Processing day **Pictures Added

[LilyD]

Do you pluck or process in the house?
Please take some pics of your plucker at work.

Today I did it in the barn because there was thunderstorms outside starting very early morning. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures
because I had my hands full and was all by myself this time. I will be doing some more on Monday and or Tuesday of next week. I find that doing 5 or 6 at a time works better for me when I'm by myself because I can do all the killing and hang them to bleed out. Then start with the first one and pluck them all. Then once they are all plucked I cut them up so they fit in my freezer better and then do all the clean up as I go. All I have left right now is to dump the feathers and inedibles into the compost pile and I am done for the day. Total time was 2 and a 1/2 hours from start to freezer. Total meat weight minus the inedlibles carcasses and necks was 20.8 pounds.(I kept the legs, thighs, wings, and deboned breasts for us to eat) I should have gotten a weight once they were plucked before but honestly with the thunder and lighting I was just trying to get done lol.

Can honestly tell you the plucker worked well but had to stop and reposition it after starting the first bird because it was set up backwards and the plucker would fall out of the drill when it was plucking because the chuck would loosen while plucking. It should be turned around the other way next time or set on reverse when plucking.

The knife I got which was a havalon piranta edge worked AMAZING. I can't say enough about it. The blade is razor sharp and it comes with 12 extra blades. I agree with what others have said the best thing to use for the actual killing is a razor type knife this one is like the long razor blades you can get at the hardware store but this knife has a more stable blade and I didn't have any fears that it would break or not do the job. I can also vouch for the fact that you don't feel it when you are cut by a knife so sharp. I didn't realize that I had cut myself cutting up the first chicken until I was totally done and only then because I was bleeding. (It wasn't a bad cut but enough to make me bleed). It didn't hurt at all after it was done.

Another thing I have noticed doing both the cutting the head off (which I have done in the past) and bleeding the birds out which I did this time, was that the birds I did with bleeding out did not get rigor mortis. Not sure if it was the fact that I separated them the night before so I didn't have to chase them or if it was the difference in killing method, or a combination of both, but they were flexible and pliable the whole time processing where the ones we had cut the heads off without bleeding out first were all stiff when it came time to cut them up for the freezer.

I would still love a tub plucker at some point and time because 15 seconds versus 2 or 3 minutes seems so much better lol. I love saving time.

 

[Arielle]

Hi Lily D

Love hearing your details on slaughtering. Very helpful info.

DH bought the supplies to make a plucker, I need to construct it.

Which way does the drill need to turn the plucker. Pulling down on the bird/feathers, or up? ANd I'm assumming you mean that the drill won't loosen it's hold on the plucker shaft if the twist goes with the tightening of the shaft into the drill.

Sure was hoping for some pictures of processing day.

What do you use for packaging the meat for the freezer? I like the idea of cutting up the birds because it takes up less freezer space.

Did you need an apron? ANd did you dry pluck or scald first?

 

[LilyD]

Hi Lily D

Love hearing your details on slaughtering. Very helpful info.

DH bought the supplies to make a plucker, I need to construct it.

Which way does the drill need to turn the plucker. Pulling down on the bird/feathers, or up? ANd I'm assumming you mean that the drill won't loosen it's hold on the plucker shaft if the twist goes with the tightening of the shaft into the drill.

Sure was hoping for some pictures of processing day.

What do you use for packaging the meat for the freezer? I like the idea of cutting up the birds because it takes up less freezer space.

Did you need an apron? ANd did you dry pluck or scald first?

The way we set it up the first time it loosened every time I put the bird up against the plucker. It did pluck the feathers out but would fall out of the drill as well. next time I will set it up so it will be tightening as it works rather than loosening. I did it so that it was pulling the feathers down rather than up with a bucket underneath to catch them as best as possible for less cleanup. Still had some fly aways but less than if I was shooting them in the air.

I use vacuum sealer bags for processing my chickens. I seal them in the gallon size if I am not parting them out and the quart size if I am. I used a large beach towel instead of an apron. It worked better because I could wrap it all the way around the bird and their feet and then hold them in my lap rather than a kill cone. I did the scald and pluck method for plucking and it worked really well. I noticed that the feathers just wiped off. Also the birds were a lot more relaxed after death than others in the past where I cut their heads off so I find I really prefer the bleeding out method better.

I had to put a hold on processing because my son had his braces put on and ended up pretty sick from it. He's in bed with a 102 fever right now and we are trying to get him healthy so I can concentrate on getting things done again. I did the one batch but was hoping to do a second batch plus my turkeys this week. Will have to wait until next week to get that do once he is feeling better and I don't have to sit on top of him lol.

The problem with getting pictures is that with it only being me I would have to take the pictures as I am doing that. I can take pictures of how I set up the area and of the equipment I use but it would be hard to get pictures of me actually using it lol. My family doesn't want to be around when I do it since they wouldn't be able to eat the meat afterwards. I will figure something out to get pictures but it's going to take some brain work on my part lol.

Good luck building your plucker.

 

[Arielle]

Sorry your son is running a fever. I hope it subsides soon.

Don't worry about pictures of you in action-- basic set up maybe helpful. Height of set up, size of barrel, etc. But not until your son is 100%.

My kids helped with plucking geese about 1 1/2 years ago-- I remeber it like it was yesterday. Not an easy process. I decided not to do waterfowl again until I had a better method--my hand were raw and hurt for days after 6 birds.

 

[Yukonchick]

OMG, boy do i need a plucker. My sister in law and I processed 20 chickens yesterday and it took all day. I got nine left to go which i'm gonna let them grow bigger for roasters. Was a long day,

but at least the weather was nice for a change. Not much of a summer up here in the Yukon this year.

 

[Arielle]

OMG, boy do i need a plucker. My sister in law and I processed 20 chickens yesterday and it took all day. I got nine left to go which i'm gonna let them grow bigger for roasters. Was a long day,

but at least the weather was nice for a change. Not much of a summer up here in the Yukon this year.

what breed did you process and how old and how much did they weigh?

 

[LilyD]

Sorry your son is running a fever. I hope it subsides soon.

Don't worry about pictures of you in action-- basic set up maybe helpful. Height of set up, size of barrel, etc. But not until your son is 100%.

My kids helped with plucking geese about 1 1/2 years ago-- I remeber it like it was yesterday. Not an easy process. I decided not to do waterfowl again until I had a better method--my hand were raw and hurt for days after 6 birds.

Okay that won't be a problem hopefully next time I set it up it won't be in the middle of a thunderstorm so I will be able to get some good pictures. They put my son on antibiotics today thinking that the dentist had given him an infection so hopefully he will be much better soon. Right now he isn't eating anything and is dizzy from the fever so is not getting up and doing stuff on his own. Hopefully they will work quick and he will feel better soon.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Good idea to get him anti biotics under the circumstances. His fever should be down within a couple of day I expect. Keep him full of fluids and eating as difficult as that is. Fevers use up a lot of calories. He's your first priority right now.

 

[Yukonchick]

They were Cornish giants. 9 weeks old about 5 lbs each. the feathers came out easy enough as long as i kept the water temp right but it still took time. i killed two at a time. one for me to pluck and the other for my sister in law.

 

[Arielle]

What was the right temp?? I remember the leg skin peeling off. Yic.