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

[Sally Sunshine]

You know after seeing him having issues with that bird staying still in the video
I am wondering if the washable rubber shelf liner would work good for processing and precut you can switch it out several times too.

 

[fisherlady]

What a great idea! How did you find them to donate! what a fantastic Idea!

We found this group because we were friends with the fellow in Erie who started it... we camp and fish in Erie all summer for walleye and perch, and often go up there for 'get togethers' on the water or even just at local pavilions with a large group of folks who we know from up that way. Supporting the Disabled Vets was just a no brainer when the group got organized.

Contact your closest Vet hospital, find out if they have an outreach person, or someone in their PR department and ask if they have a group local to you. Project Healing Waters is a national group, so there may be a group near you and I know there is one in Baltimore. There are other similar groups, so when you check at the Vet's hospital see if there are any other local groups to you.
You can also contact any local 'fly shops' or bait and tackle shops to ask them if they know of any local groups. There may even be Boy Scouts or local Explorer groups who do fly tying projects.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: Will do! thank you!

 

[katbriar]

You know after seeing him having issues with that bird staying still in the video I am wondering if the washable rubber shelf liner would work good for processing and precut you can switch it out several times too.

That's a great idea. Several squares of that stuff precut for processing day and in in the washing machine at the end. Good thought!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Could you please explain what you meant in your last sentence, Chiquita. I got the "wuss" part.

I had an interesting afternoon when I went to a new feed store and spoke to the two young owners about, what else, killing chickens. They talked to me at great length about how they kill chickens and I think I know where I can improve.

One uses a hatchet. He holds the chicken up by its legs until it relaxes, lays it head down on a board and does one short, quick chop with a hatchet at the back of the neck (always the back of the neck closest to the spinal cord). He was a big, strong young man and could deliver a good hard chop without a big swing. He pointed out to me that the more force I would apply to my swing, the less accuracy. We talked about accuracy and he said that it took practice and more practice, that I should practice using the hatchet many, many times before I even thought about using it on a chicken.

The other man cut their heads off with a knife. He hung the chicken up in a cone, applied gentle traction on the neck and cut hard where you would cut just the carotid artery and he could cut the head right off, even older roosters. He said that the trick was to have a really sharp knife, much sharper than my knives probably are even though they test sharp. You try to go between the vertebrae. Another thing he pointed out was that you have to cut away from yourself. I had been drawing the blade towards me. I can apply more force by cutting away with the added benefit that if I make a mistake, I won't disembowel myself.

It was the first time someone talked to me in person about killing chickens humanely. They had their pocket knives on hand to demonstrate. It was very informative.

I'll get my knives sharpened (I think they are pretty good, but why not make sure?) and will use more force while cutting away from myself.

My husband taught our 14 year old son the same way. He took practice swings with the VERY sharp hatchet before we brought the bird down. My husband held his hand that was holding the bird, to make sure he didn't move it and lose a hand. He got all the way through with one hit. Not a sound out of it. It does take practice to get it right. My DH has botched a few kills. One bird moved when he swung the hatchet, and he nicked its neck. He couldn't take another swing without losing a finger, so he had no choice but to let him bleed out. Now he can do it and it's quick and over.

ALWAYS cut away from yourself!!!!!

Hi, we just processed 6 Cornish with 9 more to go this weekend. It was hard as I had never deliberately killed a living creature before. After exploring all the youtube video''s and reading here at BYC what really helped was that I had a hen who had a broken leg. I felt very bad for her and after sitting doing some soul searching realized that I would be helping her, by ending her life I ended her suffering. It was hard until I looked at her unable to walk and I knew it was the right thing. I held her for a bit put a rope around her feet, placed her on an old dog run wire and as she hung down there was no struggle just a sad acceptence for us both. I think it was also easier since this breed will die of health complications. This experience has taught me that the knife must be SHARP, they do struggle a bit when placed upside down, and the after "tremors" and "wingflaps" should not be "helped" by your touching of the bird, it brings no comfort for the bird. Don't be afraid to do what you are about to do - don't hesitate- be decisive or the animal suffers. I have trouble with my hands and am weak so I didn't feel the broomstick method would be quick, also eliminated the axe, no way I could "bash it's brain in". So I choose cutting the jugular on both the left and the right side, cutting away from my body. There was not that much blood and I had a garden tote lined with a garbage bag under them, the first hen died in less than 3 seconds! In all the others death occured in less than 5 to 10 seconds (less with a sure hand). I have meat on my table that will nourish my family and animals, I am grateful and thankful. I am also humbled. I will say the anticipation of killing something was actually way worse than the doing, again maybe because I felt I had to do it and an unexpected rain storm allowed no more time for my OCD (CDO for those truly affected, lol) and morbid thinking to kick in to high gear. I also know that I truly will eliminate the need for someone else to kill for me if I do it myself or go vegan... I like meat so I have to do it. To anyone who is about to undertake this - it's okay and you DID it yourself from egg or chick to the table with God watching you harvest his gifts - God Bless.

