Processed my first bird today

[Sunny Side Up]

Sheet metal will make you a nice sturdy cone that will last for a long time. But so far my plastic ones are holding up well and will be easy to replace when they break. I cut the bottom off a black plastic nursery plant pot, cut up one side & twisted it into a cone, and fastened it with duct tape & zip ties "sewed" through holes punched in the plastic.

You can also hold the bird's wings still by wrapping a few lengths of duct tape around his body before dispatching.

Let us know how the wire coat hanger hook does for you. I've tried using rope tied in a slip knot, but my knot skills are poor and the bird yanked his feet out of the loop. I usually use a big plastic zip-tie, it holds tight and I can hang the tied legs over a hook to pluck. I hold them by the feet to scald.

The knife-in-the-mouth technique is called pithing, and its pros & cons have been discussed elsewhere here on this forum. I've tried just about every technique except using firearms and prefer the slit-throat method. It's also known as a Kosher Kill, and I've heard Joel Salatin, a professional chicken farmer (among other things) recommend the method, saying the birds "flat-line" with that first loss of blood and all the movement afterwards is purely reflex.

Butchering chickens will never be my favorite chore around here (my #1 favorite being made to lie in the hammock & read a new library book) but it really isn't too bad, it's calm & peaceful & quiet, not too awfully icky. I have a good friend who always asks to be invited over for every session, it's a great time for us to get together and talk while our hands are occupied, plus the kids aren't so eager to come over to the table & interrupt.

 

[planetmort]

I did my first bird ever on Sunday. I had a small flock of four layers (two RiRs and two brown leghorns), but that was really more than we needed (we are a three person family with a small city lot), so I decided to make the worst layer into dinner. She was 10 months old to the day.

It wasn't too hard, though in retrospect, my knife should have been sharper. I used a restraining cone and tied up her feet with a small bungee, and then cut her jugular. Personally I found plucking to be the most annoying part, and if I ever get into raising more meat birds, I might look into building a plucker.

I roasted her with the Zuni chicken method, and I have to say she was delicious! She also was not tough, as I had feared she might be. In fact, she was so good, I've been toying with possibly raising small numbers of meat birds for personal consumption. (I don't think our city lot would support large numbers of birds without annoying the neighbors too much).

If I could find someone to process the birds for me, I would certainly raise some birds just for meat. I'm too slow! (though I suppose I'd get faster with practice!)

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
What's that? Please share! I have 3 fresh birds to cook in a day or two, maybe I can do this too!

I'm glad things went well for you too on your first try. I think you'll certainly get better & faster with practice. Check out http://www.HowToButcherAChicken.com for some great information including a section on making hand-plucking not so much of a chore. Click on the photo of the steaming pot of water at the section titled "How to properly scald a chicken".

And, of course,

 

[planetmort]

That site was my manual, and it was excellent! I am suburban, born and bred, and I really had no trouble processing my bird using those instructions. I am a bit envious of people who have access to processors, though, mainly just for time. I've asked at a few local butcher shops if they know any local processors or will process for me, and they've all looked at me like I'm nuts. It's a hazard of city living, I guess.

You can find the Zuni recipe here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4401342

It reads like a complex recipe, but it's really not. I do all my roasted chickens this way now, since my family really loves it. The only downside is you have to plan a day ahead to season the bird, but that's no big deal.