Chicken Processor Battle Ground/ Vancouver, Washington

[Country Cluck]

I am looking for someone to process one rooster for me. I am 4 months into chickens and have yet to find anyone who will actually admit to it. I would do it myself, but I have not training and would hate to attempt it and do it wrong, so it's best left up to an expert.

If you know of anyone in this area I would really appreciate it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

and to the wonderful world of chickeneering!

Take a look in the Where am I/Where are you? section of the forums to see if there are any BYCers in your area, ones who process chickens. Or ask around at your local feed store. If you know any hunters they may be able to clean your bird for you. Your phone book may have listings for processors & butchers.

I know you're new to keeping chickens, but maybe some day you'll be motivated to try processing a chicken by yourself. There are some great online tutorials and lots of folks here who would be glad to help answer your questions. For starters, check out http://www.HowToButcherAChicken.com

 

[dancingbear]

It's not as complicated as you might think.
Read the tutorials and give it a try.
There are also excellent videos you can watch, I recommend the Polyface Farm (Joel Salatin) videos on YouTube.
As long as you bleed it well, scald it well (for plucking) keep your work area as clean as you can, rinse it well, then chill it fast (dunk it in a big pot or sink full of ice water), there's not much that can really go wrong.
Just avoid cutting/puncturing the intestines, and avoid breaking the gall bladder. That's the worst 2 things you could do, and they are fairly easy to avoid. Even if you got a spot of poo on the tail or something, you can wipe it off with a paper towel, and then trim that part out. Same with the gall bladder. And if you hold the liver over the discard bucket to trim that off, the most you can lose is the liver.

Beyond that, the worst that would happen is you end up with a funny-looking bird, with maybe oddly cut pieces. So what, it would cook the same, in a crock-pot, which is what you want to do with a 4 month old, or older, roo, anyway. Once the birds cooked, nobody will know what looked like when you were done.

It may be more trouble to find somebody to process one bird, than it would be to learn it yourself.

Good luck to you!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

My brother used to work in a butcher shop, although they only processed animals there, many of them raised thier own animals & slaughtered them at home. If you have a butcher shop nearby, they might be able to give you some tips by showing you how they cut up a bird at the shop. They also will know who the people are who process birds/animals in your community, who raises them and lots more.

 

[lilbirdee]

Hey neighbor,
We've got one rooster that has begun to get nasty with me and we are wanting to butcher him soon. We also have no experience, equipment etc. Maybe we could get together and figure this out together.

 

[Sabrefly]

Did you ever figure it out? We're almost neighbors, and I need to butcher a hen who has lived a long, happy life and injured her leg yesterday. She might as well become soup instead of fertilizer. I've read the tutorials, but I'm a little worried.