Yes, and they have a happy life and sunshine while they are with us. I ate grocery store chicken the other night (one that was in the back of the freezer) and I kept thinking, this tastes funny. I'm now used to the taste of my own birds.

To avoid the after tremors and wingflaps I tape their wings to their body and they bleed out just fine.
I also hang them from a fence and lower their head into a plastic lined trash can to catch the blood.

We have a plastic bucket we put them in upside down. Then we just carry the bucket to where I finish processing them.

I have been searching the thread for some time now, I know we had a big discussion on skinning and someone posted links and videos, for the life of me I cannot pull in a search, and I Cant remember who posted the links to search via posts that way!!

HELP we have a blue partridge and a splash partridge that are going to be done this way this weekend, I want to know what I am doing! My older sons want the feathers for fly tying so I will salt the skins for them and put them to good use. They told me just a sadle alone is 20+ bucks! I had no idea! I told them they can gladly use them! we toss the feathers anyways!

I don't have a video, but I skinned my roosters last time I processed. It was very quick after the first one. The first one was painfully slow because I didn't know what I was doing. I did 6 birds in 2 hours.

Cut the feet off, then cut the wing tips off at the joints. Make a slit from the neck area, down the breast side through the skin. Peel it away and over the wings and legs (this part will take some force) By this time, you have the back still attached and down by the tail still attached. Peel off the back down towards the tail. Leave it attached to the tail, then flip it over and do the gutting. Then you can clip off the tail, guts and skin/feathers all at once.

 

[Coralietg]

This thread has been so invaluable to me, thank you everyone. I'm starting to get quite nervous. We have several Cornish Cross roosters that are over 6lbs now, and I'm starting to worry about them having problems so we decided we would process some of them when my partner gets back from his 48 hour shift (Friday). I think I need to write up a cheat sheet with all the steps, and we still need some way to boil the water for scalding. Also some kind of cone to bleed them out in.

I've never taken the life of anything other than spiders and mosquitos, but I'm a renegade ex-Vegan who now eats steak rarer than my partner does

We have a source for pastured beef, but couldn't afford the cost of pastured chicken with how much we eat. This was a step I chose to take and I feel like I am "cheating" by putting the whole killing part onto my partner.

 

[jajeanpierre]

We have skinned numerous roosters for their feathers also... we help support a Fly Fishing group for disabled vets (Project Healing Waters, Erie chapter) We donate the feathers to them... they aren't the super expensive, super fine quality ones which cost a fortune at a fly shop, but they do good for making flies and even DH has caught quite a few fish using our rooster's feathers.

I never thought of that. I'll look them up. Thank you.

 

[Happy Chooks]

This thread has been so invaluable to me, thank you everyone. I'm starting to get quite nervous. We have several Cornish Cross roosters that are over 6lbs now, and I'm starting to worry about them having problems so we decided we would process some of them when my partner gets back from his 48 hour shift (Friday). I think I need to write up a cheat sheet with all the steps, and we still need some way to boil the water for scalding. Also some kind of cone to bleed them out in.

I've never taken the life of anything other than spiders and mosquitos, but I'm a renegade ex-Vegan who now eats steak rarer than my partner does

We have a source for pastured beef, but couldn't afford the cost of pastured chicken with how much we eat. This was a step I chose to take and I feel like I am "cheating" by putting the whole killing part onto my partner.

Do you have a water bath canner? It's the perfect size for scalding. Add a little dishsoap to the water and get it to boiling. Then dunk and swirl in the water. Pull tail and wing feathers first, they are the hardest to get out.

 

[Tomtommom]

Water doesn't have to be boiling hot btw. I think 140-160F is warm enough. So it is possible to boil a pot and take it to where you are working, it's fine if it cools off some... Or put a pot where you are working and carry a kettle to fill it. Probably safer that way.

I use an old dinged up stock pot for my scalding. When the water isn't so hot, you can dunk them, try and pull a wing feather, dunk them again, until it pulls out easier. If your water is really hot, it's harder to not cook the skin, and pulling a feather can be hard because it's too hot to touch.

Just my two cents and limited experience.

 

[ronott1]

This thread has been so invaluable to me, thank you everyone. I'm starting to get quite nervous. We have several Cornish Cross roosters that are over 6lbs now, and I'm starting to worry about them having problems so we decided we would process some of them when my partner gets back from his 48 hour shift (Friday). I think I need to write up a cheat sheet with all the steps, and we still need some way to boil the water for scalding. Also some kind of cone to bleed them out in.

I've never taken the life of anything other than spiders and mosquitos, but I'm a renegade ex-Vegan who now eats steak rarer than my partner does

We have a source for pastured beef, but couldn't afford the cost of pastured chicken with how much we eat. This was a step I chose to take and I feel like I am "cheating" by putting the whole killing part onto my partner.

Your story is really great. We are becoming so removed from our food that it really takes some time to get back to the point where it is normal to process and eat food that we raised.

I am inspired!

Thank You