Dispatching Birds - How do you handle it?

[Ursuline Chick]

I send them to the local processor down the road who will cull and process them for me. He gets to keep half of what I bring.

It's good that you and others can find a way that works for them. We are all different, that doesn't make some better than others. Often preping meat for the table was a man's job. The woman cooked it. If you were a widow with small children you learned to do what you had to do, or like @theoldchick you bartered for jobs you needed done.

 

[Nabiki]

Two years ago, I was in the same situation. I had decided to raise quail for eggs and meat. I tried to find someone who could do the deed for me, but I couldn't.

I studied. I watched videos. I spent three months psyching myself up for the first time. I made sure my shears were sharp. Then I did it. I had to force myself to eat the first two that I killed. Cleaning them was the easy part.

I still don't like killing them, but since I'm an omnivore, that means I eat meat. By doing the deed myself, I feel that I am taking full responsibility for the meat that I eat.

I've come a long ways in two years. I give each bird a "thank you" before I make it as quick and painless as I can for them.

I wrote this article to help people like us.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-process-your-quail-including-gory-pictures.75834/

 

[heatherbeast]

Definitely get hands-on training first. The methods you use will depend on the animal's size. I prefer decapitation with a heavy (1-1/2, 1-3/4 lb) hatchet for full grown chickens. Quail hatchlings are eensy enough that if one needs to be culled, its skull can be popped off with thumb and forefinger. Regardless of the method, you must be swift and comfortable with doing it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm a city girl, now a grandma. DH and I tried our hand at butchering a few roosters the first year we got started in chickens here only to find, even with coaching from his mom, that we were horrible at it. I won't go into detail on parts of it, but even once the birds were dead we had problems. You have to careful not to contaminate the meat during evisceration. There are right ways and wrong ways to remove the feathers. Dispatching and cleaning four birds took us the better part of a day and left us both completely spent, determined never to do it again.

It wasn't so difficult emotionally, we just learned we were really bad at it and too old to want to learn. Fortunately, we found a lovely Mennonite lady near us who does a wonderful job of it and only charges us $2 a head. I usually take her no more than four at a time, as I can't fit more than that in my refrigerator to age for a week before putting them in the freezer.

I feel no shame in doing it this way. I know Mrs. W is fast and efficient, which we certainly are not. I want my birds to have a humane end, and it's certainly worth $2 to provide that for them.

Good luck to you. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

 

[heatherbeast]

I'm a city girl, now a grandma. DH and I tried our hand at butchering a few roosters the first year we got started in chickens here only to find, even with coaching from his mom, that we were horrible at it. I won't go into detail on parts of it, but even once the birds were dead we had problems. You have to careful not to contaminate the meat during evisceration. There are right ways and wrong ways to remove the feathers. Dispatching and cleaning four birds took us the better part of a day and left us both completely spent, determined never to do it again.

It wasn't so difficult emotionally, we just learned we were really bad at it and too old to want to learn. Fortunately, we found a lovely Mennonite lady near us who does a wonderful job of it and only charges us $2 a head. I usually take her no more than four at a time, as I can't fit more than that in my refrigerator to age for a week before putting them in the freezer.

I feel no shame in doing it this way. I know Mrs. W is fast and efficient, which we certainly are not. I want my birds to have a humane end, and it's certainly worth $2 to provide that for them.

Good luck to you. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

Scalding the birds and plucking the feathers is a HUGE PITA! I only ever process 2, maybe 3 birds at a time. I usually skip evisceration by leaving the body cavity intact, slicing off the leg quarters, wings, and carving off the breast meat. I've gotten faster at it, but I agree if you don't have the time or interest, you can usually find someone to teach you.

 

[heatherbeast]

Scalding the birds and plucking the feathers is a HUGE PITA! I only ever process 2, maybe 3 birds at a time. I usually skip evisceration by leaving the body cavity intact, slicing off the leg quarters, wings, and carving off the breast meat. I've gotten faster at it, but I agree if you don't have the time or interest, you can usually find someone to teach you.

BUT this is the process for chickens. Entire body is probably preferred with quail -- I know a few folks that are really handy with an ice cream scoop, no lie. XD

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

I send them to the local processor down the road who will cull and process them for me. He gets to keep half of what I bring.

I think if I ever cull my own birds, that is the way I would go.

 

[Nabiki]

BUT this is the process for chickens. Entire body is probably preferred with quail -- I know a few folks that are really handy with an ice cream scoop, no lie. XD

Quail are quick, especially if you skin. If you read the article above, it shows several ways to clean the bird. The fastest only takes 5-10 minutes. The slowest about 20-30 minutes.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Quail are quick, especially if you skin. If you read the article above, it shows several ways to clean the bird. The fastest only takes 5-10 minutes. The slowest about 20-30 minutes.

I don't think OP has quail, do they?

 

[Nabiki]

I don't think OP has quail, do they?

The post is in the quail forums, so I did assume...