I'm excited about the meat of course, but also the stock. Since we quartered them all, I have 15 backbones / ribs and 30 feet. I just made some stock out of 1 carcass and 2 feet and it made 12 cups!
It went well! We were pretty efficient after the first couple. We plucked together, and then I would gut them and take off the feet and wings while he gathered another bird and calmed it and wrapped it in a towel (we had a couple break their wings against the block during the flapping phase). He'd kill the bird while I stopped to hold it's feet, and then he'd take it in to scald it while I finished up with the previous bird. I'd put it in the ice water (5 at a time, then we'd refrigerate), and I'd be ready to pluck the next bird by the time he came back out. After we had them all done we took them inside and I finished cleaning them up in the sink and got the lungs that I somehow missed the first time around, while he quartered. Then we wrapped them up and bagged them. It took about 6 hours and we slept well that night!
They have been resting in the outside fridge since Saturday, and I figured I'd stick them in the freezer this afternoon.
My son was happy to help, but my girls whined the whole time that it was cold outside lol. Next time we'll arrange for Grandma to visit on butchering day.
