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

[RachaelS]

I have a coworker from Uganda who has told me that there they put the bird on the ground and stand with a foot on each wing, pinning it to the ground. Then they cut the jugular and let it bleed out. Why do so many people not cut the head off entirely? What's the reasoning?

I was wondering the same thing, why don't people just cut the head off? It is harder to deal with just a chicken head?

 

[Tomtommom]

You can use a milk jug or bleach jug for a cone.

I would definitely not put it within view of the other birds. I'm pretty sure they would freak out a bit.

Knocking out is one of those things that can be hard to do right and could add stress and ruin the meat (make it tough). If you read back 10-20 pages we had a whole discussion about what method is best and why. In the end, whatever you are comfortable with and confident in doing is the best method. And know that you will likely struggle the first time. And you will do something wrong. And that's ok. You have to learn starting somewhere. Even animals like lions have to learn how to kill and they're born to do it!

 

[costello]

Thanks. I figured I'd be asking questions that had been covered. Reading 400+ pages seemed overwhelming, though.

I appreciate you're putting me off of the method where the chicken is held in the lap.

Thanks for all the help and support. I'll make my best effort. My goal is to have it done before I go back to work on Tuesday. Two more days. Send good thoughts my way.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks. I figured I'd be asking questions that had been covered. Reading 400+ pages seemed overwhelming, though.

I appreciate you're putting me off of the method where the chicken is held in the lap.

Thanks for all the help and support. I'll make my best effort. My goal is to have it done before I go back to work on Tuesday. Two more days. Send good thoughts my way.

You can do it!

It is not worth having a rooster that bites you.

 

[Tomtommom]

It's a great feeling once you have that cleaned bird in the fridge. Just one of those skills to put a notch besides and pat yourself on the back, knowing that you CAN.

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks. I figured I'd be asking questions that had been covered. Reading 400+ pages seemed overwhelming, though.

I appreciate you're putting me off of the method where the chicken is held in the lap.

Thanks for all the help and support. I'll make my best effort. My goal is to have it done before I go back to work on Tuesday. Two more days. Send good thoughts my way.

No problem asking a 'repeat' question... like you said, there are so many pages to go through.

We prefer to use the cone and cut method.... the cone has a hole punched through near the top edge of it... then you can either use a 'S hook' to secure it to a wall or fence or a rope or bungee cord. we use an S hook and then suspend it off of either a nail we pounded into a tree or even off of the chain link fence we use for a dog kennel. Depending on the size of the hole you can hang the cone directly off of a large nail pounded into a tree or fence post.
If there is a second person available to help they can hold a bucket or coffee can under the birds head to catch blood... If not then use a larger mouthed container and after you make the cut you can drop the knife and pick up the bucket yourself to catch the blood... or make the cut and then lower the bird into a garbage can or bucket head first to bleed out. Near the end of the process they will probably (usually) have some rather violent contractures, if you are expecting them it isn't as bad as being caught by surprise.

We also use hobbles to tie the legs of the bird and make it easier to control even after it is in the cone. It helps reduce the amount of movement the bird can do... tie the legs snugly and hold the rope with a bit of tension while the bird is in the cone (can be tied off to anything above it to free up your hands)

Before you make the cut make sure you use your non cutting hand to pull the flesh of the neck taut from the other side... the tighter you hold the skin the more effective the cut is. There is an amazing amount of movement in a chicken's skin...
Have the knife against the skin before you start the cut... not against the feathers.... take the time to make sure you have worked it through the feathers for good contact. When the bird is upside down in the cone the feathers will tend to sag a bit away from the neck and you will be able to tell a bit better what I mean (hard to picture it until you see it)

Cones don't have to be fancy to be effective, basically you want something that can (rather) snugly confine the bird so it remains upside down and can't flap it's wings or pull it's head back up into the container. Commercial ones are great, and often sized depending on what you need but do cost more and it would delay what you are doing. Many folks make their own... this can be done with a piece of sheet metal and a pop rivet gun if you are a handy sort with the right tools available... or it can be made by 'repurposing' other items.
Popular choices are highway type safety cones (simply cut off the narrow end a bit till the hole size is compatible with the bird you have) , large bleach jugs or juice jugs, again cut off neck of container to allow bird to fit with head and neck through the hole, and cut out the bottom of the jug and pop a hole in it to hang it from.

Doing this isn't easy... and it shouldn't be. Taking a life should be dealt with respectfully.... but it should be a skill learned by anyone who is raising animals. We take on a responsibility when we decide to care for animals, part of that responsibility is knowing how to humanely dispatch them if it is needed. Not just for food purposes.. but to know how to end suffering for a sick or injured animal... or to remove a problem animal from the flock if/when it is endangering the welfare of other animals in your care, or to dispatch an animal which is dangerous toward people or other pets.

You are doing the right thing... and wanting to learn options beforehand shows that you care about doing right by your animals... so ask away and know we will try to be here for support when needed!

 

[fisherlady]

We processed a few of the meaties on Sunday, we picked 4 who were either very large already or seemed lethargic and were cause for concern for Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) We isolated them early in the morning in a crate covered with a sheet and placed out of the sun and away from the coop area so it was quiet.
We had all of our equipment gathered and used a couple of coolers to prewash and chill the birds in. As Sally said, prewashing the birds in warm, soapy water with bleach added sure makes for a cleaner process over all. So once the birds were bled out they went from the cones to the prewash cooler.
Birds resting in the crate....

