Shastababy
In the Brooder
- Sep 23, 2020
- 8
- 36
- 31
Today was the first time we processed anything together. My husband used to process deer, but that was long before we were married. So it was interesting.
We followed advice from a number of sources and set up an area outside and away from the rest of the meat birds. We used a kill cone and my husband dispatched and bled them out, then gave them a dunk in a bin of water to rinse dirt, poo and blood off them. A couple took a quick squirt with the hose as well. Scalded for a few minutes and then I got to hand pluck them. (If we do more, we are going to have a plucker-my hands are cramping so much right now!) The actual processing wasn't as bad as I though it would be, thanks to so many of you posting hints and tricks to make it go easier. It took us an hour to do the first one, the rest went pretty well and took a lot less time. They are chilling in an ice bath in a cooler until tomorrow. We will do the rest tomorrow as it clouded up and is about to rain.
We purchased our chicks from Hoover's Hatchery and fed them meat bird all stages from our feed store. When in the brooder, they got Broiler Booster vitamins as recommended by Tre3hugger. They got fed twice a day once outside to their coop and 100ftx50ft pen. The foraged, chased bugs and insects and hung out along the fence with the goats. Started with 15 and unless something happens overnight, will process 15.
The first one (and only one we weighed) was 6.47 pounds!
We followed advice from a number of sources and set up an area outside and away from the rest of the meat birds. We used a kill cone and my husband dispatched and bled them out, then gave them a dunk in a bin of water to rinse dirt, poo and blood off them. A couple took a quick squirt with the hose as well. Scalded for a few minutes and then I got to hand pluck them. (If we do more, we are going to have a plucker-my hands are cramping so much right now!) The actual processing wasn't as bad as I though it would be, thanks to so many of you posting hints and tricks to make it go easier. It took us an hour to do the first one, the rest went pretty well and took a lot less time. They are chilling in an ice bath in a cooler until tomorrow. We will do the rest tomorrow as it clouded up and is about to rain.
We purchased our chicks from Hoover's Hatchery and fed them meat bird all stages from our feed store. When in the brooder, they got Broiler Booster vitamins as recommended by Tre3hugger. They got fed twice a day once outside to their coop and 100ftx50ft pen. The foraged, chased bugs and insects and hung out along the fence with the goats. Started with 15 and unless something happens overnight, will process 15.
The first one (and only one we weighed) was 6.47 pounds!
Tomorrow I will try 155* for a specific time before testing and see how that works for us. I've seen from 150* to 175* so split the difference.
