My homemade kill station in action (pics)

[Fredster]

Here are more details on the construction. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

With the exception of the cones, everything to build this was just laying around, so it's not too fancy.

(text for each picture is above the picture)

End shot, showing the hanging hooks for plucking. Those are plain old screw-in hooks, like you get to hang mugs or whatever on. The support bracket is all 2x4s, cut to the length that looked right to me (ie, no measurements). The vertical 2x4, which looks like it's being held with just one screw, is actually toenailed into the bottom 2x4 with 3" exterior screws

Front shot, showing the cones. I had to keep sticking chickens in and trimming cone until they were the right size. I got the cones at Home Depot, and they were $10 each. I believe they were the 18" ones.

The wood supporting the cones is 2x4s, spaced so the cones can rest on the wood. Originally, this was just going to be a cut-and-bleed station, capable of doing 4 chickens at a time, but then I realized that was overkill for a one person operation. I don't plan on processing lots of chickens at once, just one or two a week as we plan to eat them.

The "table" is made of a single 10' 1x4, cut into roughly equal pieces of about 29 inches.

This is looking underneath. The main top piece is a 2x8, about 36-38 inches long. The legs are 2x6, cut to 26" each. If I had it to do again, I'd make it about 10 inches taller, but like I mentioned, it was originally going to just be a bleedout station.

The supports that help hold the legs are small pieces of 2x6, cut on a 15 degree angle on each side with a table saw. The narrow (top) side of those pieces is 3.5", to leave room for the 1.5" legs with a little overhang by the 2x8 on the very top. The legs are also cut at 15 degrees on both ends. It's all attached with glue and 3" screws.

Probably it wouldn't hurt to add a piece of 2x4 connecting the legs a few inches below where they attach, for added support / stability.

The pieces of 2x6 underneath don't extend the entire length of the station, but they could. They only need to be as long as a 2x6 is wide (ie, 5.5 inches). I kept them short because I had short scraps of wood.

The cones aren't attached, though they could be. They're lifted out in this picture to show the underlying 2x4s.

A final shot, showing the whole station.

 

[Gloria]

Thank you so much, Fredster! You done a great job making it and with the details. I can see what your doing now! I'll have to see if DH will help me with that. Otherwise, I'll be doing it myself. That's why I needed more details. It will probably be me building it.

You said if you done it again you would make the legs about 36" instead of the 26". Is that so you could set it on the ground or something else?

Thank you for posting this, Great Job! Someone really needs to sticky this thread to the top somewhere.

 

[spook]

Quote:
I'm sure someone will come along and tell me how wrong I am for doing this, but I pitch them everything: heads, feet, innards, and even feathers. They eat it all except for the largest feathers, and they like it so much they fight over it.

I should think that as long as they were fresh there would not be disease. And those toss outs are some kinda fresh!
That is interesting, looks like the killing cone is a good idea. Someone suggested it to me, yet I did not understand that it is so much quicker and matter of fact. All I want to see is the quickest, most human way for them- hate to hear the squacking.
Thank you so much for the pics and how to's, I will be trying the cones now!

 

[Fredster]

Quote:
Yeah, it's a little short for me when it's on the ground. When it's in the wagon, and mobile, it's about the right height (maybe a touch too tall), but the wagon is a little bit wobbly.

I may just build another one; I still have some scraps laying around.

 

[lesliet]

Very nice. I will show DH when i get home. He will love it

 

[farm_mom]

Great job Fredster! I'm glad it all went well for you.

 

[MoonbeamQueen]

Great station! I keep telling my husband that we are going to do some meat birds in the future. In the past it's just been him, it hasn't been a real organized event, and he's done too many birds at once, etc... I like the idea of just doing 1-2 a week and not so many that it turns into a day-long project. Thanks for the great construction ideas!

 

[Opa]

great idea with using traffic cones

 

[carress]

Grreat station- I wish I had such a neat contraption!

So..how did that 17 week old bird taste??? How'd you cook her??

 

[Fredster]

Quote:
She tasted mighty fine (17 months, actually -- she was OLD)

My wife brined her overnight, then roasted her. We ate the breasts for one meal, then everything else got boiled for a few hours and made into a chicken-and-rice casserole.

All kidding aside, she was probably the best, most flavorful chicken I'd ever had. We're eating the rooster from the pictures at the beginning of the thread now, and he's really good, too (in a chicken-veggie pie). WAY better than store chickens, to us.

It's weird. We bought pasture raised Cornish Xs (done like Joel Salatin does, in tractors) for a while a few years ago, from a local farmer, but I didn't really like them. Our plain old yard birds, who have about 3/4 of an acre to roam in and eat a ton of bugs and garden scraps, blow everything else out of the water (for us, anyway).

Maybe part of it is a sort of placebo-type effect, where the fact that we raised them and treated them like royalty has something to do with the perceived flavor. I dunno. All I can say is I'm looking forward to prepping the next one on Friday.