Processed my first bird

[Masterjoe]

Hello, I processed my first bird today though the experience didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it. First I think the water was too hot as I cooked the skin Question is the bird smells is this normal lol? Next important one is I did not locate the crop. I found what I thought was the crop, but it seemed to be just a sac of skin that I cut off. What I processed was one of those Cornish X chickens. There is also a deep red running vein of meat on the underside of the bird. What is that? Thank you for the help.

 

[wsmoak]

Congrats on processing your first!

Did you withhold food before you processed? Without food in it, the crop can be hard to locate. If it's empty, though, there's no reason to worry about it. I generally take their food away when I do night check (around 9pm) if I'm going to process in the morning.

Yes, there is a smell. You can wear thin exam gloves if it bothers you.

I can't picture what you mean by a deep red vein of meat on the underside. Are you seeing blood? Perhaps the bird wasn't bled out completely?

Make sure your scalding water is 145-150F to avoid pre-cooking the birds. Any cheap thermometer like this will work.

-Wendy

 

[Masterjoe]

HI Wendy,

Yes I withheld food before I processed the chicken. It just seemed to be discolored red to me. I think it might be the dark meat. The red is located just below the wings and ahead of the legs. One thing I am noticing in videos I am watching is everyone's birds legs seem small. These birds have huge legs. They are roughly 12 weeks old. Next year I am not going to wait so long.