Its MY turn...it's done & results....UPDATE...PART II...

[arlee453]

yeah...well the plan WAS to do it earlier today. However, while gathering supplies together i discovered my son had 'borrowed' my hatchet AND my ax to take down the the creek to chop up tree branches. And, no, he wasn't supposed to have them, of course.

And, to top it all off, he 'forgot' them and then we had the big flood a couple weeks ago, which totally washed them all away from where he had left them.

So, had to go to Lowes to 1) cool off so I wouldn't cause bodily harm to the 10 yr old, and 2) get a new hatchet...

 

[amyquilt]

Great job! Maybe after reading all these stories, dh and I can "get ourselves together" to process our own meat birds once we get them.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
LOL. Adam's brothers are fascinated with anything sharp, so our hatchet, axe and machette dissapear periodically as well. LOL. They are used to "build forts" and usually never make it home.

-Kim

 

[Nuggetsowner:)]

Congrats on a job well done. As many have said..It does get easier each time you do it. Not only do you get quicker but I think it just gets easier because the fear of the unknow is no longer with you. I hope that makes sense. Anyway now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Good job! My first two are in the oven now!

 

[arlee453]

It's chicken and dumplings for dinner tomorrow night! Y'all wanna come?

Better RSVP in case I need to process a couple of more...

 

[Wildsky]

Well done Susan. I'm always reading those who have done the deed for the first time - one of these day's I'm sure it will be my turn!

(set an extra place at the table!)

 

[hazelton farms]

That's fantastic! We did two scovies and a roo today! It was my first time helping with anything bigger than a quail. We always skin anything we process to eat, so did these as well like that. I have took the meat off and put in the freezer. Since hubby did the gutting anyway, I'm boiling the carcasses of the ducks now to make a broth to freeze and use later as a soup as well, so nothing wasted. YUM!

Congrats on your processing today! We're doing more tomorrow (cause we already had 12 ducks to do and 3 roos and now my duck went and hatched another 10 today! ACK!).

Stacy

 

[arlee453]

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.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

congrats and welcome to the club.