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

[carolinagirl58]

We butchered our 18 eight-week-old Cornish rock x chicks on Friday. my hubby was in charge of killing (need bigger cones next time....they barely fit). Once the were done bleeding, he and a friend washed them, scalded and then put them in the plucker (Whiz bang DIY man do I LOVE that thing) and then brought them to be. We were done in just over two hours. It actually look me longer yesterday to cut them all up and vacuum seal them for the freezer. The largest was nearly 10 pounds. the only thing that went to waste was the heads and feathers. The feet, necks, back, and breast bones/ribs are frozen for now, but will be made into stock and canned. The livers were removed and cleaned up. We ate half of them on friday and the rest are frozen. They were delicious! All of the guts, wing tips, skin and bones were frozen in meal sized packages for my livestock guardian dogs. I love when nothing goes to waste.

 

[fisherlady]

I found plucking kind of amusing.. It wasn't that bad at all. Took roughly 5 minutes a bird. The worst part of it all was dunking it for me. They smelled, and we didn't have a big enough pot.

We use a large cooler with hot water (about 110 degrees) with some dawn and a cup of bleach to wash the birds after they are done bleeding out. It is not hot enough to steam so the smell is drastically reduced, and it rinses the worst of the muck off of them. Then we put them into the scald water. There is still some smell, but not nearly as bad.

We butchered our 18 eight-week-old Cornish rock x chicks on Friday. my hubby was in charge of killing (need bigger cones next time....they barely fit). Once the were done bleeding, he and a friend washed them, scalded and then put them in the plucker (Whiz bang DIY man do I LOVE that thing) and then brought them to be. We were done in just over two hours. It actually look me longer yesterday to cut them all up and vacuum seal them for the freezer. The largest was nearly 10 pounds. the only thing that went to waste was the heads and feathers. The feet, necks, back, and breast bones/ribs are frozen for now, but will be made into stock and canned. The livers were removed and cleaned up. We ate half of them on friday and the rest are frozen. They were delicious! All of the guts, wing tips, skin and bones were frozen in meal sized packages for my livestock guardian dogs. I love when nothing goes to waste.

Do you grind up the left overs you give your dogs? Or how do you prepare it for them?

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote: When I prepared the meat for the freezer, some of the chunks of skin were pretty large so I cut them in half. Otherwise, I don't do anything to prep the scraps other than just dump it in their bowls. Raw chicken bones are digestible and won't hurt the dogs like cooked bones will.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I found plucking kind of amusing.. It wasn't that bad at all. Took roughly 5 minutes a bird. The worst part of it all was dunking it for me. They smelled, and we didn't have a big enough pot.

We did too! Heck with 3 kids and DH it was a fight for pulling them out! DH and I had to step aside! LOL

I did the bleach dip swoosh wash in a 5 gal bucket and then rinse with hose before they went into the pot, and they didn't stink a bit!
Well Well worth that 2 minute addition to processing for sure! No poop chicken smells at all!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

We butchered our 18 eight-week-old Cornish rock x chicks on Friday. my hubby was in charge of killing (need bigger cones next time....they barely fit). Once the were done bleeding, he and a friend washed them, scalded and then put them in the plucker (Whiz bang DIY man do I LOVE that thing) and then brought them to be. We were done in just over two hours. It actually look me longer yesterday to cut them all up and vacuum seal them for the freezer. The largest was nearly 10 pounds. the only thing that went to waste was the heads and feathers. The feet, necks, back, and breast bones/ribs are frozen for now, but will be made into stock and canned. The livers were removed and cleaned up. We ate half of them on friday and the rest are frozen. They were delicious! All of the guts, wing tips, skin and bones were frozen in meal sized packages for my livestock guardian dogs. I love when nothing goes to waste.

see that's the issue we had as well, but I used a pc of tin and ductaped it, so it sucked to try to tin snip it at the last minute and we had to do so several times! while holding the poor roo upsidedown and I was panicking.

Holy wow 10 lbs! now that's a meal for sure!

I had no clue dogs could eat fresh bones!

 

[fisherlady]

When I prepared the meat for the freezer, some of the chunks of skin were pretty large so I cut them in half. Otherwise, I don't do anything to prep the scraps other than just dump it in their bowls. Raw chicken bones are digestible and won't hurt the dogs like cooked bones will.

Thanks! Guess I am used to the warnings about the bones breaking into shards, but that would be the cooking that causes that I guess...

I have given them the skin frequently... they love it as a treat mixed in with their regular food.

 

[aoxa]

We did too! Heck with 3 kids and DH it was a fight for pulling them out! DH and I had to step aside! LOL

I did the bleach dip swoosh wash in a 5 gal bucket and then rinse with hose before they went into the pot, and they didn't stink a bit!
Well Well worth that 2 minute addition to processing for sure! No poop chicken smells at all!

We just didn't want any of our meat to have any chemicals like bleach or dish soap. Probably would have been worth it to avoid the smell though

It was more the wet dog smell (or chicken smell ) that got me

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: well I figured it was on the skin as its before you cut into the bird and we rinsed afterwards and numerous times during processing them as well. bleach evaporates and the kids drink more in the pool and water at school than they would ever get from me cleaning a bird, so I went for it. well worth it too.

 

[carolinagirl58]

I put a bit of natural dish soap in the scald water. And I hosed the birds off really well before they got scalded. I figured no matter what we did, it was still bound to be cleaner than factory processing. When I butchered them, I was really careful to not cut into the vent. Also we fasted the chickens for probably 12 hours prior to help keep the fecal matter down. I think it really helped.

 

[LemonMeringue]

Congrats on the trial run success!!!!

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!

Thanks for measuring your cone! The weekend is fast approaching!