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

I don't think I've posted here but we wrap the wings and feet with cheap duct tape which stops all flopping and scratching, then hold them on one side of the sink in our abattoir room, put one arm over the bird's body with just enough pressure to hold it firmly then that same hand, wield a sharp knife and with the other hand, pull out the head and gently but firmly reach over and slit the throat, allowing the bird to bleed out which takes about thirty seconds. The tape comes off very easily to be disposed of and the bird is ready for the 'scald'. All the blood rinses down the sink with cold or warm water. No muss...no fuss.

We bought an 8 foot long stainless table at a used restaurant furniture store for about $150 bucks some time ago and that helps to keep the birds where they need to be in the sequence and provides plenty of room for 4 heavy cutting blocks to perform the heavier cutting/chopping part of dismembering the birds if that's the goal and plenty of room to work.

Keeping with what my grand mother showed us, we save brown bags throughout the year because they make perfect fire material by twisting and lighting, perfect for singing the little hairs off the plucked birds.
 
I DID IT!!!!
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I am EXHAUSTED, but I did it. I sent 16 birds to freezer camp. I thought that I would feel a lot worse than I do. These were my first animals to kill for food for myself and my family... well the first to kill for any reason actually. I have had sleepless nights and migraines from tensing while dreading it for weeks now!!
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Pathetic. I am a real homesteader now. Wow. I did have help, some friends of mine came to help me and walk me through it. I killed 3 myself. I am so thankful for their lives. I am also happy with their size! I think they are around 4lbs.
 
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Good job!!!! Now you see why we encourage folks to not overthink the whole thing....lots of anxiety expressed on these posts that is needless when it's all said and done. It's just a dirty job but a simple one nonetheless and it produces so very much of benefit, that's it a shame so many dread it so much they never attempt it. Welcome to the club!!!!
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I DID IT!!!!
1f44f.png
1f44f.png
1f44f.png
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I am EXHAUSTED, but I did it. I sent 16 birds to freezer camp. I thought that I would feel a lot worse than I do. These were my first animals to kill for food for myself and my family... well the first to kill for any reason actually. I have had sleepless nights and migraines from tensing while dreading it for weeks now!!
1f648.png
Pathetic. I am a real homesteader now. Wow. I did have help, some friends of mine came to help me and walk me through it. I killed 3 myself. I am so thankful for their lives. I am also happy with their size! I think they are around 4lbs.

:celebrate :weee
 


The official BYC “Poultry SHAMING” Thread!

w/ Hosts, Mike & Sally



Image by, @ClovisMan Image by, @DraigAthar


~ Oh the SHAME! ~

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Shame your poultry and expose their weaknesses !!!

Think long and hard about your poultry’s most shameful habits

& snap some great shaming shots of them!




Photoshop/Edit the “Shamings” on images if you can!

FREE Picture Editors, NO download NEEDED…





 
Now that I know how to do everything myself (I am still not a pro, but I can get it done!
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) I am sure that the next time a hen needs put down, I am going to have to process her. She doesn't deserve to have her life wasted by becoming food for animals and creepy crawly things. I know it will stink having to do it. I know I will not be ready for her to die at my hands. But I will use the unpreparedness to my advantage. I will do it quick before I have time to think, and if it starts to bother me later, she can go in the freezer or to someone else.
Yes, the thinking comes beforehand when we are making the decision. On the day of, it's best not to think, but to just get it done as swiftly and humanely as possible.

Now, I have a question. Do I get a lung scraper, or just learn to scoop better. I think I got three lungs out of twelve on the first try.
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Is there one that someone recommends?
I have one because I was told that I "had" to have one. They are kinda expensive. I have it so I use it, but it took me a while to get the hang of it. I probably could have figured out how to do it with my fingers/hands by that point. I'd just go with practicing with your fingers.

Well...it was your first try, so you might want to practice it a bit more before spending money on a tool you will find completely unnecessary once you get the hang of it. Just gotta keep swiping your fingers through the rib spaces until you clear them each out and it should be fine. Pretty soon you'll get so good at it that the lungs will come out all of one piece for you.
Agree...

For me the decision is easier, whether I will kill one of my birds or will not....I would never trust anyone else, except maybe my mother, to give them as good a death as I can. I also like to be the one that takes them through their lives from hatch to death, as it's a very personal relationship I have with my flocks....very interdependent, more of a partnership than an ownership. I can't imagine handing them off to a person with whom they are not familiar with for that part of their life, so it's a natural decision for it to be me that takes them out of this life.
Strongly agree.

Don't forget to save all the softer organs you don't want for the rest of your chickens...they love the livers, spleen, the contents of the crop and gizzard, etc. It's good for them and converts a lot of the chicken back into food for others at your place. My chickens gather around the processing table, awaiting those good bits to be thrown down for them....some even get up on the table and try to snatch some for themselves.
I crashed after culling today, but tomorrow - liver and spleen treats for all the chickens!!!! (It makes them SOOOOOOO happy!!!). Heart treats later, too. (I have to remember to hold some liver back to restock the fly traps, though.)

- Ant Farm
 
Also, several of the cockerels today had HUGE combs and wattles, so I saved them. I'm going to search BYC and Google, but anyone have any tips? Cock's comb soup?

- Ant Farm
 
Never really thought of using that part, though I'm sure someone, somewhere, does. I just give the heads to the dogs where that part is recycled and put to good use.

Butchered some young cockerels today that my sister had given me... was going to raise them up to a bigger size before processing but wanted to grill some birds for company and these were the right age and tenderness.

Posting pics of the killing cone I use, just in case folks are interested in using the same....a 2 gal. bleach jug...






And pics of how the rest of the animals act when a chicken is killed in front of them, lest folks get the idea that they are traumatized by it all....they aren't. In fact, they await the bounty of food with joyful eagerness.












It's just food production for all here on the homestead, so no trauma going on unless you count the dead birds which also didn't seem that traumatized by the whole process until their hearts were beating the very last beats.
 
Butchering day... Just need a bit of support. I have done it more than a few times but it doesn't seem to get easier. The hardest to do are my own birds vs ones others have raised.
-sigh-
I'm looking forward to great soup and a calmer coop though.
 

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