Tonight was the night to process the other 3 dark cornish girls. The other ones turned out great in the dumplings - the meat had a lot of flavor and I've been craving homemade chicken nuggets. I've got an egg eater in the flock and I'm pretty sure it was one of those three last cornish birds that was pecking and eating the eggs, so it was time for them to go, go go.
I did alter my technique just a bit. Last time it was so dang hot out there and the yellow jackets found us after the 1st one was done. This time I wanted to do them so I could stay cool and avoid flies and yellow jackets.
I have an airconditioned outbuilding with a dropped ceiling & a laminate floor - easy to clean and cool comfort, and NO bugs...PLUS, there is a sink with running water...SO I set up the butcher table inside the airconditioning.
I did that actual dispatching and bleeding out outside - used the same trash bag method to minimize the amount of blood on the ground, etc. I used the hatchet, then put the bird in the bag head first, hung from the dog tie out and clothespinned the garbage bag up around the bird while it bled out. While I waited on that, I went inside and got my knives and equipment cleaned up from the last chicken and got my bowls ready, etc.
Then I went out, got the bled bird and brought it in, bag and all. Hung the bird up again from a rope I hung on the dropped ceiling supports and then was able to harvest the meat I wanted in the cool with no bugs (skin the bird and harvest the breast and thighs, no evicerating or cleaning of the carcass). With the bag method, all the not-so-pleasant parts of the butchering process drop down in the bag, so there was NO mess at all. I think I got one drop of blood (literally) on the folding table I had setup under the bird I used to hold my bowls and knives.
Then into the other room where the sink was to wash off the meat really well to get off any stray fuzz and then into my clean meat bin and into the fridge out there.
Then out to get the next chicken and repeat.
I've got a couple of pounds of meat in the fridge overnight, chicken nuggets tomorrrow! YUM.
