Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[lizanne]

I got my my first meat birds this year, and helped process 4 of them last week. They are Cornish X, so I think that makes it way easier. You can't tell them apart, and they are all white, so you don't form as much of an attachment to an individual bird. I'm going to eat chicken either way. I know that the chickens I raised were happy, healthy, and well taken care of. Their short time on this earth was a good one, you can't always say that for chickens you buy at the grocery store. I wouldn't say I just feed them and walk away, I pet them sometimes, and feed them treats. It helps that with the Cornish X, they wont live much past 5 or 6 months, even if I wanted to keep one. When I helped with the processing, I let my dad do the killing part, he uses a box cutter because it's easier to handle and super sharp, I worry about doing it wrong, and making them suffer. Once they are dead, it doesn't bother me anymore. I think the killing part is hard for me, because I always feel the need to help, or fix, or heal other people and animals. It just feels wrong to see them die and not do anything to help them. I helped do all the rest though. It wasn't too bad.

And the chicken was delicious!!

 

[fisherlady]

. For knife (even if I shoot, I still cut to bleed), I use a fillet knife. Thin and very sharp. Boning knife for the rest of the job.

We also prefer a filet knife. We have a large number of them due to our fishing habits, so we always have one sharp and ready to go... and another tip is to have a sharpening tool available when you are butchering numerous birds. Their skin can be tough, but the real culprit is the feathers. They dull a knife in a big hurry. If you aren't good at sharpening your own then have a spare ready to swap out when the first one dulls.

I am seeing a DH trend here, anyone else see it too! LOL

I am thankful that DH is willing to do the deed, but I did the last one because I wanted to make sure I had the experience and I prefer it be equal opportunity since he is as attached to the birds as I am. It was difficult, but I knew the practicality of having the experience so if it ever needs done in a hurry (such as to euthanize and injured bird) I can do it quickly and efficiently myself to prevent the bird from suffering. I would rather be traumatized myself than knowingly not do something when it may cause one of my animals pain in the future.... did that even make sense??
Having done it though, I think I will be able to do it next time we need to butcher without it feeling like such a major hurdle. My biggest concern was failing to be able to do it quickly or finding the right cut. Now that I've done it, that fear has diminished considerably. Now my practical side can take over and let me do what needs done.

I got my my first meat birds this year, and helped process 4 of them last week. They are Cornish X, so I think that makes it way easier. You can't tell them apart, and they are all white, so you don't form as much of an attachment to an individual bird. I'm going to eat chicken either way. I know that the chickens I raised were happy, healthy, and well taken care of. Their short time on this earth was a good one, you can't always say that for chickens you buy at the grocery store. I wouldn't say I just feed them and walk away, I pet them sometimes, and feed them treats. It helps that with the Cornish X, they wont live much past 5 or 6 months, even if I wanted to keep one. When I helped with the processing, I let my dad do the killing part, he uses a box cutter because it's easier to handle and super sharp, I worry about doing it wrong, and making them suffer. Once they are dead, it doesn't bother me anymore. I think the killing part is hard for me, because I always feel the need to help, or fix, or heal other people and animals. It just feels wrong to see them die and not do anything to help them. I helped do all the rest though. It wasn't too bad.

And the chicken was delicious!!

Looks great! And I totally agree with your statement I highlighted in red! To me, every bird we raise and butcher ourselves is one less bird being raised in a commercial farm.

 

[kacklinkelly]

Ahh - finally caught up. Jeez miss just one day and 90 posts to catch up on.

Sally thanks for the idea of continuing the FF - I was so ready to pitch it tonight until I read your post. (back on page 8 UGH)
Still no bubbles - will feed them tomorrow the wet stuff.

I can not get over how much these cornish cross eat and how fast they are growing!.

For those considering raising the cornish cross and don't want to deal with the smell...
I added a couple of hand fills of DE to their bedding and sprinkled some into their food once/week.
Voila - no stinkiness and actually formed stools. No more mess on their "bums". I was getting
so tired of it I was actually giving the dirtiest one a bath every few days just so I didn't have to look at it being
dirty and red. Then I had to stop because it got too comfy with me. Now, no more messy/red butt issue.

