Multiple Quail (meat processing question)

[DanielleInUro]

Hi all,

I just woke up late, am going to shower, and then butchering my three extra roos is on my to-do list. I'm plucking instead of skinning, because having had it both ways, the skin is the best part to me. But this will be the first time I've done multiples at a time, and I don't have a poultry plucker yet and am doing it by hand. So in terms of logistics--I know to dispatch all three, put them in a bowl, bring them in the house, scald, pluck, remove guts, and chill. But with three to do, I'm a little unsure--should I scald and pluck all three one-by-one (guts in) and then put two in the ice water to wait while I'm gutting the third, or should NO ONE chill until they're gutted? Which goes where and at what point? Does it matter?

I've done this twice before, but they were one at a time--I'm unsure of the multitasking part when there are multiple birds to process.

 

[birdmandan]

Why don't you bring the hot water and all the gear outside? Saves the logistics. Also, you are talking about minutes, the meat won't spoil. You could grab a friend to help you pluck while you snip, scald and gut since plucking is the most time consuming process. Oh wait, then you have to share the meal.

 

[DanielleInUro]

I tried bringing everything outside the first time, but that's not for me--it's 93 degrees and humid at the moment, and flies. oh my, flies. I muddled through and just threw them in the cold water after each plucking, but thank you for the answer--next time I do it, in a few weeks when I do more of them, I won't have to guess. I'd love to make the spousal unit help out, but he really likes the quail as birds and he didn't exactly sign up for this, so I send him out to the movies before I start.

 

[birdmandan]

Bring the slaughter inside. Have a bucket and plastic bags handy. Then tell the spouse to "toughen up" and hand over a pair of rubber gloves.

 

[DanielleInUro]

Oh, I didn't mean that--he's plenty tough. He just made the decision pre-me that he wants to be a person who doesn't hurt or kill animals--most especially animals he KNOWS. He says taking a rabbit in the woods is one thing, but raising a bunch of happy little puffballs in the yard, taking care of them, babying them, and then killing them is distressing for him. He doesn't begrudge me doing it and he supports me 100% at it, helps me build the coops and bought me my incubator and drives me out to the feed store for supplies and waits patiently and cheerfully while I'm gabbing with the other people do this, but he won't eat them and he doesn't want to be around them much because it would hurt.

That's not who I wish he was, because it isn't who I am, but I don't get to take the parts of him I want and discard the rest. Much as I'd love to, and tempting as it may be to try. For all I know, that part of him is connected as one piece to another part of him that I love and wouldn't want to lose.

As for another friend, I'm kind of on my own with this. Most of my friends are watching with their mouths open, going "I don't think I could ever do this." I'm new to it myself, and don't come from this lifestyle at all, so it's really just me on my own. Which is okay, I've got the people I'm meeting along the way and the folks on this forum to ask the confusing parts.

 

[birdmandan]

Danielle. You are so poetic when you write . Most people hate killing animals and only do it out of necessity. Quails are cute and wonderful creatures. We need to take them out of the "pet" basket and put them into the "food" basket.

 

[DanielleInUro]

Aw, thank you! I appreciate that. I agree with everything you said, though--they are cute and wonderful, they DO work better for food than pets (though I wouldn't look down on the quail-as-pets folks here. I'd sooner eat my feet than a duck, and even though mine are rapey little jerks who eat everything and poop everywhere, they're still little yard angels to me and I love them. So I get where the quail-as-pets people are coming from.), and killing anything sucks. I do it out of choice rather than necessity (since I DO have the means and the ability to buy my meat conveniently pre-killed and packaged), because I've come to really, really, REALLY believe in it--any pain I feel at dispatching my guys is much less than the pain that an industrial-raised animal feels during its life and death, so I'm choosing to quash my tender little feelings about it if I want to eat meat, and to try to make the majority of my meat hunted-and-traded-to-me or home grown and cared for by me.

The spousal unit is in a different place from me there, and maybe always will be, so I try not to drag him to my place. If the world goes wild tomorrow and we're all on our own, then I know he won't balk at taking part. But lacking that, forget it, go the movies, hon, it's butchering day and you're not going to want to see it when I lose my grip on one after taking off the head and it lawn-sprinklers me with blood on its way out. (Which, unfortunately, did happen today. My mom told me learning is fun. My mom is the biggest liar on the planet.)

 

[birdmandan]

Oh Danielle. You had me at "...rapey little jerks..."

 

[dpenning]

Oh, I didn't mean that--he's plenty tough. He just made the decision pre-me that he wants to be a person who doesn't hurt or kill animals--most especially animals he KNOWS. He says taking a rabbit in the woods is one thing, but raising a bunch of happy little puffballs in the yard, taking care of them, babying them, and then killing them is distressing for him. He doesn't begrudge me doing it and he supports me 100% at it, helps me build the coops and bought me my incubator and drives me out to the feed store for supplies and waits patiently and cheerfully while I'm gabbing with the other people do this, but he won't eat them and he doesn't want to be around them much because it would hurt.

That's not who I wish he was, because it isn't who I am, but I don't get to take the parts of him I want and discard the rest. Much as I'd love to, and tempting as it may be to try. For all I know, that part of him is connected as one piece to another part of him that I love and wouldn't want to lose.

As for another friend, I'm kind of on my own with this. Most of my friends are watching with their mouths open, going "I don't think I could ever do this." I'm new to it myself, and don't come from this lifestyle at all, so it's really just me on my own. Which is okay, I've got the people I'm meeting along the way and the folks on this forum to ask the confusing parts.

You and I could be married to the same man.... almost, I had to build my own coops. LOL Where in the metro mess are you? I'm in Blue Ridge but go to Mckinney to work, used to live in Dallas. I am brand new into quail and am about to process my first group, I have another batch in the incubator. Would be fun to know someone locally who is into the same thing. Even my neighbors think i'm a little nutty. Edit to add I live in the country and my neighbors all keep animals of different varieties.... only as pets. *sigh*

 

[birdmandan]

It could be worse. If the people next door are vegans, they would chew your ears off.