I plucked my first meatie last night. I was suprised at how easy it really was! I'm usually pretty squeamish and gagged a little when I was scalding him and got a big whiff of hot wet feathers.
But when I scalded first and then dunked in cold water plucking was a piece of cake. We have 20 total to butcher and have done four so far (two a night). He kills and guts, I pluck and bag it. Works out pretty well. Like other people said it's not that bad to do yourself if you dont have that many and you don't have to do them all at once. We separate two out and withhold food for two days to clean out the digestive tract. This makes for a lot cleaner butchering.
Also, all we use is a good sharp knife and kitchen shears. He made a makeshift gallows to hang them while they bleed out. A lung scraper would be nice but not a necessity.
But when I scalded first and then dunked in cold water plucking was a piece of cake. We have 20 total to butcher and have done four so far (two a night). He kills and guts, I pluck and bag it. Works out pretty well. Like other people said it's not that bad to do yourself if you dont have that many and you don't have to do them all at once. We separate two out and withhold food for two days to clean out the digestive tract. This makes for a lot cleaner butchering.
Also, all we use is a good sharp knife and kitchen shears. He made a makeshift gallows to hang them while they bleed out. A lung scraper would be nice but not a necessity.
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