dead chickens walking **UPDATE (graphic)**

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Just remember whatever you do to kill them will probably be quicker and less painful than what an animal predator would do to kill them.

Just thinking about what I've seen other animals do to each other.....What we do seems to be much less painful to the prey.

 

[bibliophile birds]

so, i did it. well, sort of.

for the life of me i just could not figure out where i was supposed to be cutting. all the videos said "the area below the ear where there are no feathers" so i tried to find that spot and just couldn't figure it out. i also wasn't cutting with enough pressure or deep enough. so, naturally, on the first one, i ripped it's neck open and still managed to miss the artery. then i panicked a little and made my Dad finish that one because i didn't want to make in linger while i figured out what i was doing wrong.

it just looked so easy in the videos. of course, they've probably been at it for years and processed thousands. i just couldn't make a clean cut. it was disheartening. NOT being able to kill them actually turned out to be worse than anything i'd anticipated. i felt defeated because i couldn't do it and bad because my ineptitude made their deaths longer. Of the 4, I managed to severe 1 artery.

my Dad was a total champ though. he's the big tough guy hunter/farmer, and i felt sure that he would be disappointed if i wimped out. i think the fact that i was willing to make the first cut went a long way to impressing him. he didn't complain at all about having to take over and he didn't tease me (one of his favorite pastimes).

after that, my Mom helped me pluck. i was amazed. she really went to town. the three of us stood around ripping feathers out of birds and talking about my great-grandmother. it was great-grandmother who taught my dad how to kill chickens when he was young. after my parents were married she taught my mom to pluck (my mom refused to do the actual killing- still does). and it was my great-grandmother who always took me out to collect eggs- one of the memories that made me want to get my own chickens. that was a good moment.

after that, we brought them inside to gut. disappointment #2: my hands were TOO BIG to fit inside the chickens... i have wide, thick hands and they just would not fit in the chest cavities. so Mom had to step up to the plate and save me again. it was absolute hilarity! chickens make awfully strange squelching and burping noises while you eviscerate, which i didn't anticipate. i cut through 2 oil sacks while trying to cut them out, but hopefully i haven't ruined the meat. there's the small chance that some lungs might still be inside a chicken or two, but what harm can a lung do?

the first one we processed was the BIG mean Orpington cockerel who's been terrorizing the other chickens and myself. he had HUGE testes! HUGE! easily 4x the size of the others. at first i thought "was i completely wrong and just processed a hen? is that an egg?" but no, it was a giant testicle. i guess that explains why he was so aggressive. he was also very very fatty. he was the biggest bird i had, but i didn't expect that kind of fat. i would have been able to gut him if he hadn't been so fatty.

the others were 2 Wyandottes who turned out to be fairly small (haven't weighed them yet) and a Brahma that was decent. he was lean like the Wyandottes, but much larger. he was the only one i managed to get my hand in, and then only after accidentally tearing a leg loose.

so, far from my vision of myself as the mighty huntress, but all-in-all a good experience. mostly i just feel that, even though i couldn't do the deed, i stuck to my guns and didn't run crying from the scene of the crime. my birds have lived good lives and had (mostly) good deaths and will now feed my friends and family. so, i would consider that a success.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Good for you! My first couple of times, I had some slower-than-I-wanted kills. My friend Tom was supportive. He asked, "Well, are they dead, and can you cook and eat them?" I said "yes", he said, "Then you succeeded!"

Don't worry about the oil sacks, (you do mean the oil glands on the tails, right?) It won't hurt a thing. It won't hurt anything even if you forget to take it off, I often have. It has an unpleasant texture, kind off waxy, if you bite into it, but very little taste. Contrary to popular belief, it will not affect the taste, or taint the meat in any way. The lungs are no big deal either. Commercially prepared chickens often have a bit of the lung left behind. Other than the gall bladder and the contents of the intestines, nothing else will really spoil the meat, and those, only what it touches. If you get bile (the green fluid) on a piece, just rinse, and trim off the green bit, it'll be fine. If you get poo on anything, rinse well, (right away) and maybe rinse that one in some water with apple cider vinegar in it. It'll be fine.

