Can I do it myself?

[Peep_Show]

You can do it yourself! When taking the birds to the area of dispatch, I always give them the "destiny" talk.... makes me feel better, anyway.

I have found that disposable scalpels are indespensible. It usually takes one per bird, but the throat slitting is quick and nonsaw-y and the scalpel really makes the taking off of the legs and removal of the oil gland on the tail and making openings for removal of organs a breeze. Keep the feet on to the very last as they are great for dunking into hot and cold water.

When cutting the throat, pick a patch that doesn't take you over feathers. After the flapping and bleed-out is over, have a near boiling pot of water and a pot of cold water handy, perhaps out on the lawn. Dunk in the very hot water, swirl, remove and dunk in the cold water. Then out on the lawn is spread some newspapers. Take the head and feathers off there as they wrap up for nice tidy disposal.

The rest I do in the kitchen sink....scrubbed with Comet to sanitize beforehand. Makes it easy for splatter cleanup and any rinsing.

Once the head is off and/or the feathers are off, most all chickens look the same. After one or two birds, harvesting is no big deal... especially once you taste real fresh chicken!

(p.s.: before cooking, wait for rigor mortis to set in and set out. Cooking a stiff bird will equal VERY chewy meat)

 

[tlaquepaque]

Thanks for all the responses! It encourages me to hear that I'm not in over my head. I agree that this is a valuable experience and if you can own it then you shouldn't eat it. Question is... should I include my kids in the process? They are 6 and 3. Don't want to traumatize them.

Thanks for the tip on youtube videos. I'm going to check them out.

Lauren

 

[Me & My Peeps]

Tough call. Only you know them best. I personally think it's good to expose them to the "cycle of life" from a young age and let them know that animals are for our benefit. Let them know that YOU raised them in a better environment then those that end up in the store.

Since the beginning of time, people have been raising chickens for meat and their kids watching them be processed. It's all about education and explaining the reasoning behind it. Their young, they wont need much of an explanation. When they get older, it will just be natural to them.

But there's some people that dont want them to see it. Their reasoning is that they shouldn't be exposed to "killing" and death but, they see FAR worse things on TV. I dont think I have ever heard of a serial killer or bank robber that said " all my problems come from when I was a kid and my father killed a chicken".

 

[Dogfish]

I'd leave the kids out of the kill portion of events. My son, 14, who has killed 4 deer, a bear, and numerous birds did not enjoy the bloodletting.

He was fine with the rest of the project.

 

[rungirl]

Question is... should I include my kids in the process? They are 6 and 3. Don't want to traumatize them.

My 5 year old really wanted to watch until she saw the head come off and she ran screaming to the house. Probably not a good idea for that one.

My 11 year old, was fine and helped, but even she looked away when the axe fell.

So, maybe you'll want to do the kill without them, but ask them if they want to help with the rest of the procedure. It's easy and it's a great lesson in anatomy.​

 

[ourflockof4]

Quote:
I agree with Dogfish, I would leave the kids out of the killing portion of it for now. Start out doing the that by yourself, bring them in after the deed if you want and go from there. After you have done a couple and get comfortable with it yourself then you can bring them in if you see fit.

I did my first two last week. Our kids are 7 & 11 and they both were very insistant on helping but I wouldn't let them. I'm glad I didn't because they didn't quite go as planned. We have 6 more to do in a week or two. If I get everyting to the setup to the point were I feel comfortable then I may let them help with the last couple.

I do agree though that kids do need to know were food comes from, and what goes into what we eat. The first two that I did were bought at the same time as our 4 layers and 2 ducks. We were new to chickens and didn't really know what we were getting. They were housed along with the others and treated the same until they were about 6 weeks old, then we put them with the other 6 meaties that were given to us. The kids, and my wife, named them just like the others and were insistant on not eating them the entire time. Well at least until they were in the frig

Our daughter asked the very next day if I could make her some chicken noodle soup out of "Rock" or "Turtle"

They understand what goes into what we eat a little more now that animals are not just for pets, but also food, and I'm proud of that .

 

[TimG]

Quote:
You are in the best position to know how your kids will react. My advice: explain the process to them in some detail so they know exactly what to expect and then let them decide. Don't ask them to do or see anything they don't want to, but don't pretend it isn't happening, either. Kids tend to have a good ability to understand their own comfort zones.

