First Time processing question - Cornish X

[Fowl_Odor002]

I have five cornish cross scheduled for freezer camp next weekend before Turkey day.
About 8 days from now

I wonder if any of the experianced folk have a special "process" or "ritual" that you carry out before doing the deed.
A little rain dance or something.

Something to numb you to the fact that you are basically murdering these poor little creatures that have done you no harm
and you could probably get away with eating something else because you are not really that hungry
and you are basically just killing them off for the simple fact that it is going to be thursday




anyone? .....

 

[sheaviance1]

For me, just knowing that they are doomed to die an early, ugly death due to their genetics is enough of an anesthetic for my feelings. I hate to see an animal suffer, and they would.

Besides, it is a good thing to appreciate the life that eventually sustains you.

 

[Glenmar]

Quote:
Mine were Marans, so I could not say that, but I will say Bourbon and Coke helps.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Mine were Marans, so I could not say that, but I will say Bourbon and Coke helps.

AMEN!

I had a few cocktails in me when I started..It made it alot easier for me..I am NOT saying to do that for yourself-but what I did...mine was a margarita

 

[Glenmar]

Quote:
Mine were Marans, so I could not say that, but I will say Bourbon and Coke helps.

AMEN!

I had a few cocktails in me when I started..It made it alot easier for me..I am NOT saying to do that for yourself-but what I did...mine was a margarita

 

[eggalitarian]

I'm sure you have read and looked up everything to do for the process. I myself felt like one of those surgeons that replays the surgery they are going to do over and over in their head during the previous couple days. We did our first dozen last July, and I had everything so lined up, with everyone at their stations that it happened so fast there didn't seem like there was time to grieve. BUT, with all that said, the pen, that they were in while waiting, was a good 20 feet from the cone. Its just the way it worked best in our backyard. So what I did was went to the pen, and most importantly didn't choose, I just got who was closest and easiest to get. I held the chicken for the amount of time it took for me to say, "thank you for the gift of your life". That was it. I then got my fingers around the "ankles" and calmly carried it upside down to the cone. The reason I tell you this, is because it seemed to calm them, and with the chicken calm from the get go, so much of the stress and guilt of the activity seems to pass. You know why you are doing this, you know that you have given them the best life possible, you know that if you don't do it, it is a waste of food. Food that is very necessary and important for your family. I truly believe that some, if not most animals, and especially those we use for food, know their place in the cycle of life.
With all that said, I could not, for almost three weeks, get the smell out of my nose hairs... haha But when we had that chicken... OH MY, I have never tasted such amazing chicken! It was so worth the stinky that the cornish x are... it was so worth the planning of the dispatch... it was so worth the stomach ache of the actual doing... it was a beautiful thing!
You will do fine.

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

First time can be hard to get your head in the right place for what needs to happen.

But, whether the first time or so far down the line that you've lost count, a pause is good for you and, in turn the birds. Myself, that pause before I start is a reflection on why I'm about to kill the animals I've raised to get to that point, and to remind myself of the need to do it with respect, the biggest part of which, in my book anyway, is doing it swiftly and right.

Not to go from warm and fuzzy to stone cold, but get that part done with as much care as you put into raising them, and the rest becomes very practical work. The prospect of scalding and plucking is not all that different (again, pardon me) from stripping wallpaper. Not sure I've got a parallel for the gutting. But the first couple of finished, dressed birds in the cooler will take you to where you need to be, if you aren't there already.

 

[galanie]

I hold them till they're calm and thank them for giving their life for my food, and pet them. I know that sounds like the opposite of what a person might want to do, but it works for me. I feel better afterwards than I do when I just punk them in the cone and slit their throats with none of that mushy stuff.

ETA: And once they're dead, they're just meat. Sort of like what the poster above said, it's just routine work after that point.

 

[peterlund]

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I agree that the ritual should be to get them to the "meat phase" quickly. I am a head chopper myself.. (I know I know) and they are meat pretty quick.
Good luck on processing day.

 

[Tracydr]

You could give them a nice warm, soapy bath ahead of time. They seem to enjoy it. Plus, it makes the scalding smell better. Could be a nice ritual to get into if you're looking for a ritual. I was giving cool water baths nightly for a couple of weeks last summer to my last few Cornish because of the heat to prevent heat stroke and it was surprising how much they enjoyed their "showers".