Mine are getting bold too. I moved them into an extra large
dog cage (only have 4 of them) from their brooder box. When I opened the door to put food in yesterday
one of those "peckers" flew right at me and landed on my hand. (I wonder if it's the same one thinking
it was "bath" time. I guess they aren't as lazy as I thought they were.

I have also decided to give them some "seasoning from the inside out" treats and have them get used to my hands being there so as
not to freak either of us out on processing day. (or not freak us out so much) They seem to be getting
used to my hands being in and around them and are less spastic when I pick them up to weigh them.
I weigh them once a week.

This thread continues to be a wealth of information at just the right time. I love how that "just happens" here in the
BYC community. You all ROCK.

 

[Elke Beck]

Wait is the wine for me or the bird?

According to Julia Child, both.

Here is a link to a Coq au Vin using a real rooster instead of a fryer http://sunstonefarmandlearn.com/2009/10/25/favorite-rooster-recipes-coq-au-vin/. Coq au vin means Rooster with Wine. You need to use a good quality wine for this recipe, like a nice burgundy.

 

[Elke Beck]

Okay, horror story. On Sunday I was going to do the last three of my CX because as of this Thursday they will be 9 weeks old, and they are getting too big. I put the biggest into my cone, and he barely fit, but he seemed to be calm and staying in so I decided to move forward. I turned away to pick up the knife, and the bird flipped himself out of the cone and onto the garage floor. Did I mention I do my butchering in the garage because my neighbors are close and I don't want to freak anyone out? So this bird smacks down hard on the cement, then stands up and wheezes. I figured I better do it quick, so I put him back into the cone and quickly slit his throat, making sure that I held onto his legs right after I cut him. I fumbled when I set down the knife, so it fell into the garbage bag under the cone that the chicken was bleeding out into. I became a little distracted by having a wicked sharp surgical steel knife in play, so I let go of the chicken, which was almost dead so, of course, had a major spasm and flopped out of the cone onto the floor...again! Blood was splattered over an area about 8 feet in diameter. I quickly grabbed the bird and jammed him into the garbage bag as he did the death flailing they do. He managed to get his wings tangled up in the garbage bag. Finally, he stopped moving, so I untangled him from the bag and put him back in the cone, then, as he was dripping blood over me, I was able to fish the knife out of the bag. The knife had cut a slit in the side of the bag on its way down, so there was blood leaking from that. I finished that bird up, granted the other two a stay of execution, and spent about an hour cleaning up the mess.

I am sure that one day I will look back on this and laugh, but that day is not today.

 

[Wax Myrtle]

WaxM I want to invite myself to dinner. What time should I be there?

I am reading everyone's suggestions and learning so much. Thanks for sharing and thanks for starting this thread Sally.

P.S. My cooking skills are not as bad as I make them out to be but pretty close. I prefer baking.

LOL, come on by any time, any of y'all. Gimme a day or two heads up via PM, tho, please, so I can clean up the school clutter (and vacuum up the confetti the kids like to make...) Be warned, though, my house is...very lived in. (Oh, and you must like cats! And maybe be prepared to take one home with you...)

I have been reading again..... yeah me, go figure

anyways.....

Jean you made slitting the throat look so easy, but I keep reading horror stories about people starting and trying to slit the throat and failing! saying its thick and you they couldn't get through enough to make the bleed, and some even had to run for a sharp scalpel!

also some even use a hatchet and the darn thing bounces off the neck of the bird! 

Anyone have any horror stories to share?

I won't share any of my horror stories, except to warn you that everyone is likely to have one. Best advice I can offer on the knife is sharp, sharp, sharp. One with a point. The jugular is deep than you'd expect - bleeding out should not be a matter of minutes, but a matter of seconds. When you cut, make haste slowly. One or two extra seconds making sure you hit the mark is harder for you, but better for the bird.

