Interrupted processing

[K0k0shka]

I get wanting to use the whole bird, we do as well, but sometimes there just isn't time. Supposedly you can age with the guts in, but not something I would do. I would imagine that it will effect the flavor of the meat, maybe for the better if you are into gamey, otherwise maybe not. It's very difficult to process birds while in rigor mortis.

Looks like it’s gonna be a late night tonight then

 

[Tonyroo]

After you cull them and drain the blood put them in a plastic bag keep most of the air out and tie tight. Then place them in the fridge.

 

[Tonyroo]

Don't worry about the guts it will be intact when your ready to process them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don’t want to talk to them, I don’t want to see them, I want nothing to do with them. They are mean bullies that made my life hell over the chickens’ mere existence a few years ago, and tried to pressure the town to either ban chickens, or restrict them to the point of it being impossible for people to comply and keep them. They are the new folks who moved in to a place where people have peacefully been keeping chickens, are unhappy with what they found and now want to up and change it. So they are looking for any small excuse to raise a stink, and I don’t want to give them the opportunity. That bridge has been burned to the ground (by them) so talking is not an option, like, ever again.

That's fair. I would maybe kill and gut and then do the rest tomorrow at that point. I don't know if there is risk, but I wouldn't want to risk it

 

[K0k0shka]

That's fair. I would maybe kill and gut and then do the rest tomorrow at that point. I don't know if there is risk, but I wouldn't want to risk it

That’s a good point! I can gut first, pluck later. I don’t have to think of it as a linear process. That might be the winning strategy, thank you for the idea! Gutting is fast, I can do that tonight, and then pluck tomorrow. Yay!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That’s a good point! I can gut first, pluck later. I don’t have to think of it as a linear process. That might be the winning strategy, thank you for the idea! Gutting is fast, I can do that tonight, and then pluck tomorrow. Yay!

This is good strategy - the guts are where the greatest dangers microbially arise, so removing that danger first is superior risk management.

 

[K0k0shka]

This is good strategy - the guts are where the greatest dangers microbially arise, so removing that danger first is superior risk management.

Thinking outside the box! The process doesn’t HAVE to be done always in the same order, just because that’s how I’ve been doing it for decades

 

[Ridgerunner]

I like the idea of gutting them before storing them. Then store them long enough for rigor mortis to pass before you finish processing them.

it's a common practice to hang game birds without processing them, think Scotland and hanging pheasant, but one key component is that it has to be cool enough to stop the bacteria from growing. I don't know what your cooling capacity is, but piling five birds in a fridge might not get them cooled off inside their body cavity as quickly as you would want.

I think you are onto a winning strategy but you still want them cooled, even without the guts.

 

[K0k0shka]

I like the idea of gutting them before storing them. Then store them long enough for rigor mortis to pass before you finish processing them.

it's a common practice to hang game birds without processing them, think Scotland and hanging pheasant, but one key component is that it has to be cool enough to stop the bacteria from growing. I don't know what your cooling capacity is, but piling five birds in a fridge might not get them cooled off inside their body cavity as quickly as you would want.

I think you are onto a winning strategy but you still want them cooled, even without the guts.

Good point about the speed of cooling. We’re going through a never-ending heat wave, and our central air broke, so not a lot of cooling capacity in the house other than the fridge. I can put ice packs inside the body cavities after gutting, to help cool them down in the fridge. The cockerels are heritage English Orpingtons, slow growers and at 2 months old they are still quite small and scrawny, so they’ll be easier to chill than a thick full grown chicken.

 

[Molpet]

I just had an injured hen I had to cull when it was way too hot for me. I bleeded out and put her in the refrigerator for a couple days until rigor mortis passed. I skinned her and took the breasts, thighs and drumsticks. Worked out great.

Like ridgerunner said used to be common to hang gamebirds.
https://honest-food.net/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

They used to not drawn (gut) the birds though. Also the old Currier and Ives show plucked birds hanging for sale but they aren't gutted.