1. If you cut a main vein/artery, make your cut sure and deep. *If you flinch or hesitate, it makes it stressful for the bird and you end up lopping its head off to end the suffering.
2. 140-150 degrees for the scalding pot, don't leave this temperature window, 30 second swish/agitation. Too hot, the bird starts to cook, too cold and they are much harder to pluck. If you have to dunk the bird more than once, it may start to cook. If the skin is rubbery after plucking, congratulations. You cooked it. Now pray that you didn't cook the meat underneath.
3. Don't rush things at the end. We were on the last bird, were a little too sloppy catching it, it jumped free knocked my wife's glasses off, and I ended up chasing it over 4 acres until finally downing it with a .22 rifle. Needless to say, I lost a wing, breast and thigh because of this, plus I had to manually bleed the bird afterword.
4. Bleach water, bleach water, bleach water! 8-10/1 ratio of water/bleach as a table rinsing solution keeps the flies away.
5. You have to actually scald the feet to get the socks off.
6. Don't underestimate your children. The 8 year old boy went back inside. The almost 3 year old girl was mad because we wouldn't let her kill the chickens, and she plucked feathers like a champ. Go figure.
7. Last but not least. Control your emotions*, even if you have to disconnect for a couple seconds during the actual kill. The bird can sense your fear, and may freak out a little, or a lot depending upon your emotional control. Smile at it and speak warmly to it even during the actual cut. Once it stops moving, it is no longer something that you raised and cared for and is now just meat.
2. 140-150 degrees for the scalding pot, don't leave this temperature window, 30 second swish/agitation. Too hot, the bird starts to cook, too cold and they are much harder to pluck. If you have to dunk the bird more than once, it may start to cook. If the skin is rubbery after plucking, congratulations. You cooked it. Now pray that you didn't cook the meat underneath.
3. Don't rush things at the end. We were on the last bird, were a little too sloppy catching it, it jumped free knocked my wife's glasses off, and I ended up chasing it over 4 acres until finally downing it with a .22 rifle. Needless to say, I lost a wing, breast and thigh because of this, plus I had to manually bleed the bird afterword.
4. Bleach water, bleach water, bleach water! 8-10/1 ratio of water/bleach as a table rinsing solution keeps the flies away.
5. You have to actually scald the feet to get the socks off.
6. Don't underestimate your children. The 8 year old boy went back inside. The almost 3 year old girl was mad because we wouldn't let her kill the chickens, and she plucked feathers like a champ. Go figure.
7. Last but not least. Control your emotions*, even if you have to disconnect for a couple seconds during the actual kill. The bird can sense your fear, and may freak out a little, or a lot depending upon your emotional control. Smile at it and speak warmly to it even during the actual cut. Once it stops moving, it is no longer something that you raised and cared for and is now just meat.
Last edited:
