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

[Amina]

I forgot about that one.

You can take your knife to a butcher shop and they will sharpen it. Many people use a scalpel or fish filet knives.

Thanks for the advice about the butcher shop! I will look into that for next time.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks for the advice about the butcher shop! I will look into that for next time.

Grocery store meat departments will usually sharpen your knife too.

 

[hennible]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-eviscerating-cutting-up-your-chicken-graphic
Here's a great how to thread for processing birds. It's got how to peel feet and clean gizzards with pictures.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I'm sorry we didn't share that little goodie beforehand.  I know I always try to remember to mention it when people are preparing for their first kill.  Noise from air being pushed through the syrinx (bird vocal cords) of a dead bird can be upsetting even if you've heard it before (it is for me, at least).   I think some of the how-to instructions and videos try to gloss over the parts of slaughter that are upsetting.  I don't know why, really.  Some of the good processing videos will not film the death throes and until you've seen them, you don't realize how strong they are.  For a person like me, who is not from a farming or hunting/background it can be an unpleasant surprise.  I'm all for no surprises.

Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned in the instructions videos/articles is how much more difficult it is to process an older bird.  Gutting and cutting up a 2-3 month old Cornish-X is not the same as processing a free ranging cockerel older than 6 months.  Everything is stronger.  I was shocked at how much brute strength it took to skin my 11-month-old cockerels.  Even separating the crop from the neck was quite the challenge.

he was very tough to get through as he was about 8 months old and free ranges all the time. Maybe others will seem easier next time. We definitely need to find a better way to kill them though. That was so hard. I'm feeling much better today though. I haven't cried once and it just looks like chicken in the cooler lol. Question though, when you pack them to cool them, how do you do it? The book we have said to place the carcass in cold water in a cooler and change the water every couple hours until rigor passes. Or do you package it then put it in the cooler?

 

[ronott1]

he was very tough to get through as he was about 8 months old and free ranges all the time. Maybe others will seem easier next time. We definitely need to find a better way to kill them though. That was so hard. I'm feeling much better today though. I haven't cried once and it just looks like chicken in the cooler lol. Question though, when you pack them to cool them, how do you do it? The book we have said to place the carcass in cold water in a cooler and change the water every couple hours until rigor passes. Or do you package it then put it in the cooler?

I just toss them into the fridge.

It can take more than two days for an old rooster like yours to come out of rigor which would be silly for an ice chest.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Well, I killed the first two of them, and those went fairly well, although they did let out a small squawk when I did the cuts. They were also squawking and fussing about being put upside down, me holding their heads prior to the cut, etc. So I do think they reacted to the cuts, but they reacted to everything else, too. :/

After the second one, I was so upset that I asked my husband to do the third. That's the one where the cut was too much to the front. He did ok with our first cockerel cull a few months ago, so I thought this one would go ok.

We still have four ~9 week old Marans x EE cockerels. Before it's their turn, I'll have to figure out what I can do better. And maybe I should only do two in a day, since I was so upset after the first two today.

I wonder if you rushed the process and didn't let them settle down first. They need to be hanging and relaxed before you do anything. If they are not relaxed, they will be fighting their capture, they will be hyper vigilant and struggle when you do anything with them.

I wonder if an older bird, especially a cockerel, takes a bit longer to settle hanging upside down. My feeling is that older birds, are just smarter (more life experiences) and more prepared to control their environment--i. e. struggle or try to escape.. I think younger birds are more passive.

I don't use a cone. (I watched a Joe Salatin video and freaked at the racket made by the 6 or 8 chickens he had bleeding out in the metal cones.) I have a thick cotton rope that I make into a slip knot for their ankles and hang them from a tree branch. It isn't a normal rope you buy in a store--it was part of a parrot toy--but it is really soft and thick so won't hurt the bird's ankles. I hang them by their feet while both the bird and I calm ourselves. I won't do anything unless we are both really calm. If I pull the skin tight around the throat and if they struggle at all, I let go and wait.

