My last post on this topic, I swear.

[jdopler]

I just processed first time yesterday and I understand your concerns.. But the fear and worry before was much worse than the reality. It brings you into your food process and you know it was done humanely. If it helps you can think in terms of Kosher butchering and say a prayer at the time of processing.
Good luck to you, if you do decide to try. It is a good experience for so many of us who think of our meat in terms of a grocery store- plastic wrapped and cleaned.

 

[Abirdbrain]

:/Now really! I just lost two of my favs to a stupid moment moving a tractor coop. Moma and dog contibuted to a commotion, and two birds got rolled under the moving coop in a bird pileup.. They were only 12 weeks old, but dead is dead, and I hung them to bleed removed the heads and looped the bucket handle to hold the legs. Later I gutted and skinned the birds whole removing the wing tips. Skin small underage birds as the pins will drive you nuts. Skin cold like a rabbit, and they will glove pretty nicely without the wing tips. Cut a bit high on the drums to avoid all the attachments by the lower joint and the skin will pass right off. I snap the leg bones an inch above the joint with a heavy chefs knife, or heavier cleaver depending on the bird. I sometimes glove the whole birds meat off the frame virtually the same way, working my fingers under the flesh, and relieving the wing and leg joints. This makes a big chicken roll you can stuff, or roast stringed up. A coupla stripped frames are boiled in salt water for about 2 hours, stirred vigarously at times and let to stand. when cooled fingers go to work and remove all the bones and squish off any meaty leavings, and the stock is broken down in quarts, to be frozen. Add veggies, leftover chicken of any flavor, noodles, or dumplings, and its the best stock you ever had.

They look like rock cornish. I will tent with aluminum foil and probably use lemon pepper. A buttered slice of bread can stuff one if you like that. Kiss rule. Keep It Simple Stupid. Simple Stupid as in foolproof.

Read a bit on Game dressing, birds, waterfowl, deer, rabbit. know what to look for and where to cut. It will help to have some knowledge and confidence in the preparation. After all, you do diferent things like chicken wraps, breast strips, stuffed breast, and the like. What is the diference?

I would rather clean chickens than baby diapers. Ohmy!

 

[Delighted]

My suggestion, go find a friend who is processing their birds, watch and help. It's easier with someone else's birds the first time. We just processed our first chickens yesterday--14 extras-- mostly roos. Two were named roos, my son and I wanted to keep, but they were mutts and we got overruled.

I couldn't do the knife thing at all. I plucked and cleaned, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't know you were supposed to age the meat--I cut one up and cooked it last night in a crockpot and we ate it today. The breast meat didn't seem any different, but the dark meat--ohh-lalaahh! Next time I will have meat birds--ones we buy specifically for meat, so we can be more prepared, knowing these are for the freezer.

 

[Saltysteele]

Quote:
Ick... so cold .....I am really wanting to process my own but I will have to pray about this a little more

i understand what you're saying. i grew up on a farm and saw hogs butchered since i can remember. i still feel bad for a bit when i see a hog butchered, but you have to disassociate yourself and take control of your emotions. if you cannot do that, i would advise you not raise chickens to eat.

they are animals that have a purpose, that is what God put them here for.

 

[KellyHM]

I've raised a couple batches and I almost couldn't eat them at first b/c I felt so bad about raising them, having them trust me, then killing them. I'll go out to the woods and harvest just about any animal and have no problem with it, but for me it's different to kill something that trusts me. It's just not my thing, so my chicken still comes from Publix.

 

[walls0stone3]

it's posts like this that show me the dissconect between the youth raised to old age time and again on the farm...and how he or she is so much diff than those who have tried to "get back to the land". I'm NOT busting on you all at all.. this is a good thing..but on another level I look at you like ppl who don't respond when the doc hits your knee with that rubber thing... Don't you blink when you sneeze? when others yawn..do you not yawn?

I name birds..cows ect hell even deer and such.. but it's a point of reference.. like a number. But I also see this with pets. I can tell you almost every free beagle I took was named after the hound in the cartoon. Ex wife's uncle took off a whole week from work when his dog died... but he's heartless with ppl in his own company.

This is the thing, we have been so poorly treated by man, and presume to know so much about animals that we have swapped them for each other.

this is the reason YOU SHOULD get back to the land the way God made it. YOU SHOULD learn that your relations in this life are for men and your chickens, the apples in your tree and the bread in your oven are NOT things to replace other ppl...but things of work for your living.

The only time farmers feel true sorrow for dead pets (as in the kind you should feel for your best friends death) is the untimly loss of a farm creature that died suffering or before it's time..or say due to your own misstakes.

it may sound kinda harsh to some, but I'm being to the point. and I mean no dissrespect.. however I'm the heartless farmer who will stop and help a stranded persno change a tire for no reason and I send guests home with at least one finnished chicken

 

[Bossroo]

Fact ! The Law of Nature states ... eat or be eaten. One eats meat, some animal had to die first. Some cultures eat dog or cat or horse while some cultures keep them as pets. One eats a vegetable or fruit, it had to be pulled up or plucked first, then cooked while still alive or eaten raw. It dies one way or another. Sooner or later a parasite, virus or bacteria or possibly even some carnivorous predator will eat one too.

 

[dipence71]

Well, interesting topic and responses LMAO.

For me it has been a progress of time. Started off with gardening many many yrs ago, then processing deer probably 10-15 yrs ago, then raising chickens for eggs 3 yrs ago , then incubating eggs 1 yr ago, then processing the "extra" roos and a few hens I bought from a guy getting out of chickens last year, Hens that I didn't raise from chicks, then helping process a friends hogs a few months ago, then purchasing cornish cross to raise and butcher for meat. They are almost ready to process.

They never were pets, they have always been meaties, even though I raised them with some of my ee chicks for eggs. They in my mind are walking meat that have had a much better life than the "grocery store" chickens. They have fresh feed, water, treats, fresh air, sunshine, and walk around on grass and eat grass and bugs ect.

I know what they have eaten and how they have been raised which means no mystery antibiotic, fillers, steroids, ect.

I know I am weird compared to allot of my friends, ppl I work with, family, ect. I started out a true city girl and have gone off the deep end, or so they think. People today dont do this kind of thing unless you are a back woods redneck. I beg to differ, If you meet me on the street you would never know that I raise chickens and rabbits unless I tell you or you happen to catch me on a day I am off work (I am a licensed cosmetology instructor working full time in a salon), and am just running to the feed store because I am out of something.
But when I am cutting someones hair and they hear I have fresh eggs they don't hesitate to ask for some. Oh and I work next door to a grocery store!!! But they want MY eggs LMAO....

So it is just something you may have to work into. I NEVER thought I would ever be doing any of this, besides gardening, I was a food comes from a grocery store period person. But here I am in deep and going deeper as time goes by.
PS I want a milk goat eventually hehehehehe....

Good luck on all your endeavors.

 

[barbaraann123]

I've been a vegetarian for over 9 yrs. I got my chickens for pets only. I have never been in a situation where I had to kill what I ate and now KNOW that I don't need to eat meat to live. It's all well and good to give them a good life, but why not just that? A good life till whenever. If you feel this bad over it, maybe you don't even need to make a choice, you have made it already.

 

[fargosmom]

Quote:
Very interesting comment. You've added another facet I had not considered, and you make an excellent point.