Skinning a chicken...WARNING! Graphic Pics!

[miss_thenorth]

Buster, is that how you do a grouse? we step on the wings and pull on the legs--the breast pops right out. When my roo got killed by the neighbours dog, we did him the same way, and just had to skin the legs. took all of two minutes, although, the roo was a little tougher than a grouse is.

 

[Buster]

Quote:
Yes that's how I do grouse- that's how I was always shown anyway. I haven't tried it the way you described but it is another possibility. I may try that next time. In fact, I have three hens that are on strike that are going to meet the axe this weekend.

 

[Shrader]

Thanks Buster.
That was an amazing informative post.

 

[speckledhen]

Jared, thanks so much for this explanation. We just culled our very first bird, ever (Sorry, Jake, but you earned this one, you son of a gun!) We want to skin like you do here and this will help so much. Cant believe he's gone and it was easy. DH hung him upside down from a tree limb, used his exacto knife and punctured the carotid artery. He bled out really well, with a minimum of flapping. When DH got his super-sharp chef's knife and removed the head, only two tiny, slow drops of blood came out.

 

[smith2]

Thanks for the skinning directions. I have always plucked mine, but this last kill I had an injured chicken and skinning her was the best option. I really wasn't sure how to do it. I think I will hang the next one by its feet like Ms. Prissy suggested. Can you gut after skinning?

To address the blood issue--the amount of blood in a chicken is about 1/2 -3/4 c. My problem is always the jerking or slingling and causing splattering all over me. I solved that problem during the last process by using cement blocks and sticking their heads down into the square holes in the blocks. They still jerk some but the solid sides seems to keep the blood from going anywhere. It was much less messy.

 

[FunnyFarmer]

Thanks for the skinning directions. I have always plucked mine, but this last kill I had an injured chicken and skinning her was the best option. I really wasn't sure how to do it. I think I will hang the next one by its feet like Ms. Prissy suggested. Can you gut after skinning?

My mom taught me to gut after skinning the chicken. Hang chicken, cut throat (jump back and you don't get splattered--I just deal with the flopping), skin, gut. I won't say I'm good at it yet--I did two roos a couple of weeks ago after doing my first ones this summer--but we had chicken for dinner that night and have one more in the freezer.

Erika​

 

[tagra123]

Quote:
I had asked this above.....

I just was surprised to not see any blood in the pictures Buster posted. I thought it would be messier.

I cut the head off and put the chicken under a milk crate for five or ten minutes until the movement stops. Most of the blood comes out then and yes, it's pretty messy. The crate keeps it contained so it doesn't get everywhere. After that it's not too bad.

We place our chicken in a plastic burlap bag with a hole in it to put the head through an then use a sharp knife to cut the neck near the jaw -- the entire head is loose except the windpipe. Holding it in the burlap bag to the log firmly we waitr about 30 seconds or so until the spasms stop then hang it by the feet and do the next chicken.

Using the above method with some practice a chicken can be skinned, gutted, and iced in less than 15 minutes per bird. It took me much longer than 15 minutes the first time, but by the time I did my third bird it was killed butchered and ready to eat in about 20 minutes.

When finished we just rinse the grass and log where the blood is. Not really that much blood though.

 

[DReyRose]

I'm hoping someone still reads this. We are going to harvest 4 of my birds come Monday. Our question is, since we want to keep the feathers for our renaissance hats, can you pluck the feathers after it is skinned? If so, how? Sounds crazy I know but we do a lot of crafting. Also, how do you actually clean the feathers once they are out of the bird? Well, any bird for that matter.


Warm Regards


[email protected]

 

[MrsChickens]

Nice job!

Next time you might want to tie her legs and find something to hang her from. You can cut the circle around where the leg meets the feet and at the top around the neck then pull and you can strip it clean in a couple good pulls. All that is left is to open the cavity and remove the innards.

I like that nice fat on her. Means she is eating well.

That's how my father dressed game birds in the field. I use the same technique and it's INFINITELY easier to process my chickens. And the feathers/skin are an easier "package" to dispose of - whether tossing in garbage or burying. The processing area stays much cleaner. My project for this summer is to figure out how to mount the kill cone on a tree and fashion a system to wrap the chicken legs with twine and secure to a hook above kill cone. Then remove the kill cone after bird has bled out leaving the bird still secured by the legs and strip skin the bird. Any ideas?

 

[casportpony]

@Texas Kiki