I hatched a bunch of barnyard mixes and ended up with way too many roosters. Their hormones are raging and they are wreaking havoc on my poor hens. We decided today was the day. I had purchased a killing cone and we nailed it to a fence post. This is our very first time, so it's taking us about 45 minutes per bird. While one bird is bleeding out, we're scalding and plucking the next bird. Thank you to everyone on this forum who posted tips on processing chickens!
Good news: Chicken for dinner tonight! Better news: It gets easier from here on out. Congratulations.
These roosters have huge cajones! We're giving all the organ meat to the dogs since we don't eat it, but do y'all also give the testes to the dogs?? Should I boil 'em? I guess in some parts they're called Mountain Oysters?
You're right---they do have huge cajones! Feed them to your dog raw, they'll love them!! Every time I look at this picture I think of the Sesame Street song...."One of these things is not like the other....." haha.
Congrats! Getting a proper scald is most of the battle for sure. It makes plucking much easier even if you have to do it by hand. I would say a good plucker, even a small drill mounted one, is a very worthwhile investment though unless you have a LOT of time to stand around picking pin feathers from a warm carcass... Now make sure you properly chill and rest them before freezing or eating and you should have many excellent meals! Then go place your order for broilers.
Yep! We're thinking about getting some broilers! We really wanted to practice with our barnyard mixes to see if this was even something we could do. Piece of cake! The plucking is not as much work as I had thought. The feathers come out real easy in huge clumbs. We were wearing rubber gloves; maybe that made it easier to pull. I guess it took us 10-15 min to get all the feathers out. Of course, a good plucker would take, what, 10-15 seconds? We set up a "table" outside and did the processing there. I was originally concerned about the huge mess/pile of feathers on the grass. But I was able to rake them up pretty easily. The videos and step-by-step tutorials that you guys post were a TREMENDOUS help!
