Is this a good way to process?

[chickenwhisperer]

Lol, I just looked at the pic again, and that leg from the game hen is almost as big as the entire quail . . .

 

[holachicka]

Good job!! That looks fantastic! *sigh* I wish my hubby would cook for me... I guess I'll have to settle for him building coops for me!!

 

[ranit]

My husband talked to a guy one time who was selling lots of rabbits and quail to a zoo. He had some kind of CO2 chamber he had made to kill them, then froze them whole until he could deliver. Has anyone ever used CO2 when processing birds to eat? I know the big pork processors do this with pigs - puts them to sleep and then they kill & bleed them.

I don't have any trouble eating them - they are delicious, but I take no part in the killing. My husband gets that job. I'm thinking if they are already dead from the CO2 then it wouldn't be as hard to cut the head off. I think maybe I could do that.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

I have used CO2 to dispatch trapped animals, and my buddy, who is the county animal trapper, has 2 installed in the back of his county work truck, a smaller-coon/skunk sized one and a 55g drum for bigger animals.

CO2 works great, just puts em right to sleep and they never wake up.
The only problem I see, and the reason I dont do it that way- CO2 just kills them, but you are then unable to properly bleed an animal out afterwards.

Birds are pretty delicate and really not too hard to kill, grab em by the body and even a quick shake should pop the neck from its socket.

I like to bleed em out, so I lop the head off and squeeze the body like an orange . . .
If your just gonna freeze them for zoo-animal whole food, co2 and freezing is the way to go.

 

[ranit]

Yeah, I figured it probably wasn't worth making a CO2 chamber as long as my husband will do the actual killing & processing part without my help. He just pulls the heads off. I will just keep doing the final cleanup of the processed birds and bagging & freezing.

 

[_Randall_]

Just pull the head off...........Instant death / no suffering.......

 

[MysticScorpio82]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=129174

Monarc did an awesome job showing and explaining how to process quails. Sooo easy that way.