butchering

[backyard man]

Hi,new to this want to get meat birds and want to know how to butcher them.is there any good books or sites to go to.HELP>>>>shelton,ct.thank you

 

[chicks4kids]

frugal has an excellent thread on processing meat birds. You should be able to find it with a quick search...complete with pictures.

 

[Burbs]

Here's frugal's post:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109583

 

[Alphau]

another good book covering other things - Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Butcher...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267318004&sr=8-1

 

[bibliophile birds]

i just processed my first birds ever. (you can read about ithere)

i watched some good videos on YouTube.

Polyface kill cones

Polyface evisceration

Survival Skills chicken butchering

good luck! it's not as bad as you think it's going to be, i promise.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

You could do everything yourselves; the links mentioned above are good.

Or, you could pay someone else to do it; we have an Amish family do ours for a couple bucks per bird.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Bantyhen is right, we can have any chicken done for 3 bucks a bird. Which isnt bad for 25 or so birds for a family's use- you dont end up having to bury/burn all that bloody feathery mess. Which is a major convenience.

But that first link mentioned is excellent. I really like his.

Here's a ton more off google, i've referenced most of them myself for slaughtering chickens.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=how+...q=how+to+slaughter+and+bu&fp=c26c79a56c95bda8

The best route I've ever come up with is just killing and skinning the bird. If you're not roasting it and going to cut it into pieces anyway its SOOOOO much easier- no feathers, no mess, they just slip right out of their skins. this is the link to that--

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/grim79.html

You know the term "well thats been butchered" whenever someone hacks something to messy pieces? Butchering is a MAJOR skill... lol. The first few birds you do will end up looking like hell. Just a little FYI for ya.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Frugal's posts are amazing, he's the kind of guy you wish would write a Back to Basics book. I use our local chicken butcher at 2.00 a bird it's not worth my time to do it myself, but should they ever stop . . . straight to Frugal I will go! If you haven't seen his chicken stock post check it out; I'm going to make mine this year for the first time (following his instructions), can't wait!

 

[tamelroy]

That was helpful! Other for one thing I don't understand. ( And I am not trying to steal your thread backyard man) I was told my someone in our town, that you have to take everything out of the bird right away or it ruins the meat. Now he has slit the throat and let it drain, scald, etc. And at the end he takes the stuff out. So I am guessing this person is wrong and it is ok for a short period of time.

Second, what if you don't have a cone. Is it ok just to cut the head off?

Oh brother I have so many questions! lol

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
i would guess that the person meant you can't leave it while the bird freezes or anything. you either need to skin or scald and pluck the bird before you can gut it, so it's fine... even if it takes an hour or so to get around to it.

the survival skills video i posted above doesn't use a kill cone. you could try it that way (that's what i did) or you can make a cone our of a used bottle.