Should I order 100 meat chickens?

[Elke Beck]

They finally arrived. I got 26 and one died about two hours after arrival. I wasn't surprised though, it was much smaller than the others and didn't seem capable of walking. Processing day is set for July 30th. I'll have a team of four people helping and I am hoping to get all 25 done in a single day. I am about to butcher 3 pekin ducks by myself tomorrow. It will be my first time butchering an animal, so I hope it goes well. I have watched tons of tutorial videos and read a lot on this site and other sites, but I still feel totally unprepared to actually do it.

No matter how much you prepare, the first time is full of eye openers. I don't envy you doing ducks your first time out. I hear they are much harder to process. Good luck.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

They finally arrived. I got 26 and one died about two hours after arrival. I wasn't surprised though, it was much smaller than the others and didn't seem capable of walking. Processing day is set for July 30th. I'll have a team of four people helping and I am hoping to get all 25 done in a single day. I am about to butcher 3 pekin ducks by myself tomorrow. It will be my first time butchering an animal, so I hope it goes well. I have watched tons of tutorial videos and read a lot on this site and other sites, but I still feel totally unprepared to actually do it.

Congrats. Since you are doing them all on the same day, just be sure you have adequate space in your refridgerator to "rest" them for about 2 days after you butcher them before you stick them in your freezer. Another word of advice is for you to consider doing one or two a day or so before everyone else arrives to help. That way you can discover that one thing that you forgot to purchase or one thing you need to change about your setup and make the change before there are extra folks standing around waiting for your to take care of it.

The first time I butchered I also had two helpers scheduled to come over. I decided to butcher one rooster a few days early because he seemed to have some difficulty walking. That was when I discovered that the killing cone I had created was the wrong shape. I thought I had everything set up properly, but when I put him in the cone, his head didn't come out the bottom. I had to put him back and tear the cone appart and make some changes. I also discovered that the Exacto knife I was using wasn't really the right equipment for doing the deed and went out and purchased a new knife before my assistants arrived.

Good luck.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The following thread is an excellent read through for anyone preparing to process for the first time - or really anyone processing.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/777712/most-important-aspect-of-butchering

 

[happydog]

After scalding, but before plucking, put the ducks in a feed bag or something similar. Wrap them up and let them steam for a few minutes. That makes them easier to pluck.

I hated butchering ducks. They seemed to be too stiff to dunk properly and they were waterproof. After I processed 6 of them we also decided we don't like eating them, lol. YMMV

Now we just keep two ducks with our laying flock. I like having a few duck eggs on hand when I want to make a cake.

 

[V-NH]

I tried to process my pekin ducks today, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had it all set up and I had a duck hung upside down, but I was afraid of making a mistake since I have never done it before. I posted on my local craigslist hoping to find someone near Tilton, NH to teach me how to slaughter them in exchange for a couple ducks or some money. This is something I really don't want mess up.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I can empathize with your situation. My first attempt at killing a chicken left me feeling horrible because I don't think I cut the neck deep enough, meaning the chicken died, but not as quickly as I would have liked. I think the mistake I made was that I had to come to grips with the fact that while I could be gentle with my chickens when I was raising and handling them, and I could be sure that all their needs were met and that they were subjected to as little daily trauma and stress as possible and even when I was carrying them to the killing cone and putting them inside, I could be calm and gentle, but that there is no "gentle" way to kill. Trying to be gentle at that stage is the wrong thing, then you need to be quick and decisive. You need a sharp knife, you need to hold the duck's head in your non-knife hand and then place the knife close to the duck's neck and move it towards the head so that you push the feathers asside and get the blade up against the skin because otherwise you're trying to cut through the feathers, and they act like armor to protect the bird's skin. Then you need to slice deeply from more or less under the ear to more or less the front of the throat.

I do another process first, called pithing or debraining, where I (gently) open my chicken's beak and not gently stick the point of my boning knife up through the roof of the mouth into the brain, so the brain is dead before I even make the cut to the throat, making me feel better that the chicken is already beyond feeling anything if I don't do everything perfectly. I've never butchered a duck and would suggest doing some web searching on the subject if that method might be easier for you.

Good luck, and if you need an expert to help you the first time, that's OK too.

 

[jaylyne8]

I WAS THINKING OF RAISING SOME MEAT BIRDS BUT MAYBE ILL ORDER THEM IN AUGUST SINCE IT'S TOO HOT HERE IN COLORADO. DOES ANYONE FERMENT THEIR FEEDS? I HAD SOME EARLIER WHICH WAS MY FIRST TIME AND A COUPLE DIED SINCE I WAS GIVING THEM WRONG FEEDS... I HEARD IF YOU FERMENT THE SEEDS THE MEATIES WOULD HAVE FORM POOPS INSTEAD OF THE FREQUENT WATERY ONES AND THEY ARE A LOT HEALTHIER.. V-NH I WHICH YOU LIVE CLOSER SO THAT WE CAN SPLIT THE 100 BIRDS

 

[Arielle]

jay-- I started this week feeding fermented pellets to my meaties-- I now see firm, formed, real poos. No more the squirts. ANd the water consumption has dropped noticably. Very easy to do.

FIrst time-- the most important step is using the sharp blade and effeciantly cut the neck. I tried hanging the birds and didn't like that process. THen a fellow showed me a completely different way and I can do a bird all by myself.

Definitely, do a few to find what works for you. I have altered my cleaning method to be more efficent for my larger hands. I like to make a slit from the public bone toward the head and stop at the ribs. I can really open up the bird to remove the innards.

Plan to have pans to sort parts into. If you plan to keep hearts, liver, etc.

( PS I did 6 geese the first time-- never doing water birds again. )

 

[jerseyrooster]

I have 50 meaties coming on mon from mm. This is my second batch this yr. I couldnt imagine doing 100 at once.