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

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

I still have the 5 cockerels in the fridge resting. I should bag them and put them in the freezer today. You know...black feathers ARE more difficult to remove/pluck!

 

[Kassaundra]

The hatchet method is violent, and messy. You will have blood splatter on you. You will have to hold them while they flap. I don't like this method for myself doing the killing as I'm a terrible swing, but it's what works for DH. If he's willing to do the deed, then I'm gonna let him. I do the rest of the processing myself. The killing part is certainly the hardest. I botched my first kill and had to swing again, which was awful.

I have watched the cone method, and they still go through the death throes, but it's more contained in the cone. You pretty much just see the feet moving. If you put a trash can under the cone with water in it, it will catch the blood and keep it from clotting - it's easier to clean up this way. Less blood splatter, but you have to be good with a sharp knife. If I have to kill birds myself, I plan to switch to this method.

I have no experience at all with the broomstick method. I found meaties to be easier to dispatch. They get so huge, eat so much and poop like crazy, that it is a relief to get them in the freezer.

I prefer to let the blood clot, easier to feed to the flock w/ the rest of the offal.

 

[hennible]

Offal, what is offal?

 

[ronott1]

Offal, what is offal?

innards and such--kidney, liver and etc.

 

[hennible]

Thank you ronott1

 

[Kassaundra]

I use a pellet gun to the head at point blank while they are restrained in a killing cone. The pellet does it's job, the bird is brain dead, and then I slice the throat for faster bleed out. I don't "fussy cut" on either side I slice across the whole neck to the bone, while holding slight tension on the head. I catch the blood in a bag, once it has congealed I feed it w/ the offal to the flock. Any part not used gets buried in the garden to nourish the ground.

When I first started I had a hard time w/ the hands on methods most people chose, if I had to do those methods to start I NEVER would have. (I tried them w/ a few mercy kills that had to be done and was horrified) I would have become a vegetarian before doing them. The gun is a way to distance yourself from the kill. I still use the gun as my preferred way, but now that I have been doing it for about a year or so I could do the more hands on ways.

I only do a few at a time, kill right in my garage and process in my kitchen sink. I live in town and have no privacy fence, I live in the south and in a rural area where people are more used to where food really comes from, but do not want to borrow trouble, so the less in people's face I am about it the better.

 

[CrazyTalk]

I agree that the chicken barely seems to notice cutting the neck. I think the trick is to have the skin pulled really tight so you get a deep clean cut.

This is one of those little things that it takes a couple times to figure out - and nobody ever remembers to tell the newbies (and is good advice). Tight skin also makes it easier to avoid the feathers, which are the big obstacle for making quick clean deep cuts.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I just wanted to report back in on how our first chicken dinner went after all the help I got here. I brined it and roasted it. It was very delicious, but a little wilder than what I expected, and it's legs were a lot longer which made eating it a little strange. My younger son who wanted to help with the processing, but wanted to let the chicken run around decapitated (the whole story is available in this thread) thought it was delicious, and ate a lot. My older son was horrified and could not believe I would kill something I raised from a baby and then eat it. He refused to even eat the potatoes that were cooked with it and had bread and green beans for dinner. My husband was a trooper but I could tell he was a little creeped out.

I left the leftover in the fridge for about a day and a half, and then deboned it. Tossed the bones and vacuum sealed the meat to make chicken and dumplings later...but after the bones were out of site, I stole a bite, and it was fantastic! I think the lesson in this is that the chicken tastes better when the shape of it is gone so you are not trying to remember what it looked like...or to wait a while to eat the first one.

We had fast food bought fried chicken a couple of nights ago, and it was just nasty to me. films of fat everywhere and meat that seemed over processed and unnatural and sticky. That poor restaurant bird gave it's life for me to say that about it. Now, THAT's the real guilt people should have.

I am dreading the next processing day. Who wouldn't? But the key word is 'next'.

That first time it the roughest and I am glad we did soup for our first bird. I roasted my first solo kill and it was harder to eat some of my favorite bits, like the tail (I managed to invision removing the oil gland as I took a bite

). And I do feel guilty for eating factory chicken!

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes making soup or casserole from the first one is easier. I also after brining put them in the freezer until the memory isn't as "fresh" or until a have a couple and don't know who is who.

 

[ronott1]

This is one of those little things that it takes a couple times to figure out - and nobody ever remembers to tell the newbies (and is good advice). Tight skin also makes it easier to avoid the feathers, which are the big obstacle for making quick clean deep cuts.

The last one I processed was last years breeding rooster. He was a Crele Penedescnca and they have huge combs and wattles. It was tough getting to the exact place to do the cut.

He was very tasty though.