Entering in the little leagues

[Mortimer]

Well, we did 10 meat birds last year (Cornish X from Tractor Supply) and they were SOOO delicious we decided to do some more this year.

We were kinda hoping we could sell a few to family & friends as well, maybe make a few $$ to buy a few pieces of equipment and maybe cover the cost of the birds we keep for ourselves.

The number turned out a lot larger than we thought. Between family & friends, plus the fifteen we wanted for ourselves, 80 birds total.

May 28th is the 8-week mark, and I have a few questions and would love any advice you experts can give me! The wife and I did a "test run" and processed the 10 biggest birds Sunday night, took us about 4 hours to do 10 birds and turned out 5 to 5.5lb bagged carcasses. We are hand-plucking by the way, no room in the budget this year for an automatic plucker. We'll have several more hands helping out on the big day so hopefully it will go faster.

A few beginner questions:

How long in the chill tank usually before you bag them up & put in the fridge/freezer?

I've already learned that a VERY sharp knife makes the job a whole lot easier, what do you all use at the gutting table to keep your knife sharp?

What do you usually sell your birds for? I have no idea . . . I was kinda figuring around $8-$10 per bird but was expecting them to be smaller dressed out.

 

[booker81]

I've only done up to 15 in one day, so I usually do batches of 4 or so, and do the whole process at once for those four, to a final wash then bagging and into the fridge. I don't use a chill tank, just a good rinse in cold water.

For an always sharp knife, I use a scalpel with disposable blades. When I did the dozen meat birds a few weeks ago, I think I used a total of 4 or 5 blades, but that included everything from killing to cutting. I didn't use any other knife.

Good luck!

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
We usually wait about an hour and a half after the last one goes into the chill tank before we start cutting, weighing, and bagging. This gives them plenty of time in the ice cold water to get down to 38 degrees.

I've already learned that a VERY sharp knife makes the job a whole lot easier, what do you all use at the gutting table to keep your knife sharp?

Get yourself a good sharpening steel. If you have a knife with a good edge, a steel will dress it up quickly.

What do you usually sell your birds for? I have no idea . . . I was kinda figuring around $8-$10 per bird but was expecting them to be smaller dressed out.

We sell ours by the pound ($2.25). At that price, it will put you in the $8-$10/bird range.​