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

[chiques chicks]

And turkeys are injected too.

We had a fresh (as in DH killed it the day before) turkey for Thanksgiving that a friend raised.  That sucker cooked so darn fast I couldn't believe it.

They're better if you let them rest for a few days before cooking.

I raised heritage breed last year. Plenty of breast meat, and extremely tasty. Just more work to process than chicken. I had use of a plucker, but they barely fit.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

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No, I do the quail like you do.
It's the extra roosters that I do hanging from a fence and taping up.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

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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.

And use the skin to wrap it all up in, brilliant!

(It doesn't let me cut out the part of the post that I don't need...what happened?)

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:
No, I do the quail like you do.
It's the extra roosters that I do hanging from a fence and taping up.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
Would a pot big enough to boil a lobster do?

 

[LindaB220]

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.

Six pounds is not a bad weight. You lose about 25-30% of weight at dressing but thats still over4 lbs. A very respectable size. Don't concern yourself about the killing the first time. This is a learning curve for everybody. Next time you might say, "Ok, I'm ready". Or not. There's enough hard work to go around and you'll get your share. Be proud that you did sooooo much to sustain your family.

Another thing, look on youtube for a brick or cement block rocket stove. You can make it in 1/2 hr and cost nothing but a few blocks.

 

[Coralietg]

Six pounds is not a bad weight. You lose about 25-30% of weight at dressing but thats still over4 lbs. A very respectable size. Don't concern yourself about the killing the first time. This is a learning curve for everybody. Next time you might say, "Ok, I'm ready". Or not. There's enough hard work to go around and you'll get your share. Be proud that you did sooooo much to sustain your family.

Another thing, look on youtube for a brick or cement block rocket stove. You can make it in 1/2 hr and cost nothing but a few blocks.

I have three (that I weighed) at 6 1/4 to 6 3/4lbs. They are only 6 weeks and a day, I was hoping they would grow slower than they have done. We were planning on doing them in batches of 3 or 4 though, so maybe it's a good thing that some are on the bigger side. Our goal is Saturday for processing some.

 

[Tomtommom]

"People have grown so used to cheap, companies have to produce cheap, cut corners everywhere. We get what we pay for. Such a vicious cycle! I am glad to slow down, produce my own and work hard for my meal. It makes you appreciate life more, really. I hate working for money, it's so abstract... working for a meal brings a much greater sense of accomplishment."
I totally agree! It made me realize what I did not even stop to think about, such as .99 cent chicken legs I thought Great it's on sale and bought it... now I'm like WoW the poor chicken farmer must get 4 cents a # for that... I had realized it for farmers planting things as I had grown up in MidWest where talk of corn prices was common (and FarmAid brought it to the attention of the nation), but I had probably not allowed myself to think like this about meat before. Funny how knowledge can be "ignored" when its "on sale"

I buy bruised produce and meat nearing the "sell by" date... I'm afraid I just can't afford the prices, even when they are so low. But, I do the store a favor, and I keep food from going to waste.

I just came home with mushrooms, bananas, apples, wonton wrappers and romaine lettuce, all marked down because of looking a bit bruised up and limp (although I saw NOTHING wrong with the romaine... it just had a "use by" date). Now to figure out what to make with it

As much as I would love to buy to support local farmers, there is reality, and that is that we're a lower income family. I grow what I can, but I am still learning too.. and we are in town. Every year we grow a little more food ourselves. But, I did *gasp* bought some store eggs (my chickens don't lay white ones... and I needed them for dyeing), and our eggs are produced in locally in Alabama.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote: It was delicious. I had never cooked a fresh one before and I was shocked at how fast it cooked!

Would a pot big enough to boil a lobster do?

I think so. Holds about 4 gallons?

 

[Happy Chooks]

We are gone this weekend and next weekend, so sometime next week, I have to find some time to try to process some of the meaties. Or we'll have to do it in the evenings. They will be 8 weeks old next week.