Just had my first batch processed and have questions

[balticbabe]

If it was a local that served you, the bird was likely at least 6 months. The meat is much firmer and flavorful than North Americans are used to.

She was a local and the meat was so much better. I don't know how people can eat Costco chickens, it's mushy like baby food.​

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
She was a local and the meat was so much better. I don't know how people can eat Costco chickens, it's mushy like baby food.

Lamb vs. Mutton
I've always found it interesting that it's called "Lamb" even when the animal is a year old. It's not as if these creatures were born last week, and we're carting them off to slaughter. On the other hand, most grocery store "chicken" is 6 weeks old (or less). If we talked about chicken-meat that way, then anything less than, say, 4-6 months old should be called "Chick".

 

[kstaven]

Quote:
She was a local and the meat was so much better. I don't know how people can eat Costco chickens, it's mushy like baby food.

Its mushy because it is so young and also pumped full of water. Overall people have no idea when they purchase meat how high the water content really is and what garbage they where raised on in some cases. Overall we sacrifice a lot in the name of getting cheap food. raise your own and you will never turn back.

 

[tuskajones]

Well the other lady I had lined up to process my birds called me the night before and said she couldn't do the birds for me. So I decided to butcher them myself!! It took me 2 days to get everything ready (knife sharpener, work area, etc). I reread everything I could on butchering and then got up at 5am today to get started. It has been hot and miserable here so I wanted to beat the heat and the flies.

I hung 2 birds. The first one I chopped the head and the second I cut the throat. The slit throat method worked much better for me. I have to say for some reason the chicken struggled alot less with this method. Both ways bled the bird out nicely. The meat did not have a reddish cast like when the other guy processed them for me. I took me forever to pluck the first two; my water wasn't warm enough (130 degrees). The second pot of water was 150 degrees and worked beautifully. I did four birds total today. It took me about 5 hours with taking care of my kids and the other animals and other assorted messes in between. I was surprised that the gutting wasn't bad at all. I now have four bags of parts for four meals.

I have 8 birds left and plan on doing four each for the next two days.

Yay for me!!!!

 

[kstaven]

Doing it yourself isn't really as bad as most people picture. Getting past the mental picture of what most think it is like is the hard part. Congratulations!

 

[okiemommy]

Doing it yourself isn't really as bad as most people picture. Getting past the mental picture of what most think it is like is the hard part. Congratulations!

That's good to hear. I am starting off with pets/layers first, and then hope to add meat birds, I think for at least the first time, I will probably find a processor and play it by ear from there. I would like to be able to process them myself, but I hate picking the missed pinfeathers out of the Turkey and dressing it. I literally gag. When I'm pregnant, I can't even smell any kind of poultry, cooked or raw. It's weird, I don't know why that is, b/c I don't have a problem with raw bloody beef, deer ect.....​