We used an outdoor fryer with a black canning kettle for the scald water, it is very touchy for controlling the temps though, so you have to keep it very low and use a thermometer to get an accurate temp. 150 worked for us. The cooler with the warm, soapy water is seen here to the left.
Our cone stand, we also use a nail into a tree to hang the cone on if we are only doing one or two rooster culls... The birds can bleed into the black tub but for the initial cut we hold a coffee can under their head until any muscle contractions are done, Our stand holds 8 cones, but we only use 2 or 4 at a time usually, especially since it is just the two of us doing the processing.

Tub plucker with hose attached. Works great for processing multiple birds, but hand plucking works fine if you aren't doing a large number of birds or you have a few helpers. This falls under the 'convenience' list rather than a necessity list. Can be rough on the birds if you aren't doing 2 or 3 at a time, it seems to work best that way.

The kettle set up, needs to be a stable/flat area out of the wind for best control over temps.

a couple of must haves for us.... very sharp knives and a nylon rope with a slip knot set up on either end for looping over the feet (another pic of the hobble set up below)


After dispatching in the cone, the bird is taken direct to the prewash...

A close up of what I call my 'hobbles'... this allows you to firmly keep control of the bird and be able to swish it around in the pre wash and then the scald water without having to get your hands near the water. It also provides a good way to carry the bird from cone to wash to scald to plucker, etc. Their legs can be slippery and it is worse when your hands are wet or tired. They hobble I made is one piece, so you can hang the bird from it simply by hooking the rope over something and we used it to weigh the birds before and after processing.

A squirt of soap in the scald water and a few swishes was all it took. I overdid the first one and it caused the skin to tear. Submerge and swish a couple of seconds and then check to see if the wing feather pulls out. When a wing feather pulls out without problem then you are ready for plucking. Also, if you have any unusually large birds leave them till last so you don't overflow the water and end up having to reheat fresh water to bring it back to being deep enough for the other birds (you can just remove a few cups of water to lower the level so it doesn't over flow with the large birds) . It only took a few minutes with this set up to heat the water, but it would still be a pain to have to stop the process because the pan over flowed.

Toss them in the plucker and let it do it's job...

The majority of the feathers flush out into a pile for clean up later.


Here is the big fellow processed. He was 10 lb 2 oz live weight, and dressed out at 7 lb. We use a fish fillet table to cut up the birds, we place a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag under the hole in the table for handy disposal of parts while we are working. and have the hose there for quick rinsing of bird and table.



The birds are currently resting in our spare fridge, will package probably tonight. The big one we will bake like a turkey on Thursday probably.

As a reference, most of the birds were between 7 lb and 7 lb 8 oz pre process weight. After process they were in the range of 4 lb 12 oz and 5 lb 2 oz. Very nice birds for only 6 1/2 wks old.

 

[Elke Beck]

Thanks, Ronott and Tomtommom.

Thanks for the feedback on the video. I'm in love with it too. This rooster is used to being carried by me, but he's also big and strong and has bitten me more than once. I'd just like to minimize the chances of this first kill being stressful. If that's not the best method for my first try, I'll pick a different one.

I do have a sharp knife. I learned to sharpen a knife on a stone just for this. In fact, when I realized I'd gotten it sharp enough my heart sank. No more excuses.

I have a coworker from Uganda who has told me that there they put the bird on the ground and stand with a foot on each wing, pinning it to the ground. Then they cut the jugular and let it bleed out. Why do so many people not cut the head off entirely? What's the reasoning?

I may just get a cone. Does that have to be attached to something? I'm trying to picture where I'd put it to avoid getting blood all over the place. Does it matter if the other chickens see it? Is that a stupid question?

Oh, btw, do farm stores carry those cones or will I have to order it? I don't want another excuse for delay.

I ordered my cone from Amazon, but I live in an area where there are not a lot of sources for cones or other processing equipment. If you can't get a cone, you can use a road cone, one of the orange ones, by cutting off the end to make it large enough to easily pull the chicken's head through. Or I have just used a piece of clothesline tied around the chickens feet with a slip knot to hang the bird from a step ladder. There are many roads to a home grown chicken dinner.

Below is my set up. I zip tie the cone to a the shelf of my step ladder, then use clothes pins to hold a trash bag under the cone to catch the blood. It works well for me.



Regarding why people don't just cut the head off, I do not feel comfortable using a hatchet because I am afraid of missing the bird or hitting myself. That is just my phobia, because many people using the chopping block to do their birds. Even if I did want to do it that way, I probably wouldn't because I process in my garage so that my neighbors, who are very patient with me being a crazy chicken lady, won't get grossed out. If you use the cone you can take the head off with pruners, or at least crush the spine.

One thing I can tell you is that you will not know what will work for you until you do it. The first time I butchered chickens I made mistakes that I still regret, but I learned and have gotten better. Now I am confident that I am fast and humane, but the only way to get there is practice.

 

[costello]

Thanks, fisherlady and Elke. Very useful information.

I hope I get this done relatively humanely. The first one is the one we learn on I guess.

I went on youtube and watched a few more videos. Several were horrible! A couple looked like the knife was dull. The person just kept sawing and sawing - sometimes at what looked to me to be the wrong spot. That's not a memory I want seared into my mind. I hatched this bird myself. He deserves as quick and painless a death as possible.

 

[Crickett]

The only thing I can possibly add is get your knife SHARP! It cannot be too sharp!