First time Processing chickens *warning graphic pictures*

[dangerouschicken]

WOW! Plucking machines ROCK. I love that you took so many pictures. It really helps people out there trying it all for the first time.

Congrats on getting involved with the processing. It's not for everyone, but it sure is eye opening, isn't it?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Very nice. Your friend knows his stuff. We do it all by hand.

 

[domromer]

Quote:
I wouldn't say it was a pleasant experience but it was educational. I plan on raising meat birds in the future so I though might as well try it out. The entire process was easier than I thought it would be. I think the hardest part was removing the lungs. It helps that I wasn't killing my own chickens that all have names. I know in the future not to name my broilers!

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Wow great pics...I wish he lived by me to do the deed...

 

[Half-a-dozen]

BTW.... What is that piece of twine looking thing going across the killin cone in the second pic????
And if it is a piece of string, what is it doing?

 

[conny63malies]

is that a oiginal homemade whizbang plucker?

 

[Run-A-Muck Ranch]

Quote:
I might be wrong here, but it looks like the twine is holding the buckets up to catch the blood....Just a guess....

 

[domromer]

Yeah the twine holds the buckets which collect the blood. The blood is then added to the garden the gizzards and edible innards are sold to crab fisherman or for eating and the guts go into the compost pile. No waste at all.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I'm so glad you posted the pics! That looks much like my set-up here (except we have trees and no plucker).
So strange, my Mom called yesterday while I was finishing up cleaning the just-dressed ducks (she was shelling fresh peas from her garden).
When I told her what I was doing, she got all 'eww, how can you do that to something you hatched and raised, etc.'
I tried to explain that it is the same as the peas you are shelling. The birds were bred and raised for a purpose and they are fulfilling that purpose (I do this once a month and I usually don't mention it unless she specifically asks).

I've never used a plucker, does it bruise the birds?

Lisa

 

[domromer]

The meat looks fine. The fingers are made of soft rubber.