Is it worth the work to butcher your own chickens?

[3buffalo]

When I was a teen we often processed a few roosters and older hens on Saturday, had one for Sunday dinner and the rest were cut up and frozen. It bothered me a little the first time and I was hesitant to take the first bite. After taking the first bite, I knew how good a home grown bird was and have no problems now. I had the same kind of emotional reaction to the first steer, deer, trout, squirrel (yes, I've eaten many in my life), and rabbit. Raising your own food is good for you in many ways and when you know what it took to get that chicken breast you tend to be a better cook and a less wasteful consumer.

For too many years I ate processed food and acted like most people, it almost killed me, now I have mostly recovered and am doing far better. One thing I have done in the past year is to limit commercial beef by substituting buffalo and lamb, all but completely eliminated pork from the diet, and increased bean consumption. It took a while, but now I have learned to cook the buffalo properly and my wife no longer asks me what the meat is before she'll take a bite. I attribute a 10 pound weight loss to eliminating commercial beef and pork. Next I want to get off commercial chicken and turkey, I figure that whatever the producers due to make them grow fast and heavy probably is having the same effect on my system.

Remember: Bull manure, from a pastured bull, is 100% natural and organic but that doesn't make meadow muffins healthy and good to eat. The deer that ate most of my garden this year are a different story.
That's all I have to say about that.
David, a displaced WV Hillbilly

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Quote:
Just like a man...lol

 

[lsv313]

I first got egg birds(pets

) this spring and thought I could NEVER do meat birds. Here I am, less than 6 months later, raising 25 cornish x. What made the change? I think it was, in a weird way, because of how much I loved my eggers. You see, I realized that I'm going to be eating chicken anyways- and if I raise it, I'll know that it was treated well and had a good life while it was alive. I'll also know everything it ate. That's a lot more than I can say about any bird I buy at the grocery store. Plus it gives me a (small) way to stick it to the commercial factory farm industry and be more self sufficient

All that said, I'm not going to be around on butchering day - that's my husband's job! Otherwise I'd take it to a processing place where they'd do the deed for me.

 

[Tropical Chook]

I don't raise meat birds, but instead, I raise game birds. They do give me eggs but they're not the best layers and yet I'm quite happy with that. The roosters get processed, and while they don't have as much meat on them as store bought chickens, the meat is awesome, or at least I think it is. All my birds free range from dawn to dusk and eat practically no commercial feed at all (their choice). Now, no supermarket that I know of stocks such birds, so yes, processing my own birds is most definitely worth the effort. Besides, I only have to do the killing, and my wife does the rest

 

[sonew123]

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Oh Boy Joe... Your wife is a strong woman isnt she??? LOL My Dh wont even look in my direction when Im processing!

 

[Brody's Broodello]

Love the process of raising the birds, but had enough of the wacking & packing when I was a kid. It is sssooo much easier to pay the $2.60 per bird to have the local processing farm do it. Just drop them off, and pick up the next day, no feathers, no blood guts or gore, just vacum packed fresh birds with nice little lables on them fo me.

 

[BlackBart]

Brody's Broodello :

Love the process of raising the birds, but had enough of the wacking & packing when I was a kid. It is sssooo much easier to pay the $2.60 per bird to have the local processing farm do it. Just drop them off, and pick up the next day, no feathers, no blood guts or gore, just vacum packed fresh birds with nice little lables on them fo me.

We pay $4.00 per bird but everything is more expensive here.
No fuss, no mess.​

 

[Engteacher]

I raised 26 Cornish x and 40 heritage birds. I processed the Cornish X in June myself and, although it wasn't "fun", it was something we did with a certain amount of reverence. It shouldn't be easy. As a meat eater, I felt more responsible for dispatching my birds with care and dignity. We live out in the country, so we were able to do it on our property which kept the birds calm and relaxed in familiar surroundings.

I have started processing some of our extra heritage roos and, yes, it's harder. Still, I think it's the right thing to do. They've been treated well. They've chased grasshoppers and had romps in the sunshine. I've given them a good life and now it's time to fulfill their purpose to my family and me.

 

[bburn]

I think that feeling a little guilty will go away. We processed 7 day before yesterday. Witht he help of my DSS and his friend. I stayed in the house after the rooster rodeo and getting everything set up and all the tools they needed ready for them. They brought them to me in the 5 gallon buckets with salt water. I put them in the freezer.

We still have probably 6 more to process over the next week. We made the mistake of buying straight run duel purpose chickens. Never again. If we want meat birds that is what we will buy and raise and I think we will at some point. But for egg layers we will buy sexed from now on.

We made the choice to process after trying to rehome and then going to the chicken swap and selling four. We brought two back home. Now to finish up.

However, I did learn something at the swap from a very nice Amish lady. We talked about processing and she said if you don't want the skin on them anyway you can simply slip skin and feathers off together, cut the leg and thigh off and filet the breast and discard the rest. I have seven in the freezer whole with skin. The rest I am going to do the way she told me. DSS was excited to at least try it this way. I know we will get better at this in time but for now we just have to get through the rest of the birds.

I tried to find a packing house around here that would process the birds for me but there is not one. Actually was talking to the Amish woman to see if she knew anyone that would do it for me.

I feel good knowing the chicken in the freezer was raised by us and yes, that they had a good life. I enjoy my chickens but as a first timer I still feel guilty that I was not smarter when I bought them.....never again straight run.

 

[FarmerJamie]

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could you post and let us know how well this technique worked?

Don't forget you could always make stock with the stuff left after taking off the breast meat, thighs, legs. What about the WINGS? My son would mutiny if we didn't save those.