Tim

 

[tlaquepaque]

Okay, I think I'm going to do it. Here's my plan... While the babe is napping and the boy is at school I'm going to hang them upside down and let my FIL slit their throats. He won't help in any of the other business since he says that there is perfectly good chicken at the store and it's an awful lot of work to do it yourself.

Next, I'll do the scald and plucking. By this time the boy should be getting home from school and the kids can "help" me do the cleaning. I do think it's important to take responsibility for your own food so this will be a good exercise in humility.

Honestly, I'm nervous about the whole thing but I'm just going to go for it and do my best. I think this will be my last time for meat birds though. It's not worth it! I'll just buy them from the farmer down the road who treats his birds well and does all the work for me.

Lauren

 

[lakeontariochicks]

Quote:
Lauren, I was extremely nervous too! I kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong...
Saturday hubby and I butchered our first 2 chickens ever. We are both over 50, so this was tough for us, even though hubby has hunted for years, and I am just really adamant about where our food is coming from.
It really was not that bad. I think the hardest part was probably for hubby doing the actual slitting of the throat. I will say that after that was over, I wanted to take over, I thought he was too slow with the plucking and gutting. After the first one, I took over after he pulled everything out and separated the good from the bad, to make stock and food for our 2 golden retrievers. The plucking was easy, the feathers just pull out so easy. I am still working on how to "pull the socks off the feet" to add to the stock!
As of today I have 7 chickens resting in the fridge with 4 more to do next week. And, we will be going to get more meat chicks this week.
I say try it once, and see what you think, you can always have someone else do it in the future if you decide it's not for you!

 

[dancingbear]

I used to have my DH do "the deed", but now I usually do it, and it turns out, I'm better at it. I get deep cuts faster and they bleed out better, and I cut right under the jaw, very close to the skull, which makes head removal much easier after bleeding out. Also. there's a place under the jaw bare or nearly bare of feathers, that's where you want to cut, so you don't dull the blade sawing through feathers.

The only equipment you really need is a place to hang them up, a big pot to scald them in, a knife, and a cutting board. Plastic bags for packaging, a bowl for bits like livers, gizzards, and hearts. I like to have an empty coffee can lined with a double layer of empty bread bags, to put offal in. I put the feathers in my compost, so I toss them in a five gallon bucket when plucking. You can just add them to the offal, you might need a waste basket, or a bucket, instead of a coffee can.

A totally outdoor set-up is nice, but for just 2 birds, I wouldn't go through all that. I usually scald in a pot on the stove, I have a big bowl to put them in to transfer to the sink without dripping all over the kitchen. I plop them into the sink to pluck, then cut off the feet, rinse well. Set the bird aside and do the other one. Then once plucking and rinsing is done, I fill one side of the sink with cold water and ice, and gut one of the birds in the other side. That way I can rinse as needed. When the gutting is done, give it a final rinse, and place in the clean cold-water chill side, gut the other one. Add to the chill side. Let them chill while you dispose of the offal and clean up your mess. The bread bags in the coffee-can make that pretty easy. I lift them out, twist the upper part of the bag and tie, put a couple more bags on if I feel it might leak, and freeze it until garbage day, then I put it in trash with the rest of the garbage. Later, I'll have a specific compost area for poultry/other meat animal offal, but right now, I don't have a place that either my dogs wouldn't dig up, or where it wouldn't attract predators. I let the scalding water cool and dump it outside, away from the house.

I put the cleaned birds in a pot or tub or whatever I have handy that has a lid, or some other way to cover so they don't dry out. I prop them upright, as if they are sitting, so they'll drain well. Let them age in the fridge for a few days, them bag and freeze them. Or cook 'em up and eat 'em.

I would keep the kids away from the killing part, (even if FIL does it) but only until you have become comfortable with it. It's more likely that things could go wrong when you're first learning, and if there are any problems, you'd probably not want the kids in the middle of it. Once you have some experience, and are comfortable with the mechanics of the whole process, you can ask the kids, and let them decide how much they want to be involved. I'd let them help with the actual processing part though, it's great for kids to know where food comes from.