suburban meat birds

[Dinogrrl]

I live in a suburban neighborhood, I've got three chickens right now, a laying hen and two pullets. My county allows backyard poultry with a license, and my HOA's wording on outside pets is vague (they say 'no livestock raised for commercial purposes' well...mine are for personal use ). My surrounding neighbors all find my chickens rather amusing so I don't fear them trying to cause trouble by calling Animal Control or anything.

I am interested in raising some broilers for myself. I am definitely not looking to have a big operation going, more like just a few birds once or twice a year as I'm able. My yard isn't really big enough to support more than that, and I work full-time so that limits my ability to do these things.

The whole process of butchering birds looks like something I can handle. My biggest concern is that as much as my neighbors will leave each other well enough alone, I have a feeling that if they see me slaughtering chickens in my backyard there's going to be trouble. Is there anyone here who has processed broilers in a similar setting? I do have a patio with an awning that I could enclose in a tarp so the neighbors wouldn't have to see, but I'm sure that's just as suspicious. Or do I need to find someone to lend me space for a day where prying eyes are less likely?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You can always see if you can find someone to butcher for you. Some places charge and we usually give our person a bird or two for their time.

 

[Molpet]

Some people use the garage

 

[Dinogrrl]

@JacinLarkwell I should have explained this in my original post, sorry! The main reason I want to process the birds myself is because I have food allergies--specifically, to corn. I'm sensitive enough that I will react to meat that was fed on corn.
And then there's the actual butchering process to consider. I have to go out of state to purchase beef because in my state it is legally required that any beef that goes to sale must be washed with acid during processing, and that acid is almost always derived from corn. There are plenty of local farmers who raise beautiful grass-fed, organic beef with no corn added to their feed, but the butchering process renders the meat completely unsafe for me!

The state allows poultry to be washed either with water or acid, but now they are pushing VERY strongly to move to acid only, according to the farmers I currently purchase chicken from. If this gets passed into law, I won't be able to buy ANY meat in my state, and also anyone I hand chickens off to for butchering is almost certainly going to be forced to wash the meat with acid. Hence, I'd like to learn to do it myself so I can just use water and know I have meat that's safe for me to eat.

@Molpet I had thought about that. My garage is small and not ventilated well though so I'd probably have to borrow someone else's!

 

[Molpet]

@Molpet I had thought about that. My garage is small and not ventilated well though so I'd probably have to borrow someone else's!

Ha mine would be too full. Grandparents would wring the neck and bring in the house in bad weather ... not sure what they did about the messy part in the house

Garage with a fan in Cool months.
Tent in yard might be a thought too

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh, pkay, that makes a lot of sense. We have a friend that we used to send rabbits to to butcher. We would hang out for the day at her place that way at least in our state, it was legal since we were on the premise when the animals were butchered. Maybe you can make a friend that butchers birds too and butcher with them.

 

[Dinogrrl]

@JacinLarkwell I have no idea if that loophole exists in my state. I'll look into it though, thanks for the idea!

@Molpet I did briefly consider butchering in my kitchen but the one time I cleaned a fish on my counter, my cats were aaaall up in my business and when I locked them away they screamed nonstop . It was really distracting, to say the least.

 

[3KillerBs]

I butchered some chickens in my in-town, corner lot, backyard, mostly screened from one neighbor by bushes, from the other neighbor by a shed, and from the street by DH's firewood rack.

When finding out about chicken legality in my town the Mayor's husband (encountered at the feed store (he raises and shows OEGBs)), said that it was legal subject to ordinary noise/sanitation regulations and added that one time they did have to request that an immigrant woman butcher in the backyard rather than the front doorstep. (Apparently she'd chosen good light close to her kitchen).

Are you worried that it might not be legal or just about not upsetting people?

If just the latter, do you have anywhere in the yard that isn't blatantly in sight of the entire world? Can you do the work very early in the morning before people are out and about or, alternately, at a time of a weekday when the neighbors are all at work?

 

[Dinogrrl]

@3KillerBs I'll be honest, I haven't even looked into the legal side of things. It's more about not upsetting my neighbors. Two of them are retired and home most of the time, and two have young children/grandchildren who love playing 'find the chickens' over the fence and I'd hate for them to run up to the fence line while I'm right in the middle of things!

I did have a nice screen of trees along my fence until a series of storms knocked them all down last year, so unfortunately my yard is in clear view of everyone else now. Like I said I do have a patio with an awning that I could hang a tarp around, which is looking like it may be my best bet.

 

[3KillerBs]

@3KillerBs I'll be honest, I haven't even looked into the legal side of things. It's more about not upsetting my neighbors. Two of them are retired and home most of the time, and two have young children/grandchildren who love playing 'find the chickens' over the fence and I'd hate for them to run up to the fence line while I'm right in the middle of things!

That's definitely something to avoid.

One of the things we'll be setting up on this property is an area for butchering that's out of the way so my very sensitive SIL doesn't have to see anything while she's out weeding her flower beds.