Processed the whole flock today.

[eKo_birdies]

Quote:
lol yes, this is true

 

[ShadyHoller]

We recently rotated out a laying hen who had prolapsed. We've got a couple more older hens who are really starting to slow down on laying, so their days might be numbered now that we are in the dark months.

It is funny how I have a reluctance to butcher the hens (who work so hard making us eggs every day) and I don't have nearly as much sentimental reluctance to butcher the meatbirds (who spend a few months living in luxury, eating grass and bugs and rich meat-bird pellets, and who are just learning how to be noisy and nasty to each other when the fateful day comes).

regarding skinning of filleting, here are my thoughts: if you are doing a bunch of young broilers, you can set up the scalding water and the hanging rope, and do a bunch at once. That way they have the skin for BBQ'ing or frying. With the occasional layer who gets culled, it's hard to justify heating five or ten gallons of scalding water for just one or two bird, and those older, tougher birds are more likely to be headed to the stew pot, so you probably don't want the skin on them to begin with. That makes them prime candidates for filleting.