Last night "harvesting" recap - second harvest better than first!

[sonew123]

Sounds great! Nice size...how old was he?

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Sounds great! Nice size...how old was he?

Almost 13 weeks.

 

[sonew123]

My friends have them and plan to butcher at 8-10 weeks...I told them to wait for 12 unless they want skrawnies! Lol

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

My friends have them and plan to butcher at 8-10 weeks...I told them to wait for 12 unless they want skrawnies! Lol

I didn't have the resources or energy to do them all at once, so I started with the largest at 9 weeks and continued doing them in batches at 9, 10, 11 and almost 13 weeks. As a result, most of my birds were around 4 lb, with a few a little bit smaller and several over 5 lb. I did notice that they got fattier during the last two "batches" than the first two. If I had done them all at 9 weeks, there may have been some scrawny ones.

 

[sonew123]

I didn't have the resources or energy to do them all at once, so I started with the largest at 9 weeks and continued doing them in batches at 9, 10, 11 and almost 13 weeks.  As a result, most of my birds were around 4 lb, with a few a little bit smaller and several over 5 lb.  I did notice that they got fattier during the last two "batches" than the first two.  If I had done them all at 9 weeks, there may have been some scrawny ones.  

I will let them know! Thank you

 

[GonzoChicken]

HH-

I hear you my first two I did, were a chore, then I did ten and that was trying on my soul. I mentioned what I was doing to a chef friend and he immediately offered to help, then he brought a friend to help as well. Now the three of us can process 15 in an hour in my back yard( we could do more if the guy eviscerating was faster). I give my livers to my chef friend and he makes the most amazing Paté I have ever tasted, the other guy gets the necks, backs and feet and they go to his Jewish Grandma for soup. Then they bring me soup and Paté. Oh life is good! My experience all turned around when I started doing this with other people. Having other people to talk to during this helps so much. Hearing how much people love the taste of your birds, helps even more!

I also bought a plucker, it'll pick two birds in about 20 sec, and can handle a 30lb turkey(can't wait until I can get a turkey next year!), really cuts down on the processing time. I used to water fowl hunt every winter and plucking took forever, I kind of think it's worth it's weight in gold.

Glad you wrote about your experience. It was a good read.

 

[RockNSuccess]

Sorry for reviving an old thread here, but I have been reviewing a lot of posts and You Tube videos in preparation of butchering. I loved all of the advice that was given here and wanted to share a video that I watched. It has gotten a lot of positive reviews and a handful of negative (thought I don't know why unless it was from PETA). In any case, if you search You Tube for "respectful chicken harvesting part 1 of 2 kill and pluck - how to" you will see a video that, IMO, is very humane. In fact, the compassion that the young woman shows for the hen is really beautiful. I especially like the way she makes sure the hen is completely relaxed prior to making the cut. I think it will be to model I use when I do my first harvest.