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

[Fire Ant Farm]

I'm processing some small Cream Legbar cockerels tomorrow. Would someone mind re-posting the skinning video? I don't think I'm up to trying to pluck them - they're tiny...

- Ant Farm

 

[ronott1]

I'm processing some small Cream Legbar cockerels tomorrow. Would someone mind re-posting the skinning video? I don't think I'm up to trying to pluck them - they're tiny...

- Ant Farm

At the top of the page there is a button that says search this thread. I typed in skinning video and found:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hrough-the-emotions-please/5430#post_16108618

 

[fisherlady]

I'm processing some small Cream Legbar cockerels tomorrow. Would someone mind re-posting the skinning video? I don't think I'm up to trying to pluck them - they're tiny...

- Ant Farm 

If I may suggest....with small birds we cut off the wing after the first joint, this leaves just a 'drumette' attached at the shoulder. There isn' enough meat in the 2nd section or end to make it worth the headache involved in trying to peel the skin from those sections.

I recently processed 20 older birds for a friend who was doing her egging flock in. Thankfully she didn't mind us not trying to save the wings or it would have taken forever to get them done!

We did 6 of our own cockerels on Wednesday, along with 15 meaties, and did the same thing....

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

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Thanks!!! Duh - I should have thought of that.

- Ant Farm

 

[Penny Hen]

BTW everyone, with the mention of vet euthanization, if you have a pet put down and bring it's body home for burial, bury them deep or put large stones on top. Buried a cat and my aunts dog dug him up and ate on him and nearly lost his life too. The bodies are poison.

 

[Penny Hen]

Well it looks like I will be processing a rooster in a couple of days. I had two of my ewes with lambs grazing on the lawn and took out a can of grain to get them back into their paddock before feeding the chickens. Long John Silver, my OE roo, slammed into my legs and drove one of his 2 inch long spurs into my calf so deep that he was caught and I had to pull him out. I have a replacement roo in his son who has never offered to flog or spur me and he has grown out to be a third bigger than John. I have kept him separate in a coop with one hen and let Long John free range with two hens after they decided that they would kill each other. OR rather Long John decided he would kill Yellowlegs. So I am done. Fortunately my tetnus shot is up to date and I have some anti-biotic sulfa drugs that were prescibed for me for a sinus infection so I should be OK.

So has anyone seen a video of using the knife in the mouth method? Last time I killed a roo (my first kill) I was a little concerned with making it painless and cut his head clean off with a knife but I nicked my knuckle in the process. Like to avoid that this time.

 

[ronott1]

Well it looks like I will be processing a rooster in a couple of days. I had two of my ewes with lambs grazing on the lawn and took out a can of grain to get them back into their paddock before feeding the chickens. Long John Silver, my OE roo, slammed into my legs and drove one of his 2 inch long spurs into my calf so deep that he was caught and I had to pull him out. I have a replacement roo in his son who has never offered to flog or spur me and he has grown out to be a third bigger than John. I have kept him separate in a coop with one hen and let Long John free range with two hens after they decided that they would kill each other. OR rather Long John decided he would kill Yellowlegs. So I am done. Fortunately my tetnus shot is up to date and I have some anti-biotic sulfa drugs that were prescibed for me for a sinus infection so I should be OK.

So has anyone seen a video of using the knife in the mouth method? Last time I killed a roo (my first kill) I was a little concerned with making it painless and cut his head clean off with a knife but I nicked my knuckle in the process. Like to avoid that this time.

There is a post a bit back on this thread with pictures.

It is called pithing. The hard part is making use you hit the brain. Chickens do not have a large brain.

You can do the same thing by getting good pruning shears and cutting as high up the neck as you can. That will get the base of the brain and it very fast.

This video has a couple of killing methods and some skinning and plucking demos.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Well it looks like I will be processing a rooster in a couple of days. I had two of my ewes with lambs grazing on the lawn and took out a can of grain to get them back into their paddock before feeding the chickens. Long John Silver, my OE roo, slammed into my legs and drove one of his 2 inch long spurs into my calf so deep that he was caught and I had to pull him out. I have a replacement roo in his son who has never offered to flog or spur me and he has grown out to be a third bigger than John. I have kept him separate in a coop with one hen and let Long John free range with two hens after they decided that they would kill each other. OR rather Long John decided he would kill Yellowlegs. So I am done. Fortunately my tetnus shot is up to date and I have some anti-biotic sulfa drugs that were prescibed for me for a sinus infection so I should be OK.

So has anyone seen a video of using the knife in the mouth method? Last time I killed a roo (my first kill) I was a little concerned with making it painless and cut his head clean off with a knife but I nicked my knuckle in the process. Like to avoid that this time.

OUCH!!! So sorry to hear about your injury...

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Thanks everyone. It went well - the video and advice really helped!

- Ant Farm

 

[the poppster]

[COLOR=000080]That was an extremely helpful and comprehensive pictorial on making the stock including the feet...and also not letting things go to waste with the use of the leftovers!!!!  Wonderful!!![/COLOR]

[COLOR=000080]The feet, though seemingly gross, are a delicacy in some lands and are a staple in stock making .  They contain a lot of collagen and thus make the very best in stock jelly...clear, golden and firm!  The CX feet are the very best for this because they are huge, easy to peel, tender and young...my granny would have given her eye teeth for some CX feet!! She loved to eat chicken feet and would suck all the juices out.....I know, hard to imagine, but she came from a very, very poor upbringing where children made homemade traps to catch songbirds to eat.  Not something we've ever had to do in this time and place in our country. [/COLOR]

 

Now don't anyone get bent out of shape when I ask this question...was your mother from an Italian background? My cousin grew up in an area with a lot of old country Italians and he said they used to catch and cook up Robins in the spring...he said his Italian friends said they were a delicacy...

 

[Faraday40]

We had a beautiful hen lose a toe. She was pecking at it & it looked very painful. I really didn't think she'd recover since it was looking swollen, so I decided to call up a friend for help culling the bird. We also had our 1st old hen who developed a shell gland issue. (Eggs constantly breaking in the nest & encouraging the others to eat eggs.) I had to trap her & force her eat treats with hidden calcium in them to get a normal egg. Then of course they went brittle again. It was time to cull her, but I was dragging my feet. Since the other hen was in pain, I decided to do both at once.

My friend did most of the work & I assisted. He suggested skinning to save time. (We sent the kids to the park. The kids knew the hens were being killed to end their suffering, but I just couldn't tell them that they were also going to be a meal.) We got through the dirty work & cleaned up quickly. The older one went into a marinade pot in the fridge & the other went into the freezer. I marinaded for 24 hrs, then it took about 12 hrs in the slow cooker for the tough meat to become tender. Is this normal? Because it took so long, we had pizza instead & will reheat the chicken for dinner today. We killed the chickens on Tues & had a chicken in the slow cooker on Wed, but they never questioned it.

As far as the emotions, I detached & just got through it. Now I'm feeling more guilty. I logically know that I took very good care of them & they lived good lives. I know the end was quick & I'm simply not wasting what we have been given. The emotions are still there. I am in no way a vegetarian, but I just feel bad. Hard to reconcile the conflicts.