**Sort of poll** How do YOU process your birds?

[Leslie In North Pole]

Quote:
I haven't tried a toeless sock (I think it is worth a try if you can get them in it) but in the summer, we usually hang board between two trees and use a slip knot to hang our birds upside down when we bleed them out. I usually wear a trash bag so as not to get hit with splatter, the cone just gives more control over the birds.

 

[dirtdoctor]

FOR SALE:

One Basket of Chicken holders, Singles only,
No mates, Holes in most of them. ok holes in all of them. Some are fancy striped Chicken holders, some are of the Argile persuasion.
Several dozen specially designed for the long necked birds.

these are going to go quickly, but I have a steady supply, the dryer keeps producing single mateless ones.

Best to you,
Jack

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

Funny doc

 

[butcheress2000]

i use African method. laying the wings and feet under my feet, and slitting the throat with a sharp knife. after that, if i have enough and apposite place, let it to go and struggle. and otherwise i continue laying it under my feet till it die.

 

[kflaig]

I use the knife/cone method. Occasionally they flop, but they're restrained. I made my cone from a gallon milk jug.

I scald at 145 or so until the wing feathers pull out easily. I made a scalder from a small galvanized trash can by cutting hole and bolting in a replacement 110v water heater element. A thermostat is glued to the outside of the can is set for 145-150. The seams of the can leaked a bit so I sealed them with silicone.

We plucked the first batch by hand which was way too much work. I thought about building a wiz-bang but figured it was going to be a lot of work and cost $400+ for all the parts. I ended up buying one of the table top pluckers sold on eBay for $350. It works great, taking a minute or two per chicken. Search eBay for "chicken plucker".

 

[Southerngirl]

We use the axe. Then DH made us a processing table with nails on each side. We zip tie their legs together before we axe them. Then we hang them from the nails on the side of the table to bleed out. We pour a pile of pine shavings under them to catch the blood. When processing we built a table and put a sink in the middle with the drainage area open. I place a 5 gallon bucket underneath and when I gut them I just slide the guts down the drain. It has a waterhose attachment so I can wash down anytime I want. I have also found that a wheelbarrow also works great under our table for the guts when I am processing alot of them in one day. Then everything goes to the dogs or in the compost pile. It is well worth your time and effort once you eat something that you did from start to finish!!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Quote:
That's a great idea about the zip ties and pine shavings!!!!! Will definitely do that next time. We used newspaper and it didn't help...

 

[FutureChickenMan]

I've used the cleaver method 4 times. On the next batch I think I'll try the hang 'em and slice 'em. Haven't decided yet, but I need to soon I've got too many roos! lol

 

[stacym]

I "went in" with my dad on chickens for butchering. We did 25 in one day (9:00A.M.-4:00P.M.). We were really moving slow this year. We have always used an ax with an old tree stump that has two nails. However, if you don't use a killing cone be prepared to either burn your clothes or use a lot of Oxy Clean. Cones work much better. Only my parents forgot to pick up the neighbors killing cone. Chickens are hung up by feet and left to drip on the ground outside. Not really all that much blood,on the ground that is. I was wearing most of it. We also had an electric chicken picker(which I highly recommend) Be prepared to deal with the stinky feather mess. We buried ours.
We have chopped heads with an axe for over 30 years. It just seems less personal with a sharp axe. It's quick and over with quickly and the only place I look is at the neck where I'm going to chop. Never in the eyes!

 

[dancingbear]

You might want to read this thread, it tells how to use pithing, which nobody else has mentioned here. It's what I recently converted to. Previously my DH cut throats when we processed, but pithing is non-traumatic enough that it doesn't bother me to do it myself. It's hard for me to even kill a fish.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=83181