and he does not like the smell, he puts Vicks under his nose when pressed to help. I feel I have a poorer sense of smell since I had chemo, and honestly don't notice any smell when I scald/pluck.

I did nick the intestine on the second bird, and there was a foul odor from that. It was the lower intestine, so it was pretty much poo. It was not a planned butcher, so I'd not fasted the birds and the digestive tract was full. That was kind of icky, but I've dealt with chicken poo before and it really doesn't cross my eyes much. Just rinse and keep going and pay better attention!

If you're looking for meat birds, I'd suggest haunting CL for free roosters. Find one and butcher it and see how you do. Heck, if you live close to me, I've got two more I'd donate to the cause

. You may just decide to go with layers. Or, you may decide to skin your birds. We did that for years and did just fine.

Unfortunately, I don't live next to you! And I'm still on the fence with chickens, but it's just something I read about when the topic of butchering chickens came up. Thank you, though, for your offer!

 

[junebuggena]

Wet chicken feathers kind of smell like wet dog. If that sort of order makes your stomach turn, then processing chickens probably is going to be an awful experience for you. If you don't mind a bit of that wet dog funk, you won't be bothered by the smell much at all.

 

[June2012]

Wet chicken feathers kind of smell like wet dog. If that sort of order makes your stomach turn, then processing chickens probably is going to be an awful experience for you. If you don't mind a bit of that wet dog funk, you won't be bothered by the smell much at all.

Wet dog is tolerable because I have to... Good example, thank you. Does the smell affect neighbors?

 

[junebuggena]

Not likely. I had to be right next to the bird getting processed to notice the smell. It might be worse if you were butchering large quantities.

 

[donrae]

My neighbors never have a clue I'm butchering.

 

[Hiltonizer]

The first time we did it, we ran out of space and the broiler pen was of flawed design, so the birds ended up wallowing in more turds than desired. The scalding smell from that incident could gag a maggot. I couldn't even eat the chicken and it was 3 years since we tried it again...

We now have a better system and more space, the birds are moved at least once a day to fresh grass... 2-3 times a day leading up to processing because we want them clean for wrangling... and the smell isn't bad at all now. You don't even notice it after the 2nd or 3rd bird.

It's actually an appetizing smell to me at this point, because I know one of those delicious ******** is going to come out of my smoker a few days later juicy yet perfectly textured.

Definitely remove from feed 24 hours or so before processing, you don't want a poop rocket flying out of the kill cone during death throws, or making a mess while they wait in queue.

 

[June2012]

The first time we did it, we ran out of space and the broiler pen was of flawed design, so the birds ended up wallowing in more turds than desired. The scalding smell from that incident could gag a maggot. I couldn't even eat the chicken and it was 3 years since we tried it again...

We now have a better system and more space, the birds are moved at least once a day to fresh grass... 2-3 times a day leading up to processing because we want them clean for wrangling... and the smell isn't bad at all now. You don't even notice it after the 2nd or 3rd bird.

It's actually an appetizing smell to me at this point, because I know one of those delicious ******** is going to come out of my smoker a few days later juicy yet perfectly textured.

Definitely remove from feed 24 hours or so before processing, you don't want a poop rocket flying out of the kill cone during death throws, or making a mess while they wait in queue.

Thank you so much for this answer. Gotta keep the chickens clean!!

 

[pennyJo1960]

understand that we had to do 200 didn't eat chicken for like 5 years