Have you considered processing chickens as a full-time job?

[jvls1942]

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I once shot a rooster in the head for butchering.. I hit it in the eye and it cleaned out both eyes so that you could see daylight right through.. He walked around afterwards like he was not even touched.. He even pecked at the ground like he as eating.. I had to shoot it a second time.

make sure you do not shoot straight from the side, like I did.

 

[joebryant]

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Hi, HidingINTheHenouse, no, really, I'm not too finicky or adverse to killing them, I just don't want to. Actually, I used to run them down for my grandmother and ring their necks for her when I was a kid. I appreciate your offer to help though. Like I said if there were a processor nearby, I'd consider raising 25 meat birds, but...

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
I once shot a rooster in the head for butchering.. I hit it in the eye and it cleaned out both eyes so that you could see daylight right through.. He walked around afterwards like he was not even touched.. He even pecked at the ground like he as eating.. I had to shoot it a second time.

make sure you do not shoot straight from the side, like I did.

I have been a hunter my whole life, if you hit any animal in the eye from the side you just cleared out the sinus cavity. The shot must be into the round part of the skull unless shooting from the front. When at the slaughter house as the animals were loaded into the chute to the kill platform a worker marked a X between the eyes on the cow or pig. The shot was placed at the cross of the x from the front. They were then dropped from the platform to the floor hind legs chained and hoisted to cut the throat to bleed.

At the chicken processing plant the chickens are stunned with a electric pulse and then the throats are slit. This is all done by a machine as they hang upside down. One could always cop off the head but you must tie the feet and be prepared for the throws and the head gasping for air for a second. My neighbor rings the neck but they still flop around and sometimes jump out of the scalding water after expired.

Usually with pheasants shot in the head with a .22 they would take one or two steps then drop and flop for a second. But it was not unusual to have them start flopping hours later when dropping into scalding water.

 

[wishful suburbanite]

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Kentucky has one of those through a university extension service that you can rent and just use it yourself.

http://www.extension.org/pages/Kentucky_Mobile_Poultry_Processing_Unit

Capacity per day: 400 birds (assuming 3-4 workers)
Hours/day of operation: 7.5 maximum (over that, user pays overtime)
Weeks/year: It is busy almost year-round: aquaculture from January – March; poultry starts in April; in November, KSU uses it for campus farm turkeys. Some months it’s used Mon-Thurs every week.
Species: poultry (e.g. chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail) and aquaculture (e.g. caviar, paddle fish, prawns)
Services: rented to farmers to slaughter and process these species
Square feet: The trailer is 160 sf. The docking station is 960 sf.
#/type of employees: one part-time: the MPU coordinator, an employee of Kentucky State University
Annual sales revenues: they don’t know exactly, but it breaks even: rental and training fees cover all operating costs except the coordinator, who is paid by KSU.
Price of Services: $75 for first 50 chickens, $0.75 each additional; $75 for first 5 turkeys, $3.50 each additional; (cost includes gas, water, electricity, aprons, booties, cleaning). $50 for training (every user, every two years)
Operational costs: Hard to know, because the MPU uses KSU farm infrastructure (e.g. water).
Inspection: neither; state-approved & operating under exemption

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Since I learned how to process my own meat birds I've not only gained a deep personal sense of accomplishment & satisfaction, but also a great appreciation for the animals who lost their lives to feed me, and gratitude towards all the other people who have processed the meat I've eaten. I rarely waste food in my household, but I'm particularly careful not to waste a shred of the home-grown & processed meat we make. It seems much too precious to let go to waste.

After processing my own birds I can better understand the connection between factory farming and meat sandwiches sold for a dollar at fast food restaurants. They have to be butchering animals quickly and in vast numbers in order to sell the end product for so little. And also must be paying their human workers very little.

I don't know how these commercial processors you all have mentioned can afford to do your birds for such a low price. Especially the legendary one who charges just $.50 a chicken. They'd have to do over 16 birds an hour, spending less than 3 minutes per bird, to make at least minimum wage.