Congrats on making the plunge and sorry t didn't go well. I hope you are able to do it again. What is it you think you screwed up? Some of it just takes practice.,Well, I did it. And of course I screwed it up, but it's done. On the hand It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. On the other, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do it again. Which is too bad, because I was hoping I'd have the confidence of knowing I'd be able to deal with extra roosters.
I have heard that some add a touch of liquid dish soap to the water and it helps a bit with the smell. I haven't tried it though so don;t really know for sure.The smell is bad too. I'm totally not sensitive to smells (I have a really bad sense of smell), but this is bad. I don't know if it's the blood or the feathers or both. Unpleasant. I can still smell it, and I'm in my living room, not where I slaughtered him (obviously ).
At 8 months pregnant I would say you did great...especailly in the heat. And the one hend with the reprieve...you may be surprised how much bigger she is with another week or 2 on her..We got the last bunch of meat chickens processed on Saturday. It was a very long day for my poor husband. I helped as much as I could but I'm miserable and 8 months pregnant and it was just too hot outside for me to feel like I made any difference. I gave one female a reprieve after she had spent the day dodging our hands. I felt she deserved it. Starting to regret the decision though, the other chickens aren't very nice to her.
I have 5 whole chickens resting in the fridge, 4 skinned for parting. Other half was supposed to part them but we ended up running out of time yesterday. He left for a 48 hour shift this morning. I'll have to figure something out.
Just a random addition, those horrible jelly feathers really hit my gag reflex when plucking! I've never had a sensitive gag reflex, but the little jelly "stem" left behind from some feathers really makes me feel nauseated.
These chickens were free ranged since 3 weeks, then tractored from 6 weeks because they were puny. Processed at 8 weeks and were around 3.5 to 4.2 lbs. I'm very happy with that
Quote: Ron...why so you ask abou the kind of gloves? Is one type better than another? I used the kind you buy at the drug store in a big box. They are almost transparent.
Quote: X2