Some of them have some huge cajones, it's true. It amazes me, sometimes.

I have trouble finding the spot with no feathers, many of mine are bearded, and there doesn't appear to be a bare spot. I think some slice through the earlobe, I'm not sure. I go just by the jawline, and if there are feathers, I carefully part the feathers with the knife, to get the edge of the blade against bare skin, before I slice. It works pretty well. I just can't saw through feathers.

You're past the hardest part, congratulations! Next time will be easier, before you know it, you'll be a pro!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Congratulations!! My boys are for it by the end of the month.......!! I have been following this thread since you started it!

Hattie

 

[bibliophile birds]

yes, oil glands... that's the word i was looking for. my Mom said the same. she said my great-grandmother never took them off, so she was surprised to see me inexpertly hacking away at them.

it feels good to have done what i could. next time i won't be so nervous about wondering if i can go through with it so that will probably make me more efficient. the dread is gone, replaced with the satisfaction of a truly sustainable goal met.

the support of everyone has been wonderful!

good luck Hattie! you can do it!

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

There's a couple things that might help you. I am very utilitarian when it comes to butchering a chicken. It was lovingly raised to become a tasty, nutritious dinner. My duty is to kill it humanely and do a good job of preparing it for the table. So first, for making the cut, use a fillet or other thin bladed Knife, and it is razor sharp. I use the neck bone as a guide; you can feel where the bone is with the knife point. I push the knife through there, then slice outward. For gutting the bird, once you've cut the skin, hold the tail area with one hand, and reach under the breast bone with three or four fingers of the other, and move your hands apart. You can break the back this way, and create a much bigger gap to reach your hand into.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
It never occurred to me to go in first, then cut outward. I'm going to try that, I always worry about cutting myself the normal way, and sometimes I have. Great idea!

Quote:
Another very good idea, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't quite work on an older bird. They have stronger bones, and stronger connective tissue. On a young bird, that'll probably work fine for a most people, especially if they have good strong hands. I don't, and I'm usually butchering older birds. The older ones probably won't break very easily this way. They really need something to make the gap bigger, as the pelvic bones are fully developed and make it even harder to get your hand in. Sometimes I go ahead and cut up the sides a little, between the breast ribs and the back ribs, to get in more easily.

 

[autumn_mi]

Quote:
I was surprised by that transformation - we butchered our first bird tonight. sad because it was one of our hens rather than a meat bird raised knowing it will be dinner.

we spent a good 45 min cutting her up.....it was like surgery - trying to make sure we cut the right parts and not knowing really what we were doing. They do make it look easier in the videos.

but once the feathers were off it did feel more like i was just making dinner - rather than dealing with the body of our Bas (I will NOT let my 5 year old name any meat birds if we get them)

now we are reconsidering the meat birds we want to raise this spring- but i know it has to get easier after the first one.....right?

 

[TimG]

Quote:
Same here, once the head and feathers were gone, no apprehension.

I will also note that there is a great feeling of relief and satisfaction once the process is done. I helped slaughter two pigs last fall. After they were hung in the barn and we were eating lunch, the owner (who has been doing this for years) said "Sure feels good to have that done." I appreciate that comment more now, I don't think it was just finishing another chore.

 

[CamsCluckinChicks]

Oh my goodness. I don't think I can do this. I know at some point I'm going to have to cull some chickens. It's part of chicken farming. I did the research... According to what I found, the most humane way to kill a chicken is to place your thumb on one side of the chicken's head (where it meets the spine), and place your index and middle finger on the opposite. Pull quickly & firmly, separating the head/breaking the neck. If you hang the chicken upside down (with head attached) for a couple of hours, then remove it's head, all the blood is already in the head region and you can drain the chicken over a bucket (or whatever). It also said to hang on to the chicken with your other hand & arm while breaking the neck...you can hang the chicken after it stops flapping.

So, I've done my research...and showed & told my husband all about it. He says he can do it. LOL!

I'm not sure I will ever be able to eat one of my chickens, though. I name them!!