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

[Lelilamom]

We processed our first turkeys today. I was nervous about it buy everything went smoothly.

Looks Great! How much did they dress out at? What breed were they? How did you kill them (sorry to put it so indelicately).
We processed our yesterday. I'm always SO worried about how to do it, and how to keep their wings from flapping and bruising. What did you do?
We used duct tape. We hugged them and kept them calm and a second person hooked their feet with rope and duct taped their wings. We tied the rope to the bucket on our tractor and still hugging them, held them up until the bucket was up in the air and we could lower them until they were upside down. My husband stretched their neck and removed the head with one swipe. Both toms and one female ended up breaking the duct tape but only after about 10 seconds. None of the birds ended up bruised at all. We were very pleased with the results and not putting a bag over their head was great - they remained calm right through the end.

I'm always super concerned about how we process. I want these birds treated humanely and with respect. I think we achieved that.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Looks Great!  How much did they dress out at? What breed were they?  How did you kill them (sorry to put it so indelicately).
We processed our yesterday.  I'm always SO worried about how to do it, and how to keep their wings from flapping and bruising.  What did you do?

We used duct tape.  We hugged them and kept them calm and a second person hooked their feet with rope and duct taped their wings.  We tied the rope to the bucket on our tractor and still hugging them, held them up until the bucket was up in the air and we could lower them until they were upside down.  My husband stretched their neck and removed the head with one swipe.  Both toms and one female ended up breaking the duct tape but only after about 10 seconds.  None of the birds ended up bruised at all.  We were very pleased with the results and not putting a bag over their head was great - they remained calm right through the end.

I'm always super concerned about how we process. I want these birds treated humanely and with respect.  I think we achieved that.

Thank you one was a blue slate, the other was a rusty slate. Both were 6 month old toms. They were on the small side but we didn't feed them super high protein. Basically we fed them what we had which was grower, chick feed. We drive 3 hours to pick up a couple hundred lbs of non-GMO feed at a time so we weren't making a special trip lol. They also mostly free ranged up until about a month before processing. We kept them confined to protect them from hunters and fatten them up a little (they did have a nice fat layer in them). One dressed out at 9 lbs, the other at 7 lbs so, rather small, but plenty for our family

To process, I held their feet, rested their bodies on my knee and held their wings while hubby stretched their heads over the chopping block. That was definitely an experience. I wasn't prepared for how powerful the death throws would be and got pulled all around by their giant, beating wings. I even ended up lasso-ing my own wrist in the rope where we would hang them by the feet (that broke the depression of the moment with hysterical laughter). I think next time, we will tie the feet before chopping or maybe invest in a killing cone lol. We have a year to plan our next venture.

Our current tom is a 6 month old Bourbon red who is already 22 lbs. The first two babies hatched of the year will be kept for next year's thanksgiving and I'm hoping that they will inherit their size from their daddy. If they do, we'll be doing a different method for sure lol.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

I don't know if it would work for a turkey but I made a cone out of hessian backed carpet off cut and tacked it to a piece of plywood for my chickens. I dislocated their necks with a broom shank and then drop them into the cone to contain the flapping and bleed them. The carpet off cut cost me nothing and can be replaced each time if it gets badly soiled as it only took a few minutes to make or you could put a plastic feed bag inside it to keep it cleaner. .

 

[Penny Hen]

Well it is almost time to butcher two yearling roos. I have too many and they both have qualities I am not keen on. The are F2 Olive Eggers. One has no beard and yellow legs and has started sneaking up on me and spurring my calves if I am slow putting out the grain. Yellowlegs is the first to go. The other is better being bearded but his comb is still larger than I want. I have a cockerel that just started crowing that has a small comb and a short beard (looks like a guy with 3 days growth). I am fascinated with his coloring so he is going to replace those two.

When I killed the red roo last year I hung him in the shower and cut his head off in one swipe but cut my finger too. Forgot what my mom had told me about them flailing around and hadn't tied his wings. Good thing I had closed the shower door and only had to wash the shower down. Ruined my shirt though. I like to save the pretty feathers for crafts so I get them first before dipping them in the scalding water and getting the rest.

 

[Hiltonizer]

What a weekend. We processed the 14 BBW Turkeys and 2 chickens of a friends.

Turkeys got a little too big... apparently 23 weeks is excessive for a BBW. Had two 41lb Tom's and one 45lb. The 45lb we cut in half. Smallest hen was 20.5lb with the largest 28lb. (Hurray for luggage scales)




Scalding the 30+ pound birds was quite the workout, as with them soaked and intact was more than I could lift repeatedly. Eventually we figured out to use a piece of pipe to lift as a team (between the legs which were bound by zip ties). The 160qt bayou pot and burner that seemed like overkill last year came in handy this year.

No cone big enough for these of course, so I used a 2x4 wedged in the bed of my truck to hang them from near the processing area.

 

[ronott1]

What a weekend. We processed the 14 BBW Turkeys and 2 chickens of a friends.

Turkeys got a little too big... apparently 23 weeks is excessive for a BBW. Had two 41lb Tom's and one 45lb. The 45lb we cut in half. Smallest hen was 20.5lb with the largest 28lb. (Hurray for luggage scales)




Scalding the 30+ pound birds was quite the workout, as with them soaked and intact was more than I could lift repeatedly. Eventually we figured out to use a piece of pipe to lift as a team (between the legs which were bound by zip ties). The 160qt bayou pot and burner that seemed like overkill last year came in handy this year.

No cone big enough for these of course, so I used a 2x4 wedged in the bed of my truck to hang them from near the processing area.

Nice big birds!

 

[chicken pickin]

Happy Thanksgiving to you All !!!!

Im sure everyone is very busy today with the holiday. But I was curious is any of you have experience with older turkeys? We had all of our turkeys processed back in May and our oldest turkeys were nearing 3years old. I thawed out one of the Toms (21lbs) and it looks odd to me, very discolored. I haven't cooked a turkey this old before and wasn't sure if this was a normal thing to see in an older animal or maybe it is due to the freezer, maybe freezer burn. My main question is if this discoloration of the skin will affect the meat, is it still ok to eat. Thanksgiving is at my house and now Im nervous...

 

[Amina]

How have you been storing the turkey? There will be more risk of freezer burn in a frost-free freezer. The bag that it's in can affect it too - the more air left in the bag, the more risk of freezer burn. Is it in a regular plastic bag, or did you shrink wrap or vacuum seal it?

If it has some freezer burn, is it in a smaller area that could that area be trimmed off before serving?

People would be better able to tell you if it's freezer burn or something normal if you post a picture.

 

[chicken pickin]

How have you been storing the turkey? There will be more risk of freezer burn in a frost-free freezer. The bag that it's in can affect it too - the more air left in the bag, the more risk of freezer burn. Is it in a regular plastic bag, or did you shrink wrap or vacuum seal it?

If it has some freezer burn, is it in a smaller area that could that area be trimmed off before serving?

People would be better able to tell you if it's freezer burn or something normal if you post a picture.

Thank You for responding. Im not sure what kind of freezer it is it is an stand up freezer, the kind that looks like a refrigerator. The bag was some what loose, that's just how the processor bags them. I wish they shrink wrapped. Here is what it looks like.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank You for responding. Im not sure what kind of freezer it is it is an stand up freezer, the kind that looks like a refrigerator. The bag was some what loose, that's just how the processor bags them. I wish they shrink wrapped. Here is what it looks like.

We ended up cooking it, cooked fine, it was juicy, and tasted good. So we all ate it and we all survived lol. We made a second turkey also and deep fried it, it was a good day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!!!!!!