 

[daviechik]

Here's my advice. Firstly, be sure you want to do this. Sounds like most of us in this thread either have, or plan to, butcher chickens. Don't let us pressure you into something you don't want to do.

However, if you really want to do this, set aside a whole half day to process just one bird. Just one. Do that one, force yourself to get through it, and then stop for the day. Don't try to do another one that day. Make sure you take care of yourself afterwards. Have a sympathetic friend you can call. Eat something non-chicken, or even non-meat.

Once you've done it and have some perspective, you'll know if you can do the rest. And if you can't, you can probably pay someone else to process them.

I don't kill mine, either. My husband kills them, I pluck them, he guts them, and I part them out the way I want to. But I don't like doing it, and we're going to pay someone else to do it this year. There's no shame in saying that something's just not for you, especially after you've tried it. Trying it just once gives you more experience than 99% of Americans. But if it makes you sick--then just don't do it. We'll all still talk to you! <hugs>

Erika

great advice, thank you. We DO plan to do this... Ive got 25 birds that are already 2lbs and i know they cant live forever nor would i want to feed them that long, its getting expensive lol!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I got my my first meat birds this year, and helped process 4 of them last week. They are Cornish X, so I think that makes it way easier. You can't tell them apart, and they are all white, so you don't form as much of an attachment to an individual bird. I'm going to eat chicken either way. I know that the chickens I raised were happy, healthy, and well taken care of. Their short time on this earth was a good one, you can't always say that for chickens you buy at the grocery store. I wouldn't say I just feed them and walk away, I pet them sometimes, and feed them treats. It helps that with the Cornish X, they wont live much past 5 or 6 months, even if I wanted to keep one. When I helped with the processing, I let my dad do the killing part, he uses a box cutter because it's easier to handle and super sharp, I worry about doing it wrong, and making them suffer. Once they are dead, it doesn't bother me anymore. I think the killing part is hard for me, because I always feel the need to help, or fix, or heal other people and animals. It just feels wrong to see them die and not do anything to help them. I helped do all the rest though. It wasn't too bad.

And the chicken was delicious!!

and it does look YUM! Thank you!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Ahh - finally caught up. Jeez miss just one day and 90 posts to catch up on.

Sally thanks for the idea of continuing the FF - I was so ready to pitch it tonight until I read your post. (back on page 8 UGH)
Still no bubbles - will feed them tomorrow the wet stuff.

I can not get over how much these cornish cross eat and how fast they are growing!.

For those considering raising the cornish cross and don't want to deal with the smell...
I added a couple of hand fills of DE to their bedding and sprinkled some into their food once/week.
Voila - no stinkiness and actually formed stools. No more mess on their "bums". I was getting
so tired of it I was actually giving the dirtiest one a bath every few days just so I didn't have to look at it being
dirty and red. Then I had to stop because it got too comfy with me. Now, no more messy/red butt issue.

Mine are getting bold too. I moved them into an extra large
dog cage (only have 4 of them) from their brooder box. When I opened the door to put food in yesterday
one of those "peckers" flew right at me and landed on my hand. (I wonder if it's the same one thinking
it was "bath" time. I guess they aren't as lazy as I thought they were.

I have also decided to give them some "seasoning from the inside out" treats and have them get used to my hands being there so as
not to freak either of us out on processing day. (or not freak us out so much) They seem to be getting
used to my hands being in and around them and are less spastic when I pick them up to weigh them.
I weigh them once a week.

This thread continues to be a wealth of information at just the right time. I love how that "just happens" here in the
BYC community. You all ROCK.

Like I said, I also had trouble KEEPING FF going, but adding that hot water and alternating buckets ever other day has been awesome, and now that I can feel what thickness to make the ff I can let it stew and not strain, STRAINING it was the time sucker for me! hated that! so after I make it like a the oatmeal, I know its working because that eve already it has puffed up about 4 inches in the bucket, only when I stir can I smell it brewing and then I get big golps of air release from it.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: oh cool Thanks! I need to buy some big pots I see!