CHICKEN & TURKEY PROCESSING in WA STATE!

[Makareina]

I have found an excellent place that does chicken and turkey processing in WA State. They really are few and far between. The place is called The Meat Shop, and it's located in Tacoma, WA. I live more than 2 hours away from there, but we have our beef and pork done there, and they are EXCELLENT (and they make the BEST pork sausage EVER!!).

The Meat Shop
Tacoma
www.meatshopoftacoma.com
(253)537-4490

 

[sfessler]

Interesting. Appears that they offer "processing" but what really does that include and at what cost? Let us know if you go that route. I live just up the road, well within a short drive anyways.

 

[drunkdog]

I called they have a window of between 150 and 350 birds between various customers before they run the equipment but they schedule it in advance with you they say between $3-$5 per bird depending on the size of the production run and how much processing you personally desire...I am looking at and trying to decide on a "meatbird" breed now dang it I just got my BAs and I love them now i have an excuse to buy more fuzzybutts

 

[Bossroo]

Why would anyone pay $3-$5 to process a bird when one can go to Freddy's and get an already roasted or BBQed one for $5 ?

 

[drunkdog]

without being argumentative...its a choice...yes fred meyer, safeway etc will sell you a little bird that most likely led a miserable short life being fed chemicals and crap in a dirty tight environment which is then cooked and sold ready to eat but do you really KNOW whats in that meat? no....now I can feed my own little birds and either process myself or let them and I will know whats in the meat AND I can control how my food is treated every step of the way AND if you break it down on the short side even its not a bad price compared to the fosterfarms etc chicken you buy in the meat section (which is still a healthier option than the little fryer in the deli precooked imo)....chicken where I am is up to 7dollars per pound....if a cornish say nets 3-5 pounds per bird and it costs 3-5 per bird to process and you take 25 birds that only net 3 pounds plus you pay 5 dollars (high end of scale) you can see the cost per pound is roughly 1.70 per pound plus feed costs so even at 3 dollars per pound it is cheaper than the grocery store.....AND you know where your food came from and how it was treated....besides man fuzzybutts are cute as hell and its an excuse to buy more

 

[Bossroo]

Some people may not be aware that it is illegal to feed chemicals to poultry. The crap that the commercial producers feed is a scientifically formulated feed designed by poultry nutrisionists, very similar to the feed that one purchases at the local feed store. I have seen many a small hoby farm operation that is no better and way worse than any commercial barn that is air and temperature controlled with stocking rates that is optimum for weight gain and biosecurity is practiced. (I worked at UCD and a private laboratory with experimental poultry for antibody production and in that capacity I had to go to several commercial operations in Cal., as well as small farm flocks, so I have seen the operation proceedures first hand) I can purchase these (vilified by some ) friers at the local grocery stores at $0.79-$0.99 a pound. That is a far cry from the $3.00 a pound and in this economy many of us may not have the luxury to pay $7.00 per pound ( $21 for a 3 pound bird) and have a chicken dinner even once a month. I happen to raise 25 Cornish X 3 times a year in my horse barn stall due to the MANY predators and it costs me about $1.27 per pound in feed purchased in bulk and I butcher my own. I used to raise the dual purpose chickens for 6 decades, then 3 years ago I got wise and switched to the Cornish X and cut my operating costs by more than half. If I had any sence I would just buy the chicken at the store as it is cheaper, but alas, I enjoy the addiction of raising the darned Cornish X fuzzy butts too much.

 

[uhuh555]

When we were too busy with the farm to process a batch of cornish x we used a processor in a nearby town and discovered that they didn't give us back the same birds we gave. We always had cornish x since 1957 and when processed they look like no other bird. Many of the birds we got back were about 1-2 pounds in weight and probably leghorns. We brought them to task (involved authorities) and closed them down for 3 months over it.

Check them out with your state authorities-how have they faired on their health inspections and complaints with the BBB and other state agencies. If we had done this, we could have saved ourselves time and many hassles.

 

[drunkdog]

good points both....Boss if I understand your post you do it not because of cost or health factors but simply addiction

?

 

[sfessler]

Quote:
They won't, or at least I sure won't. That price is ridiculous regardless of the cost of a supermarket bird.

Why not get the best of both worlds and raise your animals cheaply, healthy, and respectfully, and then butcher them yourself to save even more? My time is worth something and 5$ to butcher a bird that takes, according to this forum, 10 minutes total comes out to 30$ an hour. I will do the work for 30$ an hour "tax free".

Sounds like this is a boutique butcher catering to the wealthy. If they price the service at 2$ per bird then I would consider it. Then there is the risk of not getting your birds back which is pretty common when dealing with large game animals.

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
Yup... having raised chickens for over 6 decades , it has become a habit.

Now, I have an IV mainlined directly from the freezer to blender to plastic bag to my arm.

When we come home fairly late in the afternoon from a long drive from visiting the kids and grandkids over the weekend, we now often stop by a local grocery and pick up a $5 rotisarried chicken for din din to save on inserting another needle into my arms. ( The cops would think that I was a hard core drug addict from the needle track marks on my veins.) Cheaper than pulling one out of the freezer, saving time on unfreezing, plus saving on cooking fuel too.