First butchering experience

[fowltemptress]

 

[lacyloo]

well im gonna have to butcher some ecseess roo's I have so Im still worried about if the meat will be good , or enough on them.

 

[snugglepup]

Well, I'll be honest. I'm megawimpy, but everytime I pass one of those poultry trucks loaded down tons of dirty crowded birds in tiny cages I feel sad. So being a miserable failure at vegetarianism (I love meat!), I wanted to at least be honest about where my food is coming from.

The first time we butchered chickens, I was real nervous at first. And started giggling uncontrollably during the actual... dispatching. It wasn't funny really, its just a stress response I have sometimes. *sigh* I managed to get 3 done that day.

Got through the rest of the cleaning just fine. Packaged everyone up, and cleaned up. No problems. Cooked the first one a couple of days later... and cried with every delicious bite. How's that for pathetic? LOL

The second time went about the same. But the THIRD time and every time there after was muuuuch better. I've only had one more episode of weeping during dinner, and that was the result of having to cull a named rooster. I still feel horrible about that, but he had gotten so aggressive to the point of killing at least 1 pullet (that's not safe sex!). Anyway, that's a whole nother thread. What I mean is, even a pansy like me can do it... so can you!

ps - I always had a hard time feeding live mice to my snakes, too.

 

[fowltemptress]

 

[lurky]

I have a customer who told me that they pay a grump $2 a bird to process them. If i were going to raise meat birds, it seems to me it would be worth it. I have read what a 'dirty job' it is and i thing you would get your $'s worth. Start asking around.

 

[fowltemptress]

 

[Dodgegal79]

i just did a few roos with my DH and I didn't really mind going through the killing, he cleaned them out, that was not pretty, but I had a hard time eating them after. I had some ducks done by a butcher and it wasn;'t as hard to eat them, I think seeing them go through the whole process was the hard part. Good luck with your.

 

[Gonzo the Great]

The first bite is the toughest of all bites...

 

[silkiechicken]

That's great you are trying to get in touch with your food. It's really not that bad to butcher time. First time I did a bird I was... 11? Didn't think much of it then though as it was just what you do with meat birds.

 

[mullers3acers]

We have butchered our chickens for the last five years for ourselves. Recently I started selling eggs to a gentleman who has family in a city about an hour away. They have been buying our eggs as well and want fresh butchered chickens from us as well we are willing to do this but we need to know the regulations and rules. So that we can't be sued if there is any problem. We have never had any problems with ourselves in the way we process our chickens but we don't want to take any chances.