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

OK ,,,,,here we go ,,,,,,,,,,8 wk , Cornish X....started because we had a couple with leg issues.
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CLEAN Cones

DIRTY CONES
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THIS IS WHAT WE USED (KEEP IT SIMPLE)
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My wife and her friend plucked and cleaned cavities.(no plucking pic ,but plucking was a heck a a lot easier than I was expecting 5 to 10 minute easy per bird> I made it out to be way tougher than it was,,.)

Request from a trapper friend<<<


HAD EVERYONE INVOLVED (I was proud he did didn't call P>E>T>A )

Kept the 2.5 yr old entertained with Ten Speed ( Jap) And Brown Shoes (Seabright). Can you guess which one is Brown Shoes?

OK here we go trash can was were we plucked,,,used bailing wire around legs then wrapped it around a nail. hung down with easy plucking feathers strait to the can.( Yep that is me)
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Cones were on the opposite side,Kept things separate the best we could for cleanliness.
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Started with 28 processed 14 birds in 5 hrs 3 people with 4 kids running around 2.5 yr old 3yr old, and 2- eight yr olds...
We stopped because we wanted the other to get much bigger than these. Most were in the 3.5 to 4.5 lbs.
Will pour the feed on the next two weeks for the rest of these. Wife wants me to get maybe 10 more for the the rest of the summer. 17 are already sold we got friend wanting more.
Will stagger next yr. Thinking of ten @ the first of every month next yr.March <April<May
Harvest 10 on June ,July & August...
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Sir
Like I stated before I made more of this than it should have been ,,after processing moose ,caribou..this was a walk in the park,,Just plan it out,,KEEP IT SAFE<<,,
Peace My Peeps,,,,,
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AWESOME! I found plucking easier than cleaning as well! awesome! btw are they bottles of peroxide on the table?
 
last batch of them I did I skined em all and then boiled em till meat falls off bones .. pick the bones clean and fire up the pressure canner. take the meat and can it all up then take the broth that is made from boiling and can that up also .
awesome!
 
Sally, the skin drew up because most of the fat in a chicken is in the skin. As the fat rendered out the skin shrank. Also most home grown birds don't come close to being as plump as commercial raised birds. Overall I think you did rather well. Just try next time to give your chicken a more even Sun tan.
I was thinking spray tan! LOL!!!! I also cut the fat off the undergut, (new word eh? ) I didn't know I should keep all that crap on it! I was seriously amazed at the taste! We actually did a bird last week, yup one single brahma roo, and it went well. Now I don't have any roos! jk I have a few yet!
 
Hey all! I am super grateful for all the wisdom I have gained from reading this thread!!! So a big THANK YOU!!!! to all contributors.

Yesterday we butchered our old lady flock of 6 :( We had a few ups and downs and have some improvements to make to our process. But overall it was very successful thanks to lots of reading, preparing and video watching. I found that I am really great at hand plucking (after we figured out that we didn't have any place suitable to attach our drill plucker that we made). The feathers came out easily by the handfuls!

Anyway the old ladies were our practice run. We have 20 CX that are 7weeks now. One change I want to make to our process is to use a killing cone(or 2) instead of using the slip knotted string around the ankles. I have found some orange traffic cones here locally at the Home Depot. They have 3 sizes and I am wondering what is your 2cents..........WHAT SIZE TO YOU LIKE TO USE???? They have 12in, 18in, and 28in. I'm pretty sure the 12inch are TOO SMALL. So 18in or 28in???

We think the biggest roos will be ready for the freezer by next Monday. I think we will end up doing 6-8 of the biggest.......then go from there. So far they all are looking good. But if any of them start going down then at least I have a handle on how to get the job done!
AWESOME!!! It pays to do your research doesn't it!
Again, I agree with the feather plucking, If you have the perfect temp they fly out! ummm sorta

I will let someone else answer about cones and Cornish since I don't have that breed, but I can tell you we screwed up and cut our "head" hole too small and I was holding a roo upsidedown forever (seemed) while the hole was recut THREE TIMES!!! ugggggg I posted a pic of the cone in the end with a 5 gal bucket, you may get size est from that pic on the thread.

Sounds like you have work to do!
 
Hey all! I am super grateful for all the wisdom I have gained from reading this thread!!! So a big THANK YOU!!!! to all contributors.

Yesterday we butchered our old lady flock of 6 :( We had a few ups and downs and have some improvements to make to our process. But overall it was very successful thanks to lots of reading, preparing and video watching. I found that I am really great at hand plucking (after we figured out that we didn't have any place suitable to attach our drill plucker that we made). The feathers came out easily by the handfuls!

Anyway the old ladies were our practice run. We have 20 CX that are 7weeks now. One change I want to make to our process is to use a killing cone(or 2) instead of using the slip knotted string around the ankles. I have found some orange traffic cones here locally at the Home Depot. They have 3 sizes and I am wondering what is your 2cents..........WHAT SIZE TO YOU LIKE TO USE???? They have 12in, 18in, and 28in. I'm pretty sure the 12inch are TOO SMALL. So 18in or 28in???

We think the biggest roos will be ready for the freezer by next Monday. I think we will end up doing 6-8 of the biggest.......then go from there. So far they all are looking good. But if any of them start going down then at least I have a handle on how to get the job done!
Congrats on the trial run success!!!!
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We use the cones... DH just went out and measured ours... the wide opening is 9", the narrow end opening is 4" and the overall length is 17". I can tell you that they work very well for average roos and meaties up to about 8 lbs. If your meaties are heavier then I suggest a cone with the narrow end opening of a bit more than that. We intend to cut an inch or so off of the narrow end to allow for the neck opening to be a bit wider because a lot of our meaties are way too tight of a fit.
The nice thing about the traffic cones is that the plastic can be cut much easier to allow for adjustments.
I would suggest having two available at least. And maybe a 3rd of a different size to allow for the skinnier heritage type birds rather than the meaties.
The Cornish X are not only heavy, their weight is very compacted... they don't have the height or body length that many other breeds do and because they are built so stoutly they require a bit shorter of a cone with a wider neck opening or a steeper angle to the cone to allow their body to fit better.

Good luck on your meatie processing!
 
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AWESOME! I found plucking easier than cleaning as well! awesome! btw are they bottles of peroxide on the table?
Yes my homeschooling wonderful wife is a stickler for chemicals .We use no bleach and no soap in the scald pot
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Mine smelled ok,,,
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I grew up in De Queen Ark. Chicken hatchery
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,chicken houses(broilers)
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and
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processing plant in my hometown..So the scalding smelt like I was home,,Buhahha
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