I have never noticed that they react to the actual cutting of the neck. My vet, an avian vet who wanted to be a poultry pathologist until he realized he liked chickens too much to only deal with dead ones, said I could put some sort of local anesthetic cream/ointment (I can't remember the name of the drug) on their neck before I cut and the meat would be fine for consumption. I never have, partly because I know that when I cut myself, the cut really doesn't start to hurt for a long time unless there is some trauma other than the cut itself.

As far as the sharpness of your knife, did you test it on paper? You should be able to slice through the paper easily with no effort. A dull knife will grab/dent the edge of the paper before it cuts. I can't describe this very well, does someone else have a link to a picture or better description of what I'm trying (and failing) to get across?

I suspect your knife was too dull, but that might be unrelated to the crying out.

How did you sharpen it? What kind of a knife did you use? I got a lot of advice about knives from hunters/farmers and went to a hunting store and bought a knife that although really sharp just wasn't as good as I wanted so I replaced it. They don't stay sharp long. I'll buy a new knife for my next cull and send the two I have off to be sharpened professionally. Even a brand-new expensive knife will need some work to make it really sharp even though it has never been used. I change knives when I process so the knife I use to bleed them out is not dulled in any way by cutting tendons, ligaments or nicking cartilage and bone.

Hope that helps. Just be assured, that even if you didn't do as good a job as you had hoped it was a kazillion times better and kinder and less stressful for your chicken than at any commercial slaughter facility.

 

[jajeanpierre]

he was very tough to get through as he was about 8 months old and free ranges all the time. Maybe others will seem easier next time. We definitely need to find a better way to kill them though. That was so hard. I'm feeling much better today though. I haven't cried once and it just looks like chicken in the cooler lol. Question though, when you pack them to cool them, how do you do it? The book we have said to place the carcass in cold water in a cooler and change the water every couple hours until rigor passes. Or do you package it then put it in the cooler?

What do you mean, "he was very tough to get through"?

You said you definitely need to find a better way to kill them. What didn't you like? (Maybe you've explained, but I think there are two first-timers commenting now and I am confused.)

Sometimes if you share your experiences in detail, the more experienced of this group will have a good understanding of where you are having a problem and can make suggestions. The novices and not-quite-so-novice amongst the group (me!) will learn how to avoid pitfalls even if we haven't experienced those problems yet.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What do you mean, "he was very tough to get through"?

You said you definitely need to find a better way to kill them.  What didn't you like?   (Maybe you've explained, but I think there are two first-timers commenting now and I am confused.)

Sometimes if you share your experiences in detail, the more experienced of this group will have a good understanding of where you are having a problem and can make suggestions.  The novices and not-quite-so-novice amongst the group (me!) will learn how to avoid pitfalls even if we haven't experienced those problems yet.

 

tough to get through as in the knife was hard to get through him but we need a sharper knife. It was sharp enough to get the job done but still, it took forever. To kill him, my husband used a hatchet with his head stretched across a log. The problem wad, his head didn't come off on the first blow and it was traumatizing for me and I felt beyond horrible. I'd really rather use a kill cone and learn to cut the veins instead. I want to make sure they die quickly with as lurks pain as possible and I feel like I failed him in that aspect. Don't get me wrong, hubby, got him killed very quickly but for me, it seemed so much worse than it should've been.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I just toss them into the fridge.

It can take more than two days for an old rooster like yours to come out of rigor which would be silly for an ice chest.

ok but do I wrap him in anything or just set him on a pan to rest? Do I cover the pan or just let the air to him. I want to do this right lol.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

ok but do I wrap him in anything or just set him on a pan to rest? Do I cover the pan or just let the air to him. I want to do this right lol.

I like to losely cover them with saran wrap.

I have left them uncovered before and I freaked when they discolored, thought I had ruined them. Once I ran them under water they were fine though! No right or wrong way everyone does it a bit differently!