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

[jajeanpierre]

Two hands make a lighter load.

Good Job!

Ron

I did all the killing, gutting and skinning. My husband was there for moral support, the go-for person and the clean up. I couldn't have done it without his support and helpl.

 

[ronott1]

I did all the killing, gutting and skinning. My husband was there for moral support, the go-for person and the clean up. I couldn't have done it without his support and helpl.

It is great that you had help!

 

[TheChickendude1]

I may seem... odd, but I don't spend much time with my dinner as many. I don't use a cone, I grab them, stuff them onto the chopping block, restrain them, and lop their heads off. I know, it sounds harsh, but it's easier and quicker (not to mention cheaper) doing it the old fashioned way. I don't have any real egg layers, my meat birds ARE my egg birds. I also butchered 12 meat rabbits today (same method) and one is in the oven right now ! As for you, well, good luck

 

[Coralietg]

I may seem... odd, but I don't spend much time with my dinner as many. I don't use a cone, I grab them, stuff them onto the chopping block, restrain them, and lop their heads off. I know, it sounds harsh, but it's easier and quicker (not to mention cheaper) doing it the old fashioned way. I don't have any real egg layers, my meat birds ARE my egg birds. I also butchered 12 meat rabbits today (same method) and one is in the oven right now ! As for you, well, good luck

The killing part is the quickest part, however you do it (hopefully). We picked the bird up, walked it to the killing cone, put it in, cut the arteries and it bled out in about a minute. Cone held them secure, no flapping or flinging themselves around. The plucking and gutting took the most amount of time.

 

[TheChickendude1]

Yeah, the beer bottle chickens I call Liquor Chickers, and that's what most of the dinnerbirds end up as.

 

[Audio51]

I have 4 Cornish X that will be due to head off to freezer camp next week. This will be my first experience with this. I will probably only do 1 a day. 2 of them (boys) are bigger than the other 2 (girls). What should the live weight be in order to have a decent carcass weight? Is there a formula for determining what the finished weight will be? They all feel heavy but they still seem like they are not visually "Big" enough. Also....any good videos out there that will show how to be sure the arteries are cut properly? I am planning to use the cone method with a knife. I found a construction cone at TSC for $8 so that is what I will be using. I have heard the opening needs to be about 4" across so plan to cut it shorter. Is this about the right size?

 

[fisherlady]

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!

 

[katbriar]

I have 4 Cornish X that will be due to head off to freezer camp next week.  This will be my first experience with this.  I will probably only do 1 a day.   2 of them (boys) are bigger than the other 2 (girls).  What should the live weight be in order to have a decent carcass weight?    Is there a formula for determining what the finished weight will be?   They all feel heavy but they still seem like they are not visually "Big" enough.   Also....any good videos out there that will show how to be sure the arteries are cut properly?   I am planning to use the cone method with a knife.  I found a construction cone at TSC for $8 so that  is what I will be using.   I have heard the opening needs to be about 4" across so plan to cut it shorter.  Is this about the right size?

You can calculate that carcass weight will be 70-75% of live weight.

To cut properly make sure your knife is sharp sharp sharp. Pull the head down and tip the beak upward so that the skin tightens. Be brave and cut hard (and away from your holding hand) at the point where the jaw meets the neck. (You can test feel this point on yourself by finding your pulse.) the blood vessels are near the surface here and the feathers smaller.

Most people are caught off guard by how tought the feathers and skin feel and how they "shed" the cut. Cutting where the feathers are smaller and taking the slack out of the fleshy skin will help you a lot. Just act decisively.

I made my cones and cat remember dimensions, but 3-4 inches sounds right. A traffic cone will have slender steep sides, so you may want to make sure the birds can't fling themselves out. A bungie cord through two holes at the top will keep them in.

Eta- if you're processing a lot of birds be prepared to resharpen your knife.

 

[Audio51]

Audio51....
I have just quoted myself from a much earlier post in the thread to answer your cone question...

As a rough estimate on live vs carcass weight I figure 70-75%... so a 10 pound bird will probably dress out between 7 and 7.5 pounds. for really leggy animals this may be a bit different because the may have more bone to meat ratio, but I've found it an effective range to figure on for average size birds and meaties.

Hope this helps



Quote:

Thank you so much for the information! I think I will start with the 4" and can always go bigger if need be. For now I will just be processing the Cornish so I can get another cone for the dual purpose oned now that I know where to find them. $8 was much better thatn the $30 pluss shipping for the metal ones. I think they will also clean up pretty easy. I still have to work out wherean how I am going to mount it/ A fence post would normally work but ours have copper post caps on them

 

[Audio51]

Quote: So a 6 # bird would finish out at a bout 4 1/2 then....right?

The blade being too dull is one of my big fears. Is there a way to test the sharpness before hand to see if it is sharp enough to get the job done properly? Would a box cutter be more